.gif)
Orleans (band)
Encyclopedia
Orleans is an American pop-rock band best known for its hits "Dance with Me
" (1975), "Still the One", from the album Waking and Dreaming
(1976) and "Love Takes Time
" (1979). The group's name evolved from the music it was playing at the time of their formation, which was inspired by Louisiana
artists such as Allen Toussaint
and the Neville Brothers. Orleans was formed in Woodstock, New York
in January 1972 by vocalist/guitarist/songwriter John Hall, vocalist/guitarist Larry Hoppen and drummer/percussionist Wells Kelly. In October of that year, the group expanded to include Larry's younger brother, Lance, on bass. Drummer Jerry Marotta
joined in 1976, completing the quintet.
, who would have a hit a few years later, in 1973, with the song "Dancing In The Moonlight" , a song written by Wells' brother, Sherman Kelly, and first recorded by Boffalongo, a group Wells joined in 1970 after leaving King Harvest.
Larry Hoppen, who grew up in Bayshore, Long Island but relocated to Ithaca, NY to attend college in the late 60s, was also a member of Boffalongo. In December 1971, Wells was asked by Hall to move to Woodstock to form a band. Hall and his wife, Johanna, had just gained notoriety when their song "Half Moon" had appeared on their friend Janis Joplin
's posthumous album Pearl
. The Halls, tired of the rising crime rate in NYC, decided to relocate to Woodstock and Wells accepted the offer to join them and left Boffalongo, which would disband soon after. According to the liner notes of Dance With Me: The Best Of Orleans, originally Wells was to play keyboards, while the chosen drummer and bass player ended up being only short term players, prompting Wells to contact Hoppen to join them. Larry accepted the invitation to join the new group, christened Orleans by Wells, in late January 1972 and for awhile they would play as a trio often switching instruments during the show.
Larry's 17 year old brother, Lance Hoppen, was brought into Orleans around Halloween 1972 to play bass, freeing up Larry to play more guitar and keyboards.
Orleans found its core audience touring the clubs and college circuit of the northeastern United States
, crossing paths with other up-and-comers such as Bonnie Raitt
, Tom Waits
and Hall & Oates
. Rolling Stone magazine called Orleans "the best unrecorded band in America". Showcase performances in New York
gave rise to a recording contract with ABC Dunhill Records and the release of the eponymous debut album in 1973, which had been recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
with producers Roger Hawkins
and Barry Beckett
at the helm.
The group's second record, Orleans II, was originally released in Japan and Europe in 1974 but ABC declined to release it in the US since they felt there were no hit singles on the album and dropped them from the label. Orleans II was finally put out in America in 1978, combined with the first album, as a double LP called Before the Dance. It was also released as a CD in Japan in the 1990s under its originally slated title Dance With Me.
However, it was not until Orleans was heard, then produced, by Chuck Plotkin
, then head of A&R for Asylum Records
, that the band scored its first Billboard Hot 100 charting with "Let There Be Music"(#55), taken from their third album, Let There Be Music, released in March 1975. Hall's wife, Johanna, was co-writer of many of the songs they produced during this era, usually with John but occasionally with other members of the band.
The follow-up single, "Dance With Me" (reshaped and re-recorded from Orleans II with Plotkin at the helm), brought Orleans to #6 on the pop charts and into the mainstream of American pop music. Atypical of the high-energy, earthy, R&B/Rock n' Roll mix of styles they had been previously identified with, "Dance With Me" cast the band in a more "soft-rock" light and landed them a tour with Melissa Manchester
.
While recording their next album, Waking and Dreaming, in the spring of 1976, the group was joined by second drummer Jerry Marotta, freeing Wells Kelly up to sing more and play keyboards.
It was the smash hit "Still the One
", from Dreaming (released in August 1976), that cemented Orleans' relationship with the American public. While the single was climbing the charts to a peak position of #5, the band did a major cross-country tour with label-mate Jackson Browne
.
