Player - Best Of Player
Biography
Player is an American rock band during the late 1970s. Their #1 hit, “Baby Come Back” was written by Peter Beckett and J.C. Crowley. Player first came together in Los Angeles, California. The original members included Peter Beckett (lead vocals, guitar), John Charles “J.C.” Crowley (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ronn Moss (bass, vocals) and John Friesen (drums). Beckett, a transplanted Englishman, had been in a group called Skyband with Australian Steve Kipner (who’d also played with the popular Aussie act Tin Tin). After Skyband broke up in 1975, Beckett was in LA and met Crowley at a party. He and Crowley teamed up in a new band called Riff Raff, which soon changed its name to Bandana and released a single, “Jukebox Saturday Night”, on Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter’s Haven label. When Haven folded soon after, Lambert & Potter brought the guys over to RSO Records in 1977 and Beckett & Crowley started anew with Moss & Friesen as Player. Wayne Cook, a keyboardist/session player and former member of Steppenwolf, was an additional bandmember for its live performances; he is the curly-haired keyboardist in the band’s videos from the 1970s.
Player is an American rock band during the late 1970s. Their #1 hit, “Baby Come Back” was written by Peter Beckett and J.C. Crowley. Player first came together in Los Angeles, California. The original members included Peter Beckett (lead vocals, guitar), John Charles “J.C.” Crowley (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ronn Moss (bass, vocals) and John Friesen (drums). Beckett, a transplanted Englishman, had been in a group called Skyband with Australian Steve Kipner (who’d also played with the popular Aussie act Tin Tin). After Skyband broke up in 1975, Beckett was in LA and met Crowley at a party. He and Crowley teamed up in a new band called Riff Raff, which soon changed its name to Bandana and released a single, “Jukebox Saturday Night”, on Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter’s Haven label. When Haven folded soon after, Lambert & Potter brought the guys over to RSO Records in 1977 and Beckett & Crowley started anew with Moss & Friesen as Player. Wayne Cook, a keyboardist/session player and former member of Steppenwolf, was an additional bandmember for its live performances; he is the curly-haired keyboardist in the band’s videos from the 1970s.
Player gained popularity as a live act
during the heyday of the 1970s stadium rock era. They began to develop a
distinctive, edgy and melodic rock style. Their biggest hit, “Baby Come
Back”, rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978 and was a chart
success in other countries. Their follow up single, “This Time I’m In It
For Love”, also peaked at No. 10 the same year. Among several notable
accolades, Player was named Billboard’s Best New Singles Artist of 1978.
Eric Clapton became so impressed with Player that he invited them to
open for him during his 1978 North American tour. This further fueled
their popularity. At this point, keyboardist Cook left and was replaced
by Bob Wooley (formerly of Paul Revere and the Raiders). Eventually, the
band began to headline their own events.
Player released three albums during their
active touring years: Player (RSO Records), Danger Zone (RSO Records),
and Room With A View (Casablanca Records). J.C. Crowley left the band in
1979 prior to recording of the last of these first three albums.
Miles Joseph (vocals, guitar) and Gabriel
Katona (keyboards) played on the group’s third album, Room With a View
(1980). But Ronn Moss left Player in 1981 to pursue a full-time acting
career. (He continues to play the role of Ridge Forrester on the soap
opera, The Bold and the Beautiful.) After Moss left, Beckett kept the
band going with Friesen, Joseph, Katona and Rusty Buchanan (vocals,
bass) and the band released their fourth album, Spies of Life, on RCA in
late 1981. The band continued until 1982 and played on the music series
Solid Gold that same year with the new lineup.
Peter Beckett was a member of Little
River Band from 1989 to 1997 in its latter stages as a club/festival
band and played “Baby Come Back” at its performances.
J.C. Crowley (who still occasionally
wrote with Beckett) became a Nashville performer and songwriter,
recording his only solo album “Beneath The Texas Moon” in 1988. In 1989,
he had country hits with “Paint the Town and Hang the Moon Tonight”
(No. 13) and “I Know What I’ve Got” (No. 21), and was named “Best New
Male Country Performer”. He wrote a number of songs recorded by
Nashville artists including Johnny Cash and The Oak Ridge Boys. He also
won a battle with cancer in the late 1990s and now lives in Topanga,
California.
Although Player officially retired as a
touring band, Moss and Beckett have partnered on occasion. The duo
recorded an additional studio album as Player, released in Japan in 1995
entitled Electric Shadows, which was renamed Lost In Reality when put
out on River North Records in the U.S. in 1996. On December 16, 1997,
Player played live for the first time in years at the L.A. Music Awards
at the Hollywood Palladium with a lineup consisting of Beckett, Moss,
Elliot Easton (of The Cars) on guitar, Burleigh Drummond of Ambrosia on
drums and Tony Sciuto of Little River Band on keyboards. A compilation
album, Best of Player, was released in 1998.
The response to the group’s reunion show
was so enthusiastic that they had several offers for more concert dates.
Unfortunately, River North Records dropped the band and Player tried to
buy back the rights to the Lost in Reality CD, but were not successful.
Player hit the road in the spring of 1998
with a lineup of Beckett, Moss, Sciuto, Drummond, guitarist Steve
Farris (formerly of Mr. Mister) and percussionist Ron Green—with
guitarist Dave Amato (from REO Speedwagon) and drummer Ron Wikso
(formerly of Foreigner) filling in as needed, depending on the schedules
of the others. A 2000 lineup of Player included drummer Craig Pilo,
Michael Hakes (guitar), Ron Green, Tony Sciuto, Ronn Moss and Peter
playing more shows across the United States. Michael Hakes died on
November 19, 2003, from complications of leukemia. After the death of
Hakes, the band stopped touring and concentrated on other projects.
In 2007 Player reunited once again with a
lineup of: Beckett, Moss, Craig Pilo, Ron Green, Ricky
Zacharaides (guitar) and Ed Roth (keyboards).
By 2009 Rob Math (guitar) and Johnny English (keyboards) had come in to replace Zacharaides and Roth.
| EC0958 | Player - Best Of Player |
| Label: | Mercury Records |
| Catalog#: | 848 015-2 |
| Format: | CD [Compilation] |
| Made in: | Germany |
| Released: | 1990 |
| Barcode: | 0 42284 80152 2 |
| Style: | Soft Rock |
============================================================================
Player - Best Of Player
============================================================================
01. Baby Come Back
02. Givin It All
03. I Just Wanna Be With You
04. Let Me Down Easy
05. I’ve Been Thinking
06. Tryin To Write A Hit Song
07. This Time I’m In It For Love
08. It’s For You
09. Bad News Travels Fast
10. Who Do You Think You Are
11. Uoside Down Again
12. Prisoner Of Your Love
13. Wait Until Tomorrow
14. Every Which Way
15. Silver Lining
Total Time: 01:08:15
Companies, etc. ▼
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – PolyGram International Music B.V.
Copyright © – PolyGram International Music B.V.
Credits ▼
Written-By – Peter Beckett (tracks: 1, 4 to 13, 15)
Notes ▼
Logo Design by Tom Nikosey
Compilation by Paul Jansen
Mastered for CD by Gert van Hoeyen
Barcode and Other Identifiers ▼
Barcode (Scanned): 042284801522
Barcode (Text): 0 42284 80152 2
Label Code: LC 0268
Rights Society: BIEM | STEMRA
Matrix / Runout: 848 015-2 01 >
Mould SID Code: IFPI 0160
Other: YE MADE IN GERMANY BY PMDC
Price Code: PG 899
SPARS Code: ADD
No comments:
Post a Comment