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Cleveland native
Michael Stanley became a regional phenomenon, but the singer/songwriter/guitarist and his
Michael Stanley Band deserved more national success than they achieved.
Stanley, whose real name was Michael Stanley Gee, played bass with the folk-rock group Silk 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
Joe Walsh,
Todd Rundgren, and
David Sanborn from the beginning.
He formed the
Michael Stanley Band (aka
MSB) 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
Michael Stanley Band 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 Kevin Raleigh) and the minor hit "Lover" (sung by
Stanley and featuring blistering saxophone by
Clarence Clemons).
MSB's second and last Top 40 hit was
Stanley's anthem "My Town" in 1983. After recording for Epic, Arista, and
EMI, the band independently released two albums on their own before breaking up in 1987.
The
Michael Stanley Band 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
the Ghost Poets -- and performing annual summer and New Year's Eve shows along with occasional acoustic dates with
MSB alumni and other Cleveland musicians. Razor & Tie 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