SURVIVOR 2007
2008 SURVIVOR line up:
The new and current line-up-Robin McAuley (vocals), Frankie Sullivan (guitar), Marc Droubay (drums), Michael Young (keyboards) and Billy Ozzello (bass)
FRANKIE SULLIVAN
CO-FOUNDER OF SURVIVOR
CO-WRITER OF
"EYE OF THE TIGER" FROM "ROCKY III".
GREETING FROM FRANKIE
My World is a small world filled with vintage guitars, amps, pedals and lots of music.
I love music of all sorts, especially the blues. Waking up to BB King is just fine with me! And I love the crackle of an old Robert Johnson Recording!
There are the many bands I have followed my entire life such as Led Zeppelin, my favorite band of all time. But I also love bands like Cheap Trick, The Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl being one of my young favorite writers), Journey, Foreigner AC/DC, (the “best live band in the business”) and more…
I find I am always singing one of their tunes while I go about my deeds.
There is a huge amount of time and effort, along with a bit of talent, spent writing a memorable song for all of you to sing along with and have a good time. And then we all have The Beatles to remind us of so much of our lives and how much talent each of the members carried. It is amazing really! “The Long And Winding Road” being in my top five favorite songs of all time.
Survivor is a Great Band. It’s filled with Great Guys who have dedication like I have never known. They are good men with big hearts. It is a blessing to play with them and have them in my life, though I see them little this time of year.
I cannot write about all the bands I have been in, the records I have made, and the amazing folks I have had the honor of both working with and getting to know. And that is where it begins.
My memories of Survivor are as vivid as the sun. I recall all of the history, hits, chart positions, producers, engineers, assistant engineers, stories about the songs, sessions and more. But that’s all for another time.
For now, welcome to my site. Look around and feel free to ask me anything you wish as we “blog” along. I’m am open and forthcoming about what I have learned along this journey.
One of my biggest tasks is a continuing effort to spare younger artists from the music industry jive and doing what I can to be sure no one takes away their potential earnings.
Wanna Take A Ride?
...ABOUT FRANKIE
"I was about 13 years old when I began seriously listening to music—and that happened to be the era of great guitar music: Cream, Led Zepplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles' John Lennon. Just about every group had great guitar players. Listening to these guys, I was primed.
"I later realized that these great guitar players took everything they did from an earlier generation of great blues guitar players. Those bluesmen were incredible. And only recently have they received any recognition from people like Eric Clapton and the Stones."
Inspired by these artists, Frankie picked up a guitar at age 15 and never looked back.
There's more to Frankie Sullivan than rock and roll. There's also family and fishing. He will often trade a guitar line for a fishing line. He is a frequent guest on the Fishing with Joe Bucher TV show. But guitar remains Frankie's first love.
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"when there's magic in the music"
The Beginning
'i'll never know what brought me here,
as if somebody led my hand,
it seems I hardly had to steer,
my course was planned.'
That plan for Chicago-born Frankie Sullivan began with his first band, Mariah. He played second lead guitar for the band that impressed Billboard: "It'll blow you out of your chair. Mariah delivers a hot, searing rock and roll that is the most exciting single to emerge from UA in years."
Mariah led Frankie to Survivor. In 1977, a former classmate who was working as Jim Peterik's soundman encouraged Frankie to come over and jam with his boss—a jam session that led Peterik and Sullivan to form Survivor. The original lineup consisted of Frankie and Jim Peterik—plus Dave Bickler, Dennis Johnson and Gary Smith. Besides being Survivor's main guitarist, Frankie has co-written almost all of the band's material with keyboardist/guitarist Jim Peterik.
By the end of 1978, Survivor signed a record deal with Scotti Bros. Records. Under the patronage of John Kolodner, then head of A&R for Atlantic Records, Survivor went into the studio to cut its debut album, Survivor (1980).
Breaking Through
'so many times, it happens too fast,
you trade your passion for glory.'
The band added Marc Droubay (drums) and Stephen Ellis (bass) for their second album. Many fans consider the 1981 Premonition—with singles "Poor Man's Son" and "Summer Nights"—their favorite Survivor record. This record improved on the first album's success; the band's big breakout came with the 1982 release of Eye of the Tiger.
The title song for this record—written for the opening scenes of the film, Rocky—brought the band national attention. "Eye of the Tiger" spent seven weeks at the 1 spot on the U.S. charts and was 1 in twenty-four countries. The song won a Grammy and Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for Frankie and Jim Peterik. It won the People's Choice Awards that year as well as receiving a Grammy Nomination for "Song of the Year."
A String of Hits 'went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop'
1983 found Survivor back in the studio at work on Caught in the Game. Release of this title track continued the band's successful string of hit singles.
During the summer of 1984, the band was faced with the chore of replacing lead singers. The tour scheduling had a negative effect on Dave Bickler; after minor throat surgery, Dave left the band. We auditioned a guy by the name of Jim Jamison first. Frankie wanted him that day but other members of the band still wanted to check out a few more singers.
