Kevin Raleigh | |
---|---|
Born | Cleveland, Ohio, United States | February 27, 1952
Origin | United States |
Genres | Rock, pop |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, keyboards |
Years active | 1969–1990 |
Labels | Mainstream, Arista, EMI, MSB, Atlantic, Razor & Tie |
Kevin Raleigh is an American singer and keyboardist best known for his tenure with the Michael Stanley Band.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, on February 27, 1952, [1] Raleigh came to local prominence in 1969 with the band Paper Sun, later known as Freeport Express and Freeport. As Freeport, the band cut an album in Miami for Mainstream Records. [2]
In 1973, Raleigh was recruited by former Raspberries members Jim Bonfanti and Dave Smalley to join them in the band Dynamite, who cut an album of Smalley-Raleigh originals which was never released.
Raleigh would also be a member of Bonfanti's subsequent band, Pictures, formed in 1977. That same year he was in a band with Paper Sun/Freeport bandmate Roger Lewis and guitarist Neil Giraldo.
Raleigh first performed with the Michael Stanley Band when they toured behind their 1978 album Cabin Fever. His first recording with the band was Greatest Hints in 1978, on which he emerged—in tandem with Stanley—as one of the band's singers and songwriters. [3]
Remaining with MSB until its 1987 dissolution, Raleigh was responsible for several of MSB's most high-profile cuts, including "Someone Like You", "When I'm Holding You Tight" and the band's most successful single, "He Can't Love You" (featuring Raleigh on lead vocals), which peaked on the Hot 100 at #33 in January 1981. [4]
Raleigh went on to record a solo album, Delusions of Grandeur, released on Atlantic Records in the spring of 1989. The album included two tracks, "I Should've Known Better" and "The Art of War", produced by Neil Giraldo, who had gone on to become Pat Benatar's guitarist, songwriter and husband. The track "Moonlight on Water"—one of only two of the album's ten tracks not written by Raleigh—was produced by Peter Coleman, who had also worked extensively with Benatar. [5]
Issued as a single, "Moonlight on Water" reached #60 on the Billboard Hot 100, but otherwise Raleigh's bid for a solo career was largely overlooked. (A 1990 version by Laura Branigan had a single release whose chart performance echoed that of Raleigh's original; Branigan took the song to #59.)
Raleigh subsequently moved into the field of artist management and in 2008 he was listed as an owner of the L.A.-based Associated Talent Management (ATM). [6]
Patricia Mae Giraldo is an American singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has two multi-platinum albums, five platinum albums, and 15 US Billboard top 40 singles, while in Canada she had eight straight platinum albums, and she has sold over 36 million albums worldwide. She is also a four-time Grammy Award winner. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022.
The Raspberries were an American pop rock band formed in 1970 from Cleveland, Ohio. They had a run of success in the early 1970s music scene with their pop rock sound, which AllMusic later described as featuring "exquisitely crafted melodies and achingly gorgeous harmonies." The members were known for their clean-cut public image and matching suits, which brought them teenybopper attention as well as scorn from some mainstream media outlets as "uncool". The group drew influence from the British Invasion era—especially the Beatles, the Who, the Hollies, and the Small Faces—and its mod sensibility. In both the US and the UK, the Raspberries helped pioneer the power pop music style that took off after the group disbanded. They also have had a following among professional musicians such as Jack Bruce, Ringo Starr, and Courtney Love.
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single "Gloria", stayed on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking at No. 2. It also reached number one in Australia and Canada. Branigan's "Gloria" was a cover of a song written by Italian singer-songwriters Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi. In 1984, she reached number one in Canada and Germany and No. 4 in the U.S. with "Self Control" a cover of Italian singer and songwriter Raf from the same year. Both "Gloria" and "Self Control" were successful in the United Kingdom, making the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.
Michael Stanley was an American singer-songwriter, musician, radio and television personality. As a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band (MSB), and Michael Stanley and the Resonators (MS&R) his brand of heartland rock was popular in Cleveland, Ohio, and around the American Midwest in the 1970s and 1980s.
Eric Howard Carmen was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of the Raspberries, with whom he recorded the hit "Go All the Way" and four albums. He embarked on a solo career in 1975 and had global success with "All by Myself", "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", "She Did It", "Hungry Eyes", and "Make Me Lose Control". In later years, he toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band before reforming the Raspberries in 2004.
