The Raygun Administration Really Rock

I was a big fan of The Raygun Administration and was doubly disappointed to see this website disappear when its domain registration expired. Imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that the site's domain was now available. I decided to buy it with the goal of recreating as much of its original content as possible from its archived pages. I did not want someone else to purchase the domain and re-purpose the site for something that had nothing in common with the original website. SO all you The Raygun Administration, here is some of the content from their original site. Please be indulgent, if it is not exactly as you remember it, since there was not a lot of information that was archived.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PAGE CONTAINS SELECTED ARCHIVED CONTENT FROM THE ORIGINAL SITE and from some outside sources..

And remember, you can still see and listen to some of their performances on Youtube

Do you remember when we got all crazy and went to see an 80's cover Band called The Raygun Administration. They were so much fun. They had crazy 80's Flock of Seagulls hair and skinny ties. And boy did their music rock!

I sure do! We had a blast that night. We were celebrating your moving to Europe for 2 years. Can't believe you're going overseas to study philosophy! That is so geeked out. But then I learn that you're doing a treatise on "nothing" - how did that happen. What an amazing feat you must have pulled of to get that plum assignment. Paying all your expenses so you can bloviate about nothing - perfect dude!! I found this piece about nothing that really helps me understand the topic is deeper than I imagined. The future of philosophy awaits. However, that night we saw The Raygun Administration, we were just spending the last night with our best friends before heading overseas. Whatever happened to that band?

Welcome Raygunners!

The Raygun Administration was formed in 2009 with one goal in mind: to rock out your favorite ’80s tunes…and we do mean rock!!! We play everything from Michael Jackson to Def Leppard to The Cure to Journey. Every song we play is instantaneously recognizable. We guarantee that if you are looking for a great time, listening and dancing to your favorite ’80s rock and pop hits, we are your band!!! The band members collectively bring years of professional experience to the stage, having spent time in numerous bands touring the Southeast. Make no mistake, The Raygun Administration is a collective group of seasoned musicians who came together to play the best tunes from the Decade of Decadence…the 1980s!!! If you are looking for an ’80s cover band that truly rocks, look no further!

*****

Members: When they were just starting out as musicians.

Gerald Brackett- lead vocals/guitar
Eddie Parker- guitar/vocals
Ronnie Marler- bass/vocals
Kevin Clark- drums/vocals

Genre:

Rock/pop/new wave/funk/alcohol

Records

1. The Raygun Administration -- Don't Stop Believin' (cover)
2. The Raygun Administration -- Wait (cover)
3. The Raygun Administration -- Your Love (cover)

Influences:

love conection / pop rocks / m-80's / eastland's / gargamel / fraggle rock G.I.JOE/ atari/ bandanas / hyper-color/ E.T. / playboy /nintendo / jams/ HBO / lazer tag / kids incorporated /leg warmers / bmx / gorbachev / garbage pale kids / apple II e's / yugo's / bobby brown(the model) / reebok's / star search / throwing stars / vision street wear / booger / bb guns / aquanet hairspray / menuto / swatch / D.A.R.E./ and finally......simon says... take your shirt off!

Upcoming Shows

Oct 14 The Back Nine - Birmingham, Alabama
Oct 15 Redline Bar & Grill - Hoover, Alabama
Oct 21 Courtyard 280 - Birmingham, Alabama
Oct 29 The Barking Kudu - Birmingham, Alabama
Nov 4 Pub 261 - Pelham, Alabama
Nov 5 Innisfree (Lakeview) - Birmingham, Alabama
Nov 11 The Back Nine - Birmingham, Alabama
Nov 12 The Blue Iguana - Prattville, Alabama
Nov 19 Wedding Reception - Birmingham, Alabama
Nov 19 Crush - Birmingham, Alabama

Song List

Song | Artist

More Background On TheRayGunAdministration.net

TheRayGunAdministration.net was originally associated with The Raygun Administration, a Birmingham-area cover band built around the rock, pop, new wave, glam metal, and dance music of the 1980s. The website served as the band’s promotional home, introducing its musicians, explaining its concept, listing performances, presenting its song catalog, and directing visitors toward recordings and booking information.

Although the original website eventually disappeared after its domain registration expired, the domain was later acquired by a fan who attempted to reconstruct portions of the earlier site from archived material. The current version therefore functions less like an active, official band website and more like a digital memorial to a regional entertainment act.

The reconstructed site preserves a surprisingly detailed picture of the group. It documents a band that did not simply perform quiet background versions of familiar songs. The Raygun Administration presented 1980s music as a full-scale party experience, combining hard-rock instrumentation, recognizable pop hooks, humorous nostalgia, exaggerated fashion, and audience participation.

