Keel

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Keel
General information
Genre (s) Hard rock , hair metal
founding 1984, 1998, 2008
resolution 1989
Website keelnation.com
Founding members
Ron Keel
Marc Ferrari
guitar
 David Michael – Phillips (1984)
Kenny Chaison (1984-1989)
Bobby Marks (1984)
Current occupation
singing
 Ron Keel (1984–1989, since 2008)
guitar
 Marc Ferrari (1984–1988, since 2008)
guitar
 Bryan Jay (1984–1988, since 2008)
bass
 Geno Arce (since 2008)
Drums
 Dwain Miller (1984–1989, since 2008)
former members
guitar
 Tony Palmucci (1988-1989)
Jesse Bradman (1988)
Keyboard
 Scott Warren (1988-1989)
Drums
 Fred Coury (1984)
Drums
 Barry Brant (1984)
Drums
 Steve Riley (1984)

Keel is an American metal - band from Los Angeles , California .

The band was mainly active in the 1980s and celebrated their greatest successes in the 1980s, the age of the so-called glam metal bands. The driving force behind Keel was and is singer and namesake Ron Keel . The band has been active again since November 2008.

history

The beginnings

Keel were formed in March 1984 by singer Ron Keel, after the breakup of his previous metal band Steeler , which also included guitarist Yngwie J. Malmsteen . The founding members of Keel include singer Ron, guitarists Marc Ferrari and David Michael-Phillips, bassist Kenny Chaisson and former Steeler drummer Bobby Marks. In April the band recorded a 2-track demo with the songs Lay Down the Law and Speed ​​Demon and played the first concert in front of the Perkin's Palace in Reseda, California, which was sold out with 1,500 people. Drummer Carmine Appice saw Michael-Phillips at this concert and immediately recruited him for his new band King Kobra . His successor on guitar with Keel was Brian Jay.

From June of the same year, the band began in the Prairie Sun Studios with the recordings of their first album Lay Down the Law for the record company Shrapnel Records . Even before the album was released in summer, Keel signed a contract with Gold Mountain Records / A&M Records for the second record . The debut album aroused the interest of Kiss bassist Gene Simmons , who offered to produce their second album. Meanwhile, drummer Bobby Marks had to leave the band. He was replaced first by the later Cinderella drummer Fred Coury, then by Barry Brant from the band Angel and finally by Steve Riley . Riley left the band before the end of the recordings after he got the opportunity to replace Tony Richards at WASP in the summer of 1984 . Dwain Miller became the new Keel drummer.

The successes

The Right to Rock , Keel's second album, was released in January 1985, ten months after the band formed. The theme song was released as a single and received massive airplay on American rock radio and on MTV . Keel toured extensively in the USA and, in addition to club gigs as headliners, played a number of concerts as a support band for bands such as Dokken , Accept , Joan Jett , Triumph , Y&T , Loudness and Queensrÿche . In an episode of the series Throb , the group was seen this year as well as in the movie Never Too Young to Die (German title Lance, never die young ) at the side of lead actor Gene Simmons. The band was this year by readers of music magazines Metal Edge , Circus Magazine and the Hit Parader Magazine for "Best New Band" chosen.

The third album, The Final Frontier , was produced again by Simmons and was released in March 1986. It contained several guest contributions from fellow musicians such as Joan Jett or Gregg Giuffria . Keel played in the USA as the opening act for Krokus , Quiet Riot , Queensrÿche or Aerosmith and in the opening act for Dio for the first time in Europe, as well as at the Texxas Jam Festival in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas in front of 86,000 spectators, where Van Halen was the main band. In the fall of 1986, Keel toured Japan as a headliner.

The follow-up album Keel , bearing the band name , was recorded with producer Michael Wagener and was released in May 1987. The band opened concerts for Mötley Crüe and Bon Jovi in the USA and played their own club tour as headliners. For the soundtrack of the film Dudes they contributed the rose tattoo cover Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw . In 1988 the band was in a state of upheaval. Contractual problems and musical differences contributed to the fact that guitarist Marc Ferrari left the band and started his own band Ferrari , which eventually became Cold Sweat . He was first replaced by keyboardist Jesse Bradman, who was then replaced by Scott Warren. During the recording of the next album, the second guitarist Brian Jay left the band. He was replaced by Tony Palmucci and the recordings ended with him.

In 1989 the band released the album Larger Than Live , a record that consists of half live and new studio recordings. The shallower musical direction, the commercial failure of the album and the fact that Ron Keel was now the only remaining musician of the original formation, marked the end of the band.

After the end of the band

Ron Keel then founded the band Fair Game , which apart from him consisted exclusively of women. After he did not get a record deal with this band, he turned away from the metal scene and recorded a country album called Western Country under the name Ronnie Lee Keel . Keel's return to metal came in 1996 with the Japanese band project Saber Tiger and the album Project One . He played a fusion of metal and country at Iron Horse . Songs with him as a singer have been used in television series such as Desperate Housewives or King of the Hill .

In 1998, as a result of the re-release of Larger Than Live , Keel formed anew in the line-up of the first albums and released a new album entitled Back in Action , which contains some demos in addition to unreleased songs. Among other things, the two original demos of Lay Down the Law and Speed ​​Demon from 1984 can be heard on it.

Ten years later, on November 28th, 2008, the band got together again for their 25th anniversary. Keel now consist of singer Ron Keel, guitarists Marc Ferrari and Bryan Jay, drummer Dwain Miller and the new bassist Geno Arce. Keel played their first concert on January 31, 2009 at Club Vodka in the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, California. In mid-June the group announced that they had started recording a new studio album entitled Streets of Rock & Roll .

Trivia

  • Ron Keel was seen as a hot candidate for the microphone position at Black Sabbath after Steeler's demise .
  • The singer wrote the theme song of their album Rev It Up for the female rock band Vixen .
  • The single The Right to Rock was also released in a Spanish version as Derecho al rock .
  • The band has recorded a few cover versions. The original song Because the Night was written by Patti Smith (composed by Bruce Springsteen ) and Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw by Rose Tattoo ; the group also recorded the title Let's Spend the Night Together by the Rolling Stones .
  • The Keel song Proud to Be Loud was covered by Pantera on their fourth album Power Metal .
  • The song Speed ​​Demon can be heard briefly in the film Men in Black II .
  • Keel have sold about three million records worldwide.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
The right to rock
  US 99 03/09/1985 (21 weeks)
The Final Frontier
  US 53 04/19/1986 (18 weeks)
  UK 83 05/17/1986 (2 weeks)
Keel
  US 79 06/27/1987 (13 weeks)

Albums

  • 1984: Lay Down the Law
  • 1985: The Right to Rock
  • 1986: The Final Frontier
  • 1987: Keel
  • 1989: Larger Than Live (live and 6 new studio recordings)
  • 1998: Back in Action (unreleased songs and demos)
  • 2010: Streets of Rock & Roll
  • 2014: Metal Cowboy

Singles and EPs

  • 1985: The Right to Rock
  • 1985: Easier Said Than Done
  • 1986: Because the Night
  • 1986: Tears of Fire
  • 1986: Tears of Fire (5-track EP released exclusively in Japan)
  • 1986: The Final Frontier
  • 1987: Somebody's Waiting

swell

  1. ↑ Charts UK
  2. ↑ US singles: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 . / US albums: The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .

Web links