America (the band)
5-15-1994
^Rock Band America Still Hitting the Road
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ The year was 1972: America bursts onto the rock scene with "A Horse With No Name," followed by "Ventura Highway" and a seemingly endless string of other soft-rock hits.
Fast-forward to 1994: America, which hasn't produced a studio album in a decade, walks onto a stage erected in a circus-like tent in Bogota to play before a crowd of only several hundred. A rainstorm has erupted outside, and as America begins playing "Silver Cup," water drips onto the band from the leaky roof.
Some musicians might get depressed at sliding from superstardom to playing for a small audience far off the rock concert circuit - depressed enough to pack it in and just live off royalties.
Not America.
The band played here at the end of April with feeling and precision, and the audience, which paid $40 per ticket, roared with approval as America launched into "I Need You," "Sandman," "Sister Golden Hair," "Don't Cross the River" and other hits. A sea of upraised arms waved in time with the music and people sang along, even though some didn't entirely understand the lyrics.
"We love you. Play another try," read a sign held by Mauricio Rojas, a 36-year-old doctor.
"I've been listening to this band since the '70s," Vargas said as he stared reverently at the stage where spotlights illuminated silvery rain.
Nearby, Liliana Gomez, a 35-year-old Peruvian Embassy official, dropped her diplomatic veneer as she heard "You Can Do Magic" and other songs from her youth, and began dancing on the muddy floor among crushed beer cups.
"It's taken us 24 years to get here," guitarist Dewey Bunnell told the audience. "We might as well enjoy it.
"Play another song, lad," he directed keyboard player Gerry Beckley.
Relaxing after the concert, Beckley talked about why America plays on.
"If we didn't enjoy it we would have broken up a long time ago," he said. "We've kept at it because we like it. It's that simple."
"It's all we've been doing since we were 17 years old, man," said Bunnell.
Although they called themselves America, Bunnell, Beckley and Dan Peek (who has since left) formed the group in high school in England, where their parents were stationed with the U.S. military. They went from being a garage band to opening for such major groups as Pink Floyd and The Who, to being featured performers themselves.
"A Horse With No Name," America's first single, reached No. 1 on the charts. The group's debut album went platinum.
In 1972, America won the new artist Grammy. Produced by George Martin of Beatles fame, the group followed with hit after hit.
Then, in the 1980s, America all but vanished. Album sales fell off, the band had trouble getting record contracts and began popping up at state fairs and other lesser venues.
Many rock fans who saw ads for America's appearances in Bogota - a wrapup of a South American tour that included stops in Peru, Ecuador and Argentina - were surprised to learn the group still existed.
America's first studio album in nine years hits record stores this week. It's called - somewhat appropriately - "Hourglass."
Band members played two of the new songs - laced with their trademark breezy acoustical guitar and vocal harmonies with flashes of lead guitar - at their South American concerts.
Bunnell appears a little wistful for the glory days, and feels the music press has written off America as a piece of nostalgia. He said he was incensed when one writer recently compared America to the Monkees.
"America is not just a footnote in rock history," Bunnell said. "We are a major brick in the wall."
^Rock Band America Still Hitting the Road
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ The year was 1972: America bursts onto the rock scene with "A Horse With No Name," followed by "Ventura Highway" and a seemingly endless string of other soft-rock hits.
Fast-forward to 1994: America, which hasn't produced a studio album in a decade, walks onto a stage erected in a circus-like tent in Bogota to play before a crowd of only several hundred. A rainstorm has erupted outside, and as America begins playing "Silver Cup," water drips onto the band from the leaky roof.
Some musicians might get depressed at sliding from superstardom to playing for a small audience far off the rock concert circuit - depressed enough to pack it in and just live off royalties.
Not America.
The band played here at the end of April with feeling and precision, and the audience, which paid $40 per ticket, roared with approval as America launched into "I Need You," "Sandman," "Sister Golden Hair," "Don't Cross the River" and other hits. A sea of upraised arms waved in time with the music and people sang along, even though some didn't entirely understand the lyrics.
"We love you. Play another try," read a sign held by Mauricio Rojas, a 36-year-old doctor.
"I've been listening to this band since the '70s," Vargas said as he stared reverently at the stage where spotlights illuminated silvery rain.
Nearby, Liliana Gomez, a 35-year-old Peruvian Embassy official, dropped her diplomatic veneer as she heard "You Can Do Magic" and other songs from her youth, and began dancing on the muddy floor among crushed beer cups.
"It's taken us 24 years to get here," guitarist Dewey Bunnell told the audience. "We might as well enjoy it.
"Play another song, lad," he directed keyboard player Gerry Beckley.
Relaxing after the concert, Beckley talked about why America plays on.
"If we didn't enjoy it we would have broken up a long time ago," he said. "We've kept at it because we like it. It's that simple."
"It's all we've been doing since we were 17 years old, man," said Bunnell.
Although they called themselves America, Bunnell, Beckley and Dan Peek (who has since left) formed the group in high school in England, where their parents were stationed with the U.S. military. They went from being a garage band to opening for such major groups as Pink Floyd and The Who, to being featured performers themselves.
"A Horse With No Name," America's first single, reached No. 1 on the charts. The group's debut album went platinum.
In 1972, America won the new artist Grammy. Produced by George Martin of Beatles fame, the group followed with hit after hit.
Then, in the 1980s, America all but vanished. Album sales fell off, the band had trouble getting record contracts and began popping up at state fairs and other lesser venues.
Many rock fans who saw ads for America's appearances in Bogota - a wrapup of a South American tour that included stops in Peru, Ecuador and Argentina - were surprised to learn the group still existed.
America's first studio album in nine years hits record stores this week. It's called - somewhat appropriately - "Hourglass."
Band members played two of the new songs - laced with their trademark breezy acoustical guitar and vocal harmonies with flashes of lead guitar - at their South American concerts.
Bunnell appears a little wistful for the glory days, and feels the music press has written off America as a piece of nostalgia. He said he was incensed when one writer recently compared America to the Monkees.
"America is not just a footnote in rock history," Bunnell said. "We are a major brick in the wall."
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