Survivor Announces New Singer!

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SURVIVOR ANNOUNCES NEW SINGER;

BAND CURRENTLY WORKING ON NEW STUDIO ALBUM
SET FOR RELEASE IN 2007


July 13, 2006 -- Hot off the presses…former McAuley Schenker Group (MSG) frontman
Robin McAuley has replaced Jim Jamison as the new lead vocalist for Survivor.

Jamison first joined the band in 1984 after original lead singer Dave Bickler encountered
voice problems before a tour supporting the band’s CAUGHT IN THE GAME album.

Bickler was a part of the group for their first four albums, SURVIVOR, PREMONITION,
EYE OF THE TIGER and CAUGHT IN THE GAME. Survivor experienced their big breakthrough
in 1982, when they were asked by Sylvester Stallone to provide the theme song for
his movie "Rocky III.” Enter "Eye of the Tiger," which soon turned
into one of the biggest hits of the band’s career. It had an enormous impact on
the Billboard charts, soaring to #1 for seven weeks. The song won the band a Grammy®
Award for “Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal,” was voted "Best
New Song" by the People’s Choice Awards and received an Academy® Award nomination.
Thanks to the song’s success and another Top 20 single, "American Heartbeat,"
the album EYE OF THE TIGER stormed to #2 on Billboard’s “Top 200 Albums” chart.
The song remains a cultural phenomenon. It came in at #18 on the “Top 100 Singles”
chart in Billboard‘s 100th Anniversary issue and it’s well over the 300,000 mark
on iTunes, where it’s currently holding strong at #9 on their “Top Soundtrack” chart.

The band’s first album with Jamison, VITAL SIGNS, was another huge success for the
band, peaking at #16 on Billboard‘s “Top 200 Albums” chart thanks to the hits "I
Can't Hold Back" (which hit #13 on Billboard’s “Hot 100 Singles” chart), "High
On You" (#8) and "The Search Is Over" (#4). The record made Jamison
an instant favorite and the writing team of Jim Peterik/Frankie Sullivan were solidly
footed into the business of writing hits. VITAL SIGNS is still praised by fans
and critics alike as one of the best AOR albums of all time.

Between 1993-1996 the band re-teamed with Bickler after Jamison left the band to
pursue a solo career. Fast forward to 2000, when Bickler left the group once again
and ultimately resulted in Sullivan re-establishing a partnership with Jamison to
head up Survivor once more. The band continued to retain their popularity, playing
concerts in North America, Europe, and Asia year after year.

The band has crossed paths with McAuley here and there over the years, but now is
finally the right time for them to join forces. As guitarist Frankie Sullivan explains,
“I first met Robin in 1988 when my good friend and Grammy® Award-winning engineer,
Frank Filipetti, felt in his gut that Robin and I would be really comfortable together
and that meeting would lead to great times and great music. Frank had just completed
working on MSG’s ANYTIME album, which included the Top Ten hit ‘Anytime,’ which
Robin wrote. At the same time, Frank was mastering Survivor’s TOO HOT TO SLEEP.
It was some twist of fate, though I will tell you Frank Filipetti has one great
gut!”

He continues, “When we made the decision to replace Jamison, I had no idea what
we would do. Then it hit me--Robin McAuley! Is he available? How can he possibly
be available?! Can I be lucky yet again in my career to work with such a talented
singer? Well, the short answer, he was available, we gave him the songs of a set
list we would perform, he came to the Windy City and blew our socks off! Robin
is a pure pleasure to work with and he’s such a great person. With Robin, what
you see is what you get. And boy do you get it!”

This is assured to put the bite back into the tiger and the Survivor camp is ready
to break loose from its cage. “I’m very excited at this opportunity to sing for
Survivor,” says McAuley. “I can only hope the Survivor fans give me a fighting
chance. Frankie and I have worked together in the past I am extremely excited to
start writing with him again and playing with a great bunch of guys. This new Survivor
promises to be full of energy, and with such a stable of awesome tunes to pick from,
who knows what each show will bring. I’m ready!”

Drummer Marc Droubay adds, “We have played the same set list for five years. Having
a singer of Robin’s caliber allows us to change up the set list and give the fans
the opportunity to hear songs live they have asked to hear for years! Songs they
have never heard live before.”

The new and current line-up—Robin McAuley (vocals), Frankie Sullivan (guitar), Marc
Droubay (drums), Chris Grove (guitar/keyboards) and Billy Ozzello (bass)—are hard
at work on a new studio album which they hope to release in 2007.