The website is particularly useful as a record of Birmingham’s local nightlife during the late 2000s and early 2010s, when cover bands relied on independent websites, MySpace profiles, Facebook pages, YouTube videos, printed venue calendars, and word-of-mouth promotion to build a following.

The Website’s Original Purpose

The original TheRayGunAdministration.net appears to have operated primarily as a promotional and booking website. Its central message was straightforward: The Raygun Administration was an experienced group of musicians available to deliver a lively night of instantly recognizable 1980s songs.

Its introductory material welcomed visitors as “Raygunners” and emphasized the breadth of the band’s musical range. Instead of concentrating on one performer, such as Journey, Bon Jovi, or Def Leppard, the group crossed stylistic boundaries. A typical performance might move from Michael Jackson and Prince to Guns N’ Roses, The Cure, Paula Abdul, Poison, A-ha, Blondie, and Tears for Fears.

That variety was a practical strength. A single-artist tribute band usually appeals most strongly to committed fans of that particular musician. The Raygun Administration could attract a broader crowd because nearly every audience member was likely to recognize at least several songs.

The website helped communicate that flexibility to club owners, event planners, wedding organizers, and potential fans. Its performance schedule demonstrated that the band could work in several types of settings, including neighborhood bars, entertainment districts, suburban restaurants, private receptions, and special events.

Formation and History

The band described itself as having formed in 2009 with a specific goal: to play favorite 1980s songs with the energy of a rock concert. That founding date is supported by surviving performance footage from Halloween 2009 at Courtyard 280 Oyster Bar in Birmingham.

A YouTube video from that event shows a guest identified as “Axl Bonaduce” joining The Raygun Administration for “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” The video is significant because it provides external evidence that the band was already performing publicly in Birmingham during its reported founding year.

The surviving promotional material identifies four principal members:

Gerald Brackett handled lead vocals and guitar. Eddie Parker performed on guitar and vocals. Ronnie Marler played bass and contributed vocals. Kevin Clark played drums and also sang.

The band emphasized that its members were not beginners assembled around a novelty concept. They collectively brought experience from numerous musical projects and had performed with bands that toured throughout the Southeast. The 1980s theme gave that experience a focused commercial identity.

The lineup was designed for versatility. With all four members contributing vocals, the band could approach songs requiring different vocal ranges, backing harmonies, and performance personalities. Two guitarists also allowed the group to reproduce the layered arrangements common in 1980s arena rock and glam metal.

Birmingham, Alabama, as the Band’s Home Base

The available evidence strongly associates The Raygun Administration with Birmingham and its surrounding communities. Its surviving schedules mention Birmingham, Hoover, Pelham, Prattville, and the Lakeview entertainment district.

Birmingham offered a logical base for this kind of band. The metropolitan area had a large population of adults who had grown up during the 1980s, along with an active bar, restaurant, private-event, and live-music economy. A nostalgia-driven act could appeal to audiences celebrating birthdays, reunions, weddings, holidays, and nights out with friends.

The band’s documented venues included The Back Nine in Birmingham, Redline Bar & Grill in Hoover, Courtyard 280, The Barking Kudu, Pub 261 in Pelham, Innisfree in Lakeview, The Blue Iguana in Prattville, and Crush in Birmingham.

These locations place the group within the broader Birmingham metropolitan entertainment circuit. Hoover is directly south of Birmingham, while Pelham is farther south along the Interstate 65 corridor. Prattville is near Montgomery, roughly 90 miles south of Birmingham, indicating that the band’s reach extended beyond its immediate home market.

The inclusion of a wedding reception on the same schedule as public club appearances also demonstrates the group’s adaptability. It could perform for paying nightlife audiences while also functioning as hired entertainment for private celebrations.

What Visitors Found on the Website

The site’s surviving structure was relatively simple and reflected the conventions of independent band websites from its era. Its most important content areas included a welcome message, band biography, member list, genre description, recordings, influences, performance calendar, song list, photographs, and references to video performances.

There is no surviving evidence of an elaborate e-commerce operation, formal merchandise catalog, restaurant-style menu, or ticketing platform. Its “menu,” in the website-navigation sense, was focused on practical promotional information rather than complex interactive features.

Visitors could learn who the musicians were, what kind of music they played, where they were appearing, and what songs they were likely to perform. Potential clients could evaluate whether the group would fit a nightclub, reception, corporate gathering, or themed party.

The website also listed three recorded performances: covers of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” White Lion’s “Wait,” and The Outfield’s “Your Love.” These were not presented as original albums or commercially released records. They were promotional examples demonstrating how the group approached familiar material.

