Noh Mercy

Born out of the ashes of the early San Francisco punk band Angels of Light, Noh Mercy were a two woman band formed in 1977 with Esmerelda on vocals and Tony Hotel on drums. Tightly connected with the late 1970s punk community, the two women let bands such as Pink Section and Tuxedo Moon use their basement as a rehearsal space (Esmerelda and Tony’s roommate and manager Adrian Craig was also the manager of Tuxedo Moon during the time). Initially calling themselves On The Rag, they soon changed their name to Noh Mercy. Tony Hotel had previously played in a seven piece Society Band that opened a show for Buddy Rich. Later, Rich made mention of her on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson”.

In 1978, Esmerelda slipped a cassette tape into Jim Fouratt’s pocket who gave it to Bob Last, who took it to Edinburgh, Scotland and the two songs “Revolutionary Spy” and “Caucasian Guilt” were released on the Earcom 3 compilation album. The band lasted from 1977-1979. Recently, Tony found a box of missing tapes, which Noh Mercy are re-mastering. Esmerelda currently works as a clothier and has designed the costumes for music videos for such artists as Busta Rhymes, ODB,E-40, Faith Evans, Timbaland, Digital Underground and Shonen Knife. Tony has been teaching drums and guitar privately for the last decade.