707 (band)
Encyclopedia
707 was a rock
band of the early 1980s, best known for the rock radio hits "I Could Be Good For You" and "Mega Force".
, Vocals
), Jim McClarty (drums
), Duke McFadden (keyboards
/synthesizer
s, vocals), and Kevin Russell (Guitar
s, vocals). Initially signed to Casablanca Records
, they achieved significant rock radio airplay with "I Could Be Good for You," which peaked at #52 on the Billboard
Hot 100. The single, written by McFadden and McClarty, was featured on their first album, simply entitled 707. McFadden left the band before their second album.
. Recording sessions began for a third album, The Bridge, featuring the addition of keyboardist/guitarist Tod Howarth
. While being musically inventive and clearly demonstrating Howarth's influence, the recordings languished unreleased for 18 years due to contract disputes.
During 1981 707 performed "Tonite's Your Night" on The Midnight Special
.
) and 1970s (Styx
, Journey
), 707 didn't have a single lead vocalist, and featured different band members taking lead vocals on different tracks; some songs even featured different vocalists within the same song. With Gregg Rolie
's departure from Journey, Steve Perry
had taken the front man role in that band, to their increased success. The label decided that 707 needed a single, distinguishable vocal front man, and Kevin Chalfant
was added to the Megaforce lineup to take that role.
The result of those changes was the band's most successful album, Mega Force. The album peaked at #129 in 1982
. The title track, originally recorded as the theme to the motion picture Megaforce
, repeated the success of their first hit, reaching #12 on Billboards Mainstream Rock
charts and rising to #62 on the Hot 100.
The band played for stadium crowds as the opening act for several successful acts at their commercial peak, including Ted Nugent
, Loverboy
, the Scorpions
, Rainbow
and REO Speedwagon
's tour in support of their album Good Trouble, the follow-up to their smash HI-Infidelity. Despite that success, the group disbanded soon afterward.
. After a hiatus from music in the mid-90s, he has remained active in solo and group projects, and has stepped in as temporary lead vocalist for Journey
(1994) and The Alan Parsons Project
(2003).
Tod Howarth
enjoyed success with Kiss
guitarist Ace Frehley
's solo outing, along with stints in Ted Nugent's band, his own solo career, and as a longtime touring keyboardist for Cheap Trick
. During Howarth's tenure, Frehley's Comet reworked the 707 song "Mega Force"; re-titled "Calling To You", this version (coincidentally released on Megaforce Records
) features altered lyrics, with Jonathan Cain
's writing credit removed and Frehley's added.
Kevin Russell fashioned a successful career as a record producer
and guitar slinger for numerous acts, including Rick Derringer
, Clarence Clemons
, and Whitesnake
.
After parting from 707, Jim McClarty worked in television and audio production before devoting himself to the ministry
. He is currently a pastor near Nashville, Tennessee
. In 2006 he returned to his 707 roots, mastering the band's album The Fourth Decade for Renaissance Records.
Duke McFadden died in 2006 from heart complications.
In 2000, 707 regrouped around guitarist Russell and recent independent-label releases have featured early demos, live tracks, and new material, as well as CD re-releases of their '80s albums.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band of the early 1980s, best known for the rock radio hits "I Could Be Good For You" and "Mega Force".
I Could Be Good for You
The original members included Phil Bryant (bassBass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
), Jim McClarty (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), Duke McFadden (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
/synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, vocals), and Kevin Russell (Guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, vocals). Initially signed to Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...
, they achieved significant rock radio airplay with "I Could Be Good for You," which peaked at #52 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100. The single, written by McFadden and McClarty, was featured on their first album, simply entitled 707. McFadden left the band before their second album.
The Second Album
"Strings Around My Heart" failed to repeat their first single's success, but that didn't stop The Second Album from hitting the charts, peaking at #159 in 19811981 in music
See also:* Timeline of musical eventsThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1981.-January–April:*January 10 – A revival of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance opens at Broadway's Uris Theatre, starring Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith.*January 24 –...
. Recording sessions began for a third album, The Bridge, featuring the addition of keyboardist/guitarist Tod Howarth
Tod Howarth
Tod Howarth is an American rock and roll musician best known as the vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist for the short-lived band Frehley's Comet, led by former KISS guitarist, Ace Frehley...
. While being musically inventive and clearly demonstrating Howarth's influence, the recordings languished unreleased for 18 years due to contract disputes.
During 1981 707 performed "Tonite's Your Night" on The Midnight Special
The Midnight Special (TV series)
The Midnight Special is an American musical variety series that aired on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a special on August 19, 1972, then began its run as a regular series on February 2, 1973; its last episode was on May 1, 1981...
.
Mega Force
The band departed Casablanca, and signed with Boardwalk records, re-joining Bruce Bird and Neil Bogart, who had originally signed the band to Casablanca. In the tradition of other successful bands of the 1960s (The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
) and 1970s (Styx
Styx (band)
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
, Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
), 707 didn't have a single lead vocalist, and featured different band members taking lead vocals on different tracks; some songs even featured different vocalists within the same song. With Gregg Rolie
Gregg Rolie
Gregg Alan Rolie is an American keyboardist, organist, and singer, who is one of the founding members of the bands Santana, The Storm, Abraxas Pool and Journey, for whom he was the original lead singer. He currently performs with his Gregg Rolie Band...