In early 1977, however, internal stresses and disagreements over material and musical direction prompted guitarist/songwriter Hall to announce his intention to leave the band in search of a solo career as "Still the One" was chosen as the theme song for the ABC television network
(the parent of ABC Records). Since then, it has been used for numerous commercials and movie soundtracks. The follow-up, "Reach", peaked at #51 in March 1977 and Hall left the band in June 1977 after touring commitments were satisfied. Marotta departed not long afterwards to join Hall and Oates and eventually moved on to Peter Gabriel
's band.
After several months of mulling things over and working with other musicians (Larry joined Jerry Marotta in the backing band for Garland Jeffreys
while Kelly worked with the Beach Boys), the Hoppen brothers and Kelly decided to continue on in late 1977, bringing in new members R. A. Martin (vocals, sax, horns, keyboards) and Connecticut
musician Bob Leinbach (vocals, keyboards, trombone), who'd played with Larry Hoppen during the Ithaca years and had completed a stint with the group The Fabulous Rhinestones. The new lineup signed a contract with the Infinity Records
label and their debut there, Forever (April 1979), produced the #11 hit "Love Takes Time". In 1979 Orleans continued to tour with artists such as Stephen Stills
and Chicago
. Collectively, the three Orleans' hits have been aired over 7 million times.
In 1980 Infinity went bankrupt after a proposed deal to record an album with Pope John Paul II
(who was on a tour of the US in the fall of '79) fell through. Infinity was absorbed into MCA Records
, who failed to promote their next album, simply titled Orleans. This last, recorded in Woodstock, featured only the Hoppens and Wells Kelly as Orleans since the others had left earlier in the year. Nonetheless, the album featured guest appearances from all past members, including John Hall, who was in the process of forming the John Hall Band with Leinbach as a member. Orleans was produced by Englishman Robin Lumley
, mixed at Trident Studios
in London
and featured Lumley's friend, Phil Collins
, contributing backing vocals to a track.
After their 1980 release, the group added Dennis "Fly" Amero (guitars, vocals), keyboardist Lane Hoppen (brother of Larry and Lance) and drummer Charlie Shew (at that time going under the pseudonym Eric Charles) to play alongside Wells Kelly then replace him when he left by early 1981 to relocate to NYC.
Orleans then signed with the fledgling Radio Records and recorded their next album, One of a Kind, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
in the summer of ’82. The album (released in September 1982) included brand new band member Michael Mugrage replacing Amero on guitar at the request of the album's producers Don Silver and Ben Wisch. Jerry Marotta briefly rejoined the band to play on the album but was replaced by drummer Nicholas Parker after its release. But Radio, likewise, went bankrupt just as One of a Kind was hitting the record store shelves.
Now without a record label, Orleans struggled in the early 80s, playing mostly small clubs in the Northeast and at this same time, Larry and Lance formed a side group, Mood Ring, with Bob Leinbach, Nicholas Parker, singer/songwriter Robbie Dupree
(of "Steal Away" fame) and various others who drifted in and out, to play for fun, mostly at parties and clubs. Mood Ring played some club dates in 1984 billed as Robbie Dupree and Orleans (As of the late 2000s, Mood Ring have reconvened to do occasional concert dates).
But after a tough two-week stint in Bermuda in July 1984, Larry lost his voice one day into the gig due to a combination of air-conditioning and high humidity. After this, he returned to his home in Woodstock and decided to take some time off to allow his voice to heal.
In the meantime, Kelly went on to join Steve Forbert
's Flying Squirrels in 1981 and also played with Clarence Clemons
and the Red Bank Rockers before joining Meat Loaf
's Neverland Express in 1983. While on tour in England with Meat Loaf, Wells was found dead on the front stairs of a London
flat he was staying at on the morning of October 29, 1984, after a night of too much partying.
Wells Kelly's untimely death was the catalyst for a reunion of Hall and the Hoppen brothers. John and Bob Leinbach joined Larry up in Ithaca to play at a memorial for Wells (Lance had been unable to make the wake due to another commitment). Then in 1985, through Johanna Hall's connections in Nashville, the reunited lineup of John Hall, Larry Hoppen, Lance Hoppen and Bob Leinbach relocated there and by 1986 Orleans had cut the Grownup Children album, with guest appearances from heavyweights like Chet Atkins
, Ricky Skaggs
, Steve Wariner
and Bela Fleck
, under the direction of famed Nashville producer/MCA label chief Tony Brown
. During their Nashville period, the band added bassist Glen Worf and drummer Paul Cook (who was eventually replaced by Tommy Wells) for concert dates.
