Walter Egan

Best remembered for "Magnet and Steel," his smooth singer/songwriter smash from 1978, pop singer/songwriter Walter Egan was born July 12, 1948 in Jamaica, New York. Alongside guitarist John Zambetti, he first surfaced in a surf rock band dubbed <a href="spotify:artist:6BDG5lVPfV1LhNLFilFUkE">the Malibooz</a>, which earned a devoted local following and even performed at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Relocating to Washington, D.C., Egan and Zambetti re-teamed in the folk-rock group Sageworth and Drums, a product of the same fertile D.C. scene that also launched the careers of <a href="spotify:artist:5s6TJEuHTr9GR894wc6VfP">Emmylou Harris</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0augulkuXFx1qPfb590w2C">Roy Buchanan</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2TpAfGX0XNikAg5QjrbbvE">Nils Lofgren</a>. Sageworth and Drums relocated to Boston in 1971, disbanding after a record deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> collapsed; Egan then followed <a href="spotify:artist:5s6TJEuHTr9GR894wc6VfP">Emmylou Harris</a> to Los Angeles, where she recorded the Egan composition "Hearts on Fire" with <a href="spotify:artist:1KA3WXYMPLxomNuoE22LYd">Gram Parsons</a> on the country-rock immortal's 1973 LP, Grievous Angel.

In L.A., Egan backed artists as varied as <a href="spotify:artist:5lkiCO9UQ8B23dZ1o0UV4m">Jackson Browne</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1l3MU8zV0Rf8qyB7dae38J">David Lindley</a> before being spotted by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a> executives while performing at a Hoot Night at the Troubadour club in 1976. His debut album, Fundamental Roll, followed in 1977, and a year later Egan released the <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Lindsey Buckingham</a>/Richard Dashut-produced Not Shy, scoring a major hit with the single "Magnet and Steel." Subsequent efforts like 1979's Hi-Fi and 1980's The Last Stroll did not fare as well, however, and in 1981 he reunited with Zambetti to re-form <a href="spotify:artist:6BDG5lVPfV1LhNLFilFUkE">the Malibooz</a>, releasing Malibooz Rule on Rhino later that year. Apart from a 1983 solo release, Wild Exhibitions, Egan maintained a low musical profile during the remainder of the decade, increasingly turning his energies toward graphic art.

Finally, in 1992, Egan resurfaced on <a href="spotify:artist:6BDG5lVPfV1LhNLFilFUkE">the Malibooz</a>'s Malibooz Yule: A Malibu Kind of Christmas, and in 1999 released the solo Walternative. The Lost Album, released in 2000, was originally recorded in 1985 and featured guest appearances from <a href="spotify:artist:5lkiCO9UQ8B23dZ1o0UV4m">Jackson Browne</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5OxH7AsIvMCdPS6Nu2XN7J">Randy California</a>. It was followed in 2002 by Apocalypso Now, another winning collection of sophisticated pop/rock. In 2005, the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Acadia%22">Acadia</a> label reissued Egan's first four records on two double-disc sets. In 2014, Egan returned with an ambitious new album, Myth America, and he continued to make occasional live appearances while also exhibiting his visual art. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi