Breakfast Club
Background information
Origin	New York City, U.S.
Genres	New wave[1] synth-pop
Years active	1979 (1979)–1988 (1988) 2023–present
Labels	ZE MCA
Past members	Dan Gilroy Ed Gilroy Gary Burke Stephen Bray Paul Kauk Hannah Watkins Megan Watkins Alex Potts Austin Phillips Randy Jackson Madonna E. Doctor Smith Angie Smit

Breakfast Club is an American musical group. Their biggest hit single was "Right on Track" (1987), which peaked at No. 7 on the USBillboard Hot 100 chart. The song was remixed for a commercial release in a 12" version for dance and club play byJohn "Jellybean" Benitez and became a top 10 hit on theBillboard MagazineHot Dance Club Play chart. After 35 years of absence, in 2022 the band reformed and released a new single called "Could We Not Stop Dancing?" followed by "Fantasy Street" in December 2023.

The group was formed inNew York City in 1979 and went through several line-ups, including one in which future pop starMadonna was the drummer. In the early 1980s, the band included Madonna, Angie Smit on bass, and the Gilroy brothers,Dan and Ed, both on guitar (Dan sang lead vocals as well).^[2] Dan Gilroy was also briefly Madonna's boyfriend, and he eventually allowed her to sing some lead vocals. Madonna ultimately left to form a new band,Emmy and the Emmys.^[3]

In the mid-1980s, the band consisted of the Gilroys (with Dan exclusively on vocals, while Ed provided all guitars), Gary Burke (bass), andStephen Bray (drums). Both Bray and Burke previously had been Madonna's bandmates in Emmy and the Emmys.^[3][4]

The group signed withZE Records, first issuing the non-charting single "Rico Mambo" in 1984. They later released an eponymous album in 1987 onMCA Records, which spawned the US hit "Right on Track". A majority of their music videos, including "Right on Track", were filmed by Jeff Stein, director ofthe Who documentaryThe Kids Are Alright. They were nominated in the category of Best New Artist at theGrammy Awards in 1988.^[5] Sometime after the first album, Randy Jackson (bass) joined the band, though original bassist Burke also remained in the line-up.^[6]

The band's last single was acover version ofthe Beatles song "Drive My Car" for the 1988 feature filmLicense to Drive.^[7] A second album was recorded circa 1988, but was rejected by MCA and was not issued at the time. Shortly afterwards the band broke up.

Bray co-wrote several big hits with Madonna in the 1980s. Dan Gilroy later starred inMother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1990) andMrs. Piggle-Wiggle (1994).

In 2008,The Daily Beast published a previously unreleased tape of the Breakfast Club. The tape included pillow talk between Dan Gilroy and Madonna, as well as several previously unheard songs such as "Tell the Truth", which she says is the first song she ever wrote.^[8]

On April 5, 2016, Breakfast Club released a new EP,Percolate, which features songs from the group's unreleased second album. It was the group's first release of new material in almost three decades.^[9]

In 2019, thedocudrama filmMadonna and the Breakfast Club was released on digital and on-demand platforms.^[10] Directed by Guy Guido and starring Jamie Auld as Madonna, the film explores Madonna's struggling pre-fame years in New York with the Breakfast Club leading up to her first solo record deal.^[11]

• 2016 –Percolate

• Breakfast Club atAllMusic

• American new wave musical groups
• Madonna
• Musical groups established in 1979
• Musical groups disestablished in 1988
• Musical groups reestablished in 2023
• ZE Records artists
• MCA Records artists
• Musical groups from New York City
• 1979 establishments in New York (state)
• 1988 disestablishments in New York (state)
• Mixed-gender bands

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• Use mdy dates from June 2022
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