By 1988, John and Larry began to realize that, while Nashville was a great place for them as songwriters, it was not so accommodating to Orleans’ career as a band. They decided to relocate their activities back to Woodstock, NY and brought in New York native Peter O’Brien on drums. Lance decided to stay in Nashville to work on sessions and writing and was no longer available for all Orleans' gigs, so bassist Jim Curtin joined to be Lance's sub, as needed, between 1989 and 1994.
Orleans slowly re-established their presence in the Northeast over the next couple of years. In 1990 Robbie Dupree approached them to make a live album, mostly for their growing fan base in Japan. Two shows at Woodstock's Bearsville Theater were recorded, as the group was joined by Lance, Bob Leinbach, Paul Branin (sax, guitar) and special guests: Rob Leon, John Sebastian
and Jonell Mosser.
The double Orleans Live CD set came out in Japan in February of 1991, followed in April by their first trip to perform in Japan (with a lineup of John, Larry, Lance, Leinbach, O'Brien and Paul Branin). 1993 saw the American release of Orleans Live: Volume 1, a single disc CD version and the first release on the band's own Major Records label. Live Volume 2, featuring the rest of the show, was soon to follow.
Still without a "traditional" label in the USA, Orleans recorded a new album, Analog Men, for the Japanese label Pioneer. It came out there in 1994 and was followed by a return to Japan for more shows. Later that year, Orleans played at Woodstock 94, which was right in their backyard, in Saugerties, NY. Bob Leinbach once again rejoined the group for this show and continues to make occasional guest appearances with them.
The following year found them touring as an acoustic trio (John, Larry and Lance). While most of the venues were small listening clubs, the real highlight of ’95 was being the opening act on the Can’t Stop Rockin tour with Fleetwood Mac
, REO Speedwagon
and Pat Benatar
.
Yet another new album, Ride, was recorded at John’s Saugerties studio and released through an independent label, Dinosaur Entertainment, out of New Orleans. Ride emerged in the summer of 1996 and included just a couple of reworkings of the best and still unheard-in-the-US tunes from Analog Men. The single “I Am On Your Side” even began to make its way up the charts, but the label proved inexperienced and it folded shortly afterward, killing the song's chances for more radio play.
Orleans continued on, but in late 1997, decided to take a break. John and Lance were spending more and more time in Nashville doing sessions and touring with various Nashville-based artists and Larry, who'd remarried and started a family, relocated to Florida in 2000 and formed his own Larry Hoppen Band. Since 1997 Larry has also been involved with Voices of Classic Rock, who since 2003 have been known as RPM (Rock & Pop Masters), a touring, constantly shifting group of lead singers of popular 70s/80s groups (Toto
, Survivor
, Santana
, Rainbow
, etc.).
In the summer of 2001, nearly four years after their last gig, Orleans (John Hall, Larry, Lance and Peter O'Brien, with Bob Leinbach guesting) reunited on Labor Day weekend to play the Opus 40
Amphitheatre in Saugerties. After this, the band decided to remain together and continue on.
In 2003, having subbed gigs for Peter O'Brien the previous year, Charlie Morgan (ex-Elton John
) became their new drummer and brother Lane Hoppen rejoined the band on keyboards after nineteen years.
Orleans continued to play live and record. Their latest studio album, Dancin' in the Moonlight, was released in late 2005. The current lineup includes Larry, Lance and Lane Hoppen, Charlie Morgan and the returning Dennis "Fly" Amero (who replaced John Hall when he began his campaign for Congress in 2006) on guitar.
