Baillie & the Boys
Encyclopedia
Baillie & the Boys is an American country music
group that gained prominence in the late 1980s. The band's original lineup consisted of Kathie Baillie (lead vocals), her husband, Michael Bonagura (guitar
, harmony vocals), and Alan LeBoeuf (bass guitar
, harmony vocals). Baillie & the Boys has recorded five studio albums and charted ten Top-40 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks
charts (between 1987 and 1991). After LeBoeuf's departure in 1988, Baillie & the Boys toured as a duo, until Roger McVay was chosen as a replacement in 1995. Four years later, McVay himself departed, with LeBoeuf again assuming the role of bass guitarist and harmony vocalist. Although the trio has not charted a single since 1991 and has not recorded an album since 2000's The Road That Led Me to You, Baillie & the Boys still performs regularly.
-based musical group called London Fog. In 1977, Bonagura met singer Kathie Baillie after a friend sent him recordings of her work; Bonagura and Baillie married the same year. Shortly afterward, Bonagura and Baillie joined up with LeBoeuf, forming the lineup for Baillie & The Boys. The trio toured throughout the state of New Jersey, and later moved to Nashville, Tennessee
after a friend persuaded them.
The trio first found work singing harmony vocals on singles for Ed Bruce
, Dan Seals
and Randy Travis
, and Bonagura co-wrote Marie Osmond
's single "There's No Stopping Your Heart". In 1987, Baillie & The Boys were signed to a record deal on the RCA Records
label. Their self-titled album was released that year, producing three Top 20 singles on the U.S. Billboard
Hot Country Singles (now Hot Country Songs
) charts. Turn The Tide, their second album, was released a year later. It produced four straight Top 10 hits on the country charts (including "(Wish I Had a) Heart of Stone", their highest-charting single).
LeBoeuf left the group in 1988 shortly after the release of Turn the Tide. Baillie & the Boys then toured as a duo, with their 1990 album The Lights of Home including only Baillie and Bonagura, although Roger McVay later signed on to fill the vacancy left by LeBoeuf. McVay had worked with the group since 1992, singing high harmony vocals and playing bass guitar, but he was not declared an official member of the group until 1995. McVay's first appearance as an official member was on the 1996 album Lovin' Every Minute.
The group then went on hiatus before reuniting in August 1998 to perform a benefit concert in Daytona Beach, Florida
, one year before McVay left. LeBoeuf again assumed the role of high harmony vocals, returning the band to its original lineup. A fifth album, titled The Road That Led Me to You, was released on an independent label in 2000. Baillie also released a solo album, titled Love's Funny That Way, on February 20, 2007. The title track of Baillie's solo album was released as a single shortly after, but failed to chart.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
group that gained prominence in the late 1980s. The band's original lineup consisted of Kathie Baillie (lead vocals), her husband, Michael Bonagura (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...
, harmony vocals), and Alan LeBoeuf (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, harmony vocals). Baillie & the Boys has recorded five studio albums and charted ten Top-40 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
charts (between 1987 and 1991). After LeBoeuf's departure in 1988, Baillie & the Boys toured as a duo, until Roger McVay was chosen as a replacement in 1995. Four years later, McVay himself departed, with LeBoeuf again assuming the role of bass guitarist and harmony vocalist. Although the trio has not charted a single since 1991 and has not recorded an album since 2000's The Road That Led Me to You, Baillie & the Boys still performs regularly.
Background
Singers Alan LeBoeuf and Michael Bonagura were originally members of a New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
-based musical group called London Fog. In 1977, Bonagura met singer Kathie Baillie after a friend sent him recordings of her work; Bonagura and Baillie married the same year. Shortly afterward, Bonagura and Baillie joined up with LeBoeuf, forming the lineup for Baillie & The Boys. The trio toured throughout the state of New Jersey, and later moved to 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...
after a friend persuaded them.
The trio first found work singing harmony vocals on singles for Ed Bruce
Ed Bruce
William Edwin "Ed" Bruce, Jr. is an American country music songwriter and singer. He is known for penning the 1975 song "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" .-Early life & songwriting career:...
, Dan Seals
Dan Seals
Danny Wayland "Dan" Seals was an American musician. The younger brother of Seals & Crofts member Jim Seals, he first gained fame as the "England Dan" half of the soft rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley, which charted nine pop and adult contemporary singles between 1976 and 1980, including...
and Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
, and Bonagura co-wrote Marie Osmond
Marie Osmond
Olive Marie Osmond is an American singer, actress, doll designer, and a member of the show business family The Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a solo country music artist in the 1970s and 1980s...
