Stories (band)
Stories was a New York City native, short-lived rock - pop band during the first half of the 1970s.
Band History
Ian Lloyd ( singer and bass player ) and Michael Brown ( keyboards) learned about their fathers are friends know. Brown was a 1966/1967 have already been successful with the group The Left Banke ( Walk Away Renee, Pretty Ballerina ). In 1972 she decided to start a band and played with Steve Love (guitar) and Bryan Madey (drums) released their debut album Stories one, which was released on Kama Sutra Records. The first single I'm Coming Home was a small hit parade success.
After the completion of the second album produced by Eddie Kramer About Us In 1973 Brown, who had written most of the previous title along with Lloyd, the band to pursue other projects. The remaining musicians found themselves meanwhile also in other mission in the studio to record a demo recording of the song Hot Chocolate Brother Louie. Although initially intended for another project of also operating at Kama Sutra artist Exuma, Brother Louie was finally released with Lloyd as a singer and Kenny Aaronson on bass under the band name stories as a single. Produced had the recording Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise. Interpreted with radio rhythm and soul R & B song fit stylistically hardly the previous by Michael Brown's influence keyboard -heavy repertoire of the band.
Ironically, this unusual song for the band developed in the summer of 1973 in the U.S. Billboard charts at number -one hit and also reached gold status. From the success of the single inspired, also the last album came as Neupressung with Brother Louie than 13 titles to rank 29 in the LP charts. In Germany Brother Louie just missed a place in the top 40 of the singles chart.
Brother Louie, written by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson, is about the mixed - ethnic love affair between an unidentified black woman and the white man Louie ( " She was black as the night, Louie what whiter than white " ) and the racist discrimination of this relationship in two families of the couple. While in instrumental passages, the fathers of the two can be heard derogatory, spoken by Alexis Korner statements about the respective undesirable partner of the daughter / son of the original Hot Chocolate, which was a Top Ten hit in the UK in the spring of 1973 ( " I ... do not want no honky in my family ... / ... get it, no spook in my family ... "), the Stories version limited to hints in the second verse ( " ... diff'rence not no if you're black or white, brothers, you know what I mean ").
After the LP Traveling Underground ( 1973) Ian Lloyd left the band. Bassist Kenny Aaronson and keyboardist Ken Bichel completed the band before Steve Love got out and was replaced by Richie Ranno. Other singles were within the top 40 no longer place, even though they are driven by their record company, with titles such as Mammy Blue ( aka Mamy Blue in the version of the pop tops two years earlier ) tried to repeat the success patterns of their big hits. After the last single Another Love 1974 the band finally broke up.
Discography (selection)
Albums
- Stories ( Kama Sutra, 1972)
- Traveling Underground ( Kama Sutra 1973)
Singles
- I'm Coming Home / You Told Me ( Kama Sutra 545, 1972)
- Top of the City / Step Back ( Kama Sutra 558, 1972)
- Darling / Take Cover ( Kama Sutra 566, 1973)
- Love Is in Motion / Changes Have Begun ( Kama Sutra 574, 1973)
- Brother Louie / What Comes After? ( Kama Sutra 577, 1973)
- Mammy Blue / Traveling Underground ( Kama Sutra 584, 1973)
- If It Feels Good, Do It / Circles ( Kama Sutra 588, 1974)
- Another Love / Love Is in Motion ( Kama Sutra 594, 1974)