Lionheart
Formed in 1980 by Dennis Stratton (guitar) on his exit from Iron Maiden, he was joined in this crusade by vocalist Jess Cox (Tygers Of Pan Tang), Frank Noon (Next Band/Def Leppard) on drums, Steve Mann (Liar) on guitar and Rocky Newton (Wildfire) on bass. They made their highly impressive debut one Saturday night at the Marquee, London, but suffered from bad press thanks to their opinions on Cox. This led to the cancellation of the next two appearances and saw Cox replaced by Reuben Archer (Lautrec). Noon quit in 1981 to join Paul Di'Anno's band before setting off for Waysted. The nucleus of Stratton/Mann and Newton continued with various line-ups that included drummers Les Binks (Judas Priest) and Clive Edwards (Grand Prix). In 1982 they signed to Heavy Metal Records but only managed to release one track, on the HEAVY METAL HEROES VOL 2 compilation. That track, Lionheart, remains the only representative recording of their early sound, as later they would significantly adapt their style. With the addition of Chad Brown on vocals and session drummer Robert Jenkins, they went on to record an album with producer Kevin Beamish (REO Speedwagon). This was a slick, Americanized effort which failed to capture the old fans’ interest or that of their target audience in the US. In 1985 they continued with drummer Andy Bierne and Phil Lanzon (keyboards) who had been playing with reformed glam rockers Sweet. After a while Lanzon also left and was replaced by Steve Mann from Stratus and new vocalist Keith Murrell. They split up finally in 1986, with Bierne going into management, Murrell to Mama's Boys and Newton and Mann joining MSG. Stratton later found fame in Japan as part of the British All Stars/Praying Mantis line-up which featured a number of ex-N.W.O.B.H.M. musicians.