After driving to the East Coast with girlfriend Kira Roessler who was starting an internship at Yale, Watt went to New York City and stayed with Gordon and Moore.

As part of an effort to encourage Watt to begin playing music again, the Ciccone Youth project was conceived.

[2][3] In 1986, a 7-inch single was released in the U.S. on New Alliance Records under the name of Ciccone Youth with Mike Watt performing Madonna's "Burning Up" on Side A with an altered title of "Burnin' Up".

Mike Watt played all of the instruments except for the lead guitar part which was overdubbed by Greg Ginn after the initial track was recorded.

Blast First would release the record the same year in Europe as a 12-inch single with the two Sonic Youth songs on Side A and Mike Watt's "Burnin' Up" as the B-side.

[4] Seeking a break from their own style of music at the conclusion of the Sister Tour, Sonic Youth returned to Wharton Tiers' studio and began recording songs for The Whitey Album.

We made a single with Mike Watt from Minutemen on a label called New Alliance, a sub-label of Black Flag's SST Records ["Into the Groove(y)"].

[4] Beside the single and The Whitey Album, Sonic Youth would also use the Ciccone name in the lyrics of the title song on the 1987 Master-Dik EP.

According to the liner notes of the deluxe edition of Daydream Nation: "The album cover [of Ciccone Youth], a b&w xerox enlargement of Madonna's face, was a brilliant and contemporary design.