Keel (band)
Encyclopedia
Keel is an American
heavy metal
band founded in 1984 in Los Angeles
, California
. They were known for their rock anthem "The Right to Rock." The band was active until 1989, with a brief reunion in 1998. Keel reunited in 2008 and is currently touring for their 25th anniversary.
vocalist Ron Keel
. The original members were Ron Keel on vocals, David Michael Phillips
on guitar, Marc Ferrari
on lead & rhythm guitars, Bobby Marks on drums and Kenny Chaisson on bass guitar. Within months, Phillips left to join King Kobra
and was replaced by Bryan Jay. This was the lineup for their 1984 debut album Lay Down the Law
. After the album's release, Marks left and was replaced by Steven Riley, who subsequently left early in the recording of the band's second album to join W.A.S.P., and was in turn replaced by Dwain Miller, forming a lineup which would remain stable for almost 4 years. Their debut album caught the eye of KISS
' Gene Simmons
, resulting in his production of their second album, The Right To Rock
, released on March 26, 1985. Their next and also Simmons-produced third album The Final Frontier was released on April 30, 1986. It included the single "Because the Night
", a song that was co-written by Patti Smith
and Bruce Springsteen
and had been a hit for Smith in 1978.
In 1986, Keel actually won the Best Band of the Year award in the 2nd annual Metal Edge
magazine reader's poll, beating such noted bands as Iron Maiden
& Judas Priest
.
In 1987, the song "Rock & Roll Outlaw" (a cover from the 1978 self titled debut of Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo
) appeared on the soundtrack of the movie Dudes
. Their fourth album, Keel
, was released on June 21, 1987, recorded with producer Michael Wagener
. An unreleased track from the album, Ferrari's "Proud To Be Loud", would eventually wind up on Pantera
's Power Metal album, which Ferrari produced early in 1988.
Ferrari & Jay both left in 1988, after touring in support of the Keel album. They were replaced by keyboardist Scott Warren
& guitarist Tony Palamucci.
Their fifth album, Larger Than Live
, was released in 1989 with six new studio recordings, including a cover of the 1980 Humble Pie
song "Fool for a Pretty Face". Also on the album were six live tracks recorded in March 1989. Following the shooting of the music video for the song "Dreams Are Not Enough" on that same year, Ron Keel announced the disbandment of Keel.
movies (as the guitarist for Tia Carrere
's band "Crucial Taunt") and formed the band Medicine Wheel
, which released three CDs. In addition, he released two solo CDs and started a music publishing company called MasterSource, employing Ron Keel to write material for the library. Ferrari also recently wrote a book titled Rock Star 101.
In 1998, members of Keel got together to release their sixth album Keel VI: Back in Action
. It mainly consisted of unreleased material from their previous albums, including the aforementioned "Proud To Be Loud".
The band's song "Speed Demon" (from The Right to Rock) is briefly heard on the 2002 movie Men in Black II
, and appears on Mike Varney
's U.S. Metal Vol. IV compilation.
Ron Keel has pursued numerous musical projects since Keel's disbandment. In the mid-1990s, he played Country music
under the name "Ronnie Lee Keel" before forming the country metal band IronHorse in 2001. In 2006, Ron left IronHorse and formed K2 Featuring Ron Keel a year later.
, on January 31, 2009. In addition, the band played at the third annual Rocklahoma
festival on July 2009. A reunion album, Streets Of Rock N’ Roll is slated for release in 2010, as well as the 25th anniversary edition of The Right To Rock featuring a brand new re-recorded version of the title song as a bonus track.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band founded in 1984 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...
. They were known for their rock anthem "The Right to Rock." The band was active until 1989, with a brief reunion in 1998. Keel reunited in 2008 and is currently touring for their 25th anniversary.
