Michael Fennelly

Michael Fennelly was born in 1949 in New York but moved to L.A., where he became involved in California's pop/protest movement. By 1967, Fennelly had secured a publishing deal with songwriter/producer <a href="spotify:artist:3ZMUNnwvFihTTyI1tx5hao">Curt Boettcher</a>'s Mee Moo Music and became a member of <a href="spotify:artist:3ZMUNnwvFihTTyI1tx5hao">Boettcher</a>'s studio-based collective of musicians, including the two main groups, <a href="spotify:artist:2G0qagNyJSe7wZLJCKdfFA">Sagittarius</a>, and the <a href="spotify:artist:2C49JSiNeHN0xwLQCohpyY">Millennium</a>. Fennelly -- one of five singer/guitarist/songwriters in the latter group, who were actually intended to be a proper live act -- provided fabulous falsetto vocals in addition to co-writing much of the group's material, often with guitarist/vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:551n6fb6iXgxsI7qLRARKt">Joey Stec</a>, another member of the <a href="spotify:artist:2G0qagNyJSe7wZLJCKdfFA">Sagittarius</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:2C49JSiNeHN0xwLQCohpyY">Millennium</a> collective. In 1969, Fennelly was looking to form a group of his own to showcase his lead vocal talents and songwriting when met the members of a band called Stonehenge, a blues-oriented group who were being scouted by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elektra%22">Elektra</a>'s David Anderle, a friend of their manager's. The band -- with Fennelly now taking over lead vocals and songwriting duties -- changed their name to <a href="spotify:artist:3EEBJbLXXb9ShxSDsjbIh7">Crabby Appleton</a> and signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elektra+Records%22">Elektra Records</a>. Their first album, Crabby Appleton, was produced by Don Gallucci (from <a href="spotify:artist:79morm50T71u4BvK8yAe2j">Don & the Good Times</a>) and released in 1970. It enjoyed reasonable success with a catchy Top 40 hit, "Go Back," which peaked at number 36 in July 1970 after five weeks on the charts. <a href="spotify:artist:3EEBJbLXXb9ShxSDsjbIh7">Crabby Appleton</a>'s second album, Rotten to the Core, was released in October 1971. Despite complimentary reviews, the group's two albums proved ultimately unsuccessful and the band broke up. Fennelly later traveled to England, where he began focusing on a solo career, recording two solo albums. The first, Lane Changer, was recorded in London with the support of ex-<a href="spotify:artist:2jgPkn6LuUazBoBk6vvjh5">Zombies</a> bassist/producer Chris White and <a href="spotify:artist:6304CN545CvN8hNfPKuWf1">Rod Argent</a> on synthesizer. A second solo album, Stranger's Bed, was recorded in L.A., produced by Denny Bruce and engineered by <a href="spotify:artist:5tNV8b1D2iT3dQmSMaX0X2">Keith Olsen</a> (incidentally, Fennelly's album was <a href="spotify:artist:5tNV8b1D2iT3dQmSMaX0X2">Olsen</a>'s last as a engineer -- he was, at the same time, producing <a href="spotify:artist:08GQAI4eElDnROBrJRGE0X">Fleetwood Mac</a>'s first album with two new members, <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Lindsey Buckingham</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Stevie Nicks</a>). Released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mercury%22">Mercury</a> in 1975, Stranger's Bed failed to chart. He reappeared in the early '80s with a group called Big Shot that didn't make it past the demo stage, then left his musical career behind. In 2013, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sundazed%22">Sundazed</a> released a collection of Fennelly's demos recorded between 1967 and 1972. Titled Love Can Change Everything, the set did a marvelous job showing off his talents both as a songwriter and a vocalist. ~ Bryan Thomas, Rovi