's single "There's No Stopping Your Heart". In 1987, Baillie & The Boys were signed to a record deal on the RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
label. Their self-titled album was released that year, producing three Top 20 singles on the U.S. 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 Country Singles (now Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
) charts. Turn The Tide, their second album, was released a year later. It produced four straight Top 10 hits on the country charts (including "(Wish I Had a) Heart of Stone", their highest-charting single).
LeBoeuf left the group in 1988 shortly after the release of Turn the Tide. Baillie & the Boys then toured as a duo, with their 1990 album The Lights of Home including only Baillie and Bonagura, although Roger McVay later signed on to fill the vacancy left by LeBoeuf. McVay had worked with the group since 1992, singing high harmony vocals and playing bass guitar, but he was not declared an official member of the group until 1995. McVay's first appearance as an official member was on the 1996 album Lovin' Every Minute.
The group then went on hiatus before reuniting in August 1998 to perform a benefit concert in Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
, one year before McVay left. LeBoeuf again assumed the role of high harmony vocals, returning the band to its original lineup. A fifth album, titled The Road That Led Me to You, was released on an independent label in 2000. Baillie also released a solo album, titled Love's Funny That Way, on February 20, 2007. The title track of Baillie's solo album was released as a single shortly after, but failed to chart.
Albums
| Year | Title | US Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Baillie & the Boys Baillie & the Boys (album) Baillie & the Boys is the eponymous debut album of American country music act Baillie & the Boys. Three singles charted on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart - "Oh Heart" at #9, "He's Letting Go" at #18, and "Wilder Days" at #9... |
27 |
| 1989 | Turn the Tide Turn the Tide Turn the Tide is the second album from country music group Baillie & the Boys. It was a #30 Country Album on Billboard charts. Its Hot Country Singles hits were, chronologically, "Long Shot" at #5, "She Deserves You" at #8, " Heart of Stone" at #4, and "I Can't Turn the Tide" at #9... |
30 |
| 1990 | The Lights of Home The Lights of Home The Lights of Home is the third album by country music group Baillie & the Boys. It rose to the #35 position in the Billboard Country Albums chart in 1990... |
35 |
| 1991 | The Best of | |
| 1996 | Lovin' Every Minute | |
| 2000 | The Road That Led Me to You |
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
CAN Country | |||
| 1987 | "Oh Heart Oh Heart "Oh Heart" is the debut single by American country music group Baillie & the Boys. It was released in June 1987, it was the first single from the album Baillie & the Boys. The song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.... " |
9 | 17 | Baillie & the Boys |
| "He's Letting Go" | 18 | 39 | ||
| 1988 | "Wilder Days Wilder Days "Wilder Days" is a single by American country music group Baillie & the Boys. Released in 1988, it was the third single from the album Baillie & the Boys. The song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart performance:... " |
9 | 7 | |
| "Long Shot Long Shot (song) "Long Shot" is a single by American country music group Baillie & the Boys. Released in 1988, it was the first single from the album Turn the Tide. The song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart performance:... " |
5 | * | Turn the Tide | |
| 1989 | "She Deserves You She Deserves You "She Deserves You" is a single by American country music group Baillie & the Boys. Released in 1989, it was the second single from the album Turn the Tide. The song reached #8 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart performance:... " |
8 | 5 | |
| "(Wish I Had A) Heart of Stone (Wish I Had a) Heart of Stone " Heart of Stone" is a single by American country music group Baillie & the Boys. Released in 1989, it was the third single from the album Turn the Tide. The song reached #4 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.... " |
4 | 4 | ||
| 1990 | "I Can't Turn the Tide I Can't Turn the Tide "I Can't Turn the Tide" is the title of a song recorded by American country music group Baillie & the Boys. It was released in January 1990 as the fourth single from the album Turn the Tide. The song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart performance:... " |
9 | 4 | |
| "Perfect" | 23 | 16 | The Lights of Home | |
| "Fool Such as I (Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I " A Fool Such as I" is a popular song written by Bill Trader and was published in 1952. Performed by Hank Snow it peaked at number four on the country charts early in 1953.... " |
5 | 7 | ||
| 1991 | "Treat Me Like a Stranger" | 18 | 16 | |
| 1996 | "Some Kind of Luck" | — | — | Lovin' Every Minute |
| 1997 | "The God's Honest Truth" | — | — | |
| 2000 | "The Road That Led Me to You" | — | — | The Road That Led Me to You |
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | "Long Shot" | Bob Small |
| 1990 | "Perfect" | Dave Bridges |
| 1991 | "Treat Me Like a Stranger" | Bob Small |
| 1996 | "Some Kind of Luck" | Tom Bevins |
| 1997 | "The God's Honest Truth" | |
| 2005 | "One Thing" | Ed Guthero |