"I think it was mainly Jim Peterik who wasn't sold on him at first." I have no idea why, but after we tried out one of Jim's choices for three days, it hit me. Let's get Jamison up here and in the band and make a record, like now. I called Ron Nevison to do the producing job. He had never heard the new singer! But I asked Ron to trust me and sent him a tape of "Broken Promises," a new song the band had learned at rehearsals. After getting Ron's vibe, it was a closed deal."
Survivor's fifth album, Vital Signs, was a monster comeback record that achieved multi-platinum status. Its hit single, "Can't Hold Back," reached the top ten pop charts and made 1 on the album rock charts. This was followed by "High on You," another top-ten hit, and "The Search is Over," which reached 2 on the hot 100.
Despite a hectic U.S. and world tour, the band recorded Burning Heart, the title track for Rocky 4. The song went all the way to 2 on the hot 100 charts, propelling the sound track album to multi-platinum status. It was 1987 before Survivor had time to stop and make another record, when Seconds Count delivered another top-ten single, "Is This Love."
In 1986 Frankie made a guest appearance on Heart's Surprises of the Heart album, playing solo guitar on "Nobody's Home" and additional guitar on "Nothin' at All."
In 1988 Survivor released its seventh album, Too Hot to Sleep—considered by many critics and fans alike to be one of Survivor's best.
In 1989 Survivor released its first greatest hits package. This led to the 1993 release of a second and more complete greatest hits package, which included some re-mixes of earlier material and two new cuts written especially for this CD.
Shortly after this release, the group decided to pursue various solo projects. Frankie continued in the studio writing and recording with many different artists, most recently with Eddie Money for his 1999 release, “Ready Eddie,” in which Frankie produced as well as wrote and performed.
Fast forward to 2006, when former McAuley Schenker Group (MSG) frontman Robin McAuley replaced Jim Jamison as the new lead vocalist for Survivor. The band had crossed paths with McAuley here and there over the years, but it was finally the right time for them to join forces.
As Sullivan explains, “I first met Robin in 1988 when my good friend and Grammy® Award-winning engineer, Frank Filipetti, felt in his gut that Robin and I would be really comfortable together and that meeting would lead to great times and great music. Frank had just completed working on MSG’s ANYTIME album, which included the Top Ten hit ‘Anytime,’ which Robin wrote. At the same time, Frank was mastering Survivor’s TOO HOT TO SLEEP. It was some twist of fate, though I will tell you Frank Filipetti has one great gut!”
Since the split of McAuley Schenker Group in the early 90’s, Robin had been keeping busy: he re-recorded “Free Ride” with Edgar Winter, which ran as a jingle for Buick Cars nationwide for almost two years straight; he performed on several tribute records for such bands as Kiss, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, The Faces, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Bruce Springsteen and Garth Brooks; he recorded the song “Teach Me How To Dream,” which was produced and written by David Foster, for the movie “If Looks Could Kill”; and he made a solo album, BUSINESS AS USUAL, which was co-written with Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan.
When we made the decision to replace Jamison,” remembers Sullivan, ”I had no idea what we would do. Then it hit me--Robin McAuley! Is he available? How can he possibly be available?! Can I be lucky yet again in my career to work with such a talented singer? Well, the short answer, he was available, we gave him the songs of a set list we would perform, he came to the Windy City and blew our socks off! Robin is a pure pleasure to work with and he’s such a great person. With Robin, what you see is what you get. And boy do you get it!”
This is assured to put the bite back into the tiger and the Survivor camp is ready to break loose from its cage. “I’m very excited at this opportunity to sing for Survivor,” says McAuley. “I can only hope the Survivor fans give me a fighting chance. Frankie and I have worked together in the past I am extremely excited to start writing with him again and playing with a great bunch of guys. This new Survivor promises to be full of energy, and with such a stable of awesome tunes to pick from, who knows what each show will bring. I’m ready!”
After several greatest hits packages have been released worldwide, there is now a great Survivor record currently in the making!
Accolades
'the search has come full circle'
Frankie Sullivan considers himself fortunate enough to have been part of some really good things: an Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe Nomination, two Grammies, a People's Choice Award, a six-time member of the Million-AIRs Club—for artists who have had songs played on the radio at least one million times—and eleven top-ten records. Plus, "Eye of the Tiger" ranks number 18 on the Billboard top 100 songs of all time.
But ask Frankie Sullivan the high points of his career and you won't hear any of these accolades. Instead, you'll get an answer as sharp and clear as one of his guitar riffs: "I haven't had them yet."
'just another piece of the puzzle,
just another part of the plan.'
That's Frankie Sullivan...
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Other projects include Production/Studio Work for many well-known musical artists.
Click below to view: FRANKIE SULLIVAN CREDITS
