Alan Merrill
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Alan Merrill
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[edit] Early life
Alan Merrill was born Allan P. Sachs on February 19, 1951 in New York City, the son of two jazz musicians, singer Helen Merrill, and saxophone/clarinet player Aaron Sachs. He started his semi-pro career in his mid teens when he began playing in Greenwich Village's "Cafe Wha?" with the bands The Kaleidoscope, The Rayne, and Watertower West. The groups played the club during the 1966-1968 period.
[edit] Professional Career in Japan
After an audition in 1968 with the New York hit band The Left Banke (where he got the job, but the band disbanded), Alan Merrill left to reside in Japan, and started his professional career there with the band The Lead, on RCA Victor Records. The band were a foreign Tokyo based act. The Lead had one hit single, "Aoi Bara" (Blue Rose), but the project soon fell apart when two American members of the group were deported.
In 1969 Merrill signed a solo management deal with Watanabe Productions, who contracted him to Atlantic Records, and changed his professional surname from Sachs to Merrill. He recorded one album with Atlantic, "Alone In Tokyo", which yielded one hit single, "Namida" (Teardrops), and he became the first foreign domestic market pop star in the Japanese Group Sounds.
Merrill acted on the popular TV soap opera "Ji Kan Desu Yo", and had his own corner as a regular on the TBS "Young 720," a morning show for teens. He also was the featured principal as a model in ads for Nissan cars, Jun clothing, and GT Jeans.
In 1971 he released an LP of his own compositions titled "Merrill 1", for Denon/Columbia Records. He then formed the band Vodka Collins, who became Japan's top glam rock act. The band included Japanese superstars Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu and Hiroshi Oguchi. Vodka Collins recorded one LP in 1971-1972 titled "Tokyo-New York", on the EMI Toshiba label, which is still available today in CD re-issues.
[edit] Professional Career In London
In 1974 in London Alan Merrill formed the band The Arrows (as lead singer), with drummer Paul Varley and guitarist Jake Hooker. Peter Meaden was The Arrows first manager, but later they signed with Mickie Most's RAK Records. March of 1974 The Arrows were in the top 10 in the UK charts with the song "Touch Too Much,". The Arrows became a popular band with teens, and once again Merrill had slid back into the teen market he had fought hard to get out of in Japan. The Arrows had another hit single with "My Last Night With You" which made the UK top 30 in 1975, but the band's single releases were few and far between as a result of their producer Mickie Most's winding down his own career momentum.
They made one more single that would be an important one. "I Love Rock 'N Roll" (1975), a song that started out as a b-side to the 45 rpm Arrows single "Broken Down Heart". The song "I Love Rock 'N Roll" was composed by Alan Merrill and Arrows bandmate Jake Hooker. The record was later flipped to a-side status, and the band got only one TV performance with the song. The show's producer Muriel Young was so impressed with The Arrows that she made a pitch to Granada ITV for them to have their own television series. The Arrows got their own weekly TV series The Arrows Show in 1976, taking over the Bay City Rollers Granada TV series Shang-a-Lang. The band Arrows signed with MAM Management. Their producer Mickie Most was so angry at the band for signing the management deal, that he vowed to never release another Arrows record. So it came to pass that The Arrows had their own weekly TV series and no records released during that time. Their ratings were so good that they got a second weekly series, but they released no new recordings. The Arrows disbanded shortly after the end of the second series. In 1977, Merrill married fashion model Cathee Dahmen, and formed a new group, the album-oriented rock act Runner, with Steve Gould (Rare Bird), Mick Feat (Van Morrison band), and Dave Dowle (Whitesnake). The Runner album charted in the Billboard top 100 in the United States.
[edit] Professional Career Cont'd.
In 1980 Alan Merrill joined forces with Rick Derringer as a guitarist/vocalist in New York City. They recorded two albums, "Good Dirty Fun", and "Rick Derringer and Friends", and a film, "The Rick Derringer Rock Spectacular". In 1982 Joan Jett released the Arrows song "I Love Rock 'N Roll, " and it went to number one in the US charts for 8 weeks. Lou Rawls recorded Alan Merrill's song "When The Night Comes" as the title track of his 1983 Epic Records album. The Rawls version of the song was taken into space by astronaut Gulon Bluford, the first music taken to and played in outer space.
In 1983 Merrill recorded a solo album for Polydor Records, simply titled "Alan Merrill", a collection of self-composed tracks. Some friends contributing to this record were Steve Winwood, Mick Taylor and Dallas Taylor. It was released in 1985 and received critical acclaim although it wasn't a chart hit. In 1986 Alan Merrill joined the Meat Loaf band for the promotional tour of his "Blind Before I Stop" album, and stayed for several years, recording Meat Loaf's 1987 Live at Wembley album for Arista Records. In 1989 Alan Merrill was offered a role in the television series Encyclopedia Brown on HBO, and was a part of the successful series in his role as principal character Casey Sparkz.
In 1990, a Vodka Collins reunion tour was organized. The band toured Japan, and recorded the first in a series of reunion albums, "Chemical Reaction".
In New York, starting with a tribute to Don Covay Merrill began working with R&B producer Jon Tiven. This led to the "Yes I Ram" and "Blue Guru" albums in the mid 1990s by The Jon Tiven Group, featuring Alan Merrill on lead vocals. Many R&B greats recorded cover versions of material from these two albums.
[edit] Current Activity
In the new millennium Alan Merrill has released solo albums Never Pet A Burning Dog, Cupid Deranged, A Merrilly Christmas, Double Shot Rocks - a tribute to songwriters Otis Blackwell and Arthur Alexander, Aleecat, At The Candy Shop, Rive Gauche - a tribute to The Left Banke. Also Alien In Tokyo, Hard Road, and The Aleecat, Live In Japan.
Alan Merrill does live solo concerts internationally, both band backed and solo acoustic shows. He currently resides in New York City.
