Success was a long road for Greg Kihn. Seven years of faithful touring across the US and patiently releasing album after album finally paid off when Rockihnroll (1981) – his sixth LP – yielded a Top 15 hit with The Breakup Song, a haunting rocker with maddeningly catchy “ah-ah-ah”‘s.
Nearly a decade earlier a green Greg Kihn left his native Baltimore and headed west. He ended up in Berkeley, California, at the behest of one Matthew King Kaufman (who would soon become the guiding force of the indie Beserkley label).
Kihn sang on the streets for spare change then worked as a coffeehouse duo with bassist Steve Wright before assembling the rest of the Greg Kihn Band, courtesy of Dave Carpender (guitar) and Larry Lynch (drums). The lineup remained unchanged through six albums.
Keyboard player Gary Phillips from San Francisco’s Earthquake was added later.
The band became house regulars on Sunday nights at Berkeley’s Longbranch club in 1975, which kept them in t-shirts and burgers for a long time. Their contagious pop-flavoured original songs eventually found them opening for bands at the Winterland hall.
Kihn’s association with Beserkley Records propelled him (along with labelmates Jonathan Richman, The Rubinoos and Earthquake) into cult status, primarily via Chartbusters, an innovative 1975 compilation album.
Greg Kihn
Vocals, guitar Dave Carpender
Guitar Steve Wright
Bass Larry Lynch
Drums Gary Phillips
Keyboards
Video
Related Posts
TSOL Hailing from Huntington Beach, California, TSOL (True Sounds Of Liberty) was a hardcore punk band formed in 1979. In 1981…
Bad Religion Blending old-school power chords with hardcore thrash, Bad Religion formed in Woodland Hills, California, in 1980. The debut album from…
April Wine In their first ten years together, Canadian band April Wine went through several changes in style and personnel with Myles…
Queensrÿche Formed in 1981 outside Seattle, Washington, Queensrÿche were one of the most artistic and creative of the hard rock bands…
Long Ryders, The Hailing from Los Angeles, The Long Ryders formed in November 1981 and based their sound on a blend of psychedelia,…
Sam Brown Samantha Brown was born on 7 October 1964, in Stratford, east London, England. She is the daughter of musician Joe…
Afghan Whigs Formed in 1987 in Cincinnati and rising up around the grunge movement, these neomope rockers released their first album, Big…
Asia Asia began in early 1981 after the apparent ending of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, two of the founding…
