Alexander Bendahan, singer, songwriter, guitarist., mandolinist, harmonicist and kazoo player (and a little tuba and piano).

Alex, born and raised in San Francisco, began his professional musical career at twenty years old in 1970 with a band called Elvis Duck and the Duckettes. The group, a seven piece Boogie Band, performed on the western states circuit. It was at this time that Bill and Alex first met, when Bill's group, then The Beans, first arrived in the Bay Area. The Tubes and Elvis Duck went on to play many of the same venues, often leaving cryptic messages for one another on various dressing room walls.

When the Duck split up in '75 Alex returned to school to study composition at which time he performed with the funk group, The Kenny Wayne Group. In 1977 Alex joined up with ex-Blue Cheer singer/guitarist Bruce Stevens and former Montrose drummer, Billy Carmassi. Their somewhat short-lived band was called Dragon.

In 1978, under the production supervision of John Rewind form the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils , Bendahan and Carmassi started the group Eyes with Marin County musicians, Mike Varney formerly of The Nuns and singer/guitarist David Fredricks.. As the Punk/New Wave era hit in 1979 the band changed their name to Spys. Their efforts were concentrated mostly in the Bay Area club scene.

Also in 1979 Alex made his acting debut in Marty Balin and Mike Varney's musical Rock Justice where his path again met with Bill Spooner's. Bill produced a couple of songs for Alex at Russian Hill Recorders and the two did some gigs together with Bill Spooner's Big Bang. Alex left Spys in 1980 and formed his own group Alex Guinness and the World Records. In 1984, at Bill's suggestion, while on a trip to Germany, Alex met up with some of Bill's contacts there. This led to numerous tours with Alex's European formation, Sign Language.

In between European tours Alex performed with the reggae group Midas and the Bridge from Jamaica, East Bay blues diva Lady Bianca, western rock group The Sandstones, and S.F.'s comic zanies The Stupeds along with Bay Area luminary Joshua Brody.

Interspersed with these performances have been European performances from Denmark to Spain with actor/comedian Johnny Melville from Glasgow Scotland. Alex's day jobs include studio work as a producer, singer and guitarist and live concert sound for Third Ear Sound Company, Slim's Club and the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Most recently Alex has been teaching live sound at the prestigious Ex'pressions Center for New Media School in Emeryville.

In his words. "I'd rather mix concerts than sell out and perform with some insipid '70s, '80s, '90s copy band! Interesting, original, creative, artistic efforts with good people are what do it for me... like The Folk-Ups."