entering the atmosphere in autumn, 2010...
Unruly Child
Marcie Michelle Free (vocalist - King Kobra, Signal, Unruly Child), Bruce Gowdy (guitarist – Stone Fury, World Trade, Unruly Child), and Guy Allison (keyboardist – Lodgic, World Trade, Doobie Brothers, Unruly Child) are back together again and have written and produced a stunning new record entitled “Worlds Collide” to be released in October 2010. Rejoining Free, Gowdy, and Allison are original band members from the first record released on Interscope/Atlantic in 1992. Drummer - Jay Schellen (Hurricane, World Trade, Asia , Unruly Child), and bassist - Larry Antonino (Pablo Cruise, Unruly Child).
Since the initial release of the critically-acclaimed "Unruly Child", the members have successfully pursued accomplished careers in the music industry.
Marcie Michelle Free, one of the world's most reknowned transgendered vocalists, first appeared on the world stage with King Kobra on Capitol Records in 1985. Following her tenure in the group Signal on EMI Records in 1989, she became a founding member of Unruly Child, which released its debut record on Interscope/Atlantic in 1992. She released a solo record as Mark Free entitled “Long Way From Love” in 1993, and another solo record as Marcie Free titled “Tormented” in 1996.
Bruce Gowdy, guitarist/producer, released his first record with Stone Fury on MCA in 1985, then founded World Trade in 1989. World Trade's influence in Gowdy's writing and arranging gives Unruly Child its progressive side and its unique twist, as does Allison's crucial songwriting and performance skills.
Guy Allison, keyboardist, is one of the bands major writing contributors and has been one of the world's most sought-after keyboard players for many years. As one of the Doobie Brothers, Guy Allison has been actively recording, producing and touring with the band for the past 15 years. He has also performed and recorded with other reknowned artists such as Boz Scaggs, Air Supply, and The Moody Blues.
Jay Schellen, drummer/percussionist, who also worked with Gowdy in 1995, joined World Trade for their second album Euphoria, and reunited again in 1998-1999 with the release of a second Unruly Child album minus Free but with Kelly Hansen on vocals (Hurricane, Foreigner). In 2004, Schellen worked on pre-production for Asia's album Silent Nation with Geoff Downes (Yes). In August 2005, Schellen replaced Chris Slade as drummer in Asia. Schellen continues with Asia to date.
Completing the lineup is bassist Larry Antonino. Before joining the band in 1992, Antonino played with many well-known artists, including Ambrosia. Based on his favorable experience with Antonino in Air Supply, Allison recommended him when it came time to fill the bass player position. In addition to being one of the world's most well-regarded bass players, Antonino has pursued acting, with his most notable role being that of "The Wolfman" in the movie "That Thing You Do" starring Tom Hanks.
Unruly Child, in its constant state of evolution, has generated an album reflecting its musical roots while capturing contemporary and classic rock sensibility.
With the return to the original line-up, Unruly Child has discovered that while time may pass, some things never change. In their case, that's a good thing.
