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St. Elmo's Fire
California metal band ST. ELMO'S FIRE was formed in 1978 by guitarist/songwriter Jeff Jones and original vocalist Tim Allwein. Their popularity was immediate and within a year they were playing the largest rock clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area opening for acts such as Y&T, Russia and Nazareth among others.
In 1982 they embarked on a 4 month Canadian tour and later that year went to LA to record their first single "Really in Love" b/w "Too Bad" . By 1983 ST. ELMO'S FIRE had relocated to Los Angeles and quickly became part of the infamous "Sunset Strip" metal scene in Hollywood during the 80's. They performed regularly at the Roxy Theatre, the Whisky, Gazzarri's, the Troubadour and about every major rock club in Southern California.
In 1884 drummer Kris Gustofson joined ST ELMO'S FIRE. Kris had previously been with Bay Area band 'TRAUMA and had recorded their "Scratch and Scream" album . TRAUMA also was Cliff Burton's original band before joining METALLICA. Bassist Simon Evans also came on board.
Word of mouth spread about the band and without any promotion at all, ST. ELMO'S FIRE'S 4 song demo began getting airplay and press throughout Europe .But in 1985 original vocalist Tim Allwein left the group and Zane Lazar replaced him . Based on their new found popularity in Europe they were soon signed to a record deal and released their self-titled debut album "ST ELMO'S FIRE" in 1986. It received rave reviews and metal radio loved it just as much as the fans. It topped the metal charts in several countries.
In 1988 ST. ELMO'S FIRE completed and released their follow up album "WARNING FROM THE SKY" . Once again it did very well and gained more fans ,especially in Japan and Asia. They also filmed a video of "Caught in the Heartbreak" in Hollywood which received play on MTV and the Skychannel .The band remained in LA the rest of that year writing and trying out the new material in the clubs . They also replaced bassist Evans with Aaron Smith.
By 1990 ST. ELMO'S FIRE released "POWERDRIVE" which soon became the bands most popular album up to that point. The reviews were outstanding and once again metal radio in Europe supported it with massive airplay. The band then hit the road in the US doing several tours in 1990 and 1991. Later in '91 ST. ELMO'S Fire returned to the studio ( with bassist Rusty Aven) to record "DESPERATE YEARS" and released it in 1992. Once again the band hit the road and toured the rest of that year as well as releasing another video .
After playing their last tour in 1992 (including dates in Mexico ) the band decided to call it quits. Gustofson went on to record with several other bands (including Frank Hannons' Moondog Mane) and Jones had a short lived stint in Vamp Le Stat.
In 2015 Elmo was reborn with a revamped lineup. Drummer Tom Frost, singer Kevin Brady and bassist Chris Stringari were added. Also in 2015 Pure Steel Records signed the band and re-released the St. Elmo's Fire catalog as collectible hand numbered hologramed limited Editions. Each album was remastered with previously unreleased bonus tracks. In 2016 Jones began writing material for a new album which eventually became Evil Never Sleeps. In 2016 and 2017 it was recorded in Sacramento, California the birthplace of St. Elmo's Fire. The band had truly come back to it's roots from its beginnings in1978. Pure Steel Records released Evil Never Sleeps in 2017.
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Discography
(1982) "Really in Love" /"Too Bad " (45 RPM single)
(1984) 4 song demo (demo)
(1986) "St. Elmo's Fire" (LP full length)
(1988) "Warning From The Sky" (LP /CD full length)
(1990) "Powerdrive" (LP /CD /CA full length)
(1992) "Desperate Years" (CD/ CA full length)
(2017) "Evil Never Sleeps " CD full length)
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Lineup
guitar - Jeff Jones
drums - Tom Frost
vocals - Kevin Brady
Bass - Chris Stringari
