The Pandoras were formed when singer/guitarist Paula Pierce, a member of the mod/garage/pop Action Now, met singer/guitarist/bass player Deborah Mendoza (a.k.a. Menday), at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga in 1982. Pierce brought in Gwynne Kahn (also known as Gwynne Kelly) on keyboards/rhythm guitar and Mendoza brought in drummer Casey Gomez. After a band meeting in December 1982, the Pandoras were born, though names such as the Keyholes, Hole, the wHolesome, and the Goodwylls were considered first. After recording the 'I'm Here I'm Gone' EP on Moxie Records in 1983, Mendoza left the group and was replaced by Bambi Conway, a childhood friend of Kahn. This line-up recorded the band's debut album in 1984, with 'It's About Time', being released on Greg Shaw's Bomp! Records. In 1984, the Pandoras split into two factions just as 'It's About Time' was being released, with Conway quitting the group, after which Pierce fired Kahn, and then when Gomez left these three now ex-members later reformed as the Original Pandoras' in 2025. Pierce decided to continue as the Pandoras, immediately recruiting three new members who embarked on tour for the 'It's About Time' release. The new line-up consisted of Melanie Vammen on keyboards, Julie Patchouli on bass, and Karen Blankfeld on drums, and momentum began picking up with the release of the 'Hot Generation' single on Bomp! Records in late 1984. Patchouli departed the Pandoras in the spring of 1985, and was replaced in July 1985 by bassist/backing vocalist Kim Shattuck, future founder of the Muffs. The band then signed to Rhino Records and began recording the basic tracks for the 'Stop Pretending' album during the winter of 1985 with producer Bill Inglot, and the record was released in 1986. The band continued to play live and record demos for what would be their next album, and in 1987 Elektra A&R man Steve Pross signed the band to Elektra Records. They group made numerous attempts to record an album to be titled 'Come Inside', but during this period, Blankfeld was forced from the band due to disagreements about band management, and was replaced with Kelly Dillard on drums. Dillard was only in the Pandoras for two months, but during that time she appeared in photoshoots intended for the Elektra cover of 'Come Inside', before she was replaced on drums in November 1987 by Sheri Kaplan. Before the release of the record, which had reached the test-pressing stage, Pross was let go by Elektra Records, and as a result, the label dropped both bands he had signed — Jetboy and The Pandoras — with their respective records being withdrawn from release. Many of the demo recordings the Pandoras made during the Elektra-era eventually surfaced on the 'Psychedelic Sluts' bootleg CD, but test pressings of 'Come Inside' did escape, and so we can now hear the finished album, although the artwork with Kelly Dillard has yet to surface.
Track listing
01 Run Down Love Battery
02 Take The Lead
03 Just A Picture
04 Hard On Me
05 Again And Again
06 Hungry For You
07 What I Need & What I Don't
08 I Walk Away
09 Wear My Ring
10 Craving For Your Love
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