“So we embark on a totally new Survivor,” says an ecstatic Sullivan. “One that
for the first time in many years is based on music and performing. Robin loves the
fans and is no doubt one of the best front men I have ever known! I guess it's
the luck of two Irishmen, McAuley/Sullivan finally taking its place in time and
where it belongs, making music and making fans happy!”


scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 14 July 2006 00:26 (seventeen years ago) link

ROCK IS BACK!

j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 14 July 2006 00:29 (seventeen years ago) link

McAuley Schenker Group?

Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 14 July 2006 00:30 (seventeen years ago) link

the glee is infectious!:


He continues, “When we made the decision to replace Jamison, I had no idea what
we would do. Then it hit me--Robin McAuley! Is he available? How can he possibly
be available?! Can I be lucky yet again in my career to work with such a talented
singer? Well, the short answer, he was available, we gave him the songs of a set
list we would perform, he came to the Windy City and blew our socks off! Robin
is a pure pleasure to work with and he’s such a great person. With Robin, what
you see is what you get. And boy do you get it!”

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 14 July 2006 00:35 (seventeen years ago) link

HOW CAN HE POSSIBLY BE AVAILABLE??????????!!!!!!!!!

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 14 July 2006 00:36 (seventeen years ago) link

Didn't McAuley sing on some godawful charity version of Stairway To Heaven ages ago? I think he did.


Drummer Marc Droubay adds, ?gWe have played the same set list for five years. Having
a singer of Robin?fs caliber allows us to change up the set list and give the fans
the opportunity to hear songs live they have asked to hear for years! Songs they
have never heard live before.?h

YOU FUCKING TWAT

Matt #2 (Matt #2), Friday, 14 July 2006 00:48 (seventeen years ago) link

This had to have been the number one discussed story of the day at melodicrock.com

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 July 2006 00:52 (seventeen years ago) link

http://www.rockofages.uk.com/stock/1462.jpg

Matt #2 (Matt #2), Friday, 14 July 2006 01:01 (seventeen years ago) link

First Syd Barrett dies, now Jimi Jamison leaves Survivor

I don't wanna fucking live any more

Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Friday, 14 July 2006 01:09 (seventeen years ago) link

at least red buttons is roasting in hell. that's one bright spot.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 14 July 2006 01:14 (seventeen years ago) link

This almost, but not quite, tops the ASIA 25th Anniv. Reunion tour for best news of 2006

timmy tannin (pompous), Friday, 14 July 2006 01:18 (seventeen years ago) link

I didn't know Lucy Van Pelt put out an album!

Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 14 July 2006 03:24 (seventeen years ago) link

My friend Ca will be totally devastated. She's a Jamison gal all the way. She'll have to look on the bright side -- he's available.

Sang Freud (jeff_s), Friday, 14 July 2006 03:41 (seventeen years ago) link

LOLZ and ROFFLEZ

pleased to mitya (mitya), Friday, 14 July 2006 04:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Does this mean they have to film an all-new Starbucks commercial?

harvey (harvey1), Friday, 14 July 2006 07:24 (seventeen years ago) link

harvey's right, there's an upside to this tragedy

Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Friday, 14 July 2006 10:50 (seventeen years ago) link

'american heartbeat' wasn't a chart hit?

dave q (listerine), Friday, 14 July 2006 11:00 (seventeen years ago) link

"High on You" trumps any Bickler-era Survivor, the band will soon learn that when you dis Jamison you dis yourself

Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Friday, 14 July 2006 11:05 (seventeen years ago) link

melodicrock.com is the daftest music website ever. It's like the worst of Kerrang mid to late 80s frozen in time, news of every gormless mullet wearing trad hard rock/ AOR/ Hair metal still going.

DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 14 July 2006 11:38 (seventeen years ago) link

I have to confess that I always loved one of the last tracks Bickler appeared on with Survivor, "I Never Stopped Loving You." Total cheese power-ballad, total guilty pleasure. If I had to Pick Only One, it'd be that or "Moment of Truth" from Karate Kid.

Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 14 July 2006 13:43 (seventeen years ago) link

'american heartbeat' wasn't a chart hit?

It was totally a chart hit, I remember it as the follow-up to "Eye of the Tiger," god help me.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 July 2006 13:49 (seventeen years ago) link

VITAL SIGNS is still praised by fans and critics alike as one of the best AOR albums of all time.

um, really?

