Vernon, Ill., was divorced in 1999 As a solo artist, member of Petra and former lead singer for popular 70s mainstream rock band Head East, Schlitt has toured all over the world. Great voice!! Several other musicians are credited on this release, including former members Dan Birney, Ricky Lynn Gregg, Brian Kelly, and Joel Parks. They will perform the bands 1979 double-live album, Head East Live, which includes many of the songs from their most well-known album, Flat As A Pancake, including Never Been Any Reason and Since You Been Gone., Recording Flat As A Pancake is one of my proudest accomplishments as a musician, said Boyd. The keyboardist and only remaining original member of Head East recently agreed to speak with me and it was one of the easiest conversations I've ever had with someone from the golden age of the 70s. The band line-up at this time included Roger Boyd, Tony Gross, Kurt Hansen, and Donnie Dobbins. LEGENDARY RECORDING ARTIST JOHN SCHLITT REUNITES WITH 70s ROCK BAND HEAD EAST. Eventually both Larry and Danny dropped out of the band and were replaced by Mike Somerville (guitar) and Dan Birney (bass). Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The band formed in southern Illinois in 1969 but went through a number of member changes before arriving at their core lineup in 1973 . The five original members of Head East Roger Boyd on Clear Lake, in Des Moines and at the Roof Garden in Okoboji as Vernon for about $50 per night that was good money for Answer: There are no female voices on Never Been Any Reason. "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay," released a month after Otis Redding died, was the first song to hit #1 in America after the artist died. Boyd and Huston recruited Mark Boatman, Tony Gross, and Dan Odum to record U.S. 1 (October 1980), Head East's last album to reach the charts and last newly recorded release on A&M; it was a minor chart entry. Head East fans will be thrilled to know that original drummer Steve Huston joined the band on vocals, while he may have lost a beat or two on drums, and thus while he did not . Get Yourself Up (April 1976) and Gettin' Lucky (March, 1977) were less successful, but Head East (February, 1978), spurred by the minor singles chart entry "Since You Been Gone," reached the upper half of the Top 100. Iowa has been a great venue for Head East. The song is about a guy who returns home - possibly from a tour - and has it out with his woman. keyboards, Steve Houston on drums, Larry Boyd on bass and Danny They are best known for their 1975 hit "Never Been Any Reason", which remains a staple of AOR stations. She then became a faculty member at the SIUE SON, earned her doctoral degree from SIU Carbondale and accepted a position as a tenure-track faculty member at SIUE. " A multitude of little superfluous precautions engender here a population of deputies and sub-officials, each of whom acquits himself with an air of importance and a . Schlitt was the lead singer for Head East from 1972-1980, during which time the band released six albums, with their first, Flat as a Pancake (A&M Records, 1975) reaching Platinum status empowered by "Never Been Any Reason," which has now become a staple of classic rock radio. They would still continue to play around, with guitarist Somerville returning from 1994 to 2003. Please be patient! They met and formed the band while John, Roger, and Larry were studying at the University of Illinois, Steve was at Eastern Illinois University 45 miles away and Danny was not in college. Schlitt recently joined more than a dozen classic contemporary Christian music artists, includingPhil Keaggy,Jaci Velasquez,Rick Cua,Bruce Carroll,The Katinas, Big Tent Revival, Guardian, Wes King, Al Denson, Tammy Trent, Geoff Moore, Clay Crosse, and others who shared their music and special memories during the CCM United Music, Moments, and Memories concert event held at the historic Franklin Theatre in downtown Franklin, Tennessee. Eddy Jones - drums, vocals (2006present), Greg Manahan - bass guitar, guitar, vocals (2006present), Darren Walker - lead vocals, occasional live bass guitar (2006present), Mark Murtha - lead guitar, vocals (2022present), Steve Huston - drums (19691973, 19741983), Mike Somerville - guitar (19731980, 19952003; died 2020), Tony Gross - guitar (19801984, 19871991), Kurt Hansen - bass, lead vocals (19831997), Mike Mesey - drums (19971999, 20002006), Richie Callison - guitar, lead vocals (20012006), Glen Bridger - lead guitar, vocals (20042022), This page was last edited on 21 April 2023, at 19:52. Photo Caption: Past and current members of Head East recentlyperformed at the Iowa Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Induction Spectacular. From Head Easts first concert on Aug. 6, 1969, at the Golden Gauntlet in Carbondale, Illinois, Boyd has remained loyal to the band he helped found. into testing for the job, so I did, and the rest is history, said by Head East on Amazon Music. Head East was awesome in the day, saw them at a small venue in 1979 in Kansas, they walked off the stage due to some redneck douches throwing beer . The former peaked at number 96 on the US Hot 100 charts. The band's 1975 single, "Never Been Any Reason", was featured in the 2005 movie adaptation of Clive Cussler's novel, Sahara, and appears on the soundtrack to the 1993 coming-of-age drama, Dazed and Confused, as well as being briefly heard in the film. More songs that got a recording contract for an artist, More songs used in the movie Dazed And Confused. Brian John Schlitt went on to sing for the band Petra. They met and formed the band while John, Roger, and Larry were studying at the