[1] The band primarily consisted of saxophonist Benjamin Bossi, vocalist Debora Iyall, guitarist Peter Woods, and bassist Frank Zincavage.

Iyall has garnered acclaim as a skilled lyricist who explores themes like sexuality and alienation from a female perspective with "searing imagery".

"[3] She began frequenting the Mabuhay Gardens, a popular nightclub, to see local alternative rock groups like The Nuns, the Mutants, Crime, and the Avengers.

[2] She also formed the Mummers and Poppers, a punk parody band that covered 1960s tunes with guitarist Peter Woods, Charles Hagan and drummer Jay Derrah, .

[1][4] Iyall was originally hesitant to perform because she was overweight: "After seeing Patti Smith, I still had it in my mind that you had to be skinny to be up there [on stage], but after going to the Mabuhay [...] you just do whatever you want, be whoever you want, just make it happen.

"[2] Bassist Frank Zincavage met Iyall at the SF Art Institute; the two hit it off and discussed putting a band together.

They formed one with Woods and Derrah a few weeks later,[4] drawing inspiration from the "burgeoning local punk and post-punk scenes".

According to Iyall, the name Romeo Void referred to "a lack of romance" and came to mind after they saw a local magazine with the headline "Why single women can't get laid in San Francisco.

"I guess we were considered new wave, but for me Romeo Void was a reaction against the regimentation of everyone having to be bleached blond and everything being about despair and no future, when I thought the do-it-yourself thing should encompass all the different kinds of emotions, and all the different colors.

[2] Saxophonist Benjamin Bossi was added to the lineup as an "accident" when Iyall met him while he worked in the New York City Deli on Market Street in San Francisco.

[4] The group released their first single, "White Sweater", which consisted of the title track and a cover of Jerry Lordan's popular instrumental composition "Apache", in February 1981 on a recently founded local label called 415 Records.

Before recording began, Derrah left the band and was replaced by John "Stench" Hanes, who had previously played with Pearl Harbor and the Explosions.

'"[2] Highly successful mainstream artists like Ann Wilson and Ric Ocasek were eager to meet the band.

[10] Benefactor was noticeably more commercial sounding than previous endeavors; the music was made more danceable and swearing was removed on the song "Never Say Never".

[9] The different approach in the sound resulted in comparisons to Blondie,[8] which AllMusic writer William Ruhlmann suggested was a deliberate attempt by Columbia.

[7] A third and final album was again helmed by David Kahne, which AllMusic writer Stewart Mason speculated was a "reaction against the more commercial sound of Benefactor.

[11] It also launched their most successful single, "A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)," which broke the Billboard Top 40 and peaked at No. 35.

[7] Iyall released a solo album entitled Strange Language with former band members Bossi and Smith in 1986.

[1] The St. Petersburg Times wrote that they "had no trouble creating a signature sound for [themselves with a] scratchy guitar, soulful sax, [and] tight, precise drums.

"[26] Alan Niester, writing for The Globe and Mail, said that he weaved "in and out [...] like a snake charmer" and reminded him of Andy Mackay, a saxophonist who played with Roxy Music.

[23] Liam Lacey, also writing for The Globe and Mail, described Iyall's voice as "sultry [and] sexy",[27] while Mason called it "powerful".

[26][27] Richard Harrington of The Washington Post acknowledged the similarity, but also noted the influence of other singers in "Never Say Never" where Iyall mixed the "aggressive bitchiness of [Hynde], the coy confrontational tactics of Patty Donahue of the Waitresses and the slack sensuality of Debbie Harry of the earliest Blondie.

"[27] After a live show in 1982, Niester contended that she was the weakest part of the group and had the "vocal range of an automobile horn".

[23] Billboard writer Kathy Gillis wrote after a concert two years later that Iyall exhibited a "dramatic range that, while not extreme in either direction, was touching.

[29] She developed a sizable following for her writing that covered topics like "frustrated desire [and] sexually motivated rage" from a female perspective.

"[7] AllMusic writer Heather Phares has argued that Iyall's "teasing, existential musings [...] predated and predicted the aloof yet frank sexuality of early- and mid-'90s artists such as Elastica and Liz Phair".