Lionheart (band)
Encyclopedia
History
Lionheart was a BritishBritish people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band formed in late 1980, originally featuring singer Jess Cox (ex-Tygers Of Pan Tang
Tygers Of Pan Tang
Tygers of Pan Tang are a heavy metal band, formed in 1978 and originating from Whitley Bay, England. They are a notable band of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement...
), guitarist Dennis Stratton
Dennis Stratton
Dennis Stratton is a guitar player who is best known as a former member of the British band Iron Maiden from October 1979 to October 1980.-Biography:...
(ex-Iron Maiden), guitarist Steve Mann (ex-Liar), bassist/vocalist Rocky Newton (ex-The Next Band
The Next Band
The Next Band were a British rock trio featuring vocalist/bassist Rocky Newton, guitarist John Lockton and drummer Frank Noon, who is credited with playing drums on Def Leppard's 1979 EP The Def Leppard E.P....
, Wildfire), and drummer Frank Noon
Frank Noon
Frank Noon is a drummer who played in the bands Def Leppard and Roadhouse with guitarist Pete Willis.He was preceded in Def Leppard by original Def Leppard drummer Tony Kenning and succeeded in Def Leppard by current Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen....
(ex-The Next Band
The Next Band
The Next Band were a British rock trio featuring vocalist/bassist Rocky Newton, guitarist John Lockton and drummer Frank Noon, who is credited with playing drums on Def Leppard's 1979 EP The Def Leppard E.P....
, Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
).
They made their debut one Saturday night at the Marquee Club
Marquee Club
The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
but suffered from bad press thanks to criticism of Cox. This led to the cancellation of the next two appearances and saw Cox replaced by former Lautrec frontman, Reuben Archer. Former Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
drummer Les Binks
Les Binks
James Leslie Binks , is a Northern Irish heavy metal drummer, who is most notable for having been the drummer for Judas Priest.-History:...
replaced the Wild Horses
Wild Horses (British band)
Wild Horses were a British rock band, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s.-History:Wild Horses was formed in the summer of 1978 by ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson and ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain...
-bound Noon for the 1981 UK tour with Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
with former Wild Horses drummer Clive Edwards
Clive Edwards
Clive Edwards is a drummer, who is best known as a former member of the British band, UFO ....
eventually replacing Binks. Archer, too, would briefly spend time in Wild Horses before forming Stampede with his step son, guitarist Laurence Archer
Laurence Archer
Laurence Archer is a guitarist. He is notable for his work with British rock bands, UFO and Phil Lynott's Grand Slam. He was also a member of Wild Horses, Medicine Head and Rhode Island Red with Gary Leiderman Bass , Manolo Antonana Drums and frontman/actor/writer Mike Dyer before temporarily...
, Noon, and bassist Colin Bond.
The song "Lionheart", recorded by Reuben Archer, Dennis Stratton, Steve Mann, Rocky Newton, and Frank Noon would belatedly surface on the Heavy Metal Heroes Vol. 2 (Heavy Metal Records) compilation in 1982. Said track remains the only representative recording of the band's early sound as they would change their style significantly later on.
A demo recorded by the core of Stratton, Mann, and Newton landed Lionheart a deal with the American branch of CBS Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
in 1984. Enlisting new vocalist Chad Brown and securing the studio services of Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. Sayer became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. Sayer was a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s...
band drummer Bob Jenkins, the band proceeded to record their debut album, Hot Tonight, with 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...
Kevin Beamish
Kevin Beamish
Kevin Beamish is an American record producer, sound engineer and mixer.He was the producer and engineer of REO Speedwagon #1 album Hi Infidelity and of the hit single "Keep on Loving You", with 15 million albums and 4 million singles sold worldwide....
(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...
, Starship) in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. This was a slick AOR-styled effort that failed to capture the old fans' interest or that of their target audience in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 1985 the band continued with former Grand Prix members, drummer Andy Bierne and keybordist Phil Lanzon
Phil Lanzon
Phil Lanzon is the keyboardist for British progressive rock group Uriah Heep since 1986.Lanzon has worked with diverse performers of distinction in the rock and roll community...
, appearing on Channel 4's popular ECT program. Lanzon eventually left to join the reformed Sweet
Sweet (band)
Sweet was a British rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the most prominent glam rock acts, with the classic line-up of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker.Sweet was formed in 1968 and achieved their first...
(and later Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
), while Brown gave way to new vocalist Keith Murrell (ex-Airrace).
Failing to make any headway, Lionheart split up in 1986, with Bierne going into management, Murrell fronting Irish rockers, Mama's Boys
Mama's Boys
Mama's Boys were a 1980s hard rock/heavy metal group from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland featuring the three McManus brothers Pat, a.k.a. 'The Professor", , John , Tommy . Later in their career they became a four-piece adding Rick Chase on vocals in 1985 who was later replaced by Keith Murrell...
, and Newton and Mann joining the McAuley Schenker Group
McAuley Schenker Group
McAuley Schenker Group was a band featuring core members Robin McAuley and Michael Schenker , a successor to Schenker's earlier band Michael Schenker Group. McAuley was initially contacted to replace singer Gary Barden in MSG...
. Dennis Stratton later found fame in Japan as part of an all-star Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis (band)
Praying Mantis are an English rock band. Although a part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene, they pursued a musical direction more melodic and AOR-sounding than their contemporaries.-Career:...
touring line-up alongside former Iron Maiden band mate Paul DiAnno.
Steve Mann would sign on with Sweet as the guitarist/keyboardist in late 1989, ironically replacing his former Lionheart band mate Lanzon. Mann stayed on into the mid 1990s when he was invited by Frank Bornemann
Frank Bornemann
Frank Bornemann is the guitarist for German progressive rock band Eloy. He has been the only consistent member of the band since its formation in 1969. Bornemann is currently a leading producer and engineer with Horus Studios in Hannover, Germany.-References:...
, owner of Horus Sound Studio in Hannover, Germany to play guitar and some keyboards for his band Eloy, completing a line-up that consisted of Klaus-Peter Matziol on bass, Michael Gerlach on keyboards, and Bodo Schopf (ex-McAuley Schenker Group, Sweet) on drums. Mann guested on both The Tides Return Forever
The Tides Return Forever
Sixteenth album by the German progressive rock band Eloy, released in 1994. As of this album, Klaus-Peter Matziol returned as a full member of the band.-Track listing:*Music by Frank Bornemann / Michael Gerlach...
and Ocean 2: The Answer
Ocean 2: The Answer
Ocean 2: The Answer is the seventeenth album by German progressive rock band Eloy, released in 1998. It was the conceptual and, some would say, musical follow-up to the band's 1977 album Ocean....
and also took part in a tour of Germany.
Unearthed - Raiders Of The Lost Archives, a 30-song collection of Lionheart demos, was issued in 1999 by Pony Canyon in Japan.