Marcie Michelle Free
Born Mark Edward Free April 12, 1954. The second of five children in his family Mark started singing professionally at age 15 performing as lead singer/drummer for a band he helped form in High School. “Transmigration” as they were called performed for money at the local Flint area Junior High and High School dances in 1970 - 1971. After High School in 1973 he stepped away from the drums to focus his talents on singing lead and joined up with some of his former band mates to help form Maxx Bone. Maxx Bone played all around Michigan in bars and rock clubs doing top 40 and hard rock for 2 and a half years before being discovered and asked to move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1975. There he performed as lead vocalist for Sky Blue which appeared at the casino lounge in the Hilton Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Disillusioned by Las Vegas life style he moved to Los Angeles, California in 1979 to pursue his life long dream. To form a rock band, get signed by a major label, make records, and tour the world. He didn’t have to wait too long for that dream to be realized. In 1983 Mark was introduced to Carmine Appice from Vanilla Fudge, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osborn fame. In 1984 they formed the melodic metal group King Kobra. King Kobra signed with Capitol Records and released two albums with Free. Ready To Strike, and Thrill Of A Lifetime. They did 2 United States tours and a huge Mexican American Friendship Festival in Acapulco in January 1986. When they returned from Mexico they immediately went out east to hook up with KISS to join their tour as their opening act. They did that for 9 and a half weeks playing 20 thousand seat auditoriums. Selling out every place they played. In early Fall of 1986 Capitol decided not to pick up their third album option. Free went off on his own to find another band. 1987 Free was contacted by guitarist/keyboardist Ric Podmore and asked to record some songs for his band Arrival out of Denver, Colorado. The invitation to join the band permanently was tempting however Free was not quite sold on the quality of the material so he kept on looking. In late 1987 early 1988 he met bassist Erik Scott, guitarist Danny Jacob, and drummer Jan Uvena. Together they formed a band later to be known as Signal which recorded one album for EMI Records named “Loud And Clear”. Unfortunately the labels A&R representative who signed them left the label. The band received no support for the release of the record and in the Fall of 1990 Free left looking for for the right combination of members to form another group. A few short months later Free was introduced to guitarist Bruce Gowdy (Stone Fury, World Trade) to sing some song demos he and keyboardist Guy Allison ( Lodgic,World Trade) had written together. Allison and Free had met in 1979 but were in different bands. Admirers of each others talents they remained acquaintances for those many years. Excited by the chemistry of this union Free, Gowdy, and Allison quickly formed a group they called Unruly Child in 1990. After 11 months of writing and recording their works, their efforts paid off when they caught the attention of producer Beau Hill. Beau was a label executive at a new label forming called Interscope. They signed with Interscope Records in 1991 and released their self titled debut album in 1992. In 1993 a solo album consisting of demos Mark had sung for a mother/daughter song writing duo named Judithe and Robin Randall was released on a independent label in the U.K. called Now and Then Records. The album entitled, Mark Free "Long Way From Love" was re-released on Frontiers Records in 1996. This album version included some of the live performances he gave while in Manchester England for the first rock festival known as "The Gods of AOR" in October 1993. Also in 1993 Unruly Child, after losing their record deal with Interscope, had reformed under the moniker Twelve Pound Sledge and were writing new material in hopes of resigning with another U.S. label. That never happened, and those songs from that writing session were released in 1996 as a solo album on independent labels in Germany and Japan, entitled Marcie Free "Tormented". Plagued with gender dysphoria all her life, Mark came out to the world as Marcie Free in November 1993. In 1995 Marcie retired from the music business after 20 years and moved back to Michigan to be close to her family. Never having lost the desire to sing, write, and record music she stayed ready for the call. 15 years later she received that call when Bruce Gowdy contacted her to ask if she would be interested in reforming Unruly Child to record a new album for Frontiers Records out of Italy. She agreed and together again with all the original members, Bruce Gowdy (guitars), Guy Allsion (keyboards), Jay Schellen (drums), and Larry Antonino (bass guitar), they wrote and recorded "Worlds Collide" their brand new album for relase in October 2010. The future looks bright for Marcie Michelle Free as the journey rolls on.
http://www.marciefree.com/
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Bruce Gowdy
Out of high School, Gowdy played hundreds of casual gigs before making the move to the professional recording world. His first album was with the A&M Records artist Maxus (unreleased -1979) - followed by MCA's Stone Fury with Lenny Wolff (later of Kingdom Come fame). Their first release was “Burns Like A Star” followed by “Let Them Talk”. After they decided to part ways, Gowdy left to pursue other musical ambitions which led him to a collaboration with Billy Sherwood, a singer in Allison’s old band Lodgic. They created World Trade and subsequently invited Guy Allison and Mark T Williams to join on. They made one record, the self titled debut “World Trade”. Through the World Trade experience Gowdy And Allison remained friends and decided to write some songs together, their first composition being “Let’s Talk About Love”. Gowdy at the time was signed to Warner Chappell Publishing who liked to song but suggested that they replace Guy's original vocal with a talented singer named Mark Free. This new version was so good that a friendship and musical collaboration between the three started immediately. “To Be Your Everything”, “Forever”, “Live In The Night”, “Lay Down Your Arms” were the next creations from this trio and became the birth of Unruly Child.
