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Featured Band archive K
KEEL
May 14-20, 2009
We're very excited to bring you KEEL this week. After a long hiatus this iconic rock band is back. KEEL's beefy rock anthems, along with their hard rockin' tunes filled with catchy hooks and their moving power ballads, earned the band a strong loyal following that has stuck by them for 25 years, never giving up on the hope that KEEL would return. I myself still have two KEEL albums on vinyl. And now, return they have!
Reunion photo with KEEL logo by Rock-N-Motion. Used with permission. Courtesy of KEEL
KEEL's story began back in 1984. However, before KEEL had its start Ron Keel, the band's founder, had his start in Tennessee band, Lust. He later moved to L.A. like so many rock star hopefuls did during that time. He eventually formed Steeler with guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen (who later was in Alcatrazz and eventually achieved success as a solo artist), bass player Rik Fox (who was, incidently, also once a member of a local Phoenix band I knew, Surgical Steel, as well as also later performing with Hellion and W.A.S.P.), and drummer Mark Edwards. Steeler was one of the biggest acts in L.A. at the time and even released a self-titled album in 1984 that has been said to have been the highest selling independent album of all time at one point.
After the demise of Steeler, Ron formed KEEL. It was March 1984 and Hollywood was the hotbed of the glam and sleaze rock tidal wave that was starting to flood the planet. Besides Ron, the original lineup included guitarist Marc Ferrari, guitarist David Henzerling (aka David Michael-Philips, whom I interviewed a few weeks ago as part of our feature on his current band, Big Cock), bassist Kenny Chaisson and drummer Bobby Marks. Just one month later they had recorded a two song demo and played their first gig to a sold out crowd of 1500 people. David was approached by Carmine Appice, in attendance at this first gig, who asked David to join his new project, King Kobra. David accepted the offer and was replaced in KEEL by Brian Jay.
During the summer of 1984 KEEL began work on their first album, "Lay Down The Law". Before that album's completion the band was signed to Gold Mountain/A&M Records. When given a list of producers to choose from, the band chose rock god Gene Simmons to produce their new album, which was to be "The Right To Rock", and he agreed.
While recording "The Right To Rock" the band went through a number of drummers in an effort to replace Bobby Marks, finally getting Dangerous Dwain Miller. Recording continued through the fall of that year. Since KEEL had only written three more new songs after starting the recording of their debut album, "Lay Down The Law", they decided to re-record three songs from "Lay Down The Law" to include on "The Right To Rock" with the three new songs, and also added three songs that Gene Simmons had written.
"Lay Down The Law" was released in November of 1984 on Shrapnel Records, followed closely by the release of "The Right To Rock" in January 1985. "The Right To Rock" was to become the fastest selling debut record in A&M's history, with the title track becoming a huge hit on MTV and radio stations everywhere.
Throughout most of 1985 KEEL toured in support of "The Right To Rock". They also won "Best New Band" awards from numerous major rock publications. However, when A&M failed to support the band's next single, "Easier Said Than Done", KEEL moved on to MCA Records. The whirlwind year for the band closed out with them starting the recording of their third album, "The Final Frontier".
In March 1986 "The Final Frontier" was released and the band set out on a six week European tour supporting Dio in front of sold out crowds. The album received rave reviews and was another big seller for the band, as the song "Because The Night" became a big hit. The band continued touring throughout 1986, hitting North America, as well as a sold out headlining tour of Japan.
At the end of 1986 work began on the next album, the band's self-titled album which was released in May 1987 and included the single "Somebody's Waiting". KEEL was then invited to open the first shows for Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls" tour, and later opened for Bon Jovi at the end of their "Slippery When Wet" tour.
Unfortunately, business and personal issues started causing serious problems for the band in 1988 and Marc Ferrari left KEEL and formed his own band, Cold Sweat. KEEL went on to release "Larger Than Live", which featured six live songs recorded at The Roxy in Hollywood and six studio songs. However, by September 1989 Ron decided it's time to call it quits and KEEL, which has sold 3-4 million records around the world, was disbanded.
Now fast forward 20 years. Although the band released "KEEL VI: Back In Action", a compilation of previously unreleased tracks, in 1998, they haven't performed together live since 1989. However, original members Ron, Marc, Bryan and Dwain come together with bassist Gene Arce to launch KEEL's 25th Anniversary Reunion 2009 tour. The first show takes place in front of an eager sold out crowd at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood, California to much critical acclaim. The reunited KEEL make such a big splash that the momentum carries them on to begin work on a brand new KEEL album. In addition, the band will be performing in at least four major U.S. summer rock festivals along with some select club dates, including one close to me in Tempe, Arizona (a homecoming of sorts since Ron, Dwain and Gene are all from the Phoenix area). Everything regarding KEEL's 25th Anniversary is being documented for a DVD to be released later. As for any other future plans, only time will tell.....but we, along with all the other KEEL fans around the globe, hope there is a lot more music from KEEL in the years to come!
We will, of course, have any tour dates for KEEL posted on our events page, and any album release news on our news page, but you can also visit KEEL's MySpace page and/or website for info, as well. Also, be sure to read my interview with Ron Keel for more tidbits. And, we'll be sure to have a review of the new CD once it's released, too.
