Player (band)

Player
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Rock, soft rock
Years active	1976–1982 1995–2003 2007–present
Labels	RSO, Casablanca
Website	Official website
Past members
Peter Beckett John Charles "J.C." Crowley Ronn Moss John Friesen Wayne Cook (Touring Member)

Player is an American rock band that made their mark during the late 1970s. The group scored a few US Hot 100 hits, three of which went into the Top 40; two of those single releases went Top 10, including the #1 hit "Baby Come Back". That song was written by group members Peter Beckett and J.C. Crowley.

Career

Player first came together in Los Angeles, California. The original members included Peter Beckett (lead vocals, guitar), John Charles "J.C." Crowley (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ronn Moss (bass, vocals) and John Friesen (drums). Beckett, a transplanted Englishman, had been in a group called Skyband with Australian Steve Kipner (who'd also played with the popular Aussie act Tin Tin). After Skyband broke up in 1975, Beckett was in LA and met Crowley at a party. He and Crowley teamed up in a new band called Riff Raff, which soon changed its name to Bandana and released a single, "Jukebox Saturday Night", on Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter's Haven label. When Haven folded soon after, Lambert & Potter brought the guys over to RSO Records in 1976 and Beckett & Crowley started anew with Moss & Friesen as Player. Wayne Cook, a keyboardist/session player and former member of Steppenwolf, was an additional bandmember for its live performances; he is the curly-haired keyboardist in the band's videos from the 1970s.

Player gained popularity as a live act during the heyday of the 1970s stadium rock era. They first went on the road in the fall of 1977 opening for Gino Vannelli, then Boz Scaggs. They began to develop a distinctive, edgy and melodic rock style. Their biggest hit, "Baby Come Back", released in late 1977, rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1978 and was a chart success in other countries. Their follow up single, "This Time I'm In It For Love", also peaked at No. 10 the same year. Among several notable accolades, Player was named Billboard's Best New Singles Artist of 1978. Eric Clapton became so impressed with Player that he invited them to open for him during his 1978 North American tour. This further fueled their popularity. Later on in 1978, keyboardist Cook left and was replaced by Bob Wooley (formerly of Paul Revere and the Raiders). Eventually the band began to headline their own events, as well as continuing to open shows for artists like Heart and Kenny Loggins in the fall of 1978. After playing a show with the latter at Coconut Grove in Florida, tension among the various group members resulted in a huge blow up. When the smoke finally cleared, Crowley had decided to leave to return to his native Texas, eventually to pursue a career in country music.

Player released three albums during their active touring years: Player (RSO Records in 1977), Danger Zone (RSO Records in 1978) and Room With A View (Casablanca Records in early 1980), the latter without Crowley.

Lineup Changes

Miles Joseph (vocals, guitar) and Gabriel Katona (keyboards) played on the group's third album, Room With a View (1980). But Ronn Moss left Player in 1981 to pursue a full-time acting career (He continues to play the role of Ridge Forrester on the soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful). After Moss left, Beckett kept the band going with Friesen, Joseph, Katona and Rusty Buchanan (vocals, bass) and the band released their fourth album, Spies of Life, on RCA in late 1981. The band continued until 1982 and played on the music series Solid Gold that same year with the new lineup.

Peter Beckett went on to be a member of Little River Band from 1989 to 1997 in its latter stages as a club/festival band and played "Baby Come Back" at its performances.

J.C. Crowley (who still occasionally wrote with Beckett) became a Nashville performer and songwriter, recording his only solo album, Beneath The Texas Moon, in 1988. In 1989, he had country hits with "Paint the Town and Hang the Moon Tonight" (No. 13) and "I Know What I've Got" (No. 21), and was named "Best New Male Country Performer". He wrote a number of songs recorded by Nashville artists, including Johnny Cash and The Oak Ridge Boys. He also won a battle with cancer in the late 1990s and now lives in Topanga, California.

Although Player officially retired as a touring band, Moss and Beckett have partnered on occasion. The duo recorded an additional studio album as Player, released in Japan in 1995 entitled Electric Shadow, which was renamed Lost In Reality when put out on River North Records in the U.S. in May 1996. On December 16, 1997, Player played live for the first time in years at the L.A. Music Awards at the Hollywood Palladium with a lineup consisting of Beckett, Moss, Elliot Easton (of The Cars) on guitar, Burleigh Drummond of Ambrosia on drums and Tony Sciuto of Little River Band on keyboards. A compilation album, Best of Player, was released in 1998.

The response to the group's reunion show was so enthusiastic that they had several offers for more concert dates. Unfortunately, River North Records dropped the band and Player tried to buy back the rights to the Lost in Reality CD, but were not successful.

Player hit the road in the spring of 1998 with a lineup of Beckett, Moss, Sciuto, Drummond, guitarist Steve Farris (formerly of Mr. Mister) and percussionist Ron Green---with guitarist Dave Amato (from REO Speedwagon) and drummer Ron Wikso (formerly of Foreigner) filling in as needed depending on the schedules of the others. A 2000 lineup of Player included drummer Craig Pilo, Michael Hakes (guitar), Ron Green, Tony Sciuto, Moss and Beckett playing more shows across the United States. Michael Hakes died on November 19, 2003 from complications of leukemia. After the death of Hakes, the band stopped touring and concentrated on other projects.

In 2007 Player reunited once again with a lineup of: Beckett, Moss, Craig Pilo, Ron Green, Ricky Zacharaides (guitar) and Ed Roth (keyboards).

By 2009 Rob Math (guitar) and Johnny English (keyboards) had come in to replace Zacharaides and Roth.

Side projects

Moss (with Beckett) has recorded two recent "solo" albums: I'm Your Man (2000) and Uncovered (2005). Both Moss and Beckett continue to play limited concert schedules as solo artists and teamed up to play in Australia in 2006 in support of Uncovered.

Discography

• Player (12" LP album, RSO Records, 1977) #26 US (34 weeks)
  • "Baby Come Back / Love Is Where You Find It" (7" vinyl single, RSO Records, 1977) #1 US (32 weeks), #32 UK (7 weeks)
  • "This Time I'm In It For Love / Every Which Way" (7" vinyl single, RSO Records, 1977) #10 US (17 weeks)

• Danger Zone (12" LP album, RSO Records, 1978) #37 US (23 weeks)
  • "Prisoner Of Your Love / Join The Dance" (7" vinyl single, RSO Records, 1978) #27 US (11 weeks)
  • "Silver Lining / Forever" (7" vinyl single, RSO Records, 1978) #62 US (6 weeks)

• Silver Lining - AOR Sampler (12" promotional 4-song EP, RSO Records, 1978) For radio programming use only

• Room With A View (12" LP album, Casablanca Records, 1980) did not chart
  • "It's For You / Tip Of The Iceberg" (7" vinyl single, Casablanca Records, 1980) #46 US (8 weeks)
  • "Givin' It All / Tip Of The Iceberg" (7" vinyl single, Casablanca Records, 1980) #105 US (3 weeks)

• Spies Of Life (12" LP album, RCA Records, 1981) #152 US (7 weeks)
  • "If Looks Could Kill / Born To Be With You" (7" vinyl single, RCA Records, 1981) #48 US (9 weeks)
  • "I'd Rather Be Gone" (7" vinyl single, RCA Records, 1981) did not chart

Discography Guide

• album title (original format, original record label, year of release) peak chart placing, country (chart run)
  • "A side title / B side title" (original format, original record label, year of release) peak chart placing, country (chart run)

External links

• Official Player web site
• Official Peter Beckett website
• Official Ronn Moss website
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