Streets was an American
hard rock band made up of singer/keyboardist
Steve Walsh, guitarist
Mike Slamer, bassist
Billy Greer, and drummer
Tim Gehrt. They formed in 1982 in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
, United States.
Steve Walsh had been in the band
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...
and Mike Slamer has been in several other bands, including Britain's
City Boy.
He was also a session guitarist. Greer and Gehrt were regional players who had seen success with bands in Tennessee and Atlanta, respectively. Gehrt was working with ex-
Deep Purple bassist
Glenn Hughes Glenn Hughes or Glen Hughes may refer to:
*Glenn Hughes (musician), born 1951
*Glenn Hughes (American singer) (1950–2001)
*Glenn Hughes (cricketer), born 1959
*Glen Hughes
Glen Hughes is an Australian former professional rugby league footbal ...
when Walsh recruited him for Walsh's first solo effort, ''
Schemer-Dreamer''. Walsh had noticed him when one of Gehrt's earlier bands had opened for Kansas. The two became friends and eventually spoke of forming a band together. Slamer had never met Walsh until he showed up for the audition. "I decided that I wanted to move to America," says Slamer. "The kind of music that I wanted to make wasn't being played at all in England, so I came here."
Streets made its debut performance at
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit " The ...
' annual
Volunteer Jam in January, 1983. The band played on another band's equipment and only played four songs.
The debut LP was released later that year on
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...
.
"We got out there and proved that we could play," said Walsh. "We go out there and we did damn good. We proved to ourselves that we could pull it off and that we were on the right track. Starting over was very humbling. But we got a lot of good feedback to the album. We were playing live every night and being onstage (was) very renewing for us..."
"I wanted to form a democratic band," said Walsh. "I did not want to be a solo singer with a band of sidemen. I like being in a band... I couldn't have done (that project) alone. I needed the help of every musician involved. We were all of equal importance in the creation of the final song."
The band later recorded its second album, ''
Crimes in Mind'', in 1985. Soon after, Streets disbanded.
A year later, Walsh rejoined Kansas.
Members
*
Steve Walsh – lead vocals, keyboards
*
Mike Slamer – guitar
*
Billy Greer – bass, vocals
* Tim Gehrt – drums, percussion, vocals
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
1st
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
'' (1983)
* ''
Crimes in Mind'' (1985)
Live albums
* ''
King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Streets'' (1997)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Streets
American hard rock musical groups
Rock music groups from Georgia (U.S. state)