Montrose was an American California-based hard rock band formed in 1973 and named after guitarist and founder Ronnie Montrose. The band's original lineup featured Montrose and vocalist Sammy Hagar, who would later go on to greater fame as a solo artist and as a member of Van Halen. Rounding out the original foursome were bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi. The group disbanded in early 1977. Prior to forming the band Montrose, guitarist Ronnie Montrose had been a successful session musician, playing (along with future Montrose bassist Bill Church) on Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey album produced by Ted Templeman, and on albums by Beaver & Krause and Herbie Hancock. He was also a member of the Edgar Winter Group, playing on the hit single "Frankenstein" from the best-selling album They Only Come Out at Night (1972).
Links to Peel[]
In the Sounds Playlist feature in Sounds music newspaper, where music writers would write their 3 albums that they were listening during the week, Peel picked Montrose's self titled LP as one of his records for the 16th February 1974 edition. One of the tracks on the album that he would play quite often, even well after the 70's, was the song Bad Motor Scooter.
After the LP, Peel was disappointed when he saw the band live at Leicester Poly later in 1974. In his review for Sounds, he criticized singer Sammy Hagar for immediately adopting a "heavy metal stance, one leg ramrod straight out behind, the other bent and outfront."[1]
Shows Played[]
- 1974
- 12 February 1974: Rock Candy (album - Montrose) Warner Bros.
- 1975
- 02 October 1975: Matriarch (LP - Warner Bros. Presents Montrose!) Warner Bros.
- 1978
- 16 October 1978: Space Station #5 (LP - Montrose) Warner Bros.
- 22 May 2001: 'Bad Motor Scooter' (LP – Montrose) (WEA Records)
- 29 November 2001: 'Bad Motor Scooter (LP-Montrose)' (Warner Bros) (only the introduction, with a promise to play the full track the following week)
- 04 December 2001: Bad Motor Scooter (LP - Montrose) Warner Bros.
- 2004
- 15 April 2004: 'Bad Motor Scooter' (LP – Montrose) (WEA Records)