After performing for several years in Toronto and releasing the promotional single "Train" in 1986,[4] the band signed to CBS Records and released their debut album, Alta Moda, in 1987.[5]
The album received mixed reviews, with some critics saying it sounded too much like funkordisco;[6] the band even faced some assertions that they were "too black" for the Canadian market.[7] The album spawned the single "Julian", but the song was only a modest hit, peaking at #53 in the RPM Hot 100 chart the week of January 30, 1988.[8] The album's other singles, "Notown (In Particular)" and "Cool Love", did not chart.
Alta Moda contributed a non-album track, "American Chaser", to the soundtrack of the 1986 television film Popeye Doyle.[9]
The band declined a Juno Award nomination in the R&B category for "Julian", because they felt it was a miscategorization of the song.[10]
Although Alta Moda had originally signed a six-album deal with CBS, they were dropped from the label after the album's poor sales.[11] The band continued to perform live, on the lookout for another deal. Orenstein wrote and produced material for other artists, and Johnson performed jazz and blues with a backing band which later became Big Sugar.[12]
Johnson and Orenstein signed a new deal with IRS Records in 1990,[11] but changed the band's name to Infidels by the time of their 1991 album.[10]
