MICHAEL STANLEY BAND
''YOU CAN'T FIGHT FASHION''
1983
52:35
1 Hard Time 04:20
2 Just Give Me Tonight 04:26
3 Someone Like You 05:41
4 Highlife 04:57
5 My Town 03:53
6 The Damage Is Done 04:59
7 Fire In The Hole 04:08
8 How Can You Call This Love 04:08
9 Just How Good (A Bad Woman Feels) 04:17
10 My Town (Live) (Bonus Track) 04:41
11 Someone Like You (Live) (Bonus Track) 07:01
Rick Bell/Sax (Tenor)
Bob Clearmountain/Arranger, Vocals (Background)
Tommy Dobeck/Drums
Michael Gismondi/Guitar (Bass)
Jimmy Maelen/Percussion
Bob Pelander/Keyboards, Vocals (Background)
Danny Powers/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Vibraphone, Vocals (Background)
Kevin Raleigh/Keyboards, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Michael Stanley/Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
REVIEW
by Bret Adams (AllMusic)
The Michael Stanley Band - the pride of Cleveland, OH - released its final major-label album, You Can't Fight Fashion, in 1983. It's a shame this EMI America release was MSB's national swan song after nearly a decade of being on the verge of deserved widespread success. Once again, MSB was joined by a high-profile co-producer, and this time it was Bob Clearmountain. MSB's second and final Top 40 single, the singalong anthem rocker "My Town," is the most notable of several You Can't Fight Fashion highlights. (In the Razor & Tie CD reissue liner notes, vocalist/guitarist Stanley recalls how approximately 100 city-specific edits of "My Town" were made.) The album is a straightforward rock & roll platter as MSB surprisingly eschews ballads this time around. Lead guitarist Danny Powers joined for the album, just as the sun was beginning to set on MSB. Vocalist/keyboardist Kevin Raleigh's superbly catchy pop/rock number "Someone Like You" (Stanley's all-time favorite Raleigh song) actually charted on the low end of Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. Stanley's excellent "Hard Time" is enhanced by subtle touches of early-'80s keyboard sounds. Tenor saxophonist Rick Bell is featured prominently on You Can't Fight Fashion, especially on "Highlife." "The Damage Is Done" is another pop/rock gem from Raleigh. Stanley's scrappy, aggressive rocker "Fire in the Hole" is a story song about a mining disaster. The 1992 Razor & Tie CD reissue includes "My Town (Live)" and "Someone Like You (Live)," which were both recorded at Blossom Music Center near Cleveland in August 1984; the songs were originally found on The Michael Stanley Band's rare, independently released live album Fourth and Ten.
BIOGRAPHY
By Bret Adams (AllMusic)
Cleveland native Michael Stanley became a regional phenomenon, but the singer/songwriter/guitarist and his Michael Stanley Band deserved more national success than they achieved. Stanley, whose real name is Michael Stanley Gee, played bass with the folk-rock group Silk in the late '60s. He then went solo and released two solo albums in the early '70s that fit right in with the "singer/songwriter" era. His talent attracted the likes of producer Bill Szymczyk and guest musicians Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren, and David Sanborn from the beginning. He formed the Michael Stanley Band (aka MSB) in 1975 and pursued a more straightforward rock direction. MSB recorded a string of albums through the late '70s and early '80s that were modest successes nationally but major hits in Ohio. In fact, the Michael Stanley Band was such a sensation at home that it still holds attendance records at major concert venues. 1980's Heartland was easily MSB's best album, and Stanley agrees. It included the hit single "He Can't Love You" (sung by vocalist/keyboardist Kevin Raleigh) and the minor hit "Lover" (sung by Stanley and featuring blistering saxophone by Clarence Clemons). MSB's second and last Top 40 hit was Stanley's anthem "My Town" in 1983. After recording for Epic, Arista, and EMI, MSB independently released two albums on their own before breaking up in 1987.
The Michael Stanley Band was a reliably consistent, meat-and-potatoes enterprise responsible for superb Midwestern rock & roll. Stanley went on to become a popular television and radio personality in Cleveland. He still regularly releases albums -- solo and the one-off group project the Ghost Poets -- and performs annual summer and New Year's Eve shows along with occasional acoustic dates; these concerts and albums both feature MSB alumni and other Cleveland musicians. Razor & Tie has reissued most of MSB's catalog and two excellent best-of collections on compact disc.