Gowdy and Jay Schellen played together in Stone Fury for a period and were close friends so Gowdy asked Schellen if he would want to join Unruly Child. Guy and Larry Antonino played together in other projects so Guy suggested Larry to fill in the final position and the band was complete.
Unfortunately the band was caught in the change from melodic rock to Seattle grunge with the release of Nirvana . This was a pivotal time where labels and radio switched from classic rock to Grunge, and because of inner political conflicts and this changing tide, UC was dropped by their label.
Gowdy toured with the Japanese rock star Eikichi Yazawa for over a decade. During this time he produced about 40 songs with Mercedes “Rock-N-Soul Blvd” in which Guy Allison co -wrote some songs. He also worked with Glen Hughes, producing his solo record “From Now On” and also wrote for his other records - “Talkin To Messiah” , “Livin For The Moment” and the “Feel” album. Gowdy worked with Bobby Kimball for his solo album “Rise Up” (a collection of Unruly Child remakes and some new original material). He also worked with James Christian on “Rude Awakening”. His credits include Unruly Child “Waiting For The Sun” with Kelly Hansen (Foreigner's lead vocalist for the past decade) and UC III with Philip Bardowell and Allison. Gowdy produced, co-wrote and played all the instruments on Bardowell’s solo album “In A Perfect World”, an album that saw further collaborative efforts with Allison. As a producer/co-producer, Bruce has been at the helm of all of the Unruly Child releases along with outside projects such as Marcus Eaton & The Lobby's “Day the World Awoke”. For The past decade he has worked on TV & Film, composing and mixing for projects like The Discovery Channel “Howard Hughes”, mixing 100’s of shows.
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Guy Allison
The first composition that we created was "Let's Talk About Love".
I sang the original demo and we sent the song off to Bruce's publishers at Warner Chappell Music. They absolutely loved it and suggested that we get together with a singer named Mark Free and have him re-record the lead vocal (I had coincidentally worked with him in the studio with his group Modern Design in 1980). We weren't trying to start a band but these things have a way of happening on their own. All three of us liked the finished track so much we decided to try writing and recording a few more together. If memory serves me, we wrote "To Be Your Everything", "Forever" and "Lay Down Your Arms" within a couple of days. With Mark's powerful vocals and our new musical direction, it was clear that we had the nucleus of something very special and Unruly Child was born.
After recording a handful of demos, we attracted the attention of the folks at Interscope, inking a deal in 1991. We began working with Beau Hill on the first album almost immediately. It was at this point that we began the auditioning process for drums and bass. After an intensive search, we were very fortunate to discover the talented ex-Hurricane member Jay Schellen, who subsequently signed on as our drummer. Originally, our good friend Ricky Phillips (of The Babys and Bad English fame), recorded with us on many of the demos and was positioned to be Unruly's bassist. Because he had a commitment with the new Page/Coverdale group, he could only perform on the album but not join the band. Enter Larry Antonino - Air Supply's bassist, with whom I had been touring and recording with for the previous 2 years. A perfect fit, Larry was the last piece of the puzzle.
While it's true that Unruly Child was one of the casualties of the new Grunge era, we discovered that even without the benefit of worldwide success, we had found a very loyal audience and we wanted to keep recording for them.
We've all been part of other musical projects over the years, but it was always easy to fall back into the creative space that was and is Unruly Child - and while we have recorded UC albums with some incredibly talented lead singers over the course of 4 albums, we always wondered if the original line-up could ever get back together again.