History
Keel was formed by former SteelerSteeler
Steeler was an early 1980s American heavy metal band from Nashville. Band members included: Ron Keel on vocals and guitar, Michael Dunigan on lead guitar, Bobby Eva on drums and Tim Morrison on bass. In 1982, they released the single Cold Day in Hell....
vocalist Ron Keel
Ron Keel
Ron Keel is a Heavy metal vocalist and guitarist for a number of bands from the 1980s to the modern day, including the glam metal band Keel.-Biography:...
. The original members were Ron Keel on vocals, David Michael Phillips
Dave Henzerling
David Henzerling , a.k.a. David Michael-Philips, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He has been a member of numerous hard rock bands including Schoolboys, Keel, King Kobra, Lizzy Borden, Geronimo!, Liquid Black, Big Cock, Icon, Tunnel, and Kelly Keeling & Friends...
on guitar, Marc Ferrari
Marc Ferrari
Marc Ferrari is a guitar player famous for his work in bands such as Keel, Cold Sweat, Medicine Wheel and Ferrari. He also had a role in Wayne's World, as the guitarist of Crucial Taunt and guested on Pantera's 1988 album, Power Metal. In the 1990s he wrote the column "Power Sources" for Metal...
on lead & rhythm guitars, Bobby Marks on drums and Kenny Chaisson on bass guitar. Within months, Phillips left to join King Kobra
King Kobra
King Kobra is a glam metal group founded by drummer Carmine Appice after his tenure with Ozzy Osbourne in 1984. The band during the time of their first two albums included four relatively unknown musicians: vocalist Mark Free, guitarist David Michael-Philips, guitarist Mick Sweda, and bassist...
and was replaced by Bryan Jay. This was the lineup for their 1984 debut album Lay Down the Law
Lay Down the Law (Keel album)
Lay Down the Law is the debut album by the band Keel. It was the only album to feature original drummer Bobby Marks. Also, both "Speed Demon" and the Rolling Stones cover "Let's Spend the Night Together" were re-recorded for their next album The Right to Rock, although the version of Let's Spend...
. After the album's release, Marks left and was replaced by Steven Riley, who subsequently left early in the recording of the band's second album to join W.A.S.P., and was in turn replaced by Dwain Miller, forming a lineup which would remain stable for almost 4 years. Their debut album caught the eye of 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,...
' Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
, resulting in his production of their second album, The Right To Rock
The Right to Rock
The Right to Rock is the second studio album by heavy metal band Keel. It was the first to be produced by Kiss's Gene Simmons under their new label Gold Mountain Records . When the band started recording the album, drummer Bobby Marks left...
, released on March 26, 1985. Their next and also Simmons-produced third album The Final Frontier was released on April 30, 1986. It included the single "Because the Night
Because the Night
"Because the Night" is a song by the Patti Smith Group, written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith which was released as a single in 1978, taken from Smith's album Easter. The song was a hit, rising to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and helping propel sales of Easter to mainstream success –...
", a song that was co-written by Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
and had been a hit for Smith in 1978.
In 1986, Keel actually won the Best Band of the Year award in the 2nd annual Metal Edge
Metal Edge
Metal Edge was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. It was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of Glam metal's success.Both Metal Edge and its sister publication, Metal Maniacs, ceased operations in 2009....
magazine reader's poll, beating such noted bands as Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
& 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,...
.
In 1987, the song "Rock & Roll Outlaw" (a cover from the 1978 self titled debut of Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life"...
) appeared on the soundtrack of the movie Dudes
Dudes (film)
-Plot:Two punks from the big city , traveling across the country in a Volkswagen bug, embrace the western ethos when they must take revenge against a group of rednecks for killing their friend in this lighthearted road movie...
. Their fourth album, Keel
Keel (album)
Keel is the fourth album by the glam metal band Keel, released on June 21, 1987. This was the last album to feature guitarists Marc Ferrari and Brian Jay, as they left the band a year later...
, was released on June 21, 1987, recorded with producer Michael Wagener
Michael Wagener
Michael Wagener is a music producer, mixer, and engineer from Hamburg, Germany, best known for his work with many top hard rock and heavy metal bands in the late 80's. Wagener's works have sold over ninetyfour million albums worldwide. Wagener was the original guitarist for the German band Accept...
