Witness was an

Atlanta 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 498,715 ...

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 that was signed to

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

in 1986 under the name Native and after changing their name, put out their self-titled debut album in 1988. The band consisted of lead singer Debbie Davis, guitarist

Damon Johnson Damon Rogers Johnson (born July 13, 1964) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, currently a solo artist and member of Thin Lizzy. In the 1990s he co-founded Brother Cane, and later joined Alice Cooper's band as lead guitarist. He w ...

, bassist Eddie Usher, keyboardist

Joey Huffman Joseph Rodney Huffman (born August 4, 1962) is an American musician. Primarily known as a keyboard player, Huffman has performed with many artists, both in the studio and live. He was a member of Witness, Drivin N Cryin and the Georgia Satellites ...

& drummer Eddie Boyd.

History

''Witness'' album

After signing, the band relocated to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, CA to record the debut album. The album was produced by Bill Drescher &

Kevin Elson Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

& mixed/engineered by Drescher. The band, however, didn't write their own debut with singer Davis being credited with only 3 songs... "Jump Into the Fire", "Borrowed Time", and "Back to You".... the last 2 co-written by keyboardist Huffman as well as

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

guitarist Neil Schon.

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

wrote "

Am I Wrong "Am I Wrong" is a song by Norwegian musical duo Nico & Vinz (previously known as Envy). Produced by William Wiik Larsen ("Will IDAP"), the song was initially released as a digital download single in Norway on 12 April 2013, credited to the duo's ...

". Schon as well as fellow Journey drummer

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco formed in 1979 that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy have been the band's only constant members, ...

guitarist

Brad Gillis Bradley Frank Gillis (born 15 June 1957) is a guitarist most famous for playing with the band Night Ranger. He was in the band Rubicon during the 1970s before Night Ranger. Since forming in 1979, Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy are the only membe ...

38 Special 38 Special may refer to: * .38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, cent ...

guitarist

Danny Chauncey Daniel Smith "Danny" Chauncey (born June 19, 1956) is an American rock guitarist. He is best known for being a member of the Southern rock band 38 Special. Background Chauncey was born in San Francisco, California and raised in Alameda County, ...

all featured prominently on the album. Unfortunately, this meant that neither

or Eddie Usher played on the recording. The album's first single/video for "Do It Til We Drop" got major

Mtv MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

airplay on

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obs ...

in 1988 and was partially filmed when the band opened a 1987 concert for

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

. The album opener 'Show Me What You Got' featured Gillis on the guitar solo and other album highlights include "Let Me Be the One", and "You're Not My Lover".

After the album

The band broke up after the first album, but three of the members went on to bigger/better success. Guitarist Damon Johnson, who didn't play on the album, became the frontman for

Brother Cane Brother Cane is an American rock band that released three albums in the 1990s. Formed in Alabama in 1990 by singer and guitarist Damon Johnson and bassist Glenn Maxey, the line-up was completed by guitarist Roman Glick and drummer Scott Collier. ...

and later became guitarist for

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 ...

and

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

. Keyboardist

later joined Brother Cane,

Matchbox 20 Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, r ...

and

Soul Asylum Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their 1993 hit "Runaway Train (Soul Asylum song), Runaway Train" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The band was originally called Loud Fast Rule ...

. Singer Debbie Davis became a backup singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd on their 1994 tour, after a stint singing with the Ruperts Orchestra.(see Rupert's Orchestra YouTube for video).

References

{{Authority control Rock music groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Musical groups from Atlanta Arista Records artists