In 2007 Orleans released a live DVD/CD, We're Still Havin' Fun, recorded in August 2006 in Pittsfield, MA, which included both John Hall and "Fly" Amero, as well as the three Hoppen Brothers and drummer Charlie Morgan. Also appearing at this show were special guests: percussionist Manuel Quintana and Charlie DeChant (from Hall & Oates) on sax.
During his 2006 bid for a US Congressional seat, Hall appeared with the group on rare occasions. On November 7, 2006, Hall was elected as a Democrat
to the United States House of Representatives
from the state of New York
. He was reelected in 2008
. During the 2010 midterm elections, a political ad parody supporting John Hall's opponent, Nan Hayworth
, promoted the fictitious organization, Young Voters for an Orleans Reunion Tour, as a means of removing Hall from Congress. (Hayworth indeed defeated Hall in the election.)
Orleans continues to write, record and perform. In 2010 there were repeat performances in both Washington DC (in support of DCCC
) and in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
(fundraising for the Nana Baby Home, the orphanage there). The writing and recording of new material is always a high priority for the band.
Dance with Me (Orleans song)
Dance with Me is a song by American soft rock band Orleans. On July 19, 1975 it reached number 6 on Billboard's Hot 100 and stayed there for 18 weeks....
" (1975), "Still the One", from the album Waking and Dreaming
Waking and Dreaming
Waking and Dreaming is a 1976 album from the soft rock band Orleans. The album reached number 30 on the Billboard charts and it spawned the singles "Still the One" and "Reach"...
(1976) and "Love Takes Time
Love Takes Time (Orleans song)
"Love Takes Time" is a popular song by the rock and soft rock band Orleans. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May of 1979 and was their biggest hit since their 1976 single "Still the One." It is arguably their third most popular song overall, behind "Dance with Me" and "Still...
" (1979). The group's name evolved from the music it was playing at the time of their formation, which was inspired by Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
artists such as Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...
and the Neville Brothers. Orleans was formed in Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
in January 1972 by vocalist/guitarist/songwriter John Hall, vocalist/guitarist Larry Hoppen and drummer/percussionist Wells Kelly. In October of that year, the group expanded to include Larry's younger brother, Lance, on bass. Drummer Jerry Marotta
Jerry Marotta
Jerry Marotta is a drummer currently residing in Woodstock, New York. He is the brother of Rick Marotta, who is also a well-known drummer and composer....
joined in 1976, completing the quintet.
History
Drummer Wells Kelly first met John Hall, an in-demand session player and member of the group Kangaroo, in the late 60s when he played with him in a group called Thunderfrog and later played on John's first solo album, Action, released in 1970. In 1969 Wells joined the first incarnation of a band called King HarvestKing Harvest
King Harvest was a 1970s American rock band, best known for their 1973 hit single, "Dancing in the Moonlight".-Background:Formed by a group of four American expatriates in Paris in 1970, King Harvest was best known for its one US hit single, "Dancing In The Moonlight," which was released in 1972...
, who would have a hit a few years later, in 1973, with the song "Dancing In The Moonlight" , a song written by Wells' brother, Sherman Kelly, and first recorded by Boffalongo, a group Wells joined in 1970 after leaving King Harvest.
Larry Hoppen, who grew up in Bayshore, Long Island but relocated to Ithaca, NY to attend college in the late 60s, was also a member of Boffalongo. In December 1971, Wells was asked by Hall to move to Woodstock to form a band. Hall and his wife, Johanna, had just gained notoriety when their song "Half Moon" had appeared on their friend Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
's posthumous album Pearl
Pearl
A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
. The Halls, tired of the rising crime rate in NYC, decided to relocate to Woodstock and Wells accepted the offer to join them and left Boffalongo, which would disband soon after. According to the liner notes of Dance With Me: The Best Of Orleans, originally Wells was to play keyboards, while the chosen drummer and bass player ended up being only short term players, prompting Wells to contact Hoppen to join them. Larry accepted the invitation to join the new group, christened Orleans by Wells, in late January 1972 and for awhile they would play as a trio often switching instruments during the show.
Larry's 17 year old brother, Lance Hoppen, was brought into Orleans around Halloween 1972 to play bass, freeing up Larry to play more guitar and keyboards.
