Released in a very limited edition on the trio's own Square Records label, the issue quickly sold out and has since become a highly sought-after collectible.

Returning to L.A. they were inspired to form the power trio they dubbed the Hollywood Squares with bass player Spider Cobb (aka Bob Schell).

The group rehearsed and experimented for several months in the San Fernando Valley garage of a disc-jockey friend, collaborating on new material and reworking classics.

Vincent's songs explored themes of alienation and angst, propelled by the raw, unrelenting, and occasionally Bartókian backdrop of an extremely loud power trio.

In fact, the band was so loud that Cobb suggested rehearsing with headsets, a practice which became part of the group's signature in their rare, live performances as well.

At an early rehearsal, Vincent played his latest composition—an ironic, tongue-in-cheek peek into the twisted mind of the Hillside Strangler, a then-unknown serial killer who was terrorizing the city at the time.

After some soul searching about the subject matter and the safety of loved ones, the group booked four hours (all they could afford) in an eight-track studio (the original Music Grinder on Melrose in Hollywood).

Also among those who initially aired "Hillside Strangler" was radio personality Dr. Demento, who described it urbanely on his nationally syndicated program as a tale about someone "who's not much fun at parties".

Hitchcock shopped the first four tracks around to major record labels but, when efforts to sign the Squares proved unsuccessful, he returned to engineering for mainstream artists.

After Cobb's departure Vincent and Tad recruited bassist Laura Crowe, dubbing this new power trio The Firm (many years before the Jimmy Page/Paul Rodgers collaboration of the same name).