. An unreleased track from the album, Ferrari's "Proud To Be Loud", would eventually wind up on Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
's Power Metal album, which Ferrari produced early in 1988.
Ferrari & Jay both left in 1988, after touring in support of the Keel album. They were replaced by keyboardist Scott Warren
Scott Warren
Scott Warren was the latest keyboardist for heavy metal band Dio and Heaven & Hell.Scott is a self taught keysman, he begin playing at age 6...
& guitarist Tony Palamucci.
Their fifth album, Larger Than Live
Larger Than Live
Larger Than Live is the fifth album by heavy metal band Keel. It consists of six new studio tracks and six of the band's previous songs recorded live at The Roxy in West Hollywood, CA...
, was released in 1989 with six new studio recordings, including a cover of the 1980 Humble Pie
Humble Pie (band)
Humble Pie was a rock band from England, finding success both in the UK and the US. They are remembered for songs such as "Black Coffee" "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", and "Natural Born Bugie"...
song "Fool for a Pretty Face". Also on the album were six live tracks recorded in March 1989. Following the shooting of the music video for the song "Dreams Are Not Enough" on that same year, Ron Keel announced the disbandment of Keel.
Post-disbandment and first reunion
In the 1990s, Ferrari wrote a gear column for Metal Edge magazine entitled "Power Sources", and went on to form Cold Sweat, who would release the album Break Out in 1990. After the demise of that group, Ferrari appeared in both Wayne's WorldWayne's World
Wayne's World was originally a recurring sketch from the NBC television series Saturday Night Live. It evolved from a segment titled "Wayne's Power Minute" on the CBC Television series It's Only Rock & Roll, as the main character first appeared in that show...
movies (as the guitarist for Tia Carrere
Tia Carrere
Tia Carrere is an American actress, model, voice artist, and singer, perhaps most widely known for her role as Cassandra Wong in the feature films Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2, Queen Tyr'ahnee in Duck Dodgers, and as Sydney Fox in the TV series Relic Hunter.-Early life:Carrere was born in...
's band "Crucial Taunt") and formed the band Medicine Wheel
Medicine wheel
Medicine wheels, or sacred hoops, were constructed by laying stones in a particular pattern on the ground. Most medicine wheels follow the basic pattern of having a center of stone, and surrounding that is an outer ring of stones with "spokes", or lines of rocks radiating from the center...
, which released three CDs. In addition, he released two solo CDs and started a music publishing company called MasterSource, employing Ron Keel to write material for the library. Ferrari also recently wrote a book titled Rock Star 101.
In 1998, members of Keel got together to release their sixth album Keel VI: Back in Action
Keel VI: Back in Action
Keel VI: Back in Action is the sixth album by heavy metal band Keel and the first to feature the classic lineup since their self-titled 1987 album...
. It mainly consisted of unreleased material from their previous albums, including the aforementioned "Proud To Be Loud".
The band's song "Speed Demon" (from The Right to Rock) is briefly heard on the 2002 movie Men in Black II
Men in Black II
Men in Black II is a 2002 science fiction action comedy starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. The film also stars Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Rosario Dawson and Rip Torn...
, and appears on Mike Varney
Mike Varney
Mike Varney is an American musician, record producer, music publisher and impresario. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes Shrapnel Records, Tone Center Records and Blues Bureau International. He also has a 50% stake in Magna Carta Records, a New York-based label...
's U.S. Metal Vol. IV compilation.
Ron Keel has pursued numerous musical projects since Keel's disbandment. In the mid-1990s, he played Country music
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...
under the name "Ronnie Lee Keel" before forming the country metal band IronHorse in 2001. In 2006, Ron left IronHorse and formed K2 Featuring Ron Keel a year later.