Some things have a way of happening on their own.
________________________
Complete Bio on Guy
Allison...
http://www.guyallison.net/
Jay Schellen
In 1984, Schellen joined Stone Fury, working with singer Lenny Wolf and guitarist Bruce Gowdy. From 1985 to 1991, Jay joined the Melodic Rock Group Hurricane. Hurricane went on to record three records, Take What You Want, Over the Edge and Slave to the Thrill, 3 world wide tours and posted two top ten MTV videos. In 1993, Schellen joined Gowdy in a new melodic rock project, Unruly Child, releasing a self-titled CD. Schellen again worked with Gowdy in 1995, joining World Trade for their second album Euphoria, alongside Billy Sherwood (later in Yes). Schellen and Sherwood were the only members of World Trade for appearances on two tribute albums released on the Magna Carta record label in 1995.
In 1995-1997, Schellen formed Sircle of Silence with singer David Reece (ex-Accept, ex-Bangalore Choir), guitarist Larry Farkas (ex-Vengeance Rising, ex-Die Happy) and bass guitarist Greg Chaisson (ex-Badlands). In 1997, Schellen published his well regarded drum method book Rocking Independence. In 1998, he played in Heaven and Earth with former Hurricane bandmate Kelly Hansen and guitarist Stuart Saunders Smith. 1998-1999 saw a second Unruly Child album with Gowdy and Hansen. In 1999, Schellen played on Sherwood's debut solo album The Big Peace, while the next year he recorded for Sherwood's project with Yes bassist Chris Squire, Conspiracy. In 2003, Schellen re-joined Conspiracy, recording The Unknown, followed by a live-in-the-studio DVD recorded in 2004 and released in 2006. Schellen has continued to work with Sherwood on a number of other projects including joining progressive group Circa in 2008 (replacing Alan White), thus re-joining Tony Kaye again on keyboards. They released Circa HQ in January 2009. He also worked with Yoso in the band's initial stages, again working with Sherwood and Kaye.
In 2004, Schellen with Sherwood worked on pre-production for Asia's album Silent Nation with Geoff Downes (another former Yes keyboardist). In August 2005, Schellen replaced Chris Slade as drummer in Asia. The group toured Europe extensively, however, in 2006, Downes left the line up for a reunion of the original Asia quartet: Schellen and the other two Asia band members, singer John Payne and guitarist Guthrie Govan, formed a new band, GPS. GPS released their debut CD Window to the Soul. In 2008, Asia Featuring John Payne was formed with Payne, Govan, keyboardist Erik Norlander, and Schellen on drums. Scheduled for 2010, Jay will be featured on new releases from Asia featuring John Payne and Unruly Child.
http://www.jayschellen.com/
Larry Antonino
He is a native of California, growing up in Santa Cruz, where he quickly became the first call session bassist by the ripe old age of 19. He is also an accomplished songwriter, penning hit songs for Air Supply, Ronnie Laws, Gavin Christopher, and many others.
Larry moved to L.A. in 1984, and immediately got to work, performing with such artists as; The Crusaders, Al Jarreau, Jeff Beck, Philip Bailey(EWF), Barry Manilow, Bobby Caldwell, David Pack(Ambrosia), and David Foster, just to name few.
In 1996 Larry played the role of Scott "Wolfman" Pell in the Tom Hanks film "That Thing You Do"!, which he was also awarded a gold record for his contribution to the films soundtrack.
He was a member of the successful progressive hard pop group "Unruly Child"(Interscope Records), exercising his full range, hitting the music charts, and showing his true musical versatility.
Larry released a contemporary Jazz solo album "Village Strut" in 2001 which received high acclaim, becoming known internationally as a serious force in the music world.
Recently, Larry has been steadily working in the recording studios all over the greater Los Angeles area, and now being a band member of Pablo Cruise is about to take it to the next level.
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