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Lake (band)
Encyclopedia
Lake is a German rock music band that formed in the early 1970s under the name Tornados, changing their name to Lake in 1973. They mostly covered material by other bands in their early years, but released three singles, Come Down/We're Gonna Rock, King Of The Rock'n Roll Party, and Sailor. In 1975 they were joined by lead singer James Hopkins-Harrison, who gave them their signature sound for the remainder of their recording career.
They achieved modest success in much of Europe from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, particularly in Germany where they were named artist of the year by the German Phono Academy in 1977. That same year, their self-titled debut album
reached #92 in the US and the single Time Bomb reached #83, which would prove to be their greatest success in the US. They toured the US in the late 1970s as the opening act for various headline acts, including Lynyrd Skynyrd
, Black Oak Arkansas
, and Neil Young
.
After their contract with CBS was discontinued the label released previously unavailable live material from stage appearances between May 1979 and October 1980, introducing the Lake 1 (incl. Detlef Petersen) and the Lake 2 (incl. Achim Oppermann) formations on the double live album Live - On the Run. The band was able to sign another contract with the German Polydor label and in 1984 they released album #6, No Time for Heroes.
In 1985 Lake released Voices and in 1986 Lake's last album was recorded, the Polydor release So What. Long time drummer Dieter Ahrendt left in the meantime and was replaced by Udo Dahmen. Jo Kappl also left, leaving the job on the bass guitar to Benjamin Hüllenkrämer. So What included "Inside To Outside", written by Achim Oppermann which had already performed by former Kajagoogoo
lead singer Limahl
, Apparently Lake ceased to exist by 1986/87. In 1991 James Hopkins-Harrison died from an overdose of heroin.
At the beginning of the new millennium Lake was revived by Alex Conti, including Mike Starrs
, Adrian Askew, Mickie Stickdorn and Michael "Bexi" Becker. In March 2005 the first Lake studio recording for 20 years was released: The Blast of Silence.
Additional personnel during their early years:
Additional personnel during their later years:
They achieved modest success in much of Europe from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, particularly in Germany where they were named artist of the year by the German Phono Academy in 1977. That same year, their self-titled debut album
Lake (album)
Lake is the self-titled first studio album by Lake, released in Germany in 1976 and the USA in 1977. The track Time Bomb was the band's highest charting single of their career.-Track listing:...
reached #92 in the US and the single Time Bomb reached #83, which would prove to be their greatest success in the US. They toured the US in the late 1970s as the opening act for various headline acts, including Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
, Black Oak Arkansas
Black Oak Arkansas
Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970s with ten charting albums released in that decade...
, and Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
.
After their contract with CBS was discontinued the label released previously unavailable live material from stage appearances between May 1979 and October 1980, introducing the Lake 1 (incl. Detlef Petersen) and the Lake 2 (incl. Achim Oppermann) formations on the double live album Live - On the Run. The band was able to sign another contract with the German Polydor label and in 1984 they released album #6, No Time for Heroes.
In 1985 Lake released Voices and in 1986 Lake's last album was recorded, the Polydor release So What. Long time drummer Dieter Ahrendt left in the meantime and was replaced by Udo Dahmen. Jo Kappl also left, leaving the job on the bass guitar to Benjamin Hüllenkrämer. So What included "Inside To Outside", written by Achim Oppermann which had already performed by former Kajagoogoo
Kajagoogoo
Kajagoogoo are a British pop band, best known for their hit single, "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 5 on the U.S...
lead singer Limahl
Limahl
Christopher Hamill better known by his stage name Limahl is an English pop singer. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the 1980s pop group Kajagoogoo, before embarking on a briefly successful solo career, which reached its peak with the 1984 hit "The NeverEnding Story", taken from the film of...
, Apparently Lake ceased to exist by 1986/87. In 1991 James Hopkins-Harrison died from an overdose of heroin.
At the beginning of the new millennium Lake was revived by Alex Conti, including Mike Starrs
Mike Starrs
Mike Starrs is a vocalist of Scottish origin. He left Scotland in the 1970s to work with Rick Wakeman on various projects. Starrs was signed by the record producer Tony Atkins for Marquee Productions and released several singles. He joined Colosseum II in 1975 and featured on their first album,...
