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Will to Power (band)

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For other uses, see Will to power (disambiguation).
Will to Power

Will to Power is the name of an American dance-pop group that originated in southern Florida in the mid-1980s. The group recorded a number of hit singles on the Billboard dance and pop charts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, most notably "Baby, I Love Your Way / Freebird Medley", a medley of 1970s hits by Peter Frampton and Lynyrd Skynyrd that reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1988.[1] The group has also seen success on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and continues to create music into the 21st century.

The early years

Bob Rosenberg was born in [2] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] His mother, Gloria Mann, was a pop singer who had two Top 40 pop hits in the mid-1950s on the Sound Records label, "Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)" and "Teen Age Prayer".[3] After attending school in Florida, Rosenberg became a DJ at various local events, and by 1985 he was working at a Miami CHR radio station, WHQT (Hot 105).[1] He became known as the nations first "on air" radio mix DJ. Heremixed and edited songs as a radio-mix DJ for the station, and these mixes became popular in the Miami area. Rosenberg created a rap record in 1985 that was titled "Miami Vice", based on the popular TV show and it's theme song, but MCA Records claimed that Rosenberg had infringed on their copyright.[1] He also remixed and edited the song "Beat Box" for 2 Live Crew's 1986 debut album, The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are.[4] After working with 2 Live Crew he was labeled "The King Of Edits". on thier albums.

During 1986 and 1987, Rosenberg collaborated with various other musicians to create original music. He chose the name Will to Power for the group as an homage to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's theory of an individual's fundamental will to power.[1]

1986 to 1988: Will to Power

"Dreamin'" (which would later appear on Will to Power's debut album), with Rosenberg on lead vocals and Carr on backing vocals.[1] Released in Miami on the Thrust Records label, "Dreamin'" became a regional hit and got the attention of Epic Records, who picked up the song for distribution to radio stations and dance clubs around the country.[1] The song peaked at #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[5] and at #15 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart[6] in August 1987, and Epic asked Rosenberg if he had enough material for an album.[1] In June 1988, Will to Power released a follow-up single, "Say It's Gonna Rain", which featured Carr on lead vocals.[1] This song reached #49 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in July 1988[7] and spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in August and September of that year.[6]

After Rosenberg spent much of the previous year working on new material with a variety of different musicians, including vocalists, Maria Mendez, Donna Allen and Sandeé, keyboardists Lawrence Dermer and David Rosenthal and a DJ/saxophone player known as "Dr. J",[8] the group's self-titled debut album was released on Epic Records in the summer of 1988. Along with the aforementioned songs "Dreamin'" and "Say It's Gonna Rain", the album contained a medley of two popular rock songs from the 1970s, "Baby, I Love Your Way" (a #12 pop hit in 1976 for Peter Frampton) and "Free Bird" (a well-known track by the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd which reached #19 on the pop chart in January 1975). This medley, titled "Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley (Free Baby)", was the last song from the album to be created.[1] Although Epic was reluctant to release this hybrid song as a single, Rosenberg had distributed copies of the song to various radio stations in the Miami vicinity, including WPOW (Power 96). According to Rosenberg, "they played it, and a few other stations caught onto it, so Epic put it out."[1] This song became the group's biggest hit, spending a week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 [1] and reaching #2 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart[9] in December 1988. It also became the group's biggest hit in the UK, reaching #6 on the UK Singles Chart.[10] That month, the album reached its peak position of #68 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.[11] A fourth single from the album, "Fading Away", spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in early 1989.[6]

1989 to 1991: Journey Home

After the success of the debut album, Will to Power's follow-up album, Journey Home, was released in late 1990. Rosenberg continued with the group, producing the album, recording vocals and writing most of the songs. The primary female vocalist was then Elin Michaels,[1] a dance-pop singer who had released some 12" singles on the Knockout Records label in the mid-1980s.[12] Additional musicians who worked on the album include Donna Allen, Dee Dee Wilde, Wendy Pederson and Harry King on additional vocals, Ed Calle and Tony Concepción on horns, Orlando Hernandez on drums and Lester Mendez on keyboards.[13] The album appeared on the Billboard 200 albums chart in February 1991, peaking at #178.[14]

The first single to be released from the album was "I'm Not in Love", a cover version of the song by the British art rock band 10cc that was a #1 UK pop hit[15] and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100[16] in 1975. Will to Power's version also made the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #7 in January 1991[17] in addition to reaching #29 in the UK.[10] The follow-up single was a cover of the disco hit "Boogie Nights" by the band Heatwave, however this version failed to chart. Other songs on the album include "Fly Bird" and "Clock on the Wall".

