Single Premiere: "Winona Ryder"
Announcing The New Ridel High Digital EP, 'B-Sides + Demos'
“Why does every girl I meet look like Winona Ryder?”
That was a fair question to ask if you hung around Hollywood rock clubs in the mid-‘90s. Long before the ubiquitous early 2000s “Free Winona” T-shirts and her well-deserved Stranger Things praise, the quirky Gen X movie star and fashion icon inspired countless rockers and fans to embrace jet black hair and pale white skin.
“I kept meeting women that were rocking the Winona Ryder ‘goth look’ when I moved back out to LA from Connecticut in ‘94,” said Ridel High frontman, Kevin Ridel.
Ridel wrote his ode to the phenomenon in May of that year, shortly before forming the band Lunch Box with bassist JC Brandy (later of Lo-Ball). His former heavy metal bandmate, and Weezer frontman, Rivers Cuomo was the first drummer to perform it live when he sat in with the band for their debut show at Club Lingerie.
“I loved Pixies back then. At that time, Rivers also introduced me to The Velvet Underground. I was listening to their first and third albums a lot around the time I wrote ‘Winona Ryder’,” Ridel said.
⚡️💥 “Winona Ryder” Video Premiere
Lunch Box morphed into the alt pop trio Ridel High.
Ridel switched from guitar to bass, adding guitarist Steve LeRoy and drummer Steve Coulter (aka me, S.W. Lauden). “Winona Ryder” was a staple of early set lists and the B-side for the “Mouthful of You” 7-inch. Those two early demos were recorded by Popsicko frontman Keith Brown at his downtown Santa Barbara apartment in 1995.
“Vocally it’s very deadpan since that was also a part of Winona Ryder’s persona from her goth phase,” Ridel said.
“Winona Ryder” was recently remastered by Os Tyler (The Brothers Steve) for the new Ridel High digital EP, B-Sides + Demos, available on streaming and Bandcamp Feb. 13. The 5-song collection also features: “Facelift” and “Mindblower” (engineered by Thom Flowers at Santa Barbara’s Orange Whip studios, 1997); and “Motorboat” and “Defenseless” (engineered by Joey Vera at Bill’s Place in Van Nuys, 1998).
“I don’t believe Winona Ryder has ever even heard our song,” Ridel said. “I love Stranger Things. My wife and I watched the first two seasons when they came out a few years ago. My son recently got me back into watching the show. We are presently on season 2. I’m hoping to make it past the mind flayer this time around.”
“Winona Ryder” didn’t make the cut for our only album.
That collection was produced by Lagwagon frontman Joey Cape and engineered by Ryan Green. It was originally released as Hi Scores by Cape’s My Records in 1997 before being re-released as Emotional Rollercoaster by A&M Records in 1998.
In addition to the new album title and cover, A&M Records tapped Devo bassist Gerald Casale to direct a video for Ridel High’s single, “Self Destructive.” A demo version of “Self Destructive” was later included on the Generation Blue vinyl compilation and Hollywood geek rock oral history from Big Stir Records in 2024.
“Stylistically I don’t think ‘Winona Ryder’ fit in with the other songs like ‘Self Destructive’ on Hi Scores, and we had already dropped it from our live set. Although, after the fact, it did end up on the Japanese version of Emotional Rollercoaster along with one of our other demos for the song ‘Blue’,” Ridel said.
Album diss aside, “Winona Ryder” became a setlist fixture for the sporadic reunion shows Ridel and I have put together with rocker pals over the years. And I’m pretty sure you’ll hear it at Nerf Herder’s “30 Years of Golf Shirt” show with Summercamp and Ridel High at The Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara on April 18, 2026.
It really freaks me out that more than 30 years have passed since we recorded the “Winona Ryder” demo, but we’re stoked to share this remastered version with you.
Look At Me Now
One of the strangest things about putting the Generation Blue project together over the last few years was writing about my own ‘90s Geek Rock trio Ridel High.
I think Winona would be flattered. Maybe think of sending the link to her agent!