Animotion Together Again

Animotion (the originals) has regrouped for the first time in 14 years on February 8, 2001 by special request from KNRK in Portland, Oregon and Bill Wadhams.

Animotion evolved from a LA group called Red Zone featuring Astrid Plane on vocals with Charles Ottavio producing. It broke up in 1983, however Astrid and Charles with former CBS Record's Larry Ross (a fan of Red Zone) wanted to start a new venture. It became Animotion.

In March 1984, with the lineup set with ex-Red Zone drummer Frenchy O'Brien, keyboardist Paul Antonelli, Charles on bass and Astrid with Bill Wadhams on lead vocals, Animotion did a showcase for Polygram Records and closed on a record deal. Sometime during the recording, Bill brought in guitarist Don Kirkpatrick and keyboard player Greg Smith. The album was released in late 1984 and "Obsession" began to take off on radio.

By 1986, they were toured with Howard Jones and Depeche Mode playing sold out arenas, made TV appearances, did the Montreaux Rock Festival, went to the Grammys and made a very memorable video.  The band also shot videos of their other singles, "Let Him Go," "I Want You" and "I Engineer" which was filmed in a haunted derelict hospital in Blackheath, London.

Jim Blair replaced Frenchy as Animotion's new drummer and started their third album in 1988. During the making of the album, the band broke up. According to their official site, they laughingly admit that it could have been an overdose of MSG in the Chinese food they ate that day.

Polygram replaced lead vocalists Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams with dancer/singer Cynthia Rhodes (married to Richard Marx now) and Paul Engemann to release the album and the single Room To Move" from My Stepmother is an Alien/Dan Aykroyd movie.

Right now, the band has a number of tour dates lined-up on the West Coast including the "Stop the Violence" at Union Plaza in El Paso, TX with other '80s artists: A Flock Of Seagulls, Gene Loves Jezebel featuring Michael Aston, Tommy Tutone and Wang Chung.

On the romantic side, Astrid and Charles married and continue to live California raising their daughter Victoria.

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