An original member of the band, founded in Southern California in 1979, Emory left in 1987 prior to the release of the album Hit and Run.
The original line-up of the band was vocalist Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes.
broke up in 1983, and Emory and Mike Roche enlisted vocalist Joe Wood (Grisham's brother-in-law at the time) and drummer Mitch Dean into the band, playing hair metal, touring and recording under the name T.S.O.L.
Emory teamed up with singer/song writer Tim Swenson, bassist Tracy Stevens, and drummer London May in 1987 to form the band Lunch Box.
"[6] Emory and Jack Grisham formed The Joykiller in 1995 along with Billy Persons (The Weirdos/Gun Club) on bass, Ronnie King on keyboards, and Chris Lagerborg on drums.
The Joykiller released three albums on Epitaph records prior to disbanding in 1998 and had a minor radio hit in the Netherlands with the song "Go-Bang."