Stories

Stories was a short-lived rock and pop music band, based out of New York in the early 1970s. The band consisted of keyboardist Michael Brown, bassist/vocalist Ian Lloyd, guitarist Steve Love, and drummer Bryan Madey, and had a Number 1 hit with a cover of Hot Chocolate's "Brother Louie."

Band history

Lloyd (b. Ian Buonconsiglio, 1947, Seattle) and Brown (b. Michael Lookofsky, April 25, 1949, Brooklyn) were introduced by their fathers, two old friends who had worked together for years as session violinists. Lloyd had been singing for years and had attracted local notice recording as Ian London. Brown had played with his group The Left Banke, which had made the U.S. charts with "Walk Away Renee" (#5, 1966) and "Pretty Ballerina" (#15, 1967).

The two set about becoming a Beatlesque band. They recruited New Yorkers Love and Madey and located an interested record label in Kama Sutra. A self-titled album and a single – "I'm Coming Home" (#42, 1972) – followed.

Afterward, the band started work on their second LP with producer Eddie Kramer, About Us (1973). After the album's release, Brown left the band to pursue another project.

About Us did relatively well, primarily due to the inclusion of an afterthought, "Brother Louie." The song about a black girl and her white boyfriend had been a UK hit for Hot Chocolate earlier that year. Once issued as the Stories' second single, it became a big hit, reaching No. 1 in the United States.^[1] It spent two weeks at No. 1 and remained in the Billboard chart for 18 weeks, with a R.I.A.A. gold disc awarded on 22 August 1973.^[1]

"All of a sudden," Lloyd explained to Triad's Russel Wiener, "we had a big hit with a song that did not represent our music and the direction we were trying to go in. I didn't think it would affect me that much, but it did. Consequently, I decided that I had to remove myself from that, so that I could come back and show what I really can do."^{[citation needed]}

Lloyd did remain with Stories for one more album – Traveling Underground (1973). Bassist Kenny Aaronson (b. April 14, 1952, Brooklyn) (formerly of Dust) and keyboardist Ken Bichel (b. 1945, Detroit) stepped in to fill the void. The new group made the Billboard Hot 100 with "Mammy Blue" (#50, 1973) and "If It Feels Good, Do It" which was a cover of a song by the band Climax (#88, 1974). Before the group's break-up, Love left and was replaced by Richie Ranno.

Lloyd has since recorded several solo albums and done studio work for Foreigner, Fotomaker, and Peter Frampton. Lloyd was also one of the first artists to cover songs by Bryan Adams,^[2] which led to the 1984 formation of Fast Forward, involving several persons directly or indirectly associated with Adams.^[3] The resulting album, Living in Fiction, featured several of Adams' songs.^[4] Brown went on to form The Beckies, another Beatlesque band. Love reappeared in the early 1980s as Landscape. Madey, after a two album stay with the Earl Slick Band, provided accompaniment for Peggy Lee. Aaronson has remained busy. He was co-founder (with Carmine Appice's brother Vinnie) of Axis, and he did sessions for Hall & Oates, Billy Squier, ex-Mountain Leslie West, Foghat, Bob Dylan, Tom Guerra, and Rick Derringer. Bichel has done session work, and so has Love. Ranno found later success as a member of Starz.

Raven Records released Stories and About Us on a single CD, including the bonus track "Another Love", being the last single by the group, released in 1974.

Discography

Albums

• 1972 Stories (Kama Sutra) #182
• 1973 About Us (Kama Sutra) #29 (charted after it was reissued with "Brother Louie" added to the end of side two)
• 1973 Traveling Underground (Kama Sutra)
• 1993 Traveling Underground (One Way) CD Reissue
• 1996 About Us (Buddah) CD Reissue
• 2007 Stories/About Us (Raven Records)

Singles

• 1972 "I'm Coming Home" b/w "You Told Me (Kama Sutra 545) #42
• 1972 "Top Of The City" b/w "Step Back (Kama Sutra 558)
• 1973 "Darling"(see below) b/w "Take Cover (Kama Sutra 566) #111
• 1973 "Love Is In Motion" b/w "Changes Have Begun" (Kama Sutra 574)
• 1973 "Brother Louie" b/w "What Comes After?" (Kama Sutra 577) #1
• 1973 "Mammy Blue" b/w "Travelling Underground" (Kama Sutra 584) #50
• 1974 "If It Feels Good, Do It" b/w "Circles (Kama Sutra 588) #88
• 1974 "Another Love" b/w "Love Is In Motion" (Kama Sutra 594)

Note: different mix than the album version on "About Us"

References