ANGEL To Be Rejoined By Bassist FELIX ROBINSON On Select Shows
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Classic ANGEL bass player Felix Robinson will reunite with original ANGEL members Punky Meadows and Frank Dimino for five shows in April. Rounding out the group's lineup will be current members Danny Farrow on rhythm guitar, Charlie Calv on the keyboards and Billy Orrico on drums. Also, after going through hundreds of submissions, ANGEL hired Tommy "T-Bone" Caradonna (ex-LITA FORD, ALICE COOPER, WHITE LION) to be band's the new bass player. Tommy will start playing shows with ANGEL in May.
"Unfortunately, we had to let Steve [Ojane] go," Punky said in a statement. "But so excited to announce our new bass player Tommy Caradonna. Tommy's a great bass player, great guy and good-looking kid. So looking forward to hitting the stage and other musical endeavors with Tommy and rockin' the nation!! Also can't wait to hit the stage with Felix Robinson again! It's going to be awesome! ANGEL is going to rock the world in 2024! Time to partay!!"
Frank added: "It's so great to have Felix back to do these select shows. I know he wanted to play his hometown of St. Louis again and I am glad the three of us, along with the rest of ANGEL, can do it together. As far as our new bass player, it is a very difficult situation finding the right fit for ANGEL, but after going through the full process, Tommy was the one who stood out most. A great player and a welcome addition to ANGEL."
Farrow said: "As soon as I watched the videos that Tommy sent in and heard his great super-solid bass playing, along with his great stage presence, I knew he was our guy."
Last April, ANGEL released a new studio album, "Once Upon A Time", via Cleopatra Records. The LP featured 11 brand new songs, plus three bonus tracks on the CD version, all written by Punky Meadows, Frank Dimino and Danny Farrow.ANGEL was discovered in a nightclub by none other than Gene Simmons of KISS, a man who had (and still has) a knack for finding and nurturing talent. ANGEL was also known for their androgynous look and dressing all in white, a pure yin-yang contrast to KISS's own all-black clothing and elaborate stage outfits. In 1975, the glam-rockers were signed to the home label for KISS, Casablanca Records, ultimately releasing six albums (five studio, one live) uninterrupted between 1975-80 that mixed the best elements of glam, hard rock, and pure unadulterated fist-pumping melodic singalongs.
While ANGEL never quite achieved success as their labelmates KISS did, they left their mark on in-the-know rock fans of the era with tracks like the hard-driving "Rock & Rollers", "Tower", the perennial holiday favorite "The Winter Song", and their key contribution to the soundtrack of the Jodie Foster-starring 1980 teen drama "Foxes", "20th Century Foxes". The lineup for their self-titled 1975 debut, "Angel", consisted of guitarist Punky Meadows, bassist Mickie Jones, vocalist Frank DiMino, keyboardist Gregg Giuffria, and drummer Barry Brandt. This lineup recorded two more albums, 1976's "Helluva Band" and 1977's "On Earth As It Is In Heaven", after which Jones would be replaced on bass by Felix Robinson. Two more solid studio efforts, 1978's "White Hot" and 1979's "Sinful", ensued before the release of a stellar live set, 1980's "Live Without A Net".
ANGEL started to fall apart in the early 1980s after Casablanca pulled the plug on the group due in part to disappointing album sales. In 1981, Robinson and DiMino left to pursue other projects. Meadows and Giuffria tried to keep ANGEL going and came close to landing a record deal with CBS. But it didn't pan out, and ANGEL finally disbanded.
In 2018, Caroline/UMe saluted the core output of ANGEL with "Angel: The Casablanca Years". This ascendant, band-approved seven-CD box set featured the Washington, D.C.-bred glam/rock outfit's six albums that were released on Neil Bogart's legendary Casablanca Records label, in addition to a seventh disc that contains mono mixes, single edits, soundtrack contributions, and other rarities. ANGEL expert Dave Reynolds contributed insightful liner notes to the box set's included 28-page booklet, which also featured rare photos and other memorabilia.
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)
