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The Pandoras
The Pandoras were an American all-female garage punk band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1982 to 1991. The band is among the first handful of all-female rock bands to ever be signed to a major label. From the beginning, the band found a strong following in the Hollywood garage rock and Paisley Underground scene, making the gossip pages almost weekly. The Pandoras enjoyed strong radio support from DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. The band graduated from the garage rock sound to a more contemporary, hard rock style in later years, spawning the off-shoot band the Muffs.
The Pandoras founder/singer/guitarist/songwriter, Paula Pierce, died of a brain aneurysm on August 10, 1991, at the age of 31. The Muffs frontwoman and founder Kim Shattuck, who played bass in the Pandoras from 1985 to 1990, appeared as lead singer and guitarist of the reunited Pandoras with bandmate Melanie Vammen, (longtime Pandora and co-founder of The Muffs) until Shattuck died of complications from ALS on October 2, 2019, aged 56. In 2025, other members who recorded It’s About Time with Paula Pierce, Gwynne Kahn, Bambi Conway, and Casey Gomez—reunited as “The Original Pandoras” and all three are pictured on the album cover but quit or were replaced before Pierce toured with the album "Its About Time" with Melanie Vammen, Karen Blankfeld, and Julie Patchouli who replaced the original members.
The Pandoras began in late 1982 as part of the 1960s garage rock revival. They were associated with the Paisley Underground era in Hollywood's underground rock scene that shared an aesthetic heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and psychedelia. Pierce, a resident of Chino, California, until 1984, had been a member of the Hollywood music scene; playing in bands since 1976.
The Pandoras were formed when singer/guitarist Pierce, a member of the mod/garage/pop Action Now, met singer/guitarist/bass player Deborah Mendoza (a.k.a. Menday), at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga in 1982. Mendoza, an art major, answered an ad that Pierce, a graphic arts major, had posted on the bulletin board in the cafeteria. The ad read, "Wanted, another female musician to jam with! Influenced by sixties garage punk." They began bringing their guitars to school and jamming between classes.
Pierce, lead singer/songwriter/lead guitarist, brought in Gwynne Kahn (also known as Gwynne Kelly) on keyboards/rhythm guitar. Mendoza on bass/backing vocals, brought in drummer Casey Gomez. After a band meeting in December 1982, the Pandoras were born, though names such as the Keyholes, Hole, the wHolesome, and the Goodwylls were considered first.
After recording their first EP in 1983, I'm Here I'm Gone on Moxie Records, Mendoza left the group. She was replaced on bass by Bambi Conway, a childhood friend of Kahn, who recalled that the pair "used to go to the Whiskey together and we were like ... in grade school." In 1984 Conway, Kahn, Gomez, and Pierce appeared on the Pandoras' debut album, It's About Time, on Greg Shaw's Bomp! Records.
In 1984, the Pandoras split into two factions just as the It's About Time LP was being released. Founder/singer/songwriter Paula Pierce had focus on the direction she wanted to go with her band. Bassist Conway, unhappy with Pierce, quit the Pandoras; followed by Pierce firing keyboardist/guitarist Kahn. Shortly thereafter, drummer Gomez split from Pierce. These members later reformed as the “Original Pandoras” in 2025. Pierce decided to continue as the Pandoras, immediately recruiting three new members who embarked on tour for the It's About Time LP release. Former members Gomez and Conway joined Kahn in the short-lived Gwynne's Pandoras.
The brief dispute over the Pandoras name was discussed on a KROQ-FM radio show hosted by Rodney Bingenheimer and in the local music zines such as BAM, Music Connection, and the LA Weekly (and its "L.A. Dee Da" gossip column).
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The Pandoras
The Pandoras were an American all-female garage punk band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1982 to 1991. The band is among the first handful of all-female rock bands to ever be signed to a major label. From the beginning, the band found a strong following in the Hollywood garage rock and Paisley Underground scene, making the gossip pages almost weekly. The Pandoras enjoyed strong radio support from DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. The band graduated from the garage rock sound to a more contemporary, hard rock style in later years, spawning the off-shoot band the Muffs.
The Pandoras founder/singer/guitarist/songwriter, Paula Pierce, died of a brain aneurysm on August 10, 1991, at the age of 31. The Muffs frontwoman and founder Kim Shattuck, who played bass in the Pandoras from 1985 to 1990, appeared as lead singer and guitarist of the reunited Pandoras with bandmate Melanie Vammen, (longtime Pandora and co-founder of The Muffs) until Shattuck died of complications from ALS on October 2, 2019, aged 56. In 2025, other members who recorded It’s About Time with Paula Pierce, Gwynne Kahn, Bambi Conway, and Casey Gomez—reunited as “The Original Pandoras” and all three are pictured on the album cover but quit or were replaced before Pierce toured with the album "Its About Time" with Melanie Vammen, Karen Blankfeld, and Julie Patchouli who replaced the original members.
The Pandoras began in late 1982 as part of the 1960s garage rock revival. They were associated with the Paisley Underground era in Hollywood's underground rock scene that shared an aesthetic heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and psychedelia. Pierce, a resident of Chino, California, until 1984, had been a member of the Hollywood music scene; playing in bands since 1976.
The Pandoras were formed when singer/guitarist Pierce, a member of the mod/garage/pop Action Now, met singer/guitarist/bass player Deborah Mendoza (a.k.a. Menday), at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga in 1982. Mendoza, an art major, answered an ad that Pierce, a graphic arts major, had posted on the bulletin board in the cafeteria. The ad read, "Wanted, another female musician to jam with! Influenced by sixties garage punk." They began bringing their guitars to school and jamming between classes.
Pierce, lead singer/songwriter/lead guitarist, brought in Gwynne Kahn (also known as Gwynne Kelly) on keyboards/rhythm guitar. Mendoza on bass/backing vocals, brought in drummer Casey Gomez. After a band meeting in December 1982, the Pandoras were born, though names such as the Keyholes, Hole, the wHolesome, and the Goodwylls were considered first.
After recording their first EP in 1983, I'm Here I'm Gone on Moxie Records, Mendoza left the group. She was replaced on bass by Bambi Conway, a childhood friend of Kahn, who recalled that the pair "used to go to the Whiskey together and we were like ... in grade school." In 1984 Conway, Kahn, Gomez, and Pierce appeared on the Pandoras' debut album, It's About Time, on Greg Shaw's Bomp! Records.
In 1984, the Pandoras split into two factions just as the It's About Time LP was being released. Founder/singer/songwriter Paula Pierce had focus on the direction she wanted to go with her band. Bassist Conway, unhappy with Pierce, quit the Pandoras; followed by Pierce firing keyboardist/guitarist Kahn. Shortly thereafter, drummer Gomez split from Pierce. These members later reformed as the “Original Pandoras” in 2025. Pierce decided to continue as the Pandoras, immediately recruiting three new members who embarked on tour for the It's About Time LP release. Former members Gomez and Conway joined Kahn in the short-lived Gwynne's Pandoras.
The brief dispute over the Pandoras name was discussed on a KROQ-FM radio show hosted by Rodney Bingenheimer and in the local music zines such as BAM, Music Connection, and the LA Weekly (and its "L.A. Dee Da" gossip column).
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