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Coup Detroit (pronounced Coo-Day-Twah) have been a Detroit fixture since the early 90s. A band that has always strived to march to the beat of their own drummer, Coup have been one of Detroit's best kept secrets and have always kept their music slightly ahead of the curve. In their almost 20 years of existence, each and every incarnation of the band has drawn acclaim from audiences and fellow musicians representing a range of genres from jazz to rock to progressive to hip hop and rap.
Currently Coup are on hiatus continuing to rehearse when they can and hoping to get out and gig when the opportunities arise. The currently personnel are:
Julie Marcos - vocals
Dan Holmes - guitar, vocals
Glenn Poorman - Stick, vocals
Dave Taylor - drums
Other personnel over the years have included:
Mark Leahy (a.k.a. Swanky D. Lux) - vocals
John Bunkley - vocals
Carla Hankins - vocals
Marykay Blitz - vocals
Rich Murrel - bass
Dan Miester - bass
John Turnage - drums
Scott Burks - drums
Kimmarie Bowens - backing vocals
Geoffrey Hayes - backing vocals
Diane Cauzillo - backing vocals
Dawn - backing vocals
Eric Robinson - backing vocals
Coup Detroit I
The first Coup began as a three piece founded by guitarist and song writer Dan Holmes along with front man Mark Leahy (a.k.a. Swanky D. Lux) and electronics guru Larry ??. In an effort to record some of their material for a local radio contest, Holmes and Leahy enlisted the help of Glenn who produced their first demo tape and added some extra keyboard and guitar parts. Shortly after, Holmes wanted to take the tunes to the club scene and the first live Coup was formed with Holmes, Leahy, Glenn on keyboard and guitar, Rich Murrel on bass, John Turnage on drums, and backup singers Kimmarie, Geoffrey, Diane and Dawn. The original nine-piece group dazzled the Woodward Corridor with their theatrics and their rock/rap performances drawing the attention of producer Mike Clark and the founders of ICP who were looking to sign Coup Detroit to their upstart Psychopathic Records label. Looking to make a jump to a much larger audience, a series of poor decisions and personnel changes plunged the band back into obscurity. By the time this all came to a head, Turnage had left the band and and had been replaced by Detroit area artist and drummer Matt Blake. The backup singers were essentially a revolving door of personnel with Kammarie Bowens being the only fixture. With the departure of Leahy in the mid 90s, Blake and the rest of the backup singers followed suit leaving Holmes, Glenn and Murrel as the only surviving members.
Coup Detroit II
Determined to keep the ball rolling, the remaining members started looking for their next front man and discovered that John Bunkley was in the process of leaving his position fronting local ska band Gangster Fun. John was already known for his dynamic performances and was looking for a change. Right about the same time, local drummer Scott Burks was on hiatus from his band and offerred to fill in on drums until a suitable replacement could be found. The band kicked back into gear but this time they skipped the backup singers and took on a darker and funkier tone. The band was in the process of preparing all new material when bassist Murrel left for greener pastures. Dan Miester came in to take over the bass role and Coup II were ready to take the stage. Glenn was one of the original members playing keyboards and guitar along with co-founder, guitarist and song writer Dan Holmes. Originally a nine piece, the first Coup dazzled the Woodward Corridor with their theatrics and their rock/rap performances featuring Swanky D. Lux up front and a cast of backup singers. The band has gone through many incarnations since then with Glenn moving to bass and then to Stick in 1999. Julie Marcos joined the group in 2005 as the most recent vocalist and in 2006, Coup Detroit released their debut CD "War of the Raptors". In 2008, Dave Taylor joined the band as the most recent drummer. Today Coup are an on again and off again entity and you never know when or where they'll turn up again.