So what does a typecast Dead Boy do when his band breaks up? He moves to Los Angeles, hires local musicians and cuts a tremendous album of melodic rock tunes. Playing down his outrageous side, Bators’ first solo record maintains an Iggy-like persona while replacing chaotic garage-punk with thoughtful music that owes power pop a sizable debt. Originals like “Evil Boy” and “The Last Year” mask their dark messages with pretty tunes; a great cover of the Electric Prunes’ classic “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” clarifies Bators’ roots and caps the album off nicely. The French LP contains all of Disconnected, adding three sides from a pair of Bomp! singles and one other cut.
In 1987, Bators released a 12-inch (“Have Love Will Travel” b/w a sharp swipe at the Moody Blues’ “Story in Your Eyes”) on Bomp!, with musical assistance from various co-conspirators. He later sang with Jeff Conolly on a Lyres song, issued as a 12-inch and included on that band’s 1988 LP. In June 1990, Bators was struck by a car in Paris, returned home and died of his injuries the next day.