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May 14-20, 2009
We're very excited to bring you KEEL this week. After a long hiatus this iconic rock band is back. KEEL's beefy rock anthems, along with their hard rockin' tunes filled with catchy hooks and their moving power ballads, earned the band a strong loyal following that has stuck by them for 25 years, never giving up on the hope that KEEL would return. I myself still have two KEEL albums on vinyl. And now, return they have!
Reunion photo with KEEL logo by Rock-N-Motion. Used with permission. Courtesy of KEEL
KEEL's story began back in 1984. However, before KEEL had its start Ron Keel, the band's founder, had his start in Tennessee band, Lust. He later moved to L.A. like so many rock star hopefuls did during that time. He eventually formed Steeler with guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen (who later was in Alcatrazz and eventually achieved success as a solo artist), bass player Rik Fox (who was, incidently, also once a member of a local Phoenix band I knew, Surgical Steel, as well as also later performing with Hellion and W.A.S.P.), and drummer Mark Edwards. Steeler was one of the biggest acts in L.A. at the time and even released a self-titled album in 1984 that has been said to have been the highest selling independent album of all time at one point.
After the demise of Steeler, Ron formed KEEL. It was March 1984 and Hollywood was the hotbed of the glam and sleaze rock tidal wave that was starting to flood the planet. Besides Ron, the original lineup included guitarist Marc Ferrari, guitarist David Henzerling (aka David Michael-Philips, whom I interviewed a few weeks ago as part of our feature on his current band, Big Cock), bassist Kenny Chaisson and drummer Bobby Marks. Just one month later they had recorded a two song demo and played their first gig to a sold out crowd of 1500 people. David was approached by Carmine Appice, in attendance at this first gig, who asked David to join his new project, King Kobra. David accepted the offer and was replaced in KEEL by Brian Jay.
During the summer of 1984 KEEL began work on their first album, "Lay Down The Law". Before that album's completion the band was signed to Gold Mountain/A&M Records. When given a list of producers to choose from, the band chose rock god Gene Simmons to produce their new album, which was to be "The Right To Rock", and he agreed.
While recording "The Right To Rock" the band went through a number of drummers in an effort to replace Bobby Marks, finally getting Dangerous Dwain Miller. Recording continued through the fall of that year. Since KEEL had only written three more new songs after starting the recording of their debut album, "Lay Down The Law", they decided to re-record three songs from "Lay Down The Law" to include on "The Right To Rock" with the three new songs, and also added three songs that Gene Simmons had written.
"Lay Down The Law" was released in November of 1984 on Shrapnel Records, followed closely by the release of "The Right To Rock" in January 1985. "The Right To Rock" was to become the fastest selling debut record in A&M's history, with the title track becoming a huge hit on MTV and radio stations everywhere.
Throughout most of 1985 KEEL toured in support of "The Right To Rock". They also won "Best New Band" awards from numerous major rock publications. However, when A&M failed to support the band's next single, "Easier Said Than Done", KEEL moved on to MCA Records. The whirlwind year for the band closed out with them starting the recording of their third album, "The Final Frontier".
In March 1986 "The Final Frontier" was released and the band set out on a six week European tour supporting Dio in front of sold out crowds. The album received rave reviews and was another big seller for the band, as the song "Because The Night" became a big hit. The band continued touring throughout 1986, hitting North America, as well as a sold out headlining tour of Japan.
At the end of 1986 work began on the next album, the band's self-titled album which was released in May 1987 and included the single "Somebody's Waiting". KEEL was then invited to open the first shows for Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls" tour, and later opened for Bon Jovi at the end of their "Slippery When Wet" tour.
Unfortunately, business and personal issues started causing serious problems for the band in 1988 and Marc Ferrari left KEEL and formed his own band, Cold Sweat. KEEL went on to release "Larger Than Live", which featured six live songs recorded at The Roxy in Hollywood and six studio songs. However, by September 1989 Ron decided it's time to call it quits and KEEL, which has sold 3-4 million records around the world, was disbanded.
Now fast forward 20 years. Although the band released "KEEL VI: Back In Action", a compilation of previously unreleased tracks, in 1998, they haven't performed together live since 1989. However, original members Ron, Marc, Bryan and Dwain come together with bassist Gene Arce to launch KEEL's 25th Anniversary Reunion 2009 tour. The first show takes place in front of an eager sold out crowd at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood, California to much critical acclaim. The reunited KEEL make such a big splash that the momentum carries them on to begin work on a brand new KEEL album. In addition, the band will be performing in at least four major U.S. summer rock festivals along with some select club dates, including one close to me in Tempe, Arizona (a homecoming of sorts since Ron, Dwain and Gene are all from the Phoenix area). Everything regarding KEEL's 25th Anniversary is being documented for a DVD to be released later. As for any other future plans, only time will tell.....but we, along with all the other KEEL fans around the globe, hope there is a lot more music from KEEL in the years to come!
We will, of course, have any tour dates for KEEL posted on our events page, and any album release news on our news page, but you can also visit KEEL's MySpace page and/or website for info, as well. Also, be sure to read my interview with Ron Keel for more tidbits. And, we'll be sure to have a review of the new CD once it's released, too.
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