Survivor (band)
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| Survivor | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Chicago, Illinois, United States |
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| Genre(s) | Rock, Arena rock, Hard rock | |
| Years active | 1977 - Present | |
| Label(s) | Scotti Bros, Polygram, Frontiers | |
| Members | ||
| Robin McAuley Frankie Sullivan Chris Grove Billy Ozzello Marc Droubay |
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| Former members | ||
| Jim Peterik Dave Bickler Gary Smith Dennis Johnson Stephen Ellis Jimi Jamison Barry Dunaway Randy Riley |
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Survivor is an American rock band formed in 1977 by core members Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s with their AOR (Album-oriented Rock) which garnered them many charting singles, especially in their native United States. They are widely known for their hit "Eye of the Tiger", the theme song for the motion picture Rocky III in 1982. Singles like "Burning Heart" (US #2), "The Search Is Over" (#4 US), and "High on You" (#8 US) continued to chart in the mid 1980s.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early Years
In 1977, Jim Peterik, Frankie Sullivan, Dave Bickler, Gary Smith and Dennis Johnson formed Survivor. Peterik was previously the lead vocalist/guitarist for the band Ides of March. After playing in small clubs for several years, they released their first album, the self-titled Survivor in 1979, but it did not achieve the level of success that they had hoped for with no charting singles in the Top 40. Their follow-up album, Premonition, in 1981 charted higher and became popular with American audiences and gave the band their first Top 40 single, "Poor Man's Son". The album is considered to be their best by many fans today.
In 1982, Survivor's breakthrough arrived when they were asked by actor Sylvester Stallone to provide the theme song for his movie Rocky III. Stallone had heard their single "Poor Man's Son" and wanted a song similar to it. The band agreed to write him a song and soon released "Eye of the Tiger". It had an enormous impact on the Billboard charts, peaking at #1 and staying there for a total of seven weeks. It also topped the British Billboard charts. It was in the Top 40 for a total of six weeks and was Australia's #1 single for four weeks. The song won the band a Grammy Award, was voted "Best New Song" by the People's Choice Awards, and also received an Academy Award nomination. The album of the same title Eye of the Tiger was released by the band later in 1982, also containing another Top 40 hit in the United States, "American Heartbeat" (#17 US). The album went on to chart at #2 in the US.
In 1983, Survivor tried to duplicate the success of Eye of the Tiger and released Caught In The Game. The album turned out to be a commercial disappointment, stalling at #82 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Neither of the album's two singles came close to reaching the success of their signature hit in 1982, both failing to reach the Top 40. The band suffered another setback before a tour in late 1983, when lead singer Dave Bickler suffered voice problems and had to be replaced by Jimi Jamison of the bands Target and Cobra.
[edit] 1984-1988: The Hit Years
After recording "The Moment Of Truth" (#63 US), the theme song of the box office smash hit "The Karate Kid" (1984), the band recorded their first album with Jamison. "Vital Signs" gave the band a massive comeback, peaking at #16 on the Billboard Album Chart with the hits "I Can't Hold Back" (#13 US), "High On You" (#8 US) and "The Search Is Over" (#4 US).
In 1985, the band had another hit with "Burning Heart," a song from the Rocky IV soundtrack, when it peaked at #2 on Billboard's Hot 100.
"When Seconds Count" was released in 1986 and included the hit "Is This Love" (#9 US). On the Billboard Album Chart the album peaked at #49, but managed to sell over 500,000 copies and reached certified gold status.
During pre-production of their 7th album "Too Hot To Sleep" (1988), Ellis and Droubay were replaced on 'Too Hot to Sleep' by studio session vets Mickey Curry (drums) and Bill Syniar (bass). Sullivan produced the effort with Frank Fillipetti. The album presented a harder rocking Survivor similar to the early days of the band. 'Too Hot To Sleep' failed to make a dent on the charts (#187 US).
[edit] 1989-2000: Work on Greatest Hits Album
After the disappointing sales of "Too Hot To Sleep", Jim Peterik, Frankie Sullivan decided to put the band on hiatus indefinitely. Jamison decided to continue touring and playing Survivor songs with local musicians and then in 1990, recorded a solo album. Jamison continued to tour, now billing his band as "Survivor." After some success overseas touring in 1992, Sullivan contacted Jamison's mangagement and asked to be included on the tour; performing on 8-10 dates before leaving the group.
