Stories | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock,pop |
| Years active | 1972–1974 |
| Labels | Kama Sutra,Raven |
| Past members |
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Stories was an American early 1970srock andpop musicband based in New York City. The band consisted ofkeyboardistMichael Brown,bassist/vocalistIan Lloyd,guitarist Steve Love, anddrummer Bryan Madey, and had aNumber 1hit with acover ofHot Chocolate's "Brother Louie."[1]
Ian Lloyd (born Lloyd Buonconsiglio, 1947,Seattle) and Michael Brown (b. Michael Lookofsky, April 25, 1949, Brooklyn) were introduced by their fathers,Peter Buonconsiglio[2] andHarry Lookofsky, two old friends who had worked together for years assessionviolinists. Lloyd had been singing for years and had attracted local noticerecording as Lloyd London. Brown had already experienced substantial mainstream success, having led and performed with his groupThe Left Banke, which had made theU.S.charts with the Brown-penned singles "Walk Away Renee" (No. 5, 1966) and "Pretty Ballerina" (No. 15, 1967).
The two set about becoming aBeatlesque band. They recruited New Yorkers Steve Love and Brian Madey and located an interestedrecord label inKama Sutra. A self-titledalbum and asingle – "I'm Coming Home" (No. 42, 1972) – followed.
Afterward, the band started work on their secondLP with producerEddie Kramer,About Us (1973). After the album's release, Brown left the band to pursue another project.
"This group tests our male-timbre chauvinism—Ian Lloyd sounds disconcertingly like a goil. Too bad he voices the same old male sentiments—don't let me down, push me 'round, or complain when I leave at the dawning—because the music is special: dense, clean, kinetic, almost mid-Beatles in spirit, but contemporary."
About Us did relatively well, but it did not initially include the group's new single, "Brother Louie." The song about a black woman and her white boyfriend had been aUK hit forHot Chocolate earlier that year. (The group's soon-to-be new bassist,Kenny Aaronson, was responsible for the Motown-like bass line that helped give the song its funky character.) Once issued as the Stories' fifth single, it became a big hit, reaching No. 1 in theUnited States.[4] It spent two weeks at No. 1 and remained on the Billboard chart for 18 weeks, with anR.I.A.A.gold disc awarded on August 22, 1973.[4]
A new version of the LP was issued which did include the hit single, and the album proceeded to sell well. In some cases, old copies of the LP which did not include the single were shipped inside album covers that did list the single.
Lloyd did remain with Stories for one more album –Traveling Underground (1973) before leaving the group. Bassist Kenny Aaronson (b. April 14, 1952,Brooklyn) (formerly ofDust), who had performed bass on the "Brother Louie" cover, and keyboardistKen Bichel (b. 1945,Detroit) stepped in to fill the void. The new group made theBillboard Hot 100 with "Mammy Blue" (No. 50, 1973) and "If It Feels Good, Do It" which was a cover of a song by the bandClimax (No. 88, 1974). Before the group's break-up, Love left and was replaced by Richie Ranno.
Lloyd has since recorded several solo albums and donestudio work forForeigner,Fotomaker, andPeter Frampton. Lloyd was also one of the first artists to perform songs written byBryan Adams that Adams would later record himself,[5] which led to the 1984 formation of Fast Forward, which included Lloyd and several other persons directly or indirectly associated with Adams.[6] The resulting album,Living in Fiction, featured several of Adams' songs.[7] Brown went on to form The Beckies, another Beatlesque band. Love reappeared in the early 1980s as Landscape. Madey, after a two album stay with theEarl Slick Band, provided accompaniment forPeggy Lee. Aaronson has remained busy. He was co-founder (withCarmine Appice's brother Vinnie) of Axis, and he did sessions forHall & Oates,Billy Squier, ex-MountainLeslie West,Foghat,Bob Dylan,Tom Guerra, andRick Derringer. Bichel has done session work, and so has Love. Ranno found later success as a member ofStarz.
Raven Records releasedStories andAbout Us on a singleCD, including the bonus track "Another Love" (for its time a fairly suggestive song aboutbisexuality), being the last single by the group, released in 1974.
A re-recording featuring elements of the original Hot Chocolate version and their cover of "Brother Louie" featuring Ian Lloyd and produced by Reggie Watts is used as the theme song for the American TV seriesLouie, starringLouis C.K.
| Year | Album | US [8] | Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Stories | 182 | Kama Sutra | ||
| 1973 | About Us[A] | 29 | |||
| Traveling Underground | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||
| Year | Title (A-side / B-side) | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop [8] | US R&B [8] | Canada [9][10][11][12] | ||||
| 1972 | "Top of the City" b/w "Step Back" | ― | ― | ― | ||
| "I'm Coming Home" b/w "You Told Me" | 42 | ― | 74 | |||
| 1973 | "Darling" b/w "Take Cover" | ― | ― | ― | ||
| "Love Is in Motion" b/w "Changes Have Begun" | ― | ― | ― | |||
| "Brother Louie" b/w "What Comes After?" | 1 | 22 | 1 | |||
| "Mammy Blue" b/w "Travelling Underground" | 50 | ― | 36 | |||
| 1974 | "If It Feels Good, Do It" b/w "Circles" | 88 | ― | 70 | ||
| "Another Love" b/w "Love Is in Motion" | ― | ― | ― | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