History

Epic Records and Bob Rosenberg had artistic differences.

Will to Power are heavily featured in The Accidental Evolution of Rock 'n' Roll by music reviewer Chuck Eddy, who was music editor at The Village Voice and a senior editor at Billboard. Chuck Eddy names "Journey Home" as the title track of "what might end up" his favorite album of the 1990s. "(Page 274) "Will to Power" - "Journey Home" 1990. Title track of what might end up my favorite album of the 90's. "In Journey Home, Bob Rosenberg says he's got to keep his motor running, but not only can you feel the machines momentum running (in the rhythm) you can also feel storm clouds settling in (in the voices) the words detail the final leg of a car trip you're sick of. A woman tells him there's no turning back, time's a wastin'; Rosenberg shifts them gears."

Rosenberg went back into the studio in 2004, and in 2005 released Spirit Warrior on Straight Blast Records. Contributors included singers Gioia Bruno (of Exposé), Donna Allen, Siddy Betancourt, sax player Ed Calle, and guitarist Gary King. The first dance single was a medley of "Spirit Warrior" and the Will to Power version of Gil Scott-Heron's "The Bottle." Another single was "Dreamin' (Again)," with Bruno on vocals and Rosenberg performing a rap. This release went to Number One within four weeks on the industry magazine, "DJ Times" Dance Chart and also on most Record Pool and club charts in 2005.[citation needed] Although the song was not promoted or released to radio, it went to #1 for two weeks on notable dance station, WMPH.

In March 2006, dance remixer and producer Giuseppe D. provided remixes for Will To Power's Spirit Warrior - The Remixes EP.

The current incarnation of Will to Power features Rosenberg with Kristy Kay who has had Dance hits on her own, most notably a remake of the classic Divinyls track "I Touch Myself" with Lenny B and Siddy Betancourt.

In January 2009, Will to Power was set to release a new CD single in an "Electro Bass" direction. Scratch D of Dynamix II and DJ B Minus assisted Rosenberg in all phases of production as well as mixing.

Discography

Singles

Single[18] US Pop US Dance US AC
"Dreamin'" (1987) 50 15 -
"Say It's Gonna Rain" (1988) 49 1 -
"Baby, I Love Your Way / Freebird Medley" (1988) 1 - 2
"Fading Away" (1989) 65 1 -
"I'm Not in Love" (1991) 7 - -

Other singles:

  • "Boogie Nights" 1991 Epic Records
  • "Spirit in the Bottle" 2005 Straight Blast Records
  • "Dreamin' (again)" 2005 Straight Blast Records

Albums

  • Will to Power 1988 Epic Records
  • Journey Home 1990 CBS Records
  • Love Power 1996 Sony Music Special Products
  • Spirit Warrior 2005 Straight Blast Records

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of #1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 715.
  2. ^ "January 18, 1959 in History" BrainyHistory.com. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 395.
  4. ^ Is What We Are album credits BestBuy.com. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  5. ^ "Dreamin'" Hot 100 chart info Billboard.com. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  6. ^ a b c Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003, (Record Research Inc.), page 281.
  7. ^ "Say It's Gonna Rain" Hot 100 chart info Billboard.com. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  8. ^ "Album review: Will to Power" Answers.com. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  9. ^ "Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley" AC chart info Billboard.com. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  10. ^ a b Will to Power UK Singles Chart info Chartstats.com. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  11. ^ Will to Power album chart info Billboard.com. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  12. ^ Elin Michaels discography Discogs.com. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  13. ^ "Album review: Journey Home" Answers.com. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  14. ^ Journey Home album chart info Billboard.com. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  15. ^ 10cc UK Singles Chart info Chartstats.com. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  16. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 627.
  17. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 682.
  18. ^ artist bio at billboard.com
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