Soon after, in late 1992/early 1993, Survivor was tapped to do a new and more extensive hits package but with 2 new songs. So for a short time Peterik, Sullivan and Jamison were reunited and in the studio to record new material for the new package and forthcoming world tour. After broken contract talks, Jamison quit and went back on the road as Survivor and Jimi Jamisons' Survivor.
In the spring of 1993, Peterik and Sullivan re-teamed with original lead singer Dave Bickler, released a new 'Greatest Hits' album with two new songs ("Hungry Years" co-written by Bickler and "You Know Who You Are") and embarked on a world tour. Due to the knowledge of Jamison also touring under the Survivor banner, Peterik and Sullivan filed a lawsuit against their former colleague for using their name.
From 1993-1996, the trio (Peterik, Sullivan and Bickler) recorded about 20 demos for a new album (the songs can be heard on the "Fire Makes Steel" bootleg) with session musicians. Unfortunately, they failed to secure a record deal due to the ongoing litigation and trademark issues.
When the band tried to pull in a blues direction, Peterik decided to leave the band, playing his last show with Survivor on July 3, 1996, at "The Eye In The Sky" fest in Lisle, IL. Survivor replaced Peterik with composer/keyboardist Chris Grove. Peterik returned to recording and touring with the Ides Of March, and formed the group Pride Of Lions.
In 1997, drummer Marc Droubay rejoined Survivor, while bassist Stephen Ellis quit. Ellis was replaced by Billy Ozzello.
Survivor then went on to record more demo's for a record deal including "Rebel Girl '98" and the Frankie Sullivan solo album cut "Lies."
In 1999, Jimi Jamison released the album "Empires" under the name "Jimi Jamison's Survivor" (later re-released under his own name). In late September 1999, Sullivan won ownership of the name "Survivor," thereby ending the ongoing trademark battle.
[edit] 2000-2006: Release of first new album in nearly 20 years
In early 2000 Dave Bickler was fired, severing the then Sullivan/Bickler-Survivor, resulting in Sullivan re-establishing a partnership with Jimi Jamison. With singer Jimi Jamison back on board, the band began recording material for a new album. The Peterik-Sullivan penned track " Velocitized" was set for inclusion on the Soundtrack to the Sly Stallone filmmovie 'Driven.' However, it did not make the cut. The band continue to play regular concerts in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Meanwhile, original Survivor vocalist David Bickler began collaborating on the successful Bud Light Real Men of Genius radio-ads in the late 1990s and 2000s. The "Real Men Of Genius" Bud Light ads are widely popular and now include TV spots aired on the 2006 Super Bowl among others. A CD package containing many of the popular commercials was recorded with Bickler. It sold over 100,000 copies in its first month of release, and is now available for purchase at budlight.com
On April 21, 2006, Survivor released a new album called "Reach". Consisting of mostly new songs, it also includes some re-recordings from the "Fire Makes Steel" sessions. Two of the album's songs, "Reach" and "Fire Makes Steel", had been considered to appear in the 2006 Rocky sequel Rocky Balboa.
Six of the album's twelve songs were written and recorded in the 1990's with Dave Bickler on lead vocals (except "Never The Less" & "Talkin' Bout Love").
On July 14, 2006, it was announced that longtime singer Jimi Jamison was leaving the band and Robin McAuley would replace him on lead vocals.
[edit] 2007-present: New vocalist
According to Sullivan, the band is said to be going back into the studio and record brand new material for a new Survivor record (featuring McCauley on lead vocals) for a 2007 release.
The current lineup is a mix of old and new members: newcomer Robin McAuley (vocals), original member/songwriter Frankie Sullivan (guitar/vocals), longtime member Marc Droubay (drums) and veteran members Billy Ozzello (bass) and Chris Grove (keyboards/guitar).