, Adrian Askew, Mickie Stickdorn and Michael "Bexi" Becker. In March 2005 the first Lake studio recording for 20 years was released: The Blast of Silence.
Personnel
The lineup during their period of peak success (1976-1980) consisted of:- Martin Tiefensee - bass (1970-1980)
- Detlef Petersen - keyboards (1970-1980)
- Geoffrey "Jeff" Peacey - keyboards (1973-1980)
- James Hopkins-Harrison - lead vocals (1974-1986?)
- Alex Conti - guitars (1975-1981)
- Dieter Ahrendt - drums (1975-1981?)
Additional personnel during their early years:
- Spencer Mallinson - Guitars (1974-1975)
- Fritz "Freddy" Graack - drums (1970-1975)
- Ian CussickIan Cussick (musician)Ian Cussick is a singer-songwriter from Dundee, Scotland. After leaving school at the age of fifteen, Cussick formed several local bands, with moderate success. In 1973, he answered an advertisement in Melody Maker for a "singer wanted", and flew to Germany to work with the popular showband Lake...
- bass, vocals (1973-1974) - Oreste "Lilio" Malagia - guitars (1973-1975)
- Bernard "Benny" Whelan - trumpet (1973-1975)
- Gerd Beliaeff - saxophone, trombone (1973-1975)
Additional personnel during their later years:
- Heiko Efferts - bass (1980-1981)
- Frank Hieber - keyboards (1980-1981?)
- Achim Oppermann - keyboards, guitar (1980-1986?)
- Jo KapplJosef KapplJosef Kappl is a former bass player of the Romanian rock band Phoenix. He was born in Petrila. He graduated from the Music Conservatory in Timişoara. He also played the violin and the flute with Phoenix . He is also a former member of the German rock band Lake.-External links:...
- bass (1981-1985) - Erlend KrauserErlend KrauserErlend Krauser is a Romanian-born German new age guitarist.A self-taught guitar player, he played violin and guitar with arguably the most popular rock band in Romania at the time, Phoenix .He settled down in Osnabrück.He...
- guitars (1981-1981?) - Bernd Gärtig - guitars (1984-1986?)
- Benjamin Hüllenkrämer - bass (1984-1986?)
- Thomas Bauer - keyboards (1984-1986?)
- Udo Dahmen - drums (1984-1986?)
Discography
- Come Down/We're Gonna Rock (1973) (single)
- King Of The Rock'n Roll Party/She's Alright (1973) (single)
- Sailor (1974) (single)
- LakeLake (album)Lake is the self-titled first studio album by Lake, released in Germany in 1976 and the USA in 1977. The track Time Bomb was the band's highest charting single of their career.-Track listing:...
(1976) - Lake IILake II-Track listing:All tracks written by Detlef Petersen and James Hopkins-Harrison except as indicated-Side One:# "Welcome to the West" - 5:07# "See Them Glow" - 4:59# "Letters of Love"- 3:40# "Red Lake" -Track listing:All tracks written by Detlef Petersen and James Hopkins-Harrison except as...
(1978) - Paradise IslandParadise Island (album)Paradise Island is the third studio album by Lake, released in 1979.-Track listing:All tracks written by Detlef Petersen and James Hopkins-Harrison except as indicated-Side One:# "Into the Night" - 5:10...
(1979) - Ouch!Ouch!Ouch! is the fourth studio album by Lake, released in 1980 in Germany and 1981 in the USA. It is the first album to be released following the departure of three members of the band from their peak period, Detlef Petersen, Geoffrey Peacey, and Martin Tiefense, who were replaced by Frank Hieber,...
(1980) - Hot Day (1981)
- Lake Live ... On The Run (1982)
- No Time For Heroes (1984)
- Voices (1985)
- In The Midnight (1986)
- So What (1986)
- Greatest Hits (1990)
- Definitive Collection (1997)
- Paradise Way - The Very Best of Lake (2004)
- The Blast Of Silence (2005)
- Live (DVD) (2007)