OFFICIAL SITE
''YOU CAN'T FIGHT FASHION''
1983
52:35
1 Hard Time 04:20
2 Just Give Me Tonight 04:26
3 Someone Like You 05:41
4 Highlife 04:57
5 My Town 03:53
6 The Damage Is Done 04:59
7 Fire In The Hole 04:08
8 How Can You Call This Love 04:08
9 Just How Good (A Bad Woman Feels) 04:17
10 My Town (Live) (Bonus Track) 04:41
11 Someone Like You (Live) (Bonus Track) 07:01
Rick Bell/Sax (Tenor)
Bob Clearmountain/Arranger, Vocals (Background)
Tommy Dobeck/Drums
Michael Gismondi/Guitar (Bass)
Jimmy Maelen/Percussion
Bob Pelander/Keyboards, Vocals (Background)
Danny Powers/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Vibraphone, Vocals (Background)
Kevin Raleigh/Keyboards, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Michael Stanley/Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
REVIEW
by Bret Adams (AllMusic)
The Michael Stanley Band - the pride of Cleveland, OH - released its final major-label album, You Can't Fight Fashion, in 1983. It's a shame this EMI America release was MSB's national swan song after nearly a decade of being on the verge of deserved widespread success. Once again, MSB was joined by a high-profile co-producer, and this time it was Bob Clearmountain. MSB's second and final Top 40 single, the singalong anthem rocker "My Town," is the most notable of several You Can't Fight Fashion highlights. (In the Razor & Tie CD reissue liner notes, vocalist/guitarist Stanley recalls how approximately 100 city-specific edits of "My Town" were made.) The album is a straightforward rock & roll platter as MSB surprisingly eschews ballads this time around. Lead guitarist Danny Powers joined for the album, just as the sun was beginning to set on MSB. Vocalist/keyboardist Kevin Raleigh's superbly catchy pop/rock number "Someone Like You" (Stanley's all-time favorite Raleigh song) actually charted on the low end of Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. Stanley's excellent "Hard Time" is enhanced by subtle touches of early-'80s keyboard sounds. Tenor saxophonist Rick Bell is featured prominently on You Can't Fight Fashion, especially on "Highlife." "The Damage Is Done" is another pop/rock gem from Raleigh. Stanley's scrappy, aggressive rocker "Fire in the Hole" is a story song about a mining disaster. The 1992 Razor & Tie CD reissue includes "My Town (Live)" and "Someone Like You (Live)," which were both recorded at Blossom Music Center near Cleveland in August 1984; the songs were originally found on The Michael Stanley Band's rare, independently released live album Fourth and Ten.
BIOGRAPHY
By Bret Adams (AllMusic)
Cleveland native Michael Stanley became a regional phenomenon, but the singer/songwriter/guitarist and his Michael Stanley Band deserved more national success than they achieved. Stanley, whose real name is Michael Stanley Gee, played bass with the folk-rock group Silk in the late '60s. He then went solo and released two solo albums in the early '70s that fit right in with the "singer/songwriter" era. His talent attracted the likes of producer Bill Szymczyk and guest musicians Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren, and David Sanborn from the beginning. He formed the Michael Stanley Band (aka MSB) in 1975 and pursued a more straightforward rock direction. MSB recorded a string of albums through the late '70s and early '80s that were modest successes nationally but major hits in Ohio. In fact, the Michael Stanley Band was such a sensation at home that it still holds attendance records at major concert venues. 1980's Heartland was easily MSB's best album, and Stanley agrees. It included the hit single "He Can't Love You" (sung by vocalist/keyboardist Kevin Raleigh) and the minor hit "Lover" (sung by Stanley and featuring blistering saxophone by Clarence Clemons). MSB's second and last Top 40 hit was Stanley's anthem "My Town" in 1983. After recording for Epic, Arista, and EMI, MSB independently released two albums on their own before breaking up in 1987.
The Michael Stanley Band was a reliably consistent, meat-and-potatoes enterprise responsible for superb Midwestern rock & roll. Stanley went on to become a popular television and radio personality in Cleveland. He still regularly releases albums -- solo and the one-off group project the Ghost Poets -- and performs annual summer and New Year's Eve shows along with occasional acoustic dates; these concerts and albums both feature MSB alumni and other Cleveland musicians. Razor & Tie has reissued most of MSB's catalog and two excellent best-of collections on compact disc.
OFFICIAL SITE
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