Bob Seger

b. 6 May 1945, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Seger began his long career in the early '60s as a member of the Decibels. He subsequently joined Doug Brown and the Omens as organist, but was installed as their vocalist and songwriter when such talents surfaced. The group made its recording debut as the Beach Bums, with The Ballad Of The Yellow Beret, but this pastiche of the contemporaneous Barry Sadler hit, The Ballad Of The Green Beret, was withdrawn in the face of a threatened lawsuit. The act then became known as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and as such completed several powerful singles, notably East Side Story (1966) and Heavy Music (1967). Seger was signed by Capitol Records in 1968 and the singer's new group, the Bob Seger System, enjoyed a US Top 20 hit that year with Ramblin Gamblin’ Man’. Numerous excellent hard-rock releases followed, including the impressive MONGREL album, but the artist was unable to repeat his early success and disbanded the group in 1971.
Having spent a period studying for a college degree, Seger returned to music with his own label, Palladium and three unspectacular albums ensued. He garnered considerable acclaim for his 1974 single, Get Out Of Denver, which has since become a much-covered classic. However, Seger only achieved deserved commercial success upon returning to Capitol when BEAUTIFUL LOSER reached the lower reaches of the US album charts (number 131). Now fronting the Silver Bullet Band—Drew Abbott (guitar), Robyn Robbins (keyboards), Alto Reed (saxophone), Chris Campbell (bass) and Charlie Allen Martin (drums)—Seger re-inforced his in-concert popularity with the exciting LIVE BULLET, which was in turn followed by NIGHT MOVES, his first platinum disc. The title track reached the US Top 5 in 1977, a feat Still The Same repeated the following year. The latter hit was culled from the triple-platinum album, STRANGER IN TOWN, which also included Hollywood Nights, ‘Old Time Rock N Roll’ and We've Got Tonight. By couching simple sentiments in traditional, R&B-based rock, the set confirmed Seger's ability to articulate the aspirations of blue-collar America, a feature enhanced by his punishing tour schedule. AGAINST THE WIND also topped the US album charts, while another live set, NINE TONIGHT, allowed the artist time to recharge creative energies.
He recruited Jimmy Iovine for THE DISTANCE which stalled at number 5. While Seger is rightly seen as a major artist in the USA he has been unable to appeal to anything more than a cult audience in the UK. Among his later hit singles were the Rodney Crowell song Shame On The Moon (1983), Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll (from the film Risky Business), Understanding (from the film Teachers) and the number 1 hit Shakedown, taken from the soundtrack of BEVERLY HILLS COP II. Seger released his first studio album for five years in 1991. Co-produced by Don Was, it was a Top 10 hit in the USA clearly showing his massive following had remained.