Orleans found its core audience touring the clubs and college circuit of the northeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, crossing paths with other up-and-comers such as Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
and Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
. Rolling Stone magazine called Orleans "the best unrecorded band in America". Showcase performances in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
gave rise to a recording contract with ABC Dunhill Records and the release of the eponymous debut album in 1973, which had been recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
with producers Roger Hawkins
Roger Hawkins
Roger G Hawkins , is an American drummer best known for playing as part of the studio backing band known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section of Alabama...
and Barry Beckett
Barry Beckett
Barry Edward Beckett was a keyboardist who worked as a session musician with several notable artists on their studio albums...
at the helm.
The group's second record, Orleans II, was originally released in Japan and Europe in 1974 but ABC declined to release it in the US since they felt there were no hit singles on the album and dropped them from the label. Orleans II was finally put out in America in 1978, combined with the first album, as a double LP called Before the Dance. It was also released as a CD in Japan in the 1990s under its originally slated title Dance With Me.
However, it was not until Orleans was heard, then produced, by Chuck Plotkin
Chuck Plotkin
Chuck Plotkin is a recording engineer and producer, best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.-Recording engineer:Plotkin has recorded, engineered, mastered and produced albums by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and many other artists, starting with The Floating House Band in 1972...
, then head of A&R for Asylum Records
Asylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...
, that the band scored its first Billboard Hot 100 charting with "Let There Be Music"(#55), taken from their third album, Let There Be Music, released in March 1975. Hall's wife, Johanna, was co-writer of many of the songs they produced during this era, usually with John but occasionally with other members of the band.
The follow-up single, "Dance With Me" (reshaped and re-recorded from Orleans II with Plotkin at the helm), brought Orleans to #6 on the pop charts and into the mainstream of American pop music. Atypical of the high-energy, earthy, R&B/Rock n' Roll mix of styles they had been previously identified with, "Dance With Me" cast the band in a more "soft-rock" light and landed them a tour with Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....
.
While recording their next album, Waking and Dreaming, in the spring of 1976, the group was joined by second drummer Jerry Marotta, freeing Wells Kelly up to sing more and play keyboards.
It was the smash hit "Still the One
Still The One (song)
"Still the One" is a song written by Johanna Hall and John Hall, and recorded by the soft rock group Orleans on their album Waking and Dreaming, released in 1976, which made it to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100....
", from Dreaming (released in August 1976), that cemented Orleans' relationship with the American public. While the single was climbing the charts to a peak position of #5, the band did a major cross-country tour with label-mate Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
.
In early 1977, however, internal stresses and disagreements over material and musical direction prompted guitarist/songwriter Hall to announce his intention to leave the band in search of a solo career as "Still the One" was chosen as the theme song for the ABC television network
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
(the parent of ABC Records). Since then, it has been used for numerous commercials and movie soundtracks. The follow-up, "Reach", peaked at #51 in March 1977 and Hall left the band in June 1977 after touring commitments were satisfied. Marotta departed not long afterwards to join Hall and Oates and eventually moved on to Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's band.
Garland Jeffreys
Garland Jeffreys is a part African-American, and Puerto Rican American, singer and songwriter, transversing the musical genres of rock and roll, reggae, blues and soul.-Career:...
while Kelly worked with the Beach Boys), the Hoppen brothers and Kelly decided to continue on in late 1977, bringing in new members R. A. Martin (vocals, sax, horns, keyboards) and Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
musician Bob Leinbach (vocals, keyboards, trombone), who'd played with Larry Hoppen during the Ithaca years and had completed a stint with the group The Fabulous Rhinestones. The new lineup signed a contract with the Infinity Records
Infinity Records
Infinity Records was a short-lived subsidiary of MCA Records established in New York City in 1977. The label was conceived by MCA president Sidney Sheinberg as a way for the Los Angeles-based entertainment conglomerate to improve its presence on the East Coast...
label and their debut there, Forever (April 1979), produced the #11 hit "Love Takes Time". In 1979 Orleans continued to tour with artists such as Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
and Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
. Collectively, the three Orleans' hits have been aired over 7 million times.
