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Breakfast Club

 
Artist: Breakfast Club
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Breakfast Club

Group Members:

Dan Gilroy, Madonna, Stephen Bray

Similar Artists:

Madonna, George Michael, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Danseorkestret, Pet Shop Boys, Bros
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Songs: "Right on Track", "Drive My Car", "Expressway to Your Heart

Biography

Despite releasing just one album over a decade together, Breakfast Club will always have a place in the history books as the band that featured two of Madonna's ex-boyfriends -- drummer Stephen Bray and singer Dan Gilroy -- as well as the Material Girl herself, for a short time in her pre-fame days. The New York-based group formed in the late '70s, around the core of Gilroy and his guitarist brother, Ed. By 1979, the lineup featured bassist Angie Schmit and Madonna on drums, but Madonna left after reportedly angling for the lead vocalist's job. She would next go on to form her own band, Emmy, with her old Michigan friend Bray as the drummer and Gary Burke (who was also playing at the same time with the Gilroys) on bass. Madonna eventually began marketing herself as a solo act in the early '80s, armed with songs she and Bray had co-written, and that spelled the end of Emmy. But after the group dissolved, Bray joined the Gilroys and Burke in Breakfast Club, and the quartet signed to Ze Records. Despite Madonna's escalating stardom and the obvious chance at some residual success for Breakfast Club, no recordings surfaced, however, and the group later signed with MCA. The band's eponymous first album was released in early 1987, preceded by the Top 40 hit "Right on Track." Dan Gilroy and Bray wrote most of the nine songs and Bray also added his production expertise to several of the catchy pop and R&B numbers, but his golden touch with Madonna (for whom he'd co-written and produced several hits) didn't quite carry over. Two further singles, "Never Be the Same" and a cover of the old Gamble-Huff composition "Expressway to Your Heart," dented the lower reaches of the charts, but the band's second album wasn't released and Breakfast Club broke up shortly afterward. ~ Dan LeRoy, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Breakfast Club (band)
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Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club
Background information
Origin New York, United States
Genres Dance-pop
Years active 1979 – 1988
Labels Ze Records
MCA Records
Members
Dan Gilroy
Ed Gilroy
Gary Burke
Stephen Bray
Paul Kauk
Former members
Randy Jackson
Madonna
Angie Smit

Breakfast Club was an American dance-pop group. Their biggest hit single was "Right On Track," which went to #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Contents

Band history

The group was formed in New York in the late 1970s, and went through several line-ups including one in which Madonna was the drummer. By the early 1980s, the band included Madonna, Angie Smit on bass, and the Gilroy brothers, Dan and Ed, both on guitar (Dan sang lead vocals as well). Dan Gilroy was also briefly Madonna's boyfriend, and he eventually allowed her to sing some lead vocals. Madonna ultimately left to form a new band Emmy, but the remaining members soldiered on. By the mid 1980s, the band consisted of the Gilroys (with Dan now concentrating exclusively on vocals, while Ed provided all guitars), Gary Burke (bass), Paul Kauk (keyboards), and Stephen Bray (drums). Both Bray and Burke had previously been Madonna's bandmates in Emmy. Bray had also dated Madonna for a while, and reportedly, Madonna had initially suggested him as her replacement in Breakfast Club.[citation needed] They signed with Ze Records and released their eponymous album in 1987, which spawned the U.S. Top Ten hit "Right On Track." Later, Randy Jackson (bass) and E. Doctor Smith (The Drummstick) (percussion) joined the band.

A second album was recorded but never released. Their last single was a cover version of The Beatles' song "Drive My Car", used in the film, License to Drive. Shortly afterwards the band broke-up. Bray later co-wrote several big hits with, and for, Madonna. They were nominated in the category of Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in 1988, losing out to Jody Watley. Many of their music videos, including "Right on Track," were filmed by Jeff Stein, director of The Who documentary, The Kids are Alright.

Dan Gilroy later went on to star in Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme as Gordon Goose.

Discography

Studio albums

  1. 1987 - The Breakfast Club

Singles

  1. 1987 - "Kiss and Tell" (#48 U.S.)
  2. 1987 - "Never Be the Same"
  3. 1987 - "Right on Track" (#7 U.S., #54 UK[1])
  4. 1987 - "Rico Mambo"
  5. 1988 - "Expressway to Your Heart"
  6. 1988 - "Drive My Car"

References

  1. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 77. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

External links


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Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Breakfast Club (band)".  Read more

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