Prog News, Press Releases - Metal Mind to re-release "Steeplechase"

The story of Steeplechase begun in 1975, when Kevin Brenner, an agent for the Creative Talent Associates (CTA - one of the largest club and bar scene booking agencies in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area at that time) came up with the idea of forming a band which would include the most talented local musicians around. Brenner knew exactly who he wanted to have in his project and presented his offer to three musicians – drummer Vinny Conigliaro, bassist Bob Held and guitarist Tony Summo. At first Steeplechase was meant to be merely a pop/commercial cover band, playing songs by the Beatles, Elton John and Peter Frampton. They even had two singers at that time, male and female. This formula, however, was soon abandoned, as the group was pretty much tired of the poppy repertoire and wanted to take on a more rock-oriented style. After finding a proper frontman – Eli Holland – Steeplechase finally went on to write original material, strongly influenced by Bad Company, Led Zeppelin and the guitar legend Jimi Hendrix.

Bio
The story of Steeplechase begun in 1975, when Kevin Brenner, an agent for the Creative Talent Associates (CTA - one of the largest club and bar scene booking agencies in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area at that time) came up with the idea of forming a band which would include the most talented local musicians around. Brenner knew exactly who he wanted to have in his project and presented his offer to three musicians – drummer Vinny Conigliaro, bassist Bob Held and guitarist Tony Summo. All of them agreed to become a part of Steeplechase and so the group was officially born.
At first Steeplechase was meant to be merely a pop/commercial cover band, playing songs by the Beatles, Elton John and Peter Frampton. They even had two singers at that time, male and female. This formula, however, was soon abandoned, as the group was pretty much tired of the poppy repertoire and wanted to take on a more rock-oriented style. After finding a proper frontman – Eli Holland – Steeplechase finally went on to write original material, strongly influenced by Bad Company, Led Zeppelin and the guitar legend Jimi Hendrix. Unfortunately, Holland’s musical influences were quite distant from the rest of the group and eventually he and Steeplechase parted ways. Steeplechase was once again left without a vocalist and thus begun countless auditions for a new voice. Just when the group was on the edge of frustration, they accidentally stumbled across singer Joe Lamente, who recently quit his former band - Spy. Lamente’s melodic, but also powerful voice and wide range of abilities made him a great addition to Steeplechase – soon he became the band’s driving force. All that was left to do was to bomb the music scene with a stunning debut LP…
By the time Lamente joined Steeplechase, the band already had seven songs recorded, waiting only for the vocals to be added. During the last part of the recording session two more songs were written. Soon the band was ready to release their full-length debut album. Unfortunately, the music business at that time was not interested in rock anymore – the latest craze was New Wave music and such bands as Blondie, Talking Heads and Ramones gained all the attention. After failing to sign with major labels (in 1979 the band almost secured a deal with EMI), Steeplechase decided to release their self-titled debut offering by themselves, via a small independent record label called Big City. The year was 1981… Upon its release, the “Steeplechase” album was sold mostly in local record stores and on concerts. The band was frequently played in regional radio stations, even reaching the Top 10 chart lists at some of them. Their career was slowly progressing and soon the band found themselves opening for such acts as Zebra, Twisted Sister and David Johannsen. Unfortunately, a year after the release of Steeplechase’s debut LP, Joe Lamente decided to leave the group and join the upcoming band Shelter, who later released one album for Polygram Records.
In 1983 Steeplechase was fronted by vocalist Matthew Hill, who along with his voice brought also some new musical influences. The band started to sound more like Hall & Oates and the Tubes, leaning towards a streamline pop sound (but not entirely abandoning their original style) in order to attract more audiences. During this process Tony Summo left Steeplechase to join a blues trio and was eventually replaced by a local guitar legend, Mark Hitt (known form Rat Race Choir). The renewed line-up begun writing new material and everything seemed as if it was going in the right direction… Unfortunately, during the negotiations with a Columbia sub-label Nemperor Records in 1984, the band decided to ultimately split up due to too many difficulties they had to face. Personnel problems, frustration and instability finally took their toll…
As well as many other secrets found in the world of rock ‘n’ roll, this one also was destined to be revealed. This exclusive re-release brings back Steeplechase’s original debut album from 1981, extended with seven bonus tracks (with three of them performed live!) that the band recorded with Matthew Hill. The complete collection of Steeplechase’s music caught on this disc showcases a true legend of the 80’s rock era and a band worth remembering forever… New digipak edition is limited to 2000 copies. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on a golden disc.