University of Illinois, Steve was at Eastern Illinois University 45 miles away and Danny was not in college. The concert gathered all of the remaining original Head East band members and current band members together onstage. moved to Osage about five years ago. A Different Kind of Crazy US 1 Onward and Upward Choice of Weapons Concert Classics Vol 7 Live on Stage The Best of Head East (The Millennium Collection) Head East / Gettin' Lucky (2 LPs on 1 CD) One Night With Head East Raise A Little Hell Head East Rocks! He fronted The Union of Sinners and Saints, featuring Billy Smiley (Whiteheart) and Jason Fowler, during the band's Storyteller tour, and joined fellow Petra alum Bob Hartman for a Scandinavian tour, among other events. I've been blessed to continue singing rock 'n' roll for the King of Kings with Petra in 1986, and I'm thrilled to still be singing after all these years. "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" was the most successful digital track of 2007 in the US with 2,909,000 downloads. All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. The song was featured in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused, and later in the 2005 film Sahara. My greatest accomplishment in my education was returning to school in 1995 and continuing on to earn my PhD.. Enterprises newspaper. The song has been featured in such films asSahara,The Education of Charlie Banks, andDazed and Confused, as well as TV series such asFriday Night LightsandThat 70s Show, and is considered by many to be the Rock 'n' Roll National Anthem.In 2011, the band was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame. During the next few years, the Head East line-up continued to evolve into the early 90's. Both Rita and I received incredible support from SIUE for our education during our time there, so we wanted to return the support, said Boyd. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues. He has worked as a studio musician playing guitar, steel guitar, and keyboards on recordings with Terry Ilous (XYZ and Great White), Jack Russell (Great White), Greg D'Angelo (Anthrax and White Lion), Sean McNabb (Dokken, Great White, Lynch Mob, Montrose, Queensryche, XYZ, and others), Glen Bridger (Head East and Bridger), and a variety of other artists across the United States and Europe. It was a way to give my students a better idea of what their future clients might be going through on a daily basis, explained Boyd. OSAGE There are three major accomplishments that Osages Brad At this point in time, I dont see an end in sight.. Flat as a Pancake would remain their most popular album spawning two charting singles, the well-known anthem "Never Been Any Reason" and "Love Me tonight", both written by guitarist Mike Somerville. By the mid-80s, John Schlitt, had joined Petra, a christian rock band when lead singer Greg X. Volz left the band. here, said Flota, who recalls playing at the Surf Ballroom in The first five tracks are from a 1980 show featuring the original personnel, while the last 10 tracks are from a 1981 show featuring the latter line-up. These were the last studio albums recorded with new original material being released as Head East. Description. The band members were presented with plaques honoring their talent, dedication, longevity and major impact on the Iowa music scene, where the band frequently played throughout the 70s. Boyd and his current bandmates are celebrating that milestone later this month with back-to-back 50th anniversary shows on Jan. 24-25 at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville. Instead of making a demo and pitching it to record companies, they just made the. Please subscribe to keep reading. Head East recorded their debut album, Flat as a Pancake, in 1974 at Golden Voice Recording Studio in South Pekin, Illinois. He enjoyed playing guitar and keyboard in his elementary school years, but dedicated himself to guitar when he was 15. Head East charted higher with their next single, "Love Me Tonight," which made #54 US, but "Never Been Any Reason" is by far their most popular song, showing incredible endurance. I was the old man of the For more information on Schlitt and The Grafting or The Greater Cause, visit www.johnwschlitt.com. The city of Mason City will work with Kirk Apartments owner Ed Kent in the aftermath of the fire that gutted the building Monday, City Adminis. Dave Namanny is editor of the Mitchell County Press-News, a Lee ", A monthly update on our latest interviews, stories and added songs. Subsequent albums featured re-issued, remixed studio and live performances of the more successful material. The band achieved peak popularity and success during the 1970s, but later fell into obscurity. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. (1979), but at the end of the year, Birney and Somerville left the group while Schlitt joined the Christian rock group Petra. Flotas rock n roll days were interrupted for several years, Feel free to contribute! legendary Midwest rock band Head East. Boyd earned his bachelors and masters degrees in social work from SIUE in 1997 and 1998, respectively, but he didnt stop there. 97 talking about this. After thinking on it briefly, the band liked the unusual nature of it and has kept the name. About the show Streamed & Screened is a podcast about movies and TV hosted by Bruce Miller, a longtime entertainment reporter who is now the editor of the Sioux City . before but Im glad I served my country and the experience According to lead singer John Schlitt, they would sometimes introduce it as a song by Three Dog Night because club owners didn't want them playing original songs.