*Batteries Not Included (1987 lineup) were:
(Back Row)
Marc Roulier - Bass, Vocals
John Kuzel - Keyboards
(Front Row)
Paul Bergen - Drums
Jeff Ganis - Guitar
Steve Dockery - Vocals, Guitar

*Batteries Not Included was a band Marc Roulier and I founded and played in for most of the 1980's, starting while were at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. We were an original music band (I wrote most of the material), although we did a few cover songs as well.

There were two distinct lineups, both of which included Marc on bass and me on vocals and guitar. The first lineup featured Karthik Swaminathan on guitar and Steve Beste on drums, and (briefly) Laurie Stier on Keyboards. When Karthik and Steve B left the band, we advertised for replacements, and Jeff Ganis and Paul Bergen stepped in as a unit, having played together for years. John Kuzel also joined us on keyboards for a while.

We recorded a lot of cassette demos, and scraped up the funds to go into the studio to get two songs properly recorded (alas, they were never released to the public, and we didn't get the master tapes, so all we have to show for it is a few demo casettes). So we were a live band, but not a recording band.

Creative differences and changing circumstances at home for some of the members finally broke us apart in the end.

UPDATE:
*Batteries Not Included will be playing a reunion gig in central NJ on August 28, 2005. This will be the first time in over 15 years that *BNI has played together, and we're doing it at the Clinton Elks Lodge Annual Music Festival in Pittstown, NJ. This two-day event benefits handicapped children and veterans. Jeff and Paul's current band, Prankster, are playing as well. *BNI will play at 2:00pm, Prankster plays at 3:00pm.
Download/view the *BNI Reunion Show Flyer:  PDF  JPG
Download the Clinton Elks flyer for the event (PDF)

DEMO 1987
The following four tracks were all recorded on 1/4" Reel-to-Reel tape, and have been recently digitally transferred and mixed (so they sound better than they ever did on the cassette tape they were originally mixed down to!)

Headphones
Camera Lies
Corridor
Something to Hide

Misc. Tracks
I Saw You Sleeping
This was the only *BNI song composed by our drummer, Paul Bergen. We recorded it on a Fostex 4-track cassette deck in the basement. I found the original 4-track cassette master recently, digitized it, and did some mixing and tricky EQ to get it to sound this good.

Corridor
In a rare collaboration, Jeff Ganis supplied the music for this one, and I wrote the words. This is one of only two tracks we ever recorded in the studio, but all I have is a cassette tape mixdown (who knows if the master tape even exists any more). This was digitized off that cassette.