Angel Corpus Christi

Angel Corpus Christi (a.k.a. Andrea Ross) is a San Francisco singer/accordionist who began releasing vintage-sounding pop albums in the '80s. Her husband Rich Stim, a frequent musical co-conspirator, first became an important figure in avant/fringe rock in the mid-'70s with MX-80. In 1984, Angel Corpus Christi debuted with an album of NYC-related covers (by the Ramones, Lou Reed, etc.) called, fittingly, I Love New York. Wake Up & Cry, which primarily consisted of originals, emerged the following year, followed by 1987's Dim the Lights. Accordion Pop Vol. 1, a collection of accordion covers, came out in 1989. That same year saw the release of her first CD effort, The '80s, a collection that included both retrospective tracks and new material. Re-emerging in 1995, Angel found herself on a mainstream label, Almo Sounds. That year she released the immensely catchy and fully realized White Courtesy Phone. Craig Leon played keyboards and produced, while Almo head Herb Alpert added some guest trumpet to "Lazy." Legendary session percussionist/drummer Hal Blaine also shows up on the effort. Corpus Christi has also added accordion to the Spiritualized album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space and collaborated with Luna's Dean Wareham on a cover of Serge Gainesbourg's "Je T'aime (I Wanna Boogie With You)." ~ Erik Hage