Atlantic Recording Corporation is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of two decades, starting from the release of its first recordings in January 1948, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz, R&B, and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin, and Yes.
The Saints were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 1973. Founded by singer-songwriter Chris Bailey, drummer Ivor Hay, and guitarist-songwriter Ed Kuepper, they originally employed fast tempos, raucous vocals and a "buzzsaw" guitar sound that helped initiate punk rock in Australia and identified them with the greater international movement.
Michael Schenker is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group (MSG). He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker. In the mid-1970s, Schenker joined UFO, playing lead and rhythm guitar. He left the band in 1978 to briefly rejoin Scorpions for the recording of Lovedrive, and then to form MSG. He has rejoined UFO three times, producing an album each time. Schenker continues to perform and record. He has been called "a legendary figure in the history of metal guitar."
The Guess Who were a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, with hit songs including "American Woman", "These Eyes", and "No Time".
The Gun Club were an American post-punk band from Los Angeles that existed from 1979 to 1996. Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to incorporate influences from blues, rockabilly, and country music. The Gun Club has been called a "tribal psychobilly blues" band, as well as initiators of the punk blues sound cowpunk – "He (Pierce) took Robert Johnson and pre-war acoustic blues and 'punkified' it. Up until then bands were drawing on Iggy & The Stooges and the New York Dolls but he took it back so much further for inspiration."
Bachman–Turner Overdrive, often abbreviated BTO, are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, founded by three brothers: Randy Bachman, Robbie Bachman and Tim Bachman; along with Fred Turner, in 1973. Their 1970s catalogue included seven top-40 albums and 11 top-40 singles in Canada. In Canada they have six certified platinum albums and one certified gold album; in the US they have five certified gold albums and one certified platinum album. The band has sold approximately 30 million albums worldwide and has fans affectionately known as "gearheads". Many of their songs, including "Let It Ride", "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", "Takin' Care of Business", "Hey You" and "Roll on Down the Highway", still receive regular play on classic rock stations.
D.O.A. is a Canadian punk rock band from Vancouver. They are often referred to as being among the "founders" of hardcore punk, along with Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Angry Samoans, Germs, and Middle Class. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to the second wave of the American punk sound as hardcore.
Prism is a Canadian rock band formed in Vancouver in 1977. They were originally active from 1977 to 1984 and have been active again from 1987 to present. Their classic line-up consisted of lead singer Ron Tabak, guitarist Lindsay Mitchell, keyboardist John Hall, bassist Allen Harlow and drummer Rocket Norton.
Havana 3am was a British-American rock supergroup formed in 1986 by singer/guitarist Nigel Dixon, guitarist Gary Myrick, and bassist Paul Simonon. The band also included Travis Williams, a drummer whom they later found by a newspaper announcement. The band's name was taken from the title of a 1956 album by Pérez Prado. Havana 3am's music incorporated elements of rockabilly, Latin and reggae influences.
Vinnie Vincent Invasion is an American glam metal band, formed in 1984 by former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent.
Gas Giants were a pop rock band from Tempe, Arizona, formed as a successor project to the Gin Blossoms. The group was known as The Pharaohs when they formed in 1997, but changed their name after their label, A&M Records, merged with Universal Records and the band changed hands, re-signing with Interscope Records. Eventually, the group released their album, From Beyond the Back Burner, in 1999 on indie Atomic Pop Records. Comic book artist Geof Darrow provided the artwork for the album. The band featured Gin Blossoms members Robin Wilson, Phillip Rhodes and Daniel Henzerling, as well as Mickey Ferrel, who was previously in the band Grievous Angels. Henzerling was the drummer for the Gin Blossoms before the current drummer, Phillip Rhodes. The band toured with Train in 2000 behind the band's only single, "Quitter".
Beasts of Bourbon were an Australian blues rock band formed in August 1983, with James Baker on drums, Spencer P. Jones on guitar, Tex Perkins on vocals, Kim Salmon on guitar and Boris Sujdovic on bass guitar. Except for mainstays Jones and Perkins, the line-up changed over time as the group splintered and reformed several times. Their debut album, The Axeman's Jazz was released in July 1984. Their debut single, "Psycho", was a cover version of the Leon Payne original. The group disbanded by mid-1985 and each member pursued other musical projects.
