The Motels were a New Wave music band from the Los Angeles area best known for "Only the Lonely" and "Suddenly, Last Summer", each of which peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982 and 1983, respectively. Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, in the United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other New Wave is a Rock music genre that existed during the late 1970s and the 1980s Pop rock is a hybrid of Pop music and Rock music that uses catchy pop style with light lyrics over top of guitar-based songs Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as The Oglio (Latin Ollius, or Olius) is a left-side Tributary of the Po River in Lombardy, Italy. Liberation Music is a boutique independent Australasian Record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Berlin is an American new wave band featuring lead singer Terri Nunn. The Runaways was a teenage American all-girl Rock band that performed in the 1970s New Wave is a Rock music genre that existed during the late 1970s and the 1980s A musical ensemble is a group of two or more Musicians who perform instrumental or vocal Music. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Suddenly Last Summer is a song by The Motels released on a 7" single in September of 1983 backed with "Some Things Never Change See also 1982 in music (UK Musical groups established in 1982 Record labels established in 1982 Major releases Michael Jackson's Thriller, the highest-selling album of all time as well as the best-selling album of 1983 and 1984 was released "Total Control" (The Motels' signature song) reached number 7 on the Australian charts in 1979. See also Musical groups established in 1979 Record labels established in 1979 1979 in music (UK Martha Davis, the lead singer, reformed a version of the band called The Motels featuring Martha Davis, in 1998; as of 2008 she continues to appear under that name with various line-ups. Martha Davis may refer to Martha Davis (born 1951 lead singer of the new wave band The Motels Martha Davis (singer (1914-1960 vocalist 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common

History

First incarnation

The Motels

The first incarnation of The Motels formed in Berkeley, California, in 1971. Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, in the United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. ^[1] Lisa Brenneis (bass) coaxed Dean Chamberlain (lead guitar), Chuck Wada (rhythm guitar) and Martha Davis (vocals, guitar) into forming a band (then called The Warfield Foxes). ^[2] Hoping for better exposure and seeking a recording contract they made a move to Los Angeles in 1975. A recording contract (commonly called a record deal) is a legal agreement between a Record label and a Recording artist (or group where the artist While in L. A. , Lisa Brenneis left and the band changed its name to "Angels of Mercy" and then to "The Motels", with both Davis and Wada contributing original songs to the repertoire. A song is a Musical composition. Songs contain vocal parts that are performed 'sung' and generally feature Words ( Lyrics) commonly followed ^[3] The band acquired two new members around this time to fill vital slots; Richard D'Andrea on bass and Robert Newman on drums. The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the A drum kit (also drum set or trap set) is a collection of Drums Cymbals and sometimes other Percussion instruments such as cowbells ^[4]

The Motels and two other local bands, The Pop and The Dogs, kicked off the local band scene with a concert at a self-produced show, 'Radio Free Hollywood' held at the old theatre, Troupers Hall. A concert is a live Performance, usually of Music, before an Audience. Prior to this show, few if any unsigned bands played local high profile clubs like the Whisky and The Roxy. ^[5] The band guested on Rodney Bingenheimer's popular radio show and, after recording a demo for Warner Brothers, which was turned down, they were offered a contract with Capitol Records. Rodney Bingenheimer (born Rodney Ray Bingenheimer on December 15, 1947) is a famed Hollywood radio DJ on the notable Los Angeles rock Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as The band declined Capitol's offer and disbanded in 1977, citing musical differences amongst themselves. ^[4]

Chamberlain was heard again in his band Code Blue which signed to Warner Brothers Records. Richard d'Andrea joined The Pits and later enjoyed almost three years with The Know. Robert Newman is a successful art director and designer. Chuck Wada still writes and performs and is a financial advisor. ^[6]