In 1980 Infinity went bankrupt after a proposed deal to record an album with Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
(who was on a tour of the US in the fall of '79) fell through. Infinity was absorbed into MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
, who failed to promote their next album, simply titled Orleans. This last, recorded in Woodstock, featured only the Hoppens and Wells Kelly as Orleans since the others had left earlier in the year. Nonetheless, the album featured guest appearances from all past members, including John Hall, who was in the process of forming the John Hall Band with Leinbach as a member. Orleans was produced by Englishman Robin Lumley
Robin Lumley
Robin Lumley is a British jazz-fusion musician.He is a cousin of the actress Joanna Lumley. He started playing drums in a student band at college, and that band entered the finals of the Melody Maker band talent contest in the early 70s....
, mixed at Trident Studios
Trident Studios
Trident Studios was a British recording facility, originally located at 17 St. Anne's Court in London's Soho district. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield a drummer of former 1960's group The Hunters and his Brother Barry....
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...
and featured Lumley's friend, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, contributing backing vocals to a track.
After their 1980 release, the group added Dennis "Fly" Amero (guitars, vocals), keyboardist Lane Hoppen (brother of Larry and Lance) and drummer Charlie Shew (at that time going under the pseudonym Eric Charles) to play alongside Wells Kelly then replace him when he left by early 1981 to relocate to NYC.
Orleans then signed with the fledgling Radio Records and recorded their next album, One of a Kind, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
in the summer of ’82. The album (released in September 1982) included brand new band member Michael Mugrage replacing Amero on guitar at the request of the album's producers Don Silver and Ben Wisch. Jerry Marotta briefly rejoined the band to play on the album but was replaced by drummer Nicholas Parker after its release. But Radio, likewise, went bankrupt just as One of a Kind was hitting the record store shelves.
Now without a record label, Orleans struggled in the early 80s, playing mostly small clubs in the Northeast and at this same time, Larry and Lance formed a side group, Mood Ring, with Bob Leinbach, Nicholas Parker, singer/songwriter Robbie Dupree
Robbie Dupree
Robert Dupuis , better known by his stage name Robbie Dupree, is an American singer-songwriter best known for his 1980 top ten pop hit, "Steal Away"....
(of "Steal Away" fame) and various others who drifted in and out, to play for fun, mostly at parties and clubs. Mood Ring played some club dates in 1984 billed as Robbie Dupree and Orleans (As of the late 2000s, Mood Ring have reconvened to do occasional concert dates).
But after a tough two-week stint in Bermuda in July 1984, Larry lost his voice one day into the gig due to a combination of air-conditioning and high humidity. After this, he returned to his home in Woodstock and decided to take some time off to allow his voice to heal.
In the meantime, Kelly went on to join Steve Forbert
Steve Forbert
Steve Forbert is an American pop music singer-songwriter. He is best known for his song "Romeo's Tune", which reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980....
's Flying Squirrels in 1981 and also played with 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 the Red Bank Rockers before joining Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
's Neverland Express in 1983. While on tour in England with Meat Loaf, Wells was found dead on the front stairs of a 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...
flat he was staying at on the morning of October 29, 1984, after a night of too much partying.
Wells Kelly's untimely death was the catalyst for a reunion of Hall and the Hoppen brothers. John and Bob Leinbach joined Larry up in Ithaca to play at a memorial for Wells (Lance had been unable to make the wake due to another commitment). Then in 1985, through Johanna Hall's connections in Nashville, the reunited lineup of John Hall, Larry Hoppen, Lance Hoppen and Bob Leinbach relocated there and by 1986 Orleans had cut the Grownup Children album, with guest appearances from heavyweights like Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs
Rickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
, Steve Wariner
Steve Wariner
Steven Noel "Steve" Wariner is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has released eighteen studio albums, including six on MCA Records, and three each on RCA Records, Arista Records and Capitol Records...
and Bela Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
, under the direction of famed Nashville producer/MCA label chief Tony Brown
Tony Brown (record producer)
Tony Brown is an American country music record producer.He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina.Brown played piano for Elvis Presley. He toured with the TCB Band for much of Presley's final two years and was a part of the 1976 "Jungle Room" recording sessions at Graceland...
