Gunhill Road

Last updated
Gunhill Road
Also known asGun Hill Road
Origin Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Genres
Years active
  • 1969-1976
  • 2011
  • 2014
  • 2019-present
Labels
MembersBrian Koonin
  • Steve Goldrich
  • Paul Reisch
  • Michael Harrison
Past members
  • Gil Roman
  • Glenn Leopold
  • Larry Cullen
Website www.gunhillroadmusic.com

Gunhill Road are an American rock band formed in 1969 in Mount Vernon, New York. The band was founded by guitarist Glenn Leopold, pianist Steve Goldrich, and bassist Gil Roman, who was replaced by Paul Reisch in 1973. They are best known as one-hit wonders for their lone pop hit, "Back When My Hair Was Short", which peaked at number 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in June 1973. On the Cash Box Top 100, the song reached number 25, and spent 15 weeks on the chart. [1] It reached number 37 on the Adult Contemporary chart. [2] In Canada, the song reached number 53. [3]

Career

The band released two albums in the 1970s. Their first release, on Mercury Records, was 1971's First Stop, credited to "Gun Hill Road". The second album, Gunhill Road, was released in 1972 and produced by Kenny Rogers. However, the original version of the song "Back When My Hair Was Short" had several references to drugs, and thus was re-recorded with changed lyrics and a more up-tempo feel to make it more radio-friendly. The songs "Sailing" and "42nd Street" were also re-recorded. When the album was re-released, "Back When My Hair Was Short" became a national hit. [4] The album received positive reviews, and was often featured on many FM and college radio stations. According to Billboard, "Back When My Hair Was Short" had the distinction in 1973 of being top 10 in more different markets at more different times than any other record of that year.

They were long sought after as opening acts, working with George Carlin, Robert Klein, Poco, Harry Chapin, Jim Croce, John Sebastian, Lily Tomlin, Cheech & Chong, Gordon Lightfoot, Soupy Sales and Bette Midler. [5] In addition, they appeared on American Bandstand, Midnight Special and other TV programs.

On October 24, 2011, the Wounded Bird label reissued the 1973 version of the "Gunhill Road" album on CD with five bonus tracks: The non-LP tracks "Ford Desoto Cadillac" and "We Can't Ride The Roller Coaster Anymore", and the original 1972 versions of "Sailing", "42nd Street" and "Back When My Hair Was Short".

On November 4, 2011, Glenn Leopold, Paul Reisch and Steven Goldrich reunited for the first time since 1976 to perform at a benefit in Montclair, N.J. to feed the homeless, and honor their former manager and longtime Bitter End owner Paul Colby.

In October 2014, they returned to the Bitter End to perform for the first time in 40 years. Also in 2014, the group self-released their first album since 1973, aptly titled Every 40 Years. In 2017, a documentary film of the same name was released, detailing the band's history and reunion.

In 2019, they started recording their fourth album, What Year Is This, although its release was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This album included the single I Know You're Real.

In 2022, the group started work on a fifth album. With the addition of Brian Koonin and Michael Harrison, the four person group intends to release a 19 track album in the fall of 2022. On August 19, 2022, the first track from the upcoming album, Idiots, was released, commenting on talk radio.

The band's name comes from a major street located in the northern New York City borough of the Bronx. The street serves as the official border that divides the North Bronx from the South Bronx and is also served by two New York City Subway stops, Gun Hill Road and East Gun Hill Road and one Metro North Railroad station.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ace Frehley</span> American guitarist, founding member of Kiss

Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman and played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982. After leaving Kiss, Frehley formed his own band named Frehley's Comet and released two albums with this group. He subsequently embarked on a solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a highly successful reunion tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pretenders</span> British-American rock band

The Pretenders are a British-American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott in 1982 and Farndon in 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; Hynde has been the band's only consistent member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slade</span> British rock band

Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The British Hit Singles & Albums names them the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles. They were the first act to have three singles enter the charts at number one; all six of the band's chart-toppers were penned by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. As of 2006, total UK sales stand at 6,520,171, and their best-selling single, "Merry Xmas Everybody", has sold in excess of one million copies. According to the 1999 BBC documentary It's Slade, the band have sold more than 50 million records worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Jones</span> American singer-songwriter

Gloria Richetta Jones is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" and has worked in multiple genres as a Motown songwriter and recording artist, backing vocalist, and as a performer in musicals such as Hair. In the 1970s, she was a keyboardist and vocalist in Marc Bolan's glam rock band T. Rex. She and Bolan were also in a committed romantic relationship and had a son, Rolan Bolan, together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Seger</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1945)

Robert Clark Seger is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, breaking through with his first album, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man in 1969. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the 'System' from his recordings and continued to strive for broader success with various other bands. In 1973, he put together the Silver Bullet Band, with a group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful on the national level with the album Live Bullet (1976), recorded live with the Silver Bullet Band in 1975 at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. In 1976, he achieved a national breakout with the studio album Night Moves. On his studio albums, he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, which appeared on several of Seger's best-selling singles and albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheena Easton</span> British singer (born 1959)

Sheena Shirley Easton is a Scottish singer and actress. She came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television series The Big Time: Pop Singer, which recorded her attempts to gain a record deal and her eventual signing with the EMI label. Easton's first two singles, "Modern Girl" and "9 to 5", both entered the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart simultaneously. She became one of the most successful British female recording artists of the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November Rain</span> 1992 single by Guns N Roses

"November Rain" is a song by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Written by the band's lead vocalist Axl Rose, the power ballad was released in February 1992 as the third single from their third studio album, Use Your Illusion I (1991). The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was the longest song to enter the top ten of the chart at the time of its release. Currently, it is the fourth longest song to enter the Hot 100 chart. Additionally, "November Rain" reached number two on the Portuguese Singles Chart, number four on the UK Singles Chart, and the top 10 on several other music charts around the world.

<i>Too Fast for Love</i> 1981 studio album by Mötley Crüe

Too Fast for Love is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. The first edition of 900 copies was released on November 10, 1981, on the band's original label Leathür Records. Elektra Records signed the band the following year, at which point the album was remixed and partially re-recorded. This re-release, with a different track listing and slightly different artwork, has become the standard version from which all later reissues derive. The re-recorded album also removed the song "Stick to Your Guns", though it is featured on a bonus track version of the album. The original mix of the album remained unreleased on CD until 2002, when it was included in the Music to Crash Your Car To: Vol. 1 box set compilation.

<i>Aerosmith</i> (album) 1973 studio album by Aerosmith

Aerosmith is the debut studio album by the American rock band Aerosmith, released on January 5, 1973, by Columbia Records. "Dream On", originally released as a single in 1973, became an American top ten hit when re-released on 27 December 1975. The album peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard 200 album chart in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paradise City</span> 1989 single by Guns N Roses

"Paradise City" is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). Released as a single in January 1989, it is the only song on the album to feature a synthesizer. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100—becoming the band's third single to reach the Top 10—and number six on the UK Singles Chart. It also topped the Irish Singles Chart, their first of three singles to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Positively 4th Street</span> Original song written and composed by Bob Dylan

"Positively 4th Street" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, reaching No. 1 on Canada's RPM chart, No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song as No. 203 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Rose</span> American musician

Timothy Alan Patrick Rose was an American singer and songwriter who spent much of his life in London, England, and had more success in Europe than in his native country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rio (song)</span> 1982 song by Duran Duran

"Rio" is the seventh single by English new wave band Duran Duran. It was first released as a single in Australia, in August 1982, followed by a UK release on 1 November 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Runaway (Bon Jovi song)</span> 1984 single by Bon Jovi

"Runaway" is the debut single by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was originally recorded in 1981 for the so-called "Power Station Demos" at the beginning of singer Jon Bon Jovi's career, featuring the vocalist backed by session musicians.

Seven Bridges Road is a song written by American musician Steve Young, recorded in 1969 for his Rock Salt & Nails album. It has since been covered by many artists, the best-known versions being a five-part harmony arrangement by English musician Iain Matthews in 1973 and the version recorded by the American rock band the Eagles in 1980.

<i>Hollies</i> (1974 album) 1974 studio album by The Hollies

Hollies is the 14th UK studio album by the English pop rock group the Hollies, released in 1974, marking the return of Allan Clarke after he had left for a solo career. It features the band's cover of Albert Hammond's ballad "The Air That I Breathe," a major worldwide hit that year. The album has the same title as the band's third album from 1965.

Glenn Leopold is an American writer and musician. He worked for Hanna-Barbera as a story editor, writer, character creator, and show developer. He is also a member of the music band, Gunhill Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. Rex (band)</span> English rock band

T. Rex were an English rock band, formed in 1967 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan, who was their leader, frontman and only consistent member. Though initially associated with the psychedelic folk genre, Bolan began to change the band's style towards electric rock in 1969, and shortened their name to T. Rex the following year. This development culminated in 1970 with their first hit single "Ride a White Swan", and the group soon became pioneers of the glam rock movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuck on Replay</span> 2010 single by Scooter

"Stuck on Replay" is a song by German electronic dance band Scooter. It was released in March 2010 as the fourth single from Under the Radar Over the Top. The song was the official anthem of the 2010 IIHF World Championship in Germany. The single is themed after the IIHF as is the Under the Radar Over the Top tour. The single was also released on the day of the Hamburg concert during the tour.

Rick Shorter was an American songwriter, music producer, and author. During the 1960s when he was most active, he produced and arranged for a multitude of artists. They include Ciska Peters, Big Dee Irwin, and Galt MacDermot. His compositions have been covered by Ola & the Janglers, The Five Tornados, Johnny And The Hurricanes, The Liverbirds, The Esquires, Gene Pitney and Burl Ives. He also composed, arranged, and produced "If I Call You By Some Name" which was a hit for The Paupers. In the 1970s, Shorter returned to his faith and, along with his wife Gwen became very active in the Seventh-day Adventist church from which he had drifted away over prior years.

References

  1. "Cash Box Top 100 6/30/73". Archived from the original on 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 103.
  3. "Archived copy". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Every 40 Years. Directed by Eric Goldrich and Ben Friedberg, Indie Rights, 2017. 19:52.
  5. Lincoln, Ross A. (2017-01-23). "'Every 40 Years' Trailer: There Are Plenty Of Second Acts In American Lives". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-03-02.