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As the saying goes, many are called but only a few are chosen, and that certainly applies to Bang's disappointing career in the
big pictureofearly-'70s hard rock and heavy metal. Briefly hyped as top contenders fighting for scene supremacy, and once
praised as America'sanswerto Black Sabbath, the power trio quickly saw its promise squandered, instead, due to their own
inexperience and overbearingmanagerialintervention that diluted Bang's original musical vision and derailed their bid for success
within a few short years.
Bang's story began in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with high sch ...read more
As the saying goes, many are called but only a few are chosen, and that certainly applies to Bang's disappointing career in the
big pictureofearly-'70s hard rock and heavy metal. Briefly hyped as top contenders fighting for scene supremacy, and once
praised as America'sanswerto Black Sabbath, the power trio quickly saw its promise squandered, instead, due to their own
inexperience and overbearingmanagerialintervention that diluted Bang's original musical vision and derailed their bid for success
within a few short years.
Bang's story began in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with high school friends Frank Ferrara (vocals/bass) and Frankie Glicken
(guitar,vocals).Aged just 16 and soon-to-be dropouts, the pair linked up with experienced drummer and lyricist Tony Diorio (their
senior by nearlyadecade) in the fall of 1969, and set about rehearsing covers and original material inspired by rising heavy rock
groups like BlackSabbath,Grand Funk Railroad, and Led Zeppelin. Early shows by what was then called the Magic Band also
featured a proper lead singer andseveraldifferent keyboard players, but only the core trio was willing and able to endure the
ensuing 18 months of basement woodshedding,whilecomposing an ambitious conceptual suite entitled Death of a Country. When
the newly renamed Bang finally emerged from thissubterraneanapprenticeship in early 1971, their naïve self-assurance knew no
bounds; so a friendly tip was all it took to send them off toFlorida, wherethey talked themselves into an opening slot for the
Faces and Deep Purple in Orlando, and impressed the concert bookerenough for him totake a chance on managing them. Thanks
to his connections, Bang spent the entire summer performing all over the easternseaboard andthen repaired to Miami's Criteria
Studios in August to record the aforementioned Death of a Country album, confident it wouldland them themajor-label contract
they so coveted. They were right about that first part, at least, since Capitol Records indeed agreed to signBang to afour-album
deal, but then refused to release their independent recording, which, in fairness, revealed a band still honing its heavyrock
chopswith a lot of cynical flower child nonsense (Death of a Country would only see the light of day some 40 years later, as part
of RiseAbove'scareer-spanning Bang box set).
Luckily, Bang's next trip into the studio did in fact result in their eponymous Capitol debut, which was unveiled to the buying
public inFebruary1972. Filled with virtually all-new material and boasting a much more direct and modern hard rock style (bye-
bye psychedelia), itssongs wereclearly indebted to primary heroes Black Sabbath, but also stood up in their own right. The LP's
first single, "Questions,"steadily climbed intothe Billboard Hot 100, but stalled at number 90, around the same time that Capitol
was coincidentally undergoing aninternal overhaul, leavingBang no other option than to get to work on their sophomore album.
Sadly, the recording of the Mother/Bow to theKing LP saw drummer TonyDiorio, first sidelined by session musicians, then ejected
from Bang due to external pressures that also forcedthe group to take some of theirsongs in more commercial directions. Adding
insult to injury, the album's chosen single was a sonicallyuncharacteristic cover of the GuessWho B-side, "No Sugar Tonight,"
which alienated existing fans and went nowhere on the radio, losingwhatever interest Capitol's new regimestill had in Bang's
future. In a show of good faith (to each other, anyway), the band's two Franksdecided to bring back ousted drummer Diorioas
their new manager and secured more studio time in 1973 to record a new album to benamed simply Music. Sadly, though their
label hadclearly already turned its back on them, Bang proceeded to disfigure their initial musicalvision of their own volition, with
a series of concisepower pop tunes, hardly touching on hard rock at all, and ultimately sounding more likeBig Star than Black
Sabbath. As such, the end resultsweren't necessarily bad -- just unexpected -- and the gambit simply didn't work, inany case;
Bang's touring options dried up and Capitol'spatience ran out following a final single recording that was never actually
released.Bang's career went out, not with a, well, bang, but with abarely audible sigh.
Thereafter, the members of Bang dispersed to pursue other projects, but surprisingly reunited in 1996 and released a new album
-- chock-fullof good ol' heavy metal, naturally -- called Return to Zer0 in 1999, then followed it with another named The Maze
five years later. In2011,England's Rise Above label compiled the comprehensive box set, Bullets, and rumor has it that Bang plan
on recording new materialagain, indue time. « hide |
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