25th anniversary reunion
On November 2008, Keel reunited in time to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary. All the members from The Right to Rock era have rejoined except for Chaisson. The new bassist is Ron Keel's longtime friend, Geno Arce. Their first reunion show was held in Hollywood, CAHollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
, on January 31, 2009. In addition, the band played at the third annual Rocklahoma
Rocklahoma
Rocklahoma is an annual hard rock music festival held in Pryor, Oklahoma...
festival on July 2009. A reunion album, Streets Of Rock N’ Roll is slated for release in 2010, as well as the 25th anniversary edition of The Right To Rock featuring a brand new re-recorded version of the title song as a bonus track.
Current members
- Ron KeelRon KeelRon Keel is a Heavy metal vocalist and guitarist for a number of bands from the 1980s to the modern day, including the glam metal band Keel.-Biography:...
- Lead vocals, Guitar, KeyboardMusical keyboardA musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
(1984–1989, 1998, 2008–present) - Marc FerrariMarc FerrariMarc Ferrari is a guitar player famous for his work in bands such as Keel, Cold Sweat, Medicine Wheel and Ferrari. He also had a role in Wayne's World, as the guitarist of Crucial Taunt and guested on Pantera's 1988 album, Power Metal. In the 1990s he wrote the column "Power Sources" for Metal...
- GuitarGuitarThe 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...
(1984–1988, 1998, 2008–present) - Brian Jay - Guitar (1984–1988, 1998, 2008–present)
- Geno Arce - BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(2008–present) - Dwain Miller - DrumsDrum kitA 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 ....
(1985–1989, 1998, 2008–present)
Former members
- David Michael PhillipsDave HenzerlingDavid Henzerling , a.k.a. David Michael-Philips, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He has been a member of numerous hard rock bands including Schoolboys, Keel, King Kobra, Lizzy Borden, Geronimo!, Liquid Black, Big Cock, Icon, Tunnel, and Kelly Keeling & Friends...
- Guitar (1984) - Bobby Marks - Drums (1984)
- Steven Riley - Drums (1985)
- Scott WarrenScott WarrenScott Warren was the latest keyboardist for heavy metal band Dio and Heaven & Hell.Scott is a self taught keysman, he begin playing at age 6...
- Keyboards, piano (1989) - Tony Palamucci - Guitar (1989)
- Kenny Chaisson - Bass (1984–1989, 1998)
Discography
| Year | Album | US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
certification | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Lay Down the Law Lay Down the Law (Keel album) Lay Down the Law is the debut album by the band Keel. It was the only album to feature original drummer Bobby Marks. Also, both "Speed Demon" and the Rolling Stones cover "Let's Spend the Night Together" were re-recorded for their next album The Right to Rock, although the version of Let's Spend... |
- | - | Shrapnel |
| 1985 | The Right to Rock The Right to Rock The Right to Rock is the second studio album by heavy metal band Keel. It was the first to be produced by Kiss's Gene Simmons under their new label Gold Mountain Records . When the band started recording the album, drummer Bobby Marks left... |
99 | - | Vertigo |
| 1986 | The Final Frontier | 53 | - | Vertigo |
| 1987 | Keel Keel (album) Keel is the fourth album by the glam metal band Keel, released on June 21, 1987. This was the last album to feature guitarists Marc Ferrari and Brian Jay, as they left the band a year later... |
79 | - | MCA |
| 1989 | Larger Than Live Larger Than Live Larger Than Live is the fifth album by heavy metal band Keel. It consists of six new studio tracks and six of the band's previous songs recorded live at The Roxy in West Hollywood, CA... |
- | - | Gold Castle |
| 1998 | Keel VI: Back in Action Keel VI: Back in Action Keel VI: Back in Action is the sixth album by heavy metal band Keel and the first to feature the classic lineup since their self-titled 1987 album... |
- | - | DeRock |
| 2010 | Streets of Rock & Roll Streets of Rock & Roll Streets of Rock & Roll is a studio album by heavy metal band Keel, released in 2010. It marks the band's first studio recording since their 2008 reunion and is the first to feature new bassist Geno Arce.-Track listing:#Streets of Rock & Roll - 4:46... |
- | - | Frontiers Records |