Giuffria

Giuffria was an American rock band that was formed in 1981 by Gregg Giuffria after his departure from the band Angel, a glam rock/heavy metal band from Washington, D.C..

History of the Band

Giuffria was composed of Gregg Giuffria (keyboards), David Glen Eisley (lead vocalist), Craig Goldy (guitar), Chuck Wright (bass), and Alan Krigger (drums). Tom Quinton played drums for several months in 1983-84 but was dumped in favor of Alan Krigger, who looked more like a hard rock drummer than did Quinton. They were signed to MCA Records in 1984. Giuffria's self-titled debut album, Giuffria, soon followed peaking at #26 on the album charts while spawning two hit singles, "Call to the Heart" (Hot 100 #15) and "Lonely In Love" (Hot 100 #57). The band was the opening act on Deep Purple 1984 reformation US tour, and was badly treated by Ritchie Blackmore who cut the band set from 45 minutes to 25 minutes, no guitar solo and no encores. The band went to tour as the opening act on Foreigner's Agent Provocateur tour, and enjoyed considerable success. The band played a few shows in Japan in June 1985, a live VHS tape was released under the Giuffria japan tour '85 title. Giuffria, then appeared on the Gotcha! soundtrack with the songs "Never Too Late" And "Say It Ain't True". A third track "What's Your Name?" featured the vocals of David Glen Eisley but was listed as Camelflage. Their next album, Silk and Steel, was released in 1986, following some lineup changes (Goldy joined Dio and was replaced by guitarist Lanny Cordola, and Wright came back to Quiet Riot and was replaced by bassist David Sikes). However, the first single "I must be dreaming" failed to hit the Top 40 landing at a peak position of #52 and the album managed only peak at #60 on the Billboard 200. A second single was released for "Love You Forever" but the proper label promotion was not in place and aside from an American Bandstand performance of the single it quickly disappeared failing to make the Hot 100. Giuffria were soon dropped by MCA Records and soon disbanded but not prior to recording demos for what would later become the House of Lords project.

Side projects

Gregg Giuffria went on to form another band called the House of Lords and signed a record deal with Simmons Records, a new record company launched by his longtime friend Gene Simmons. Gene Simmons trademarked the name House of Lords, changed the band name to House of Lords and fired vocalist David Glen Eisley. Giuffria has since left the music business and now owns a business in Las Vegas.

Band members

Former members

• Gregg Giuffria - keyboards, backing vocals (1981-1987)
• David Glen Eisley - lead vocals (1981-1987)
• Alan Krigger - drums, percussion (1981-1987)
• Craig Goldy - guitars (1981-1985)
• Chuck Wright - bass (1981-1985)
• Lanny Cordola - guitars (1985-1987)
• David Sikes - bass (1986-1987)
• Rick Bozzo - bass (1985-1986)

Discography

Studio albums

• Giuffria (1984)
• Silk and Steel (1986)
• Silk and Steel (2000) (re-release)

Singles

In pop culture

The song "Sweet Victory" was used in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Band Geeks," in which SpongeBob performs the song for a football stadium full of fans. Although not a Giuffria song, the vocals were provided by Giuffria lead singer David Glen Eisley who also co-wrote the track with guitarist Bob Kulick, brother of Kiss guitarist, Bruce Kulick.

References

• Hale, Mark (1993). "1162 Guiffria". Headbangers (First edition, second printing ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Popular Culture, Ink. pp. 162–163. ISBN 1-56075-029-4. 
• Turman, Katherine (1985-01-30). "Giuffria: an ex-Angel's band on a rapid ascent". 104. Los Angeles Times. pp. 2. 

External links

• Discography at MusicMight