's departure from Journey, Steve Perry
Steve Perry (musician)
Stephen Ray "Steve" Perry is an American singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Journey from 1977–1987 and 1995–1998. Perry had a successful solo career throughout the late 1980s and early '90s.Perry's voice has garnered acclaim from musical peers and music...
had taken the front man role in that band, to their increased success. The label decided that 707 needed a single, distinguishable vocal front man, and Kevin Chalfant
Kevin Chalfant
Kevin Chalfant is an American singer-songwriter and a native of Streator, Illinois. He obtained a BMI award for co-writing and singing on one of the most frequently aired rock radio hits of 1992 and 1993, "I’ve Got A Lot To Learn About Love"', by The Storm...
was added to the Megaforce lineup to take that role.
The result of those changes was the band's most successful album, Mega Force. The album peaked at #129 in 1982
1982 in music
This is a list of notable events in music from 1982. 1982 was a big year in music with Madonna making her debut as well as the year that Michael Jackson released Thriller which became the world's best selling album and it still holds that title today....
. The title track, originally recorded as the theme to the motion picture Megaforce
Megaforce
Megaforce is an action film made in 1982 directed by former stuntman Hal Needham. The film starred Barry Bostwick, Persis Khambatta, Michael Beck, Edward Mulhare, Evan C...
, repeated the success of their first hit, reaching #12 on Billboards Mainstream Rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
charts and rising to #62 on the Hot 100.
The band played for stadium crowds as the opening act for several successful acts at their commercial peak, including Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
, Loverboy
Loverboy
Loverboy is a Canadian rock group formed in 1980 in Calgary, Alberta. Throughout the 1980s, the band accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, earning four multi-platinum albums and selling millions of records...
, the Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
, Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
and REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...
's tour in support of their album Good Trouble, the follow-up to their smash HI-Infidelity. Despite that success, the group disbanded soon afterward.
Other work
Chalfant would later enjoy top 10 success at the dawn of the 1990s with one of the last successful bands of the AOR era, The StormThe Storm (band)
The Storm is an American rock group, formed in the Bay Area of San Francisco during the early 1990s. The band is best known for their first single, the power ballad "I've Got a Lot to Learn About Love", which peaked at #6 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.The...
. After a hiatus from music in the mid-90s, he has remained active in solo and group projects, and has stepped in as temporary lead vocalist for Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
(1994) and The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
(2003).
Tod Howarth
Tod Howarth
Tod Howarth is an American rock and roll musician best known as the vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist for the short-lived band Frehley's Comet, led by former KISS guitarist, Ace Frehley...
enjoyed success with Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
guitarist Ace Frehley
Ace Frehley
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
's solo outing, along with stints in Ted Nugent's band, his own solo career, and as a longtime touring keyboardist for Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of members Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen , Tom Petersson , and Bun E...
. During Howarth's tenure, Frehley's Comet reworked the 707 song "Mega Force"; re-titled "Calling To You", this version (coincidentally released on Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records is an American independent record label which was founded in 1982 by Jon and Marsha Zazula to publish the first works of Metallica. It has offices in New York and Philadelphia. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony Music Entertainment/RED Distribution...
) features altered lyrics, with Jonathan Cain
Jonathan Cain
Jonathan Cain is an American musician, best known for his work with The Babys, Journey and Bad English.-Early life:...
's writing credit removed and Frehley's added.
Kevin Russell fashioned a successful career as a record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and guitar slinger for numerous acts, including Rick Derringer
Rick Derringer
Rick Derringer is an American guitarist, vocalist, and entertainer.-1960s:When he was seventeen years old, his band The McCoys recorded "Hang on Sloopy" in the summer of 1965, which became the number one song in America before "Yesterday" by The Beatles knocked it out of the top spot. The song was...
, Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
, and Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
.
After parting from 707, Jim McClarty worked in television and audio production before devoting himself to the ministry
Christian ministry
In Christianity, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith. 2003's Encyclopedia of Christianity defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", indicating that it is "conferred on each Christian in baptism." It is performed by all Christians...
. He is currently a pastor near Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. In 2006 he returned to his 707 roots, mastering the band's album The Fourth Decade for Renaissance Records.
Duke McFadden died in 2006 from heart complications.
In 2000, 707 regrouped around guitarist Russell and recent independent-label releases have featured early demos, live tracks, and new material, as well as CD re-releases of their '80s albums.
Discography
| Year | Album | Label |
| 1980 | 707 | Casablanca |
| 1981 | The Second Album | Casablanca (US #159) |
| 1982 | Mega Force | Boardwalk (US #129) |
| 2000 | Trip to Heaven | Bedrock |
| 2004 | The Bridge | MTM Music & Publish (2004); Renaissance (2006 re-release) |
| 2005 | Greatest Hits Live | Renaissance |
| 2006 | The Fourth Decade | Renaissance |
External links
- http://www.kevinrussell.com
- http://www.todhowarth.com/
- http://www.cliquerecords.com/ (Kevin Chalfant)
- http://www.salvationbygrace.org (Jim McClarty)