O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Friday, 14 July 2006 14:00 (seventeen years ago) link

glory-daze.com is the real melodicrock.com

Here's their review of the new (!) Survivor album:

SURVIVOR - REACH (2006, FRONTIERS)
Jimi Jamison - vocals; Frankie Sullivan - guitars, vocals; Marc Droubay - drums; Barry Dunaway - bass; Chris Grove - keyboards

Background
Not counting Jimi Jamison's splendid 'Empires', it's been seventeen years since the release of Survivor's last studio album 'Too Hot To Sleep'. It is unclear whether Jim Peterik left the band at the start of the 90's, amid a legal storm and acrimony towards the surviving members. In any case, 'Reach' seems to have breathed new life into what seemed like a band incapable of patching up its own internal tensions, only to carry on their impressive recorded legacy with dignity and style. Little wonder then that Survivor achieved their goal of putting out a lasting release, as 'Reach' sees two core members in Frankie Sullivan and Marc Droubay back in the fold, a second generation member in Jimi Jamison rejoining them, plus two-excellent-newcomers in bassist Barry Dunaway (previously sighted with the Pat Travers Band, Dokken, Saraya and Yngwie J Malmsteen), plus keyboardist Chris Grove. With a well restored center of balance, 'Reach' doesn't disappoint, and in fact...

The Songs
.. there's clearly an aura of magic surrounding the marvellous title track. Marc Droubay's exuberant and incisive drum fills have never sounded so good, Frankie Sullivan's sense of rhythm is as always unmistakable while Jimi Jamison's voice is nearly perfect. The song maintains a very catchy feel from the very start and Frankie Sullivan's solo enhances the emotional factor to the nth power. 'Fire Makes Steel' shows a different tenor. It has been rumoured this song is originally from the recording sessions of an eponymous recording project which remains unreleased to this day. Stylistically, it's very close to the 'Empires' album, with Jamison shining all the way through. 'Nevertheless' is possibly one of the poppier but modern songs on the album, featuring a chorus which has a lot in common with latter-day Night Ranger (refer 'Sign Of The Times' from the 'Seven' album). A welcome surprise for yours truly, but maybe a not so welcome change in the classic Survivor sound for the tout-court traditionalists, nevertheless.. a very good song! 'Gimmie The Word' is another reminder of the 'Empires' glories. A darker, moodier mid-tempo with a stellar performance by Jamison and some seriously scorching riffing by Sullivan. And what about the ballads? 'Seconds Away' and 'One More Chance' will surely stand as reliable indicators of the ups and downs of love circa the beginning of the 21st century and for many years to come!

In Summary
If Toto have delivered one monster album with 'Falling In Between', then 'Reach' stands only half a step below from that. It is a curious move on Frontiers' part to have two all-time AOR heavyweights on their roster, and I have absolutely no clue as to how much Serafino & Co. have invested on 'Reach'. I wouldn't want to get too political but if Toto have so far benefited from lavish promotion work, then Survivor should deserve an equally big and tasty piece of the pie judging by this effort..

Sang Freud (jeff_s), Friday, 14 July 2006 14:05 (seventeen years ago) link

*Half A Step Below Toto!* would be a great blurb for concert posters.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 14 July 2006 14:27 (seventeen years ago) link

It's a game of inches.

Sang Freud (jeff_s), Friday, 14 July 2006 14:52 (seventeen years ago) link

>>Frankie Sullivan's solo enhances the emotional factor to the nth power.

Comedy gold! Thank you for cheering up my work day to the nth power!

Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Friday, 14 July 2006 15:05 (seventeen years ago) link

michael shenker is pretty cool!

M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 14 July 2006 15:07 (seventeen years ago) link

The more I read, the funnier it gets:

>>a chorus which has a lot in common with latter-day Night Ranger.

I had no clue there IS a latter-day Night Ranger.

Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Friday, 14 July 2006 15:20 (seventeen years ago) link

Marc Droubay's exuberant and incisive drum fills have never sounded so good

!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 July 2006 15:22 (seventeen years ago) link

Man, jimpeterik.com might be the most annoying music-playing-too-loud artist website I've ever come across.

Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Friday, 14 July 2006 15:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Tour dates yet? I'm def. going to have to see more than one show.

Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 14 July 2006 15:33 (seventeen years ago) link

Holy moly - Peterik is playing in Akron with his old band the Ides of March, opening for Seals (of Crofts fame) and Seals (of England Dan and John Ford Coley fame). Whatta show.

Sang Freud (jeff_s), Friday, 14 July 2006 15:55 (seventeen years ago) link

the ides of march were stinky. what did seals and croft become again? scientologists? i know england dan and john ford coley started following b'hai or however you spell it. that's a true cult rock show.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 14 July 2006 16:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Other way around, I think. I actually saw Seals and Crofts back in the day (don't ask...) and they invited anyone who wanted to stay after the concert to come up to the front of the stage and learn about B'hai.

Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Friday, 14 July 2006 16:55 (seventeen years ago) link

maybe they both followed it. i could have sworn i had a b'hai album with england dan and john ford coley on it.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 14 July 2006 16:59 (seventeen years ago) link

OMG! i never knew that England Dan was Jim Seals' brother!! Wow, you learn something new every day. Famous B'hai Duo Brothers!! (thanks google)

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 14 July 2006 17:03 (seventeen years ago) link

Watch for their new album, B'hai B'hai Love.