Dann Lee Huff is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the Musician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Country Music Association Awards and the Producer of the Year award in 2006 and 2009 at the Academy of Country Music. He is the father of American singer and songwriter Ashlyne Huff, a member of Giant and White Heart and brother of drummer David Huff.
James Alexander Bonfanti is a rock drummer who is best known for having been a member of the band Raspberries.
Hurricane is an American heavy metal band formed in 1985. The original line-up featured singer Kelly Hansen, guitarist Robert Sarzo, bassist Tony Cavazo (ex-SNOW) and drummer Jay Schellen. Tony and Robert are the brothers of Quiet Riot's Carlos Cavazo and Rudy Sarzo.
Seven the Hard Way is the sixth studio album by American singer Pat Benatar, released on October 30, 1985, by Chrysalis Records. It debuted on the US Billboard 200 for the week of December 14 and peaked at number 26, spawning the singles "Invincible", "Sex as a Weapon", and "Le Bel Age". The album has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"Love Is a Battlefield" is a song by American singer Pat Benatar, recorded and released on September 12, 1983, as a single from Benatar's live album Live from Earth (1983), though the song itself was a studio recording. It was written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman. The song was ranked at number 30 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s. "Love Is a Battlefield" went on to sell over a million records.
"Heartbreaker" is a song by American singer Pat Benatar from her debut studio album In the Heat of the Night (1979). Written and composed by Geoff Gill and Cliff Wade, the song had first been recorded by English singer Jenny Darren on her 1978 album Queen of Fools, and Benatar adjusted the original lyrics, as such references as "A to Zed" and "moonraker" would have likely confused American listeners.
The Choir was a garage rock band largely active in the greater Cleveland area from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s. Originally called The Mods, their largest commercial success came with the release of their first single "It's Cold Outside" in December 1966. The song, considered to be a classic of the garage rock era, was featured on Pebbles, Volume 2, one of the earlier garage rock compilation LPs. The flipside, "I'm Going Home" was included as a bonus track when the Pebbles album was reissued as a CD, and it can also be found on a garage rock compilation LP on Ohio bands, Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 9. The Choir is well known for containing three of the four original members of Raspberries.
"Moonlight on Water", also known as "Moonlight on Water ", is a popular song written and composed by Steve Kipner, best known for writing Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", and Andy Goldmark. The song was originally recorded by Kevin Raleigh for his 1989 album Delusions of Grandeur and was released as a single. It reached No. 60 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on 24 June 1989.
Based on a True Story is an album by the American band the Del-Lords, released in 1988 on Enigma Records. The band supported the album with a North American tour.
MSB is an album by the Cleveland, Ohio-based Michael Stanley Band that was released in August 1982 on the EMI America label. It was the band's third release on the EMI America label. The record reached #136 on the Billboard Magazine Album Charts in 1982 and was lead guitarist Gary Markasky's last outing with the group.
You Can't Fight Fashion is the final major-label album by the rock band Michael Stanley Band. The album was the band's highest charting album reaching #64 on the Billboard Magazine Top 200 in late 1983 and staying there for almost three weeks. The album features the hit singles "My Town" and "Someone Like You" as well as Stanley's song about a mining disaster called Fire in the Hole.
Heartland is an album by the Michael Stanley Band released in 1980. It reached No. 86 on the Billboard 200 album chart in 1981. The album stayed in the top 100 for over eight weeks and was in the top 200 for an additional ten weeks.
"Hell Is for Children" is a hard rock song by American rock singer Pat Benatar. It was written by guitarist Neil Giraldo, bass player Roger Capps and Benatar. The song is about child abuse and was recorded by Benatar in 1980 for her second studio album Crimes of Passion. While it was not released as an A-side single, it was a hit on album-rock radio stations as it reached number 7 on the Tunecaster Rock Tracks Chart.
Greatest Hints is an album by the Cleveland, Ohio based Michael Stanley Band that was released on Arista Records in 1979 and reached #148 on the Billboard Magazine charts. The album cover art prominently features the members of the band in black and white photographs. This was a direct attempt to introduce the world to Michael and his bandmates.
Neil Thomas Giraldo is an American musician, record producer, arranger, and songwriter best known as the musical partner of Pat Benatar since 1979 – and spouse since 1982. He has also performed, written and produced for artists including Rick Derringer, John Waite, Rick Springfield, Kenny Loggins, Steve Forbert, The Del-Lords, Scott Kempner, and Beth Hart. Giraldo's diverse work has sold over 45 million records and his contributions have produced five Grammy Awards and an additional four Grammy nominations. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Benatar.