The Song List

The preserved song list is one of the most revealing parts of TheRayGunAdministration.net. It shows that the band’s idea of the 1980s was much broader than a narrow collection of pop hits.

Hard rock and glam metal were major components. The group covered Guns N’ Roses, Scorpions, Whitesnake, AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Poison, Van Halen, Aerosmith, White Lion, Skid Row, Def Leppard, Ratt, and Winger.

Arena-rock selections included Journey’s “Separate Ways” and “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Foreigner’s “Double Vision,” Heart’s “Alone,” Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend,” and Bryan Adams’s “Summer of ’69.”

New wave and alternative selections included A Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran,” Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love,” The Cars’ “Just What I Needed” and “Let’s Go,” INXS’s “New Sensation,” The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” Blondie’s “Call Me,” Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf,” and Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun.”

Pop and dance material included Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and “Billie Jean,” Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up,” Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy,” Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” Rick James’s “Super Freak,” and The Gap Band’s “You Dropped a Bomb on Me.”

The list also included Beastie Boys, Billy Idol, Eddie Money, Rick Springfield, The Outfield, Tommy Tutone, Living Colour, and Damn Yankees.

This range explains the band’s commercial appeal. A show could satisfy fans of guitar-heavy rock without excluding listeners who preferred pop, funk, dance, or new wave. It also allowed the musicians to vary a performance’s pace, moving between anthems, dance tracks, sing-alongs, power ballads, and heavier songs.

The Band’s Visual Identity

The Raygun Administration treated the appearance of the 1980s as part of the entertainment. Surviving descriptions recall exaggerated hair inspired by acts such as A Flock of Seagulls, along with skinny ties and other recognizable period clothing.

The group’s name was itself a joke based on Ronald Reagan’s presidential administration and the word “ray gun.” It combined 1980s politics, science-fiction imagery, Cold War culture, and playful nostalgia in a phrase that was memorable enough to function as a regional entertainment brand.

The website’s humor extended to its description of the band’s genre as “rock/pop/new wave/funk/alcohol.” That wording positioned the group as nightlife entertainment rather than a solemn preservation society.

Its list of “influences” was similarly comic. Instead of naming only musicians, the band referenced Atari, Nintendo, HBO, Laser Tag, BMX bicycles, Swatch watches, Aquanet hairspray, leg warmers, Hypercolor clothing, Garbage Pail Kids, G.I. Joe, Reebok shoes, the Apple IIe, E.T., Fraggle Rock, D.A.R.E., bandanas, and other objects associated with growing up during the decade.

This list reveals the group’s broader concept. The band was not selling technically perfect reproductions of individual recordings as much as a shared memory of 1980s popular culture.

Performance Style and Audience Experience

The available videos and promotional language suggest that audience engagement was central to the band’s performances. The Raygun Administration favored songs with recognizable openings, memorable choruses, dramatic guitar parts, and opportunities for group singing.

Songs such as “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Livin’ on a Prayer,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Take On Me,” and “Jessie’s Girl” are especially effective in a live cover-band setting because audiences often recognize them within seconds.

The Halloween 2009 Courtyard 280 video, in which a guest joined the band for “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” illustrates the informal and participatory character of its shows. Rather than maintaining a rigid separation between performers and spectators, the group could turn a familiar song into a communal moment.

The likely core audience consisted of adults who had experienced the 1980s firsthand. By the time the band formed in 2009, listeners who had been teenagers during the decade were generally in their thirties and forties, an age group well represented at weddings, reunions, corporate parties, neighborhood bars, and fundraising events.

The group could also appeal to younger listeners who knew the songs through films, television programs, video games, streaming services, sports events, and earlier cover bands.

Popularity and Online Following

The Raygun Administration does not appear to have achieved national chart success or mainstream recording-industry recognition. Its popularity was regional and performance-based.

The surviving Facebook presence accumulated approximately 1,060 followers or likes, a meaningful audience for an independent local cover band. The page’s continued visibility also indicates that the group left a stronger online footprint than many similar acts whose websites and social profiles disappeared completely.

YouTube performances provide another measure of its cultural reach. These videos may not have generated the viewing numbers associated with nationally touring artists, but they preserved the atmosphere of actual Birmingham appearances and allowed former audience members to revisit the band.

A LinkedIn profile also identifies lighting work for The Raygun Administration between March 2011 and October 2012. This supports the conclusion that the band continued operating beyond its 2009 formation and that its live presentation involved some organized production support.

The band’s current or intermittent status is less clear. Social posts and event references have continued to surface, including later material connecting Gerald Brackett and The Raygun Administration with Hampton House-related events. These appearances suggest that the name and at least part of the group’s musical identity remained recognizable after the original website disappeared.

