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Defunctland is a popular Disney themed Youtube channel that talks about old and abandoned Disney theme park rides or attractions. This past August, Defunctland posted a Patreon funded documentary about a sci-fi 80’s rock band called Halyx that once graced the Space Mountain stage in Disneyland.
Halyx is a unique story in the sense that it went against the normal type of performance that would take place in Disneyland. It was also very ahead of its time incorporating a sci-fi element by having out of this world band members. Unfortunately, Halyx is not a very well-known Disney-lore, but maybe with Defunctland’s new documentary, the popularity of the band’s original concept will get Disney to acknowledge they existed.
What’s A Halyx?
During the 1980s, Disney had started their own record company selling read-along story albums and a Mickey Mouse disco album. The owners of the record company sought out to do something unique within the realm of music, but they also wanted something visually entertaining to market. With no other influences besides the popular band Kiss to follow, the company was struggling to properly put together something radical together.
The name Halyx is a play on the DNA term “helix,” although members of the band and producers hated the name. With Lora Mumford, a punk rock Snow White on vocals, Moht Rellim a robot keyboardist, Baharnoth a bassist Wookie, Bruce Gowdy the guitarist, a pollywog percussionist, and Brian Lucas on drums; Halyx was born. Their first performance was on June 20th, 1981, and their last performance was on August 2nd, 1981.
The Sound Of Halyx
The band was very experimental and sampled songs that mainly were rock and roll such as Billy Joel. Although they did experiment with weirder sounds such as Celtic acapella, this did not go over well. Halyx’s sound was loud and proud as they received noise complaints from Disneyland employees who worked at attractions such as the people-mover, but that didn’t stop the band.
The band really pushed boundaries within Disneyland, many of the band members were threatened by security because it is not allowed for employees to have long hair. Halyx’s music has a big contrast to other Disneyland performers who just sang barbershop quartet do-ops. As families casually enjoy jazz bands on Main Street, Halyx on the other hand was rocking out and creating rebellious edges by breaking all of Disneyland’s rules and subverting expectations.
They even had a song called “Jailbait,” which touched upon the topic of having a crush on a younger man. Somehow they got away with it, even though one of the producers felt iffy about such a song played in a place for children.
Lora Mumford
Lora was the frontwoman and shining star of Halyx. Her voice is described to be similar to that of Janis Joplin, but not quite. From what little audio that does exist from the band’s live performances, listeners can hear the passion and power within her voice. She was an experienced and talented singer, while she was the first one to audition for the frontwoman position, she was also the only one the producers truly wanted to be Halyx’s lead. Despite the visuals of a keyboard playing robot or pollywog percussionist, Lora was the star and fan favorite of Halyx.
Ultimately Disney records could not do much with Halyx since they published more children’s music than rock music. Warner Brothers records made an offer to sign Halyx, but admitted that they mainly only wanted to sign Lora. Eventually, the band was signed over to Warner Bro’s records, however, Warner Bro’s was struggling financially and went bankrupt immediately after Halyx was signed. The band split and went their own separate ways since their final Disneyland performance.
Lora took on a simple waitress job, holding on to hope that Disney would bring back the band or even create a new job for her. Having been paid out from the record label, Lora left everything behind; her dreams of being a star on stage again was gone. Thirteen years later Lora passed away due to health complications. While she may be gone, her short-lived dream continues on in the memory of Halyx.
Looking Back On One Fateful Summer
Things didn’t work out for Halyx, they had so much unique and exciting potential. They even had a few loyal fans that summer of ’81 that came to their shows every night. It just was not enough to convince Disney or any other record label to do anything to make the band bigger. Viewers’ responses to the Halyx documentary are mostly the same, “Why weren’t they bigger? I would have gone to see them!”
It’s a cruel reality that such creative ideas become such obscure and fleeting memories. No props or demos or hardly anything remains left from Halyx. The only thing that remains of Halyx is Lora’s red jacket that her niece has kept. It shows how much Halyx meant to Lora and how she held on to the dreams of what could have been. Such a small cult following may one day bring Halyx back into Disney’s mind, but even if it doesn’t, Halyx can still live on in the memory of that one fateful summer.