PS: Am I the only person who loves the "Vehicle" follow-up from Ides of March, "L.A. Goodbye"?

Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 14 July 2006 19:02 (seventeen years ago) link

michael shenker is pretty cool!

Yeah, but only when he has a good singer and good material. I suffered through a performance of the McCauley-Schenker Group at the infamous Allentown Airport Music Hall. Everyone had to endure the original crap from the recent album until a couple UFO tunes were unfurled at the very end. There's a world of difference between Survivor material and that. I'd consider it a step up for Robin McCauley. If you're a singer, you really don't want to be in a Michael Schenker-led band.

Urnst Kouch (Urnst Kouch), Friday, 14 July 2006 19:05 (seventeen years ago) link

http://i2.tinypic.com/1zyydr5.jpg

richard wood johnson (rwj), Friday, 14 July 2006 21:07 (seventeen years ago) link

Too bad they couldn't have all merged together and sang "I of the Schenker"

harvey (harvey1), Friday, 14 July 2006 21:17 (seventeen years ago) link

i wanna hang out with those guys. they prob'ly play pool and drink beer in dingy biker bars on sunday afternoons.

richard wood johnson (rwj), Friday, 14 July 2006 22:05 (seventeen years ago) link

three years pass...

Jamison first joined the band in 1984 after original lead singer Dave Bickler encountered
voice problems before a tour supporting the band’s CAUGHT IN THE GAME album.

Hm. I always wondered what happened to that first lead singer.

Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 19 December 2009 17:08 (fourteen years ago) link

I just heard Burning Heart on XM Radio's 80s station.

Total 80s MOR rock, and what a study in empty, hit-chasing songwriting. No hooks; everything amped up to compensate for the lack of ideas; big booming gated drums; every lyric a non sequitur or cliché.

I love that song.

Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 19 December 2009 17:13 (fourteen years ago) link

Dave Bickler is now best known as the guy in those "Real Men of Genius" radio commercials singing the ridiculous "rock dude" zingers behind the announcer. Better than anything he ever did with Survivor!

Johnny Fever, Saturday, 19 December 2009 17:14 (fourteen years ago) link

Does he still wear that cool beret?

http://www.letras.com/photos/a1855bio_survivor.jpg

Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 19 December 2009 17:20 (fourteen years ago) link

Dunno.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x0MbVYVE2A

Johnny Fever, Saturday, 19 December 2009 17:25 (fourteen years ago) link

omg he's that guy? LOL.

"That's right motherf---k . . . Shout it out loud! . . . Reverse psychologyyyy. . . F-U."

Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 19 December 2009 17:29 (fourteen years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p28esasA9KU

Honk honk beep beep hooooonk.

Johnny Fever, Saturday, 19 December 2009 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik6QzSgrqZ4

I'd forgotten they actually did some for tv. "Everywhere a splish splash!"

Johnny Fever, Saturday, 19 December 2009 17:49 (fourteen years ago) link

Those ads are genius.

Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 19 December 2009 17:52 (fourteen years ago) link

one year passes...

Jun 06, 2011
Question:

Loved the show at the Soaring Eagel Casino!! You Rocked the house. Can't wait for you to come back to Michigan!!!
-- Heather

Answer:

We can't wait either! The fans were amazing and we had a great time. Hope to be back soon.

http://www.survivormusic.com/index.cfm/pagename/qna

buzza, Thursday, 7 July 2011 22:50 (twelve years ago) link

oh wow goldmine

Question:
When are you coming to the Fraze in Kettering, OH?
-- D*vid Nagl
Answer:
Check the tour portion of the site and it will let you know when and where we will be.
Thanks!

love in a grain elevator (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 7 July 2011 22:53 (twelve years ago) link

six months pass...

I deeply appreciate this NYT story for having a photo of Survivor from 1979 as the lead graphic:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/02/04/arts/SUB-SONG-JP-1/SUB-SONG-JP-1-articleLarge.jpg

Ned Raggett, Saturday, 4 February 2012 18:32 (twelve years ago) link

There you stood, that'll teach ya
To look so good and feel so right

buzza, Saturday, 4 February 2012 19:22 (twelve years ago) link

In the last month, Mr. Gingrich has been accused twice of violating copyright laws, first for playing “How Do You Like Me Now?” by the Heavy at a rally in Tampa, Fla., and then for using “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor at several political events, going back to 2009.

That is hilarious. What music should Republicans use?

two years pass...

RIP Jimi Jamison :(

Thus Sang Freud, Wednesday, 3 September 2014 11:03 (nine years ago) link


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