Reviews and Reputation

Independent professional reviews of The Raygun Administration are scarce. No substantial archive of newspaper criticism, formal album reviews, or national entertainment coverage was located.

That absence should not be interpreted as proof that the band lacked an audience. Local cover bands are commonly evaluated through venue bookings, repeat engagements, social-media interaction, audience videos, event photographs, and private recommendations rather than conventional music journalism.

The schedule preserved on the website shows repeat appearances at The Back Nine, which suggests that the venue considered the group capable of attracting or entertaining customers. Its bookings across numerous establishments also indicate acceptance within the Birmingham-area live-music network.

The group’s strongest reputation appears to have been built around energy, familiarity, humor, and variety. Its promise was not obscure deep cuts or original compositions. It offered a dependable party built from songs that audiences already knew.

Awards and Formal Recognition

No reliable evidence was found showing that The Raygun Administration received major music awards, industry prizes, local “best band” honors, or formal cultural recognition.

Likewise, there is no evidence that the original website won design awards or technology honors. It was a functional promotional platform rather than an award-oriented publication.

The lack of documented awards is worth stating clearly because reconstructed websites sometimes add generalized claims about recognition that cannot be verified. The band’s accomplishments are better measured by its longevity, repeat bookings, regional visibility, surviving audience memories, and the continued circulation of its performance videos.

Ownership of TheRayGunAdministration.net

The current website explains that the original domain registration expired and that a fan later purchased the available domain. The new owner’s stated intention was to prevent it from being repurposed for unrelated material and to recreate as much of the original content as archived sources allowed.

This means the present site should not automatically be treated as the official current voice of the original musicians. It is a restoration created by an admirer.

The individual or company behind the original registration is not clearly identified in the surviving public material. No reliable evidence was located establishing that a particular band member personally owned the original domain.

This distinction is important for researchers. Statements directly attributed to the reconstructed site may reproduce authentic historical wording, but other sections may have been written later by the domain’s new owner.

Press and Media Coverage

The Raygun Administration’s surviving media footprint is concentrated in social networks, event promotion, personal profiles, and audience-recorded videos rather than traditional newspapers or magazines.

YouTube contains footage from the group’s early Birmingham performances. Facebook preserves the band’s identity and portions of its later activity. Other social posts mention the group in connection with themed parties and community events.

A surviving Facebook post also credits filmmaker or videographer Adam Pope with shooting and editing a promotional video, with booking information placed at the end. That post indicates that the group invested in a more formal promotional asset rather than depending exclusively on casual audience recordings.

No strong evidence was found of radio awards, television profiles, major festival reviews, national press features, or record-label coverage. The band’s media story is therefore characteristic of a local act whose history was documented mainly through the early social web.

Cultural and Social Significance

TheRayGunAdministration.net is culturally valuable because it preserves a small part of Birmingham’s digital music history. Local bands often have an important role in community life, yet their records can disappear quickly when domains expire, social platforms change, venues close, and video accounts become inactive.

The reconstructed website captures more than a list of songs. It records where people gathered, what kinds of music moved between generations, how independent musicians promoted themselves, and how the 1980s were remembered approximately two decades later.

The band emerged at a particularly favorable time for 1980s nostalgia. By 2009, music from the decade had become firmly established as party and event material. Its songs were familiar to original listeners while also circulating among younger audiences through digital downloads, YouTube, television soundtracks, video games, and talent competitions.

The Raygun Administration transformed that nostalgia into a live social experience. Its performances allowed audiences to dress up, sing, dance, joke about outdated fashions, and temporarily re-enter a cultural world defined by cassette tapes, MTV, arcade games, neon clothing, hair metal, synthesizers, and Cold War imagery.

Why the Website Still Matters

The site matters today because it shows how fragile local online history can be. A professionally famous band may have its story preserved by record labels, journalists, collectors, libraries, and fan communities. A regional cover band may depend on a single expired domain, a handful of social posts, and a few surviving videos.

TheRayGunAdministration.net demonstrates both the limitations and value of website reconstruction. The restored site cannot reproduce every original page, photograph, calendar entry, or design element. It does, however, keep the name from disappearing and gives former fans a recognizable place to revisit the group.

For new readers, the website introduces a Birmingham-area band formed in 2009 by experienced musicians who wanted to play recognizable 1980s music with the force of a rock show. For former fans, it serves as a digital scrapbook of venues, songs, jokes, fashions, and shared nights out.

The Raygun Administration may not have been a nationally famous recording act, but that was never necessarily the point. Its purpose was to bring people together around music they already loved. The reconstructed website preserves that mission and provides a valuable glimpse into the regional performance culture that kept the sound and spectacle of the 1980s alive.

TheRayGunAdministration.net