| Head East | |
|---|---|
| Origin | South Central Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Hard rock |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels | A&M, Pyramid Records, Darkheart Records, Allegiance Records |
| Members | |
| Roger Boyd Steve Huston Mark Boatman Tony Gross Dan Odum |
|
| Past members | |
| John Schlitt Mike Somerville Dan Birney Tim Day Kurt Hansen |
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Head East is an American hard rock band originally from South Central Illinois. The band was formed by vocalist John Schlitt, guitarist Mike Somerville, keyboardist Roger Boyd, bassist Dan Birney, and drummer Steve Huston. They met and formed the band while studying at the University of Illinois, Champaign. The band achieved success in the Midwest during the 1970s, but fell into obscurity in the following decades.
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Head East was formed in 1968 and played their first gig in Carbondale, Illinois.[1] Originally known as the TimeAtions, the band adopted the name Head East on August 6, 1969 at the suggestion of Baxter Forrest Twilight. They released their first album cut at Golden Voice Recording Studio in South Pekin Ill, Flat as a Pancake, in 1974 and released it on their own record label (Pyramid Records) selling all 5,000 records and 500 eight-tracks produced. With those sales, and the song "Never Been Any Reason" on radio, A&M was impressed enough to sign the band and re-release the album in 1975.[2] The album reached gold status by 1978 and would remain their most popular album, spawning another hit in the song "Love Me Tonight", which peaked at #54.
The band followed with the albums Get Yourself Up and Gettin' Lucky, released in 1976 and 1977 respectively. Neither album achieved the success of their debut album. However, their fourth album simply titled Head East (1978) produced another hit with the band's cover of former Argent singer Russ Ballard's "Since You Been Gone," which peaked at #46.
In 1979, the band released the double-LP Head East Live! and A Different Kind of Crazy. The former also peaked on the US Top 100 charts. The band also performed on the soundtrack to the comic anthology film J-Men Forever.[1][2] Head East Also performed at the Culver Academies Prom.
In March 1980, bassist Dan Birney and guitarist Mike Somerville left the band, while singer John Schlitt was fired over a drug dependency.[3] He would later recover, become a born-again Christian and reappear as the singer and the face of one of Contemporary Christian Music's all-time most successful bands, Petra. Schlitt was with Petra from 1985 until the band was retired in 2005.
Remaining members, Boyd and Huston, hired Mark Boatman, Tony Gross, and Dan Odum to record their following album titled U.S. 1, released in October 1980. The album was their last to reach the charts and last recorded release on A&M.
The band continued with little success, releasing albums on small labels. Some of them were Onward and Upward (1982) on Allegiance Records and Choice of Weapons (1988) released on Dark Heart Records with Kurt Hansen taking on bass and vocal duties. These were the last studio albums recorded with new original material being released as Head East. Subsequent albums featured rereleased, remixed studio and live performances of the more successful material. Tim Day, drummer from Daddy's Girl joined the band and toured from 99-01. They would still continue to play around, with guitarist Somerville returning from 1994 to 2003.
In 1999, a live album titled Live on Stage was released. The album featured songs from two shows at Denver's Rainbow Music Hall. 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 lineup. The band continues to tour to this day, playing 30 to 40 shows each year.
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.
(Year: album - peak on Billboard's Pop Album chart)
(Year: "side-A song" / "side-B song" - peak on Billboard's Hot 100)