Ball and Pivot was formed in early 1984 by singer Bruce Wilkinson, guitarist Tom Hauck, and drummer Paul Caruso (all formerly with the Atlantics). The next year Gene Gilmartin joined on drums, and Paul Michael Newman joined on bass. Ball and Pivot entered Syncro Sound with producer William Garrett and recorded the 12” single “Down,” then went with director Luis Aira to Aruba and made a video of the song. “Down” was a huge regional radio and dance club hit, and the controversial video—available in both regular and R-rated versions—made it briefly to MTV. During the next two years Ball and Pivot played to packed houses throughout New England, and opened for artists as diverse as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Nona Hendryx, and INXS. Ball and Pivot was the quintessential 80’s techno rock-dance band, with success onstage, in urban dance clubs, and on radio. The group continued to record, and made a video of the song “Nowhere to Hide” with director Jeff Hudson. Ball and Pivot continued to record and perform until June, 1988. Singer Bruce Wilkinson passed away in October 2000. THE NOISE: ROCK AROUND BOSTON - CD Review Sept 3, 2010: BALL AND PIVOT PopGun 11-song CD Ball and Pivot’s online bio describes them as a “quintessential ’80s techno-rock-dance band.” Their CD PopGun is a collection of digitally remastered tracks that were recorded in 1984-1988. The band, once made up of singer Bruce Wilkinson, guitarist Tom Hauck, drummer Paul Caruso, and keyboardist Tim Long, put forth an ear-pleasing collection akin to opening a time capsule. The theatricality of dramatic glam-pop is evoked here, as is the repetition found throughout arena-rock. The opener, “Nowhere to Hide,” is an absolute testament to the ’80s and from there, the only particularly tame song (if one could even call it that), is “In The Heat of the Night.” The disc packs a significant and pleasantly surprising punch. Don’t let the big hair fool you into thinking otherwise. (Julia R. DeStefano)