Grove, a classically trained pianist and composer, has been with the group over 10 years since he replaced Jim Peterik in July, 1996. He is a co-writer on the song "Talkin' Bout Love" from the band's new album 'Reach'. Randy Riley and Barry Dunaway both briefly filled in on bass after Ozzello's departure. Dunaway departed shortly after recording the new album in late 2005. Ozzello, who recorded an album with the trio "Blind for a Day" in 1998, recently returned to the lineup.
The band performed "Eye of the Tiger" on ABC's Dancing with the Stars on April 3, 2007.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Survivor (1979) #169 US
- Premonition (1981) #82 US
- Eye of the Tiger (1982) #2 US
- Caught in the Game (1983) #82 US
- Vital Signs (1984) #16 US
- When Seconds Count (1986) #49 US
- Too Hot to Sleep (1988) #187 US
- Reach (2006)
[edit] Compilations
- Greatest Hits (1990)
- Prime Cuts: Classics Tracks (1998)
- Survivor Special Selection (2000)
- Fire in Your Eyes: Greatest Hits (2001)
- Ultimate Survivor (2004)
- Extended Versions: The Encore Collection (2004)
- The Best of Survivor (2006)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | US Hot 100 | US MSR | US A.C. | UK singles | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | "Somewhere In America" | 70 | - | - | - | Survivor |
| 1980 | "Rebel Girl" | 103 | - | - | - | Non-album single |
| 1981 | "Poor Man's Son" | 33 | - | - | - | Premonition |
| 1982 | "Summer Nights" | 62 | - | - | - | Premonition |
| 1982 | "Eye Of The Tiger" | 1 | 1 | 27 | 1 | Eye of the Tiger/Rocky III soundtrack |
| 1982 | "American Heartbeat" | 17 | - | - | - | Eye Of The Tiger |
| 1983 | "The One That Really Matters" | 74 | - | - | - | Caught in the Game |
| 1983 | "Caught in the Game" | 77 | 16 | - | - | Caught In The Game |
| 1984 | "The Moment of Truth" | 64 | - | - | - | Karate Kid soundtrack |
| 1984 | "I Can't Hold Back" | 13 | 1 | - | - | Vital Signs |
| 1985 | "High on You" | 8 | 8 | - | - | Vital Signs |
| 1985 | "The Search Is Over" | 4 | - | 1 | - | Vital Signs |
| 1985 | "First Night" | 53 | - | - | - | Vital Signs |
| 1985 | "Burning Heart" | 2 | 11 | - | 5 | Rocky IV soundtrack |
| 1986 | "Is This Love" | 9 | 27 | 25 | - | When Seconds Count |
| 1987 | "How Much Love" | 51 | - | - | - | When Seconds Count |
| 1987 | "Man Against the World" | 86 | - | - | - | When Seconds Count |
| 1988 | "Didn't Know it Was Love" | 61 | 40 | - | - | Too Hot To Sleep |
| 1989 | "Across the Miles" | 74 | - | 16 | - | Too Hot To Sleep |
| 2007 | "Eye Of The Tiger" (2007 re-entry) | - | - | - | 47 | Eye of the Tiger/Rocky III soundtrack |
[edit] Trivia
In 1984, singer/comedian "Weird Al" Yankovic wrote & recorded a parody of Eye of the Tiger called: The Rye Or The Kaiser (Theme From Rocky XIII). It appears in his album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D, as well as in Yankovic's compilation: The Food Album.
In 2000, the band threatened to sue CBS for using the name "Survivor" as the title of their hit reality show Survivor.
In 2004, a Starbucks television commercial debuted for their Double Shot espresso beverage. It featured the band Survivor following a man named Glen, singing a modified version of "Eye of the Tiger" while he did his day-to-day tasks. This commercial has gained a number of fans and was nominated for an Emmy Award.
On the soundtrack album to the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2005), Ron states that he believes Survivor is "the best that ever was" and that "everyone else is an imitator" including The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bach and Beethoven. He then goes on to point out that Survivor won't return his calls, which he understands because "They're Survivor and I'm not." He then introduces Who's That Lady by The Isley Brothers with the line "It's not Survivor, but it'll have to do."
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Survivor official site
- Frankie Sullivan official site
- Jim Peterik official site
- Jimi Jamison official site
- Starbucks Glen TV Ad
