Song:Bright Lights, Big City
Album:Rock 'n' Roll
Washington, DC blues rockers The Nighthawks have been entertaining music fans since the 70s. The leader of the group is harmonica player singer Mark Wenner (born Nov. 2, 1948 in Washington). He started the group with guitarist Jimmy Thackery (born May 19, 1953 in Pittsburgh), bassist Jan Zukowski (born July 10, 1950 in Washington) and drummer Pete Ragusa (born Mar. 8, 1949 in Washington) in 1972. They started out backing up touring blues artists but they got the opportunity to record when Billy Hancock attempted to resurrect the Aladdin label. Rock 'n' Roll was The Nighthawks 1975 debut. But Aladdin had money problems and the album languished and disappeared when they went broke. They signed with Adelphi and released a few albums and even recorded for Mercury in 1980. The Nighthawks signed with Rounder in 1983 and Rounder created the Varrick label thinking the band was more commercial than what is normally on Rounder. Rock 'n' Roll was releleased on Varrick in 1983. Rounder was probably misguided in thinking that The Nighthawks were a pop group. They're a basic blues rock band and a lot of their fanbase has seen them live. Radio play probably isn't going to help them much. Jimmy Thackery left The Nighthawks for his own successful career in 1986 but Mark Wenner continues to lead the group, tours worldwide and their most recent CD/DVD is a live recording called Blue Moon In Your Eye on their own Rolling Storm label in May 2006. They still have a strong fanbase among blues fans. Here's The Nighthawks performing 16 Tons in 1984.
No comments:
Post a Comment