. During their Nashville period, the band added bassist Glen Worf and drummer Paul Cook (who was eventually replaced by Tommy Wells) for concert dates.
By 1988, John and Larry began to realize that, while Nashville was a great place for them as songwriters, it was not so accommodating to Orleans’ career as a band. They decided to relocate their activities back to Woodstock, NY and brought in New York native Peter O’Brien on drums. Lance decided to stay in Nashville to work on sessions and writing and was no longer available for all Orleans' gigs, so bassist Jim Curtin joined to be Lance's sub, as needed, between 1989 and 1994.
Orleans slowly re-established their presence in the Northeast over the next couple of years. In 1990 Robbie Dupree approached them to make a live album, mostly for their growing fan base in Japan. Two shows at Woodstock's Bearsville Theater were recorded, as the group was joined by Lance, Bob Leinbach, Paul Branin (sax, guitar) and special guests: Rob Leon, John Sebastian
John Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
and Jonell Mosser.
The double Orleans Live CD set came out in Japan in February of 1991, followed in April by their first trip to perform in Japan (with a lineup of John, Larry, Lance, Leinbach, O'Brien and Paul Branin). 1993 saw the American release of Orleans Live: Volume 1, a single disc CD version and the first release on the band's own Major Records label. Live Volume 2, featuring the rest of the show, was soon to follow.
Still without a "traditional" label in the USA, Orleans recorded a new album, Analog Men, for the Japanese label Pioneer. It came out there in 1994 and was followed by a return to Japan for more shows. Later that year, Orleans played at Woodstock 94, which was right in their backyard, in Saugerties, NY. Bob Leinbach once again rejoined the group for this show and continues to make occasional guest appearances with them.
The following year found them touring as an acoustic trio (John, Larry and Lance). While most of the venues were small listening clubs, the real highlight of ’95 was being the opening act on the Can’t Stop Rockin tour with Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
, 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...
and Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
.
Yet another new album, Ride, was recorded at John’s Saugerties studio and released through an independent label, Dinosaur Entertainment, out of New Orleans. Ride emerged in the summer of 1996 and included just a couple of reworkings of the best and still unheard-in-the-US tunes from Analog Men. The single “I Am On Your Side” even began to make its way up the charts, but the label proved inexperienced and it folded shortly afterward, killing the song's chances for more radio play.
Orleans continued on, but in late 1997, decided to take a break. John and Lance were spending more and more time in Nashville doing sessions and touring with various Nashville-based artists and Larry, who'd remarried and started a family, relocated to Florida in 2000 and formed his own Larry Hoppen Band. Since 1997 Larry has also been involved with Voices of Classic Rock, who since 2003 have been known as RPM (Rock & Pop Masters), a touring, constantly shifting group of lead singers of popular 70s/80s groups (Toto
Toto
- People :* Saint Toto, the Roman name for Saint Theodore of Amasea* Toto of Nepi , Roman strongman* Totò, diminutive for Salvatore in Sicily, and Antonio in Campania* Totò , stage name of an Italian actor, writer, and songwriter...
, Survivor
Survivor (band)
Survivor is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1978. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s with its AOR sound, which garnered many charting singles, especially in the United States. The band is best known for its double platinum-certified 1982 hit "Eye of the Tiger", the theme...
, Santana
Santana
Santana is the name or partial name of numerous people, places and companies worldwide. It is derived from the contraction of "Santa Ana" or Saint Anne...
, Rainbow
Rainbow
A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines on to droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc...
, etc.).
In the summer of 2001, nearly four years after their last gig, Orleans (John Hall, Larry, Lance and Peter O'Brien, with Bob Leinbach guesting) reunited on Labor Day weekend to play the Opus 40
Opus 40
Opus 40 is a large environmental sculpture in Saugerties, New York, created by sculptor and quarryman Harvey Fite . It comprises a sprawling series of dry-stone ramps, pedestals and platforms covering of a bluestone quarry.-Overview:...
