Michael Steele (born Susan Nancy Thomas on June 2, 1955) is an American bassist, guitarist, songwriter and singer. He is a member of Bangles and Runaways, among other bands.
Video Michael Steele (musician)
Careers
Steele started his professional career as Micki Steele in the girls band Runaways, one of the first all-female rock group. Steele stayed in short Runaways, leaving the band in late 1975, months before recording their first self-titled album. The main recording of this early period was the August 1975 demo session, bootlegged and later released as 1993 album Born to Be Bad, with Steele playing bass and singing the main vocals on most of the songs. In addition, the release also has its first song credit with "Born to Be Bad", written with Sandy West and Kim Fowley. In September 1975, Runaways recorded a second demo at the famous Gold Star Studios, until this date has never been officially released.
Steele's presence from the group has been given several interpretations - his own account is that he was fired by svengali manager like Kim Fowley for rejecting his sexual proposition and calling the debut of a stupid "Cherry Bomb" single band. Fowley will further undermine him for casting a chance on fame and not having enough "magic" or "megalo" to make it in the music industry.
Steele played in many Los Angeles bands between 1976 and 1983, including Elton Duck's power-pop clothing (1979-80), early versions of Slow Children (1979), Toni and Movers with Jack Sherman (1980-81), improvised band Nadia Kapiche (1981) and brief periods as a bass player in avant-garde Snakefinger rock clothing. Focusing on his musical technique and often playing directly, in this period Steele became a highly respected bassist for his melodic style and rich tone, influenced by bassists like Paul McCartney, John Entwistle, Colin Molding and Carol Kaye.
The Bangles
In mid-1983 Steele replaced Annette Zilinskas in Bangles, a lesser-known group. At this point Steele is a mere bassist band, with no released compositions: his only lead vocalist currently is on the cover of the Yardbirds version of "I'm Not Talkin" by Mose Allison.
Entire Place
The Bangles 1984 LP debut All Over the Place is the band's only album with no songs written by Steele; his biggest showcase on this album was his solo bass in "Tell Me".
In addition to All Over the Place , in 1984 Steele also wrote and recorded the politically worded word "El Pollo Loco" for double LP compilations Neighborhood Rhythms .
Light Different
Although All Over the Place is highly respected by critics, it is not a successful graph. Like his bandmates, Steele only achieved success and popular fame with the 1986 Different Light release and hit single "Manic Monday" (# 2) and "Walk Like An Egyptian" (# 1). In addition to playing melodies and often intricate basslines, Steele sang two songs: a cover of Big Star's "Gurik September", then credited for belatedly bringing songwriter Alex Chilton a huge income from royalty, and a self-written "Following", a loud ballad and introspective away from shiny sounds and more standard lyric themes from Different Light on other tracks. Rolling Stone Magazine praised "Following" after the album was released as a prominent song, a dark composition that directed the band to new jazz and the direction of the people, only a few will be explored. Steele also sang the lead on the second verse "Walk Like An Egyptian".
As often discussed in later interviews, Different Light is also a product of significant conflict and tension between the band and producer David Kahne - much of the contention surrounding the use of musicians outside the band on some songs. While there is still controversy surrounding the extent to which session musicians are employed on the album, Steele is the only confirmed member of the band yet to overdub, an achievement that he then jokes simply because Kahne "runs out of money".
Everything
The commercial success of the 1988 release, Everything will also be Bangles' last album before their 1989 split. In terms of Steele's career, Everything also reflects his development as a songwriter, with his three songs, "Complicated Girl", "Something To Believe In" and "Glitter Years" is the most he wrote on the album to this point. Two more songs written for the Everything session did not appear on the album, with "Between The Two" finally appearing on 2003's "Doll Revolution" and "Happy Man Today", playing live on the summer tour of the 1987 band, remaining unreleased. In addition to his usual bass credit, Steele is also credited with some parts of the guitar, subtly referred to in the album's liner notes as "occasional guitar". Though none of Steele's songs were released as singles, they were seen by some critics over Everything ' released as one of the best songs of the album. A very strict example is from the Chicago Sun-Times , which states that the songs provide "most of the album's highlights", combining sophistication and accessibility.
1990s
After Bangles's death, Steele initially attempted to write and record material for a solo release. In March 1991, he married William Jones, a British photographer. Steele has been active in music throughout the decade. In addition to recording songs for an unreleased solo album, he played in several bands today, primarily as rhythm guitarist and singer in short band Crash Wisdom (producing some unreleased songs) and as a bassist in the San Francisco-based group Michelle Muldrow Eyesore.
Puppet Revolution
In the late 1990s, Bangles agreed to reunite, with Steele becoming the last holder, merely joining the reunion in the hope that they will focus on releasing new material and not being a "Dick Clark oldies band". The band soon recorded a 15-song album that would eventually be released in 2003 as Doll Revolution . Like Everything , this album has three Steele songs; "Nickel Romeo", "Between The Two" and "Song for a Good Son" were previously unheard of. Both positive and negative reviews record these songs for a very different sound and atmosphere throughout the album.
Despite the start of a short tour in 2003, the various family commitments to his bandmates meant that the band could not tour and support the following albums of his American release as much as Steele hoped, a matter later recorded by Susanna Hoffs as a contribution to Steele leaving the band in the middle of the tour. Despite his last concert in early 2004, his departure was not officially recognized until May 2005.
In this period Steele also contributed the guest bass section for two albums by Lisa Dewey, playing in the Weather Changer Girl (2000) and Busk (2004)
Maps Michael Steele (musician)
Discography
Albums
References
External links
Media related to Michael Steele on Wikimedia Commons
- Bangles official website
- Unofficial site of Michael Steele - comprehensive discography, lyrics, guitar tabs, etc.
- Facebook Fanpage
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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