"The Border" became their last Top 40 hit in 1983, peaking at number 33. America returned to the Top Ten in 1982 with "You Can Do Magic," an adult contemporary pop number that featured synthesizers along with their trademark harmonies. The band continued as a duo, and their last Martin-produced record, Silent Letter, was released in 1979 to little attention. After releasing Harbor to a lukewarm reception, Peek left the group, deciding to become a contemporary Christian recording artist. That same year, the group released History: America's Greatest Hits, which would eventually sell over four million copies.Īlthough America's 1976 effort Hideaway went gold and peaked at number 11, the group's audience was beginning to decline. Holiday returned America to the top of the charts, peaking at number three and launching the hit singles "Tin Man" and "Lonely People." "Sister Golden Hair," pulled from 1975's Hearts, became their second number one single. Released in the late fall of 1974, Holiday was the first record the group made with producer George Martin. Hat Trick, the group's third album, was released toward the end of 1973 and failed to make it past number 28 on the American charts. However, the hits stopped coming fairly soon - they had only one minor Top 40 hit in 1973. America's essential sound didn't change with this record it just became more polished. Homecoming was released in January of 1973, becoming a Top Ten hit in the U.S. In early 1973, America won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist of 1972. "Ventura Highway," the first single released from this collaboration, became their third straight Top Ten hit in December of 1972. "I Need You" became another Top Ten hit that summer, and the group began work on their second album. that spring, where it soon became a number one single, pushing Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" off the top of the charts. "A Horse with No Name" was released in the U.S.
Following their British success, America returned to North America, beginning a supporting tour for the Everly Brothers. The group's self-titled debut album followed the same stylistic pattern and became a hit as well, peaking at number 14. In January 1972, the song - which strongly recalled the acoustic numbers of Neil Young - became a number three hit in the U.K. "A Horse with No Name," America's debut single, was released at the end of 1971. By the fall of 1970, they were recording their debut album in London with producers Ian Samwell and Jeff Dexter. Dexter had America open for several major artists and the group soon signed with Warner Bros. Adopting the name America, the group landed a contract with Jeff Dexter, a promoter for the Roundhouse concert venue. After they completed school in 1970, they formed an acoustic folk-rock quartet called Daze in London, which was soon pared down to the trio of Bunnell, Peek, and Beckley. Air Force officers who were stationed in the U.K. Vocalists/guitarists Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley met while they were still in high school in the late '60s all three were sons of U.S. A string of Top Ten singles and albums followed in the mid-'70s ("Tin Man," "Lonely People," "Sister Golden Hair"), and they scored a latter-day hit in 1982 with "You Can Do Magic."
Further hits "I Need You" and "Ventura Highway" helped them win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist of 1972. The trio's debut was "A Horse with No Name," a Neil Young-derived, hallucinatory story-song that hit number one in the U.S. The band America lay at the commercial end of this movement, releasing a string of singles that earned radio play for years.
The first half of the 1970s was the heyday of introspective songwriting and close-harmony singing.
0 kommentar(er)
