 Drummer Andrew Loomis auditioned for The Range Rats but it didn't work out, so Fred and Toody enlisted a drum machine and began touring Oregon mining towns.They recorded an unreleased album, but on the way back from a Reno vacation in 1987, Cole decided he wanted to return to the rock 'n' roll he had played in bands such as The Lollipop Shoppe and The Rats.A second audition with Loomis worked out, and Dead Moon began.