Angel (band)

Angel is a Glam Rock and heavy metal band from Washington, D.C., formed in the mid-1970s by Punky Meadows and Mickie Jones. They were signed to Casablanca Records, and had the image of dressing in white.

History

Angel was discovered by Kiss bass player Gene Simmons performing at a nightclub and was eventually signed to the same label as Kiss, Casablanca.^[1]

Angel's image of dressing in all white was a deliberate contrast to Kiss, which wore black. Angel sported an androgynous image and elaborate stage sets. They were slammed by rock critics, and Frank Zappa ridiculed the all-male band’s female appearance in the song “Punky’s Whips”. ^[2] Angel never achieved mass commercial success but acquired a following as a cult band.

Their first album was the self-titled Angel and consisted of guitarist Punky Meadows, bassist Mickie Jones, vocalist Frank DiMino, keyboardist Gregg Giuffria, and drummer Barry Brandt.^[3] This lineup would hold for the following two albums, Helluva Band and On Earth as It Is in Heaven, after which Jones would be replaced by Felix Robinson.

They made an appearance in the film Foxes and Frank DiMino sang “Seduce Me Tonight” on the Flashdance soundtrack.

DiMino and Meadows departed the band in 1981, and the remaining members brought in vocalist Fergie Frederiksen (later of Toto) and guitarist Ricky Phillips (later of The Babys, then Bad English, then Styx), but this lineup dissolved shortly thereafter.

The former members of Angel went on to other things following the release of their live album. Lead vocalist Frank DiMino joined UFO guitarist Paul Raymond in the Paul Raymond Project in which he sang lead vocals. Bassist Felix Robinson played on the debut album of the band White Lion, Fight to Survive. Angel’s keyboardist Gregg Giuffria had modest success as the leader of the band Giuffria during the 1980s as well as with the band House of Lords, who - sans Giuffria - reunited in 2002 and released a new album, The Power and the Myth on Frontiers Records. In 2006, Giuffria appeared as a guest keyboardist on House of Lords' LP World Upside Down, and they released Come to My Kingdom in 2008 without Giuffria.

In the late 1990s, Angel reformed with a new line-up. Keyboardist Gordon G.G. Gebert joined the band in 1999 but left in 2002. Currently, the band members are Frank DiMino, vocals; Barry Brandt, drums; Randy Gregg, bass; Steve Blaze, guitars; and Michael T. Ross, keyboards.^[4] The band’s 1999 release In the Beginning also features guest appearances by original guitarist Punky Meadows, as well as Robinson. In 2000 came the release of Angel: The Collection, making it the most extensive Angel greatest hits compilation, including 16 songs.

In 2006, Lilith released two singles albums which has singles released through the band’s career (1975-1981), and even though it has most singles released at that time it does not include “Better Days” which was taken off the White Hot album and replaced with “The Winter Song”. This song remains unreleased on CD or cassette format. It is however available as a 7" single but is very hard to find. Angel is now working on a new album, which so far has no name, but has three songs written for it. They are: “Worship the Sun”, “Hold On to Your Dreams”, and the third untitled song.

Bassist and founding member Mickie Jones died in San Dimas, California on September 5, 2009, after a long battle with liver cancer. Jones performed on four Angel albums (Angel, Helluva Band, On Earth as It Is in Heaven and An Anthology). He toured extensively with the band in the United States for several years. Before Angel, he played in the rock group BUX, which included guitarist Punky Meadows (Angel) and singer Ralph Morman (Joe Perry Project, and Savoy Brown). BUX released one album on Capitol Records, We Come to Play in 1976. Both Jones and Meadows were asked to join the New York Dolls but declined. After leaving Angel, he formed the Los Angeles band Empire and was the lead singer. Empire included drummer Steve Riley (L.A. Guns). Over the years, he became interested in film production and would later work in the film industry.

Singer Frank DiMino now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada and plays in classic rock tribute bands. Recently, he appeared on the Sin City Sinners Christmas album, singing lead vocals on the holiday classic "Winter Wonderland".

Trivia

Angel's logo is ambigrammatic; it reads the same when turned upside-down as when viewed normally.

Members

Current members

• Barry Brandt - drums, percussion (1975-1981, 1999-present)
• Frank DiMino - lead vocals (1975-1981, 1999-present)
• Steve Blaze - guitars (1999-present)
• Randy Gregg - bass (1999-present)
• Michael T. Ross - keyboards (2002-present)

Former members

• Gregg Giuffria - keyboards (1975-1981)
• Punky Meadows - guitars (1975-1981)
• Mickie Jones - bass (1975-1977; died 2009)
• Felix Robinson - bass (1977-1981)
• Fergie Frederiksen - lead vocals (1981; died 2014)
• Rudy Sarzo - bass (1981)
• Ricky Phillips - guitars (1981)
• Gordon "G.G." Gebert - keyboards (1999-2002)

Discography

Studio

• Angel (1975)
• Helluva Band (1976)
• On Earth as It Is in Heaven (1977)
• White Hot (1978)
• Sinful (1979) (original title: Bad Publicity)
• In the Beginning (1999)

Live

• Live Without a Net (1980)
• Angel: Live in Sweden (2001)

Compilation

• Foxes (soundtrack) (two songs: "20th Century Foxes" and "Virginia") (1980)
• Can You Feel It (1989)
• An Anthology (1992)
• A Rock and Roll Christmas II (1998)
• Angel: The Collection (2000)
• Angel: The Singles Collection Volume 1 (album) (2006)
• Angel: The Singles Collection Volume 2 (album) (2006)

Bootlegs

• Blowing Great Guns (1978)
• White Heroes (1978)
• Whips (1981)
• Troubleshooter (1981)
• Should've Known Better (1981)

Notes and references

External links

• Official Angel MySpace site
• Angel Fan Site
• Angel at NoLifeTilMetal
• Angel Discography
• Angel CD Gallery
• Angel Keyboardist 1999–2002
• Coallier Entertainment Angel promo