Second, most successful incarnation

In March 1978, Davis and future lead guitarist Jeff Jourard (formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) decided to reform The Motels^[4] and extensive auditions resulted in a new line-up consisting of Jourard's brother Marty who played both the saxophone and keyboards, Michael Goodroe on bass, and Brian Glascock on drums. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are an American rock band formed in 1975 by Tom Petty The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical- bored transposing Musical instrument considered a member of the Woodwind A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a Musical keyboard. ^[7] Short on funds, the band shared rehearsal space with The Go-Go's at L. For the 1960s band see The Go-Go's (1960s. The Go-Go’s are an all-female American Pop band formed in 1978 A. 's notorious punk basement, the Masque, and they played in Chinatown, at Madame Wong's restaurant/nightclub so many times they were nearly the house band. The Masque was a small Punk rock club in central Hollywood California which existed intermittently from 1977 to 1979. Esther Wong was born August 13, 1917 in Shanghai China, and emigrated to the U A restaurant is a retail establishment that serves prepared Food to Customers. A nightclub (or "night club" or "club" is a drinking, dancing, and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark A house band is a group of musicians often centrally organized by a band leader who regularly play an establishment ^[8] The Motels began to draw a faithful crowd around the L. A. music scene and on Mother's Day 1979 the group signed with Capitol and released their debut album The Motels 4 months later. Their first single, "Closets and Bullets," made no impact on the charts, but their second single, "Total Control," found its way to the Top 20 in France and the Top 10 in Australia. Record chart are a method of ranking Music according to Popularity during a given period of time This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Top Forty or Top 40 is a music industry shorthand for the currently most-popular songs in a particular genre. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. ^[4]

In 1980 Jourard was replaced as lead guitarist by Davis' boyfriend Tim McGovern^[9] and the band went back into the recording studio to record their second album, entitled Careful. A recording studio is a facility for sound recording. Ideally the space is specially designed by an acoustician to achieve the desired acoustic properties (sound An album or record album is a collection of related audio or Music tracks distributed to the public Released in June 1980, the album climbed to the #45 spot on the U.S. album charts. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ^[4] In Europe and the UK, the songs "Days Are OK" and "Whose Problem?" were Top 50 hits; "Whose Problem?" was also a top hit in Australia^[10] and "Danger" was a Top 20 hit in France. ^[11]

The band hired record producer Val Garay for their third album, Apocalypso. In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing Val Garay is a Record producer and engineer who has worked with Kim Carnes, The Motels, Marty Balin, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Armatrading It was scheduled to be released in November 1981, but after Capitol Records heard the final product, they rejected it for being "not commercial enough" and "too weird". ^[8][12] The band attempted to go back and re-record the entire album but in the process, Davis and McGovern's relationship dissolved and by December 1981 McGovern was no longer in the band. The rest of the members forged on to finish recording the new album while using studio musicians to fill in for the vacant guitar spot for several of the tracks. Session musicians are musicians available for hire as opposed to musicians who are either permanent members of a musical outfit or who have acquired fame in their own right Adrian Peritore (who went by the name Guy Perry because his former producer had misspelled his name on an album cover) was hired in late January and played lead guitar on some of the tracks, including "He Hit Me. " The album, now titled All Four One, was released April 5, 1982. ^[8]

All Four One (1982) was the band's best-selling album. All Four One is the third studio album by the New Wave band The Motels, released in 1982

Before any singles were released from All Four One, the song "Mission of Mercy" had enough airplay to reach #23 on the Billboard Rock Album Cuts chart. ^[4][13] The first single from the album, "Only the Lonely," found its way to #6 on the U. S. rock charts by June and later #9 on the U. S. pop chart, while two other releases, "Take the L" and "Forever Mine," made the Billboard Hot 100. ^[12] Their first successful U. S. album coincided with the emergence of MTV, which led to music videos for both "Only the Lonely" and "Take the L. MTV ( Music Television) is an American Cable television network based in New York City. A music video is a Short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music most commonly a Song with lyrics " Davis won a "Best Performance in a Music Video" at the American Music Awards in 1982 for her performance in the "Only the Lonely" video. ^[14] For the 1982 tour the band added keyboardist/guitarist Scott Thurston. ^[8]

