Tony Lombardo

Tony Lombardo (born 1945)[1] is an American musician who was the original bassist in the punk rock band the Descendents.

He joined the band in 1979 and played on their debut single, the Fat EP (1981), and the albums Milo Goes to College (1982) and I Don't Want to Grow Up (1985).

After leaving the band, he performed in other acts and worked for the United States Postal Service until 2005.

[3] Hearing Lombardo practicing the bass guitar in his own garage up the street, they approached him and asked him to join the band.

"[3] Nolte soon bowed out to join his brothers in The Last, and the power trio lineup of Navetta, Lombardo, and Stevenson released the Descendent's debut single, "Ride the Wild" / "It's a Hectic World" (1979).

[5] Stevenson's classmate Milo Aukerman joined the band in 1980 as lead singer, solidifying the early Descendents lineup.

[5] For the Descendents' debut album Milo Goes to College (1982), so named because Aukerman was leaving the band to study biology, Lombardo wrote "I'm Not a Punk", "Suburban Home", and "Kabuki Girl", and shares co-author credit on "I Wanna Be a Bear", "Tonyage", "Catalina", and "M-16".

[7] They performed with this lineup, and occasionally as a quintet when Aukerman would make return visits to Los Angeles.

"[8] Navetta ultimately quit the band and moved to Oregon, but Lombardo remained for the recording of the Descendents' 1985 album I Don't Want to Grow Up, which includes three of his compositions: the title track, "GCF", and the instrumental "Theme".

[12] Stevenson prepared a tour to support the album, but Lombardo declined due to his personal and professional commitments, thus quitting the band: In 1985, when Bill came to me and said he had lined up a U.S. tour, I had just bought a house, I had been working at the post office for three years and I was engaged to a woman who I never did marry.

To go on the road, to leave this woman, my house, my job...I wasn't a 17 year-old kid who could say "Bye, mom, I'm off."

[9][10][13] After leaving the Descendents, Lombardo continued to work for the United States Postal Service until his retirement in 2005.

[2] Over the years he has played in several other bands including Nuclear Bob, Boxer Rebellion, and Launch Pad.

[16] Lombardo played bass on the entire record, which was released under the band name "TonyAll", and sang on five of its twelve tracks:[16] Bill owed me some money, and I think he suggested that he would record an album for me in lieu of paying me some money at that particular point in time.

Lombardo played bass on "Doghouse" and received co-writer credit on "Eunuch Boy", a song he and Aukerman had written fifteen years earlier.

[18] Lombardo also joined former Descendents guitarist Ray Cooper in the band Spiffy, who released two singles in 1996.

[23][24] Lombardo participated in the making of Filmage, a 2013 documentary film chronicling the history of the Descendents and All, in which he is featured in interview footage discussing his time with the band.

[25] In September 2014 he joined the Descendents to perform Milo Goes to College in its entirety at the Riot Fests in Chicago and Denver.

In retrospect it was stupid and silly, because you don't really need to, but it was more visceral, so you could make faces with some legitimacy rather than posing.

[28] "Tony brings a unique style of bass playing," said Black Flag bassist Chuck Dukowski, "Every time they're on a chord, it's a run.

[5][12][18] He shares co-writer credit on "My Dad Sucks", "I Wanna Be a Bear", "Tonyage", "Catalina", "M-16", "Descendents", "Pervert", "Rockstar", and "Eunuch Boy".

[citation needed] "Most of my songs are about girls, and usually how they break boys' hearts", he said in an interview for the 2013 documentary Filmage.

I have an abhorrence of dysfunctionality because my mother was an alcoholic, my parents are divorced, I just don't need that assault on my emotions and psyche.

I couldn't stand to live on a place like Melrose, where all the cool people are coming by whenever they want, just dropping in.