Back in 1989, the world met the hard rock band Damn Yankees. The incredibly popular team included:
- Tommy Shaw - rhythm guitar, vocals
- Jake Blades - bass guitar, vocals
- Ted Nugent - lead guitar, vocals
- Michael Cartellon - percussion, backing vocals
History of the band members
Ted Nugent
One of the founders of the group was born December 13, 1948 in Detroit. Already from the 1st grade, Ted began to play the guitar, in the wake of his love for rock and roll. Between 1960 and 1964 he played in several amateur bands, these were garage projects.
In the same year, the family moved to Chicago, where in 1966 Ted Nugent formed The Amboy Dukes. From 1967 to 1973 the team released four full-length records, which were very popular.
The band then changed their name to Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes. The team signed an agreement with Franck Zapp and recorded two not very popular albums. Since 1975, Ted Nugent began his solo career.
His longplays have received the status of "gold" and "platinum". But he impressed the audience more with his outrageous concerts. Ted came out in the costumes of ancient people, Indians, brandishing weapons.
Nugent went on tour in 1981 and recorded three albums, but they were not successful. He remained famous only through appearances on television shows and at various corporate parties. Ted has been accused several times of having sex with minors.
Even Courtney Love came out with a statement that she had had sexual intercourse with the musician. The musician himself in the documentary show "On the Other Side of Music" admitted this, but later refuted his words.
Jake Blades
Born April 24, 1954. He is best known for the band Night Ranger, where he was the bass player and one of the vocalists. The group broke up.
Tommy Shaw
This band member was born on September 11, 1953 in Montgomery. At the age of 10, he gathered a yard group and since then has connected his life with music.
He gained fame in the band Styx, where he not only played the guitar, but also wrote songs. In 1984, he left the band as the band moved into a more theatrical direction. He took up a solo career, but each new album sold worse and worse.
Michael Cartellon
The band's drummer was born on June 7, 1962 in Cleveland. He is married.
Creation of the Damn Yankees
Already well-known professional musicians Ted Nugent, Jake Blades, Tommy Shaw and young drummer Michael Cartellon formed the Damn Yankees in 1989. The producer of the group was the famous Ron Nevison.
The creative path of the Damn Yankees
In 1990, the band released their debut album The Damn Yankees, which went double platinum. The album's lead single was written by Jake Blades. The song "Coming of Age" peaked at number 60 on the US Top 100 and number 1 on the AOR radio charts. And the song Tommy Shaw Come Again became very popular and received wide rotation on AOR.
The band's most popular ballad, High Enough, reached #3 on the US Top 100, received heavy rotation, and #2 on the AOR radio charts.
Although the whole image of Ted Nugent was created in the style of "unbridled savage", the song High Enough received a more pop-rock sound and became the first mainstream single from the top ten.
The songs of the first album appeared in many Hollywood blockbusters of the time - Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Nothing But Trouble and The Taking of Beverly Hills.
After the release of their "first-born", the guys went to conquer the world's peaks, and this lasted a year and a half. At the same time, the Persian Gulf War was about to take place, so at their performances the band unfurled and raised American flags, the musicians made patriotic statements.
In 1992, the band released their second album, Don't Tread, which only went gold. The record single, performed by Jack Blades, was played at the Barcelona Olympics and was very popular.
From this record, Mister Please and The You Goin' Now became world hits, and the hit The Silence is Broken became the title track for the film Nowhere to Run (1993). Jean-Claude Van Damme played the title role. After a short tour, the group suspended its activities.
Work after break
Tommy Shaw and Jake Blades have begun work on the album Hallucination. Ted Nugent is back with his solo project. And a little later, the musicians reunited with their old bands.
Damn Yankees in 1998 began working with Portrait Records and tried to record a new record. But Shaw and Blades were so passionate about their work in the bands Styx and Night Ranger that they had to be replaced for recording. The line-up change had a negative impact on the recordings, and the album was never released. In 2002, only a collection of hits, Esentials, was released. In 2007, Ted Nugent announced that he was suffering from hearing loss.
Damn Yankees today
The group has now ceased to exist. Michael Cartellon has been with Lynyrd Skynyrd since 1999.
The band members do not deny that they may play together again. In the meantime, fans from all over the world enjoy the old hits that "blew up" the charts of radio stations.
