 Schmidt and Smith played in numerous bands throughout the 1970s, including Cinderella's Revenge and Friction with Peter Laughner.Around 1977, Schmidt and Smith teamed up with Richard Roberts to form Chi-Pig, taking their name from a local barbecue restaurant that sold both chicken and pork (whose sign featured a cartoon drawing of a pig with wings).The band was known for wearing flamboyant flamenco-style Latin-American outfits, even though this had nothing to do with their musical style.