Name:		Michael Stanley
Genre:		Rock
Members:		N/A
Origin:		Cleveland, OH
Website:		Band Website

Cleveland native Michael Stanley became a regional phenomenon, but the singer/songwriter/guitarist and his Michael Stanley Band deserved more national success than they achieved. Stanley, whose real name is Michael Stanley Gee, played bass with the folk-rock group Silk in the late '60s. He then went solo and released two solo albums in the early '70s that fit right in with the "singer/songwriter" era. His talent attracted the likes of producer Bill Szymczyk and guest musicians Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren, and David Sanborn from the beginning. He formed the Michael Stanley Band (aka MSB) in 1975 and pursued a more straightforward rock direction. MSB recorded a string of albums through the late '70s and early '80s that were modest successes nationally but major hits in Ohio. In fact, the Michael Stanley Band was such a sensation at home that it still holds attendance records at major concert venues. 1980's Heartland was easily MSB's best album, and Stanley agrees. It included the hit single "He Can't Love You" (sung by vocalist/keyboardist Kevin Raleigh) and the minor hit "Lover" (sung by Stanley and featuring blistering saxophone by Clarence Clemons). MSB's second and last Top 40 hit was Stanley's anthem "My Town" in 1983. After recording for Epic, Arista, and EMI, MSB independently released two albums on their own before breaking up in 1987.

The Michael Stanley Band was a reliably consistent, meat-and-potatoes enterprise responsible for superb Midwestern rock & roll. Stanley went on to become a popular television and radio personality in Cleveland. He still regularly releases albums — solo and the one-off group project the Ghost Poets — and performs annual summer and New Year's Eve shows along with occasional acoustic dates; these concerts and albums both feature MSB alumni and other Cleveland musicians. Razor & Tie has reissued most of MSB's catalog and two excellent best-of collections on compact disc.

Upcoming Shows

There are no shows planned at the Agora at this current time.

Reviews

Title: Thank god for the man who put the white lines on the highway Review By: mypinkrainbow Date: 8/16/2008 gosh back in the day msb was the it band that everyone in cleveland clammered to see and i remember paying 200 bucks for a front row ticket to see msb and I was the envy of the group i hung around with, new years eve was a tradition at the colasium for msb , i knew every song by heart and now when i mention them , no one has a clue, what happened, why did they not make it , they were awesome oh well it just shows my age ,

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