The Untouchables (Los Angeles band)
Los Angeles soul/ska band
The Untouchables are a soul and mod revival band from the Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, area. Described by original lead singer Kevin Long as "mods who played ska music," the Untouchables are credited with being America's first ska band.
History
They formed in 1981 as part of the embryonic L.A. mod revival, after being inspired by the ska revival and punk rock band the Boxboys. Since some could not play instruments, they either hastily learned, or became vocalists. The original lineup included Kevin Long (vocals), Chuck Askerneese (vocals), Terry Ellsworth (rhythm guitar), Clyde Grimes (guitar), Rob Lampron (drums), Herman Askerneese (bass) and Jerry Miller (vocals, timbales).
After a shaky start playing at parties, the integrated septet were eventually booked at the O.N. Klub (known as the On to regulars). The band had guaranteed the club that they would pack the venue, and they did not disappoint. In middle of that year, they released their first (ska-styled) 7-inch single, copies of which were snapped up by local mods. Late in 1982, the band began a stint as the house band at the Roxy Theatre. Terry Ellsworth left the band in the summer of 1983, at the height of the California mod revival.
“The Untouchables (Los Angeles band)” enters the record as los Angeles soul/ska band. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Untouchables, Angeles and band can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3642845. VIAF identifies the subject as 152057124. The Library of Congress control number is n92020442. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981, 1982 and 1983.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Untouchables (Los Angeles band)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.