The Underdogs were serious musicians whos sense of expression and instrumentation were somewhat commercially daring. Ed Ryan on the other hand was an accessable talent who wrote hook laden songs that hit you directly where it counted. He also had a versitile singing voice and an alluring stage presence. The combination was like getting chocolate in your peanut butter.

Being that Ed Ryan's name was well known on the Island and The Underdogs were still to keep their own identity, the plan was to join together to become an entirely seperate animal. One where Ed can showcase his material with a compitant group of musicians, and The Underdogs can widen their audience and broaden their style. We were simply Ed Ryan and The Underdogs.

Once getting over the initial attitude adjustment, this new unit matured and progressed at a breakneck pace. Within our first year together we doubled our audience, recorded a large amount of demos and embarked on a national tour in support of the then widely popular Debbie Gibson. Gibson hailed from the same hometown as Ed and in her earliest experiences on stage, Ed was there as part of the same theatre group. Years later when the opportunity arose, Debbie did not forget Ed and along with the Underdogs we hit the road in summer of 1988.