Face to Face was an American new wave quintet from Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Formation

Guitarist Stuart Kimball (born December 21, 1956) formed the band with close friends in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

during the late 1970s. The lineup was

Laurie Sargent Laurie Sargent is best known as a songwriter and vocalist in the 1980s and 1990s. She was active in the city of Boston. Around 2008, she and her long-term partner, drummer Billy Conway, moved to Montana, where they began raising food on an organ ...

on vocals, Kimball on guitars and keyboards,

Angelo Petraglia Angelo Petraglia (born May 5, 1954) is an American record producer and songwriter. He was a member of the new wave band Face to Face and is best known for his work with Kings of Leon. Early life He was born in the Bronx and grew up in Pelham, N ...

(identified on their albums simply as 'Angelo') on guitars and keyboards, John Ryder on bass and Billy Beard on drums. They moved to Boston in 1980 and played there until signing with Epic in 1982. The band's biggest hit was " 10-9-8" (from their self-titled first album), which peaked at No. 38 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week ending July 20, 1984.Face to Face, Hot 100 (chart history) – ''Billboard''.
Retrieved July 6, 2021

Breakup of the band

After performing as a band for less than 10 years they disbanded in 1988 approximately one year after switching labels to

PolyGram Records PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

. Sargent went on to record as a solo artist, and is currently lead singer for the band Twinemen with former members of Face to Face and

Morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...

. Beard is a music booker at Toad and Lizard Lounge in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, where he plays with

Session Americana Session Americana is a Boston-based Folk/Rock band/collective. History This six-member group of experienced musicians came together in 2004 for informal shows at Toad (a pub in Cambridge) on Sunday nights, with Sean Staples (mandolin, guitar ...

. Kimball plays guitar as a member of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's band in the

Never Ending Tour The Never Ending Tour is the popular name for Bob Dylan's ongoing touring schedule which began on June 7, 1988. During the course of the tour, musicians have come and gone as the band has continued to evolve. The tour amassed a huge fan base with ...

. Petraglia won a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

in 2010 for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

as the

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...

's producer, a band for which he also assists with songwriting duties. Ryder still plays in Boston, doing fundraisers as a founding member of the James Montgomery & Friends band, who were nominated for a Boston Music Award in 2003, and has been working for the

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

corporation for over 10 years.

Movie appearance

In the 1984 movie '' Streets of Fire,'' the fictional band Ellen Aim and The Attackers, supposedly headed by

Diane Lane Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film ''A Little Romance''. The two films that could have catapulted her to star ...

, actually consisted of the male members of Face to Face, with Laurie, billed as being a member of "Fire Incorporated," providing lead vocals on Ellen's "Never Be You" and "Sorcerer" and harmony on the

Jim Steinman James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...

-penned song " Nowhere Fast."

Discography

Albums: *'' Face to Face'' (1984) *''

Confrontation Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cult ...

'' (1985) *'' One Big Day'' (1988) Singles: *"Under the Gun" (1984) *" 10-9-8" (1984) - US Hot 100 #38 *"Tell Me Why" (1985) *"Window to the World" (from the ''

Jumpin' Jack Flash "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was perceived by some as ...

'' soundtrack) (1986)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Face To Face Musical groups established in 1979 American new wave musical groups Rock music groups from Massachusetts Epic Records artists PolyGram artists