Amphitheatre in Saugerties. After this, the band decided to remain together and continue on.
In 2003, having subbed gigs for Peter O'Brien the previous year, Charlie Morgan (ex-Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
) became their new drummer and brother Lane Hoppen rejoined the band on keyboards after nineteen years.
Orleans continued to play live and record. Their latest studio album, Dancin' in the Moonlight, was released in late 2005. The current lineup includes Larry, Lance and Lane Hoppen, Charlie Morgan and the returning Dennis "Fly" Amero (who replaced John Hall when he began his campaign for Congress in 2006) on guitar.
In 2007 Orleans released a live DVD/CD, We're Still Havin' Fun, recorded in August 2006 in Pittsfield, MA, which included both John Hall and "Fly" Amero, as well as the three Hoppen Brothers and drummer Charlie Morgan. Also appearing at this show were special guests: percussionist Manuel Quintana and Charlie DeChant (from Hall & Oates) on sax.
During his 2006 bid for a US Congressional seat, Hall appeared with the group on rare occasions. On November 7, 2006, Hall was elected as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He was reelected in 2008
New York's 19th congressional district election, 2008
The New York 19th congressional district election for the 111th United States Congress was held on November 4, 2008. Freshman incumbent John Hall is the nominee for the Democratic Party...
. During the 2010 midterm elections, a political ad parody supporting John Hall's opponent, Nan Hayworth
Nan Hayworth
Nan Alison Sutter Hayworth is the U.S. Representative for . She is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education, and nursing career:...
, promoted the fictitious organization, Young Voters for an Orleans Reunion Tour, as a means of removing Hall from Congress. (Hayworth indeed defeated Hall in the election.)
Orleans continues to write, record and perform. In 2010 there were repeat performances in both Washington DC (in support of DCCC
DCCC
You may be looking for:*Davidson County Community College*Dodge City Community College*Delaware County Community College*Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee*Derbyshire County Cricket Club*Durham County Cricket Club* The number 800 in Roman numerals....
) and in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
(fundraising for the Nana Baby Home, the orphanage there). The writing and recording of new material is always a high priority for the band.
Studio albums
- Orleans (1973)
- Orleans IIOrleans IIOrleans II is the second album from the soft rock band Orleans. Orleans II was originally released in Japan and Europe in 1974. ABC Records chose not to release the album in the United States because they did not see any hits on the album, and were subsequently dropped from ABC Records...
(1974) - Let There Be MusicLet There Be MusicLet There Be Music is the third album from the soft rock band Orleans, the first album on Asylum Records. The album spawned two hit singles, including the title cut, which peaked at #55 on May 24-31, 1975, and Dance With Me, which peaked at #6 on October 18, 1975, on the Billboard Singles Chart.-...
(1975) - Waking and DreamingWaking and DreamingWaking and Dreaming is a 1976 album from the soft rock band Orleans. The album reached number 30 on the Billboard charts and it spawned the singles "Still the One" and "Reach"...
(1976) - ForeverForever (Orleans album)Forever is a 1979 album from the soft rock band Orleans. The album spawned two singles, "Love Takes Time" and the title track "Forever" .-Track listing:...
(1979) - Orleans (1980)
- One of a Kind (1982)
- Grown Up Children (1986)
- Analog Men (1994)
- Ride (1996)
- Dancin' in the Moonlight (2005)
- Obscurities (2008)
Live albums
- Live (1991)
- Still the One, Live (2002)
- We're Still Having Fun (2007)
Compilations
- The ABC Collection (1976)
- Before the Dance (1978)
- Dance With Me - The Best of Orleans (1997)
Charting singles
- 1975 - "Let There Be Music" - U.S. #55 Pop Singles
- 1975 - "Dance With Me" - U.S. #6 Pop Singles; #6 Adult Contemporary
- 1976 - "Still the One" - U.S. #5 Pop Singles
- 1977 - "Reach" - U.S. #51 Pop Singles
- 1979 - "Love Takes Time" - U.S. #11 Pop Singles