Val Garay was now firmly in control of album and video production and, upon the firing of Fritz Turner Management, became the band's new manager. ^[8] The Motels returned to the recording studio in February 1983 and released the album Little Robbers in the fall. The first single from the album, "Suddenly Last Summer," was a Top 10 hit in the United States, and the album went gold in the U. Suddenly Last Summer is a song by The Motels released on a 7" single in September of 1983 backed with "Some Things Never Change S. , Canada, and several other countries. ^[13] In January the band appeared on Saturday Night Live. This article lists the hosts and musical guests for each episode of Saturday Night Live, an American television show by season

The first leg of the Little Robbers tour started in January 1984 but ended abruptly in February with the firing of Garay as manager for personal reasons. ^[8] The band continued performing under new management with stops in Japan and Hawaii, and they recorded songs for two film soundtracks: "Long Day" was recorded for Moscow on the Hudson and "In the Jungle" was recorded for the movie Teachers. Moscow on the Hudson is a 1984 American comedy Drama film starring Robin Williams, and directed by Paul Mazursky. Teachers is a 1984 Comedy / Drama film starring Nick Nolte, JoBeth Williams, Ralph Macchio, and By mid-summer they were back in the recording studio to work on new material.

In late 1984 Capitol Records brought in producer Richie Zito to help maintain the band's commercialism. ^[15] It took well over a year but with the finishing touches done at Giorgio Moroder's hi-tech studio in the San Fernando Valley,^[8] the group released their sixth album, Shock, in September of 1985. Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder (born on April 26 1940 in Urtijëi, Italy) is an Italian Record producer, songwriter The first single, "Shame," reached #21 on the U. S. pop charts and #10 on the U. S. rock charts. ^[13] Two other singles were released, "Shock," and "Icy Red. " From early 1986 to February 1987 The Motels worked on songs for a 7th album. It was not to be. Citing that the group was broke, on February 13, 1987, Martha Davis took each member in turn to a local bar to say she had decided to dissolve the band and go solo. Events 1258 - Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) In Music, a solo (from the Italian solo, meaning alone) is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer ^[8]

All members of the 1983 version of the band reunited in 2004 for an appearance on VH1's Bands Reunited; rejoining Davis were Michael Goodroe, Marty Jourard, Brian Glasscock and Adrian Peritore (aka "Guy Perry. Bands Reunited was a television program produced by VH1 in 2004. ")^[16]

Martha Davis solo

Davis released her first solo album entitled Policy in October of 1987. Musicians who worked with her included Clarence Clemons, Kenny G and Charlie Sexton. Kenneth Gorelick (born June 5, 1956) better known by his Stage name Kenny G, is an American Saxophonist whose fourth In November, she had a number 8 hit in Australia with "Don't Tell Me the Time", but in the U. S. the song only reached #80. While reviewers still loved her voice the album was panned as too lightweight and having no atmospheric punch. ^[17] Soon afterwards, Davis asked to be released from her contract with Capitol.

After leaving Capitol Records, Davis focused on different music styles, and recorded songs for several movie soundtracks but it seemed her music career was coming to an end. ^[18] Then, in the early 1990s, she started getting occasional surprise gigs which found Davis experimenting with new songs she had written. ^[18] In late 1994 she played at some old haunts in Ventura, Los Angeles, and San Juan Capistrano, California. Incorporated in 1866 the city of San Buenaventura (usually referred to as Ventura) is the County seat of Ventura San Juan Capistrano (pronounced wɑn kæpɪˈstɹɑnoʊ in English and xwan kapisˈtɾano in Spanish is a city in southern Orange County California, USA, located

In 2005, Martha Davis performed at Seattle, Washington's Teatro ZinZanni. Teatro ZinZanni is a Circus Dinner theater that began in the neighborhood of Lower Queen Anne in Seattle Washington. ^[19] For which she collaborated with TZ Maestro Norm Durkee" to make the special CD "Omnium" which is available only through their Gift Shop. In August 2007, she joined other 70s and 80s acts for the Australian concert series Countdown Spectacular 2. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The Countdown Spectacular is a series of concerts reviving the nostalgia of