Year : 2025 (FnA Records Edition)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 117 mb
Bio:
Autograph began in late 1983 originally as a solo project for singer, songwriter & guitarist Steve Plunkett, who had recently left the band Silver Condor. Plunkett then began playing and recording his own material with a group of his musician friends, most of whom had previously played with him in other bands.On lead guitar was Steve Lynch, who had played with Plunkett in the band Looker.Bassist Randy Rand knew Plunkett from their days together in Wolfgang, a prominent club band in Pasadena, California that has been described as a local legend, and of which Kevin Dubrow (lead singer of Quiet Riot) once said, "They smoked us all... they got a better response than us and Van Halen".Keyboardist Steve Isham, who had also earlier played with mutual acquaintance Holly Penfield, was brought in to give the fledgling band a more modern sound.Drummer Keni Richards, an old bandmate with Plunkett from John Doe rounded out the band's lineup. Richards' friendship with Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth was instrumental in leading to Autograph's big break the following year.Quickly, this group of musicians began playing and recording together, taking the form of an actual band. Plunkett chose the name "Autograph" for the band, having been inspired by hearing Def Leppard's similarly titled song, "Photograph," on the radio. They recorded their first rough demos in late 1983, but played them only for a few close friends. One of these friends was Andy Johns, a famous record producer who Steve Plunkett had met while helping singer Joe Cerisano produce Silver Condor's second album Trouble At Home. Johns invited the band to re-record and upgrade those demos at the world-famous Record Plant Studios for free under his guidance. Keni Richards then played the demo for Roth, who subsequently invited the band to open for Van Halen on their 1984 tour. The band rose to prominence opening for Van Halen, ultimately playing 48 shows, an act of distinction for an unsigned band. Due to their rising popularity, Autograph soon signed a contract with RCA Records following a performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City in late 1984.The band’s debut album, Sign In Please, was completed and released in October of that year, but did not make an appearance on any record charts until January 1985. The album contains the band’s only major hit and now signature song, "Turn Up the Radio." The song itself was one of the last ones recorded for the album, and the band members were initially very lukewarm toward it. However, the tune would become a top-30 hit, pushing album sales past the gold album mark (500,000 copies sold). The album later went platinum. The song was featured in an episode of "Miami Vice" (entitled "Little Prince") and was also leased out to numerous other films, even further elevating the song's popularity. Lynch's guitar work in "Turn Up The Radio", featuring a distinctive two-handed, fretboard-tapping technique, won him the "Guitar Solo of the Year" award from Guitar Player magazine in 1985."Send Her to Me" was released as a follow-up single, though its success paled in comparison to the massive first hit. Other songs from the Sign in Please album, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend Isn't Me" and "Deep End," along with "Take No Prisoners," which would soon appear on the band's follow-up album, were featured in the 1985 film Secret Admirer, starring C. Thomas Howell, Kelly Preston, Corey Haim, Lori Loughlin and Casey Siemaszko.The band also recorded a song titled "You Can't Hide From the Beast Inside" for the film Fright Night.A second album, That’s the Stuff, was quickly recorded and released in the fall of 1985, and the group went on tour in support of several other bands, including Mötley Crüe and Heart.Although record sales were disappointing in comparison to their first album, it still achieved near gold status. Supported by the single, "Blondes in Black Cars" and the title track, a minor-hit, it eventually peaked at No. 92 on the Billboard album charts.[2] The band then recorded a song titled "Winning Is Everything" for the film Youngblood.Autograph recorded a third album which took longer to record than the other two combined. Loud and Clear was released in the spring of 1987. The title song featured a music video with Ozzy Osbourne and Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe as extras. The band also made three appearances on "Headbangers Ball" in support of the album. In October, the band made a cameo in the film Like Father, Like Son, starring Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron. The first song featured was "Dance all Night," which played briefly, and then they performed the song "She Never Looked That Good for Me" for the film, appearing in a brief cameo as themselves. Despite all three of these songs being released as singles, the album was not a big success, mostly due to lackluster support from the label.The original members have gotten back together for a reunion. Due to Plunkett not being interested in doing the reunion,they have replaced him with Jailhouse, Flood, 1RKO and solo artist singer/songwriter/guitar player Simon Daniels. The band has been rehearsing and have an interview on YouTube conducted by rock journalist Lucas H Gordon and Guitar World as to what their many plans are for the future.The band played the Monsters of Rock Cruise, M3 Rock Festival, Firefest along with other festivals and Worldwide touring before going to the studio to cut a new Album in 2014.On January 15, 2015 they released their first single from their new album, "You Are Us, We Are You."On April 21st, 2015 they released their 2nd single "I lost my mind in America."Shows and festivals Worldwide are booked solid for 2015 and beyond.
Album:
“Cloud 10” and “Send Her To Me” are two collections of yet unreleased demos of the Americans melodic rockers AUTOGRAPH around frontman Steve Plunkett. And they sound awesome! The production is very good considering the recording stage.On ”Send Her To Me” we can hear the genesis of songs later used for “Sign In Please” (1984) and “That’s The Stuff” (1985) in different versions and arrangements, but also songs never recorded by the band. Highlights are “All Night Long”, “Dead End Street”, ”All I’m Gonna Take”, and an early version of “Turn Up The Tape Machine (Radio)”.While some of these demos appeared years ago into a compilation, others are previously unheard, coming from guitarist Steve Lynch vault.This collection illustrates the evolution of AUTOGRAPH pretty well, and rocks!
Line-Up:
Steve Plunkett – lead vocals
Steve Lynch – guitar
Randy Rand – bass
Keni Richards – drums
Steven Isham – keyboards
Production:
Photography – Mark Weiss
Producer, A&R, Layout – Steve Lockett
Tracklist:
01. All Night Long
02. Heart Attack
03. Send Her To Me
04. Turn Up The Tape Machine (Radio)
05. In The Night
06. My Attitude
07. Sanctuary
08. Dead End Street
09. All I’m Gonna Take
10. Trading Secrets
11. You Make Me Bleed
12. Simple Arithmetic (Bonus Track)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
