METALPRIEST
Senior Member
Stories was a short-lived rock and pop music band, based out of New York in the early 1970s.
Ian Lloyd Website
1972 Stories
1973 About Us
1973 Traveling Underground
The band consisted of keyboardist Michael Brown, bassist/vocalist Ian Lloyd, guitarist Steve Love, and drummer Bryan Madey, and had a Number 1 hit with a cover of Hot Chocolate's "Brother Louie."
Lloyd and Brown were introduced by their fathers, two old friends who had worked together for years as session violinists. Lloyd had been singing for years and had attracted local notice recording as Ian London. Brown had played with his group The Left Banke, which had made the U.S. charts with "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina".
The two set about becoming a Beatlesque band. They recruited New Yorkers Love and Madey and located an interested record label in Kama Sutra. A self-titled album and a single "I'm Coming Home" followed.
Afterward, the band started work on their second LP with producer Eddie Kramer, About Us . After the album's release, Brown left the band to pursue another project.
About Us did relatively well, but it did not initially include the group's new single, "Brother Louie." The song about a black girl and her white boyfriend had been a UK hit for Hot Chocolate earlier that year. Once issued as the Stories' second single, it became a big hit, reaching No. 1 in the United States. It spent two weeks at No. 1 and remained in the Billboard chart for 18 weeks, with a R.I.A.A. gold disc awarded on 22 August 1973.
"All of a sudden," Lloyd explained to Triad's Russel Wiener, "we had a big hit with a song that did not represent our music and the direction we were trying to go in. I didn't think it would affect me that much, but it did. Consequently, I decided that I had to remove myself from that, so that I could come back and show what I really can do."
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. Bassist Kenny Aaronson, formerly of Dust, and keyboardist Ken Bichel stepped in to fill the void. The new group made the Billboard Hot 100 with "Mammy Blue" and "If It Feels Good, Do It" which was a cover of a song by the band Climax. Before the group's break-up, Love left and was replaced by Richie Ranno who went onto be the guitar player in STARZ.
Ian Lloyd Website
1972 Stories
1973 About Us
1973 Traveling Underground
The band consisted of keyboardist Michael Brown, bassist/vocalist Ian Lloyd, guitarist Steve Love, and drummer Bryan Madey, and had a Number 1 hit with a cover of Hot Chocolate's "Brother Louie."
Lloyd and Brown were introduced by their fathers, two old friends who had worked together for years as session violinists. Lloyd had been singing for years and had attracted local notice recording as Ian London. Brown had played with his group The Left Banke, which had made the U.S. charts with "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina".
The two set about becoming a Beatlesque band. They recruited New Yorkers Love and Madey and located an interested record label in Kama Sutra. A self-titled album and a single "I'm Coming Home" followed.
Afterward, the band started work on their second LP with producer Eddie Kramer, About Us . After the album's release, Brown left the band to pursue another project.
About Us did relatively well, but it did not initially include the group's new single, "Brother Louie." The song about a black girl and her white boyfriend had been a UK hit for Hot Chocolate earlier that year. Once issued as the Stories' second single, it became a big hit, reaching No. 1 in the United States. It spent two weeks at No. 1 and remained in the Billboard chart for 18 weeks, with a R.I.A.A. gold disc awarded on 22 August 1973.
"All of a sudden," Lloyd explained to Triad's Russel Wiener, "we had a big hit with a song that did not represent our music and the direction we were trying to go in. I didn't think it would affect me that much, but it did. Consequently, I decided that I had to remove myself from that, so that I could come back and show what I really can do."
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. Bassist Kenny Aaronson, formerly of Dust, and keyboardist Ken Bichel stepped in to fill the void. The new group made the Billboard Hot 100 with "Mammy Blue" and "If It Feels Good, Do It" which was a cover of a song by the band Climax. Before the group's break-up, Love left and was replaced by Richie Ranno who went onto be the guitar player in STARZ.
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