Steve Fayer & The Steve Fayers
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Steve Fayer & The Steve Fayers were an American Rock and Roll band that enjoyed limited cult success from 1984 until 1995. The Staten Island based four-piece consisted of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Steve Fayer, lead guitarist Mick Dooley, drummer Frank Wrobleski, and bassist Guy Parsely.
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[edit] Formation
The seeds of the group were sown when Fayer met Dooley in 1983 at a pub in Downtown Staten Island. Fayer had been performing that night with his then fledgling Celtic funk band, The Guns of West Brighton. Dooley expressed admiration for Fayer's talent but persuaded him he should join him to create a new group to explore a different style of music. Fayer disbanded The Guns of West Brighton. Fayer and Dooley then set out to find what would be the other half of the group. Dooley's old friend and classmate Wrobleski was the first to try out. Fayer and Dooley were instantly impressed by him and welcomed him to the group. Parsely had been a bar scene acquaintance of Fayer for some time and expressed an interest in joining the group playing bass. Although his talent on the instrument was extremely limited the other three members were so captivated by his colorful personality and penchant for partying that they decided to let him in. The group nearly came to an end before it even started by the heated debate in naming the band. Dooley, Wrobleski, and Parsely were naturally not pleased to be named after the front man. But Fayer's stringent "My Way or The Highway" attitude and his firm belief in his superior talent to his band mates was enough to silence their criticism.
[edit] Early Career (1983-1986)
The group started out as street musicians playing for money in the terminal of the Staten Island Ferry. After a year of scrimping and saving they had enough money to buy studio time at Future Star Studios in Port Richmond. In two 6 hour sessions they recorded their first LP titled Get Outta Town. They sold the album out of the trunk of their car after gigs at bars. Soon after, the band began to receive recognition and following among the Staten Island bar scene community. In 1984 they decided to branch out to outlying areas by organizing a tour of pubs and lounges all throughout New York City. The tour, titled Come Out and Play, was received with unexpected success. The highlight of the tour was at at a show in Hell's Kitchen where the band received an overwhelming applause and reacted by performing thirteen encores. Some shows of the tour were recorded and then produced to make a live album titled Come Out And Play: On The Road with Steve Fayer & The Steve Fayers. The 1985 album found its way onto the shelves of many eccentric and underground music shops throughout New York. Throughout 1986 the band began playing steadily increasingly larger venues throughout the city.
[edit] Middle Years (1987-1991)
1987 started out on a sour note for the group. Guy Parsely was diagnosed with AIDS and promptly left the band to tend to his health. The remaining members were inactive for six months due to both sadness and being unable to find a sufficient replacement to Parsely. Finally an old high school classmate of Fayer's named Terry Hornesberry contacted him expressing his interest in joining the band. Hornesberry was given an audition and was instantly welcomed to the group. When the group returned to the stage after their brief hiatus they were greeted with overwhelming support. The crowds they played to continued to slowly grow and then in 1989 they were signed to Think Fast Records for a two album $500,000 deal. The group promptly immersed themselves into the studio to begin working on their first album as a signed band. In March of 1990 they released the EP titled Get Back To Work. The album's hit single titled "Go To Hell" received regular airplay on New York radio stations. The group did a brief two month tour of the Northeast to promote the album. After the tour ended the band jumped right back into the studio to begin work on their next album. After much anticipation the band released the EP titled "Get Off My Lawn". Although it didn't receive much airplay the single "Shutup You Stink" was a favorite among many of the band's loyal followers. The band headlined a three month tour promoting the album that ended with a notorious show at their hometown of Staten Island. The show took place in the parking lot of the Staten Island ferry and was ended short when a fifteen year old girl in the crowd fell into New York Harbor and nearly drowned.
[edit] Final Years (1992-1995)
Exhausted by the strenuous pace of making and touring back to albums the band decided to take a year layoff. When they reconvened in the summer of 1992 they played a series of small intimate venues throughout New York. In the middle of 1993 they released what would be their last album titled "Put Out or Get Out". The album's experimentation with jazz fusion and Jewish folk music was received with great disdain from many fans. The tour after its release did not sell nearly as many tickets as expected and the group was fired from Think Fast records. Without proper funds to make a new album the band returned to its roots playing small hometown gigs to try and regain their previous fame. In April of 1995 after struggling to find gigs and chronic infighting between its members, the band came to a screeching halt. At a practice session, an argument ensued between Fayer and Dooley over the structure of song that got so heated it ended with Fayer breaking an acoustic guitar over Dooley's head. That instant Fayer declared "I've had enough!" and disbanded the band on the spot.
[edit] Today
Guy Parsely finally succumb to AIDS in November of 1997. All band members attended his funeral. Mick Dooley plays in an underground pub band named Last Stop. Frank Wrobleski became an ordained minister and abandoned the Rock and Roll life altogether. Terry Hornesberry remained rather inactive, he works for the New York Sanitation Department. Despite perennial rumors of a reunion Steve Fayer openly declares the band will never perform together again. Steve Fayer is rumored to be working on a new musical project with long time friend Buddy "Luvv" LaPiedra.
