Michael Stanley

Cleveland native Michael Stanley became a regional phenomenon, but the singer/songwriter/guitarist and his <a href="spotify:artist:68tUWDLwgRP7Ch2Gj8vQ1k">Michael Stanley Band</a> deserved more national success than they achieved. Stanley, whose real name was Michael Stanley Gee, played bass with the folk-rock group <a href="spotify:artist:2xnxrqneR4R1m7SsBuRI3Y">Silk</a> in the late 1960s. He then went solo and released two solo albums in the early '70s that fit right in with the singer/songwriter era. His talent attracted the likes of producer Bill Szymczyk and guest musicians <a href="spotify:artist:5bDxAyJiTYBat1YnFJhvEK">Joe Walsh</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Lpr5wXzWLtDWm1SjNbpPb">Todd Rundgren</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7vNcTk9TgKF0qDsS87nWGE">David Sanborn</a> from the beginning.

He formed the <a href="spotify:artist:68tUWDLwgRP7Ch2Gj8vQ1k">Michael Stanley Band</a> (aka <a href="spotify:artist:68tUWDLwgRP7Ch2Gj8vQ1k">MSB</a>) in 1975 and pursued a more straightforward rock direction. The group recorded a string of albums through the late '70s and early '80s that were modest successes nationally but major hits in Ohio. In fact, the <a href="spotify:artist:68tUWDLwgRP7Ch2Gj8vQ1k">Michael Stanley Band</a> was such a sensation at home that they held attendance records at major concert venues for many years. 1980's Heartland included the hit single "He Can't Love You" (sung by vocalist/keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:5omoUPgIGTTCh1lM8BK6R3">Kevin Raleigh</a>) and the minor hit "Lover" (sung by Stanley and featuring blistering saxophone by <a href="spotify:artist:7hiRmH8QebrJgMZYAbFtoO">Clarence Clemons</a>). <a href="spotify:artist:68tUWDLwgRP7Ch2Gj8vQ1k">MSB</a>'s second and last Top 40 hit was Stanley's anthem "My Town" in 1983. After recording for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Arista%22">Arista</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a>, the band independently released two albums on their own before breaking up in 1987.

The <a href="spotify:artist:68tUWDLwgRP7Ch2Gj8vQ1k">Michael Stanley Band</a> were a reliably consistent, meat-and-potatoes enterprise responsible for superb Midwestern rock & roll. Stanley went on to become a popular television and radio personality in Cleveland, regularly releasing albums -- solo and in the one-off group project <a href="spotify:artist:17dF8mxgLHfzdop7zegMIC">the Ghost Poets</a> -- and performing annual summer and New Year's Eve shows along with occasional acoustic dates with <a href="spotify:artist:68tUWDLwgRP7Ch2Gj8vQ1k">MSB</a> alumni and other Cleveland musicians. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Razor+%26+Tie%22">Razor & Tie</a> reissued most of the group's catalog and two excellent best-of collections on compact disc. Michael Stanley died on March 5, 2021, while in treatment for lung cancer; he was 72 years old. ~ Bret Adams, Rovi