Tuscadero was one of a legion of cutesy punk-pop bands to emerge in the mid-'90s. Taking their inspiration from '70s junk culture and sugar-coated childhoods, the Washington DC-based quartet crafted punk-pop paens to television (they took their name from Suzi Quatro's Happy Days character Leather Tuscadero), teenage crushes and problems with parents. Led by Meilssa Farris (vocals, guitar) and Margaret McCartney (vocals, guitar), Tuscadero built up a cult following in the indie-rock underground with their first two albums -- The Pink Album (1994) and Step Into My Wiggle Room (1995) -- for the DC-based TeenBeat Records. Elektra Records signed the band in 1996, and the group's major label debut was a remixed and partially re-recorded version of The Pink Album which appeared later that summer. Tuscadero's first album recorded specifically for Elektra, My Way or the Highway, was released in the spring of 1998. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine