1979 - 1986

Vivabeat was an LA-based techno-pop band that was active from 1978 into the mid-1980s. It was most well-known for being discovered and signed to its first record deal by Peter Gabriel, as the first American band on the British label, Charisma Records.

The band released one album on Charisma, "Party in the War Zone," which was produced by Jeffrey Lesser and featured the band's most successful song, "Man From China." The song became a Top 20 dance hit in Europe, the US, and Asia.

A second release was an eponymously titled EP featuring the production of Earle Mankey and the guitar playing of Rob Dean. It featured the song "The House is Burning (but there's no one home)," which, along with its video, appeared in Brian De Palma's film "Body Double" and won an MTV Award for Best Video from a New Band in the 80s.  

The band spent several years touring, and playing shows with iconic groups such as the B-52s, Depeche Mode, Gang of Four, Human League, R.E.M., The Thompson Twins, and Wall of Voodoo, before gradually winding down in 1984.

In 2001, Permanent Press Records released a best of Vivabeat album titled "The Good Life 1979 - 1986," which also featured tracks from See Jane Run, a Vivabeat spin-off band.

Twenty-two years later, in 2023, Rubellan Remasters released the first CD version of "Party in the War Zone" and a best-of package called "The House is Burning."  After Rubellan closed the label, Vivabeat was invited to release its music on Liberation Hall Music. An updated version of their debut album, "Party in the War Zone Expanded," and a new incarnation of the best of album, "The House is Burning," were released in summer 2025.