The Front was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band, originally formed in 1984 in Kansas City, Missouri, who enjoyed a brief popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although originally offered a recording contract in 1987 with Sire/

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Records; The Front signed an exclusive management contract with Scott and

Doc McGhee Doc McGhee is an American music manager, best known for working with hard rock bands Kiss, Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe. The latter two groups experienced their rise to stardom under his management. He has also worked with Hootie & the Blowfish. H ...

of McGhee Entertainment; the team behind Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe,

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

and

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

. A bidding war began with The Front ultimately signing with

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

in 1989. They released one eponymous, full-length album on Columbia Records, produced by Grammy Award-winning music studio engineer Andy WallaceMichael Moon Biography.
Retrieved from Wayback Machine January 6, 2012. with two singles released: ''Fire'' and ''Le Motion''. Their first release, ''Fire'', peaked at position No. 29 on The Billboard Rock chart in 1990, was a minor radio hit and the corresponding video was in stress rotation on MTV by January 1990. The Front toured the U.S. with many acts of the period including

Bang Tango Bang Tango is an American hard rock band. The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1988 and was signed to MCA Records the same year. History Formation (1988) Initially the band was founded by guitarist Mark Knight and bassist Kyle Kyle in 1 ...

Jason Bonham Jason John Bonham (born 15 July 1966) is an English drummer. He is the son of late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. Since his father's death in September 1980, he has performed with the surviving three members of Led Zeppelin on several occasi ...

, Enuff Z'nuff and

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

. In the spring of 1990, The Front toured Europe with Lenny Kravitz and headlined dates in Berlin and Düsseldorf, Germany when Lenny returned to the states with throat problems. The Front ended 1990 returning to Europe as a featured artist on the

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was an annual hard rock and heavy metal music festival held in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, ...

Tour with notable headlining acts Aerosmith and

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own en ...

. Dates included August 25, 1990 at Dortmund, Westfalenhalle, and September 1, 1990 in Mannheim, Maimarktgelände Eisstadion. The Front was the first act to be a featured artist on both MTV's '' Headbangers Ball'' and '' 120 Minutes'' on the same weekend; essentially the template for alternative rock that would be huge only a couple of years later. The Front is also the last major artist to release a vinyl 45 rpm record on Columbia Records. In 1992, The Front and CBS split ways; the band and management believed that The Front were no longer a priority for the label. CBS agreed to let the band move to their sister label, Epic Records, keeping the group in the Sony family. The Front recorded their next record with Producer,

Mark Dodson Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

, which was released under the name Bakers Pink, a name change requested by Epic Records.

Band members

* Michael Anthony Franano – lead vocals, guitar *Mike Greene – lead & rhythm guitars *Randy Jordan – bass guitar, backing vocals (died 1998) *Bobby Franano – keyboards *Shane Miller - drums

Discography

Albums

''The Front'' (1989, Columbia Records) *: US chart peak: 118 Label: CBS – CK 45260, Columbia – CK 45260
Format: CD, Cassette, Vinyl LP, Vinyl 45
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Rock
International: CBS 466143 1 (LP) and 466143 2 (CD) ''The Front - Live In New York City 1990'' (2012)
Format: CD, Digital Download
Country: US
Released: 2012
Genre: Rock/Alternative

Singles

*''Fire'' (1989, Columbia Records) *: US chart peak: 29 *''Le Motion'' (1990, Columbia Records)

References

External links