RobertRock is an American heavy metal singer who is best known as the longtime frontman of Impellitteri, a position he has held from 1987 to 1988, 1992 to 2000, and now from 2008 to the present day. Rock has also released five albums as a solo artist, and performed with a number of other notable artists, including M.A.R.S., Joshua, Tobias Sammet, Axel Rudi Pell and Warrior.
David Philip Henzerling, a.k.a. David Michael-Philips, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He has been a member of numerous hard rock bands including Schoolboys, Keel, King Kobra, Lizzy Borden, Geronimo!, Liquid Black, Big Cock, Icon, Tunnel, Steelshine and Kelly Keeling & Friends. He is the older brother of Dan Henzerling, also a musician and has two sisters. David was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and moved to Phoenix, Arizona with his family in December 1969. He claims to have been blessed with the good fortune of "...growing up in the 60s, being a teenager in the 70s, living my 20s during the big-80s and starting a family in the 90s...I think I benefited from the best that each decade had to offer..."
"I Ain't Superstitious" is a song written by bluesman Willie Dixon and first recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1961. It recounts various superstitions, including that of a black cat crossing the pathway. The song has been recorded by a number of artists, including Jeff Beck, whose blues rock adaptation in 1968 was named one of Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".
Bradley Mark Shepherd is an Australian rock musician. Shepherd is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and harmonica player; he has performed with several bands, especially Hoodoo Gurus.
Icon is the debut album by American rock band Icon. It included their biggest metal radio hit song, "On Your Feet". The album was re-released the same year with songs 1 and 3 remixed, and a video was made for the remix of "On Your Feet". The album has seen multiple re-releases on CD, in Japan and on the European labels Bear Tracks, AxeKiller and Rock Candy.
Night of the Crime is the second album by American rock band Icon. It was far more polished than their self-titled debut and forayed into areas of glam only previously alluded to on their debut. It was produced and engineered by Eddie Kramer. Around 30 songs were demoed for the album, and Kramer's version included one more finished track, "Hang Tough". Ron Nevison mixed the album and "Hang Tough" did not make it to the final release. The album has, like the debut, been remastered and re-released several times on CD. Night of the Crime was voted third best AOR album of all time by Kerrang! magazine readers in 1988, behind multimillion-selling classic albums by Journey and Michael Bolton.
More Perfect Union is a 1987 release by American rock band Icon. The album, initially released on cassette only, featured a Capitol Records logo like their previous two major label albums, but was in essence an independent release as guitarist Dan Wexler states that, "We lost the deal from Capitol in October/November 1985." After losing the deal and frontman Stephen Clifford, the band played a few shows with new singer Steven Young. However, before starting work on this album, he was replaced by Jerry Harrison, as guitarist John Aquilino was replaced by keyboardist Kevin Stoller, known for his work with Stevie Nicks among others. The cassette originally contained ten tracks, sold out quickly and became a sought-after collectible due to the band's worldwide cult status. Due to fan demand, the album was re-released in 1995 on CD with the title An Even More Perfect Union and included seven bonus tracks, selling initially as a limited numbered edition autographed by Dan Wexler. The later printings are easily identified as they have the logo and title in a different color.
Right Between the Eyes is a 1989 album by American rock band Icon. It marked a number of changes for the band, including a new record label, Megaforce Worldwide/ Atlantic Records and new guitarist Drew Bollmann, who toured with Icon from 1989 - 1991. The album was produced by guitarist Dan Wexler, Dan Zelisko, and radio personality Eddie Trunk, who worked at Megaforce at the time. The album featured a guest vocal appearance by Alice Cooper on the tracks "Two for the Road" and "Holy Man's War". For this album Icon toured with, among others, Ace Frehley of Kiss fame and Electric Angels in the US, and with King's X in the U.K. For the last part of the tour, David Lauser, of Sammy Hagar's band, replaced drummer Dixon. The video for the first single "Taking My Breath Away" was played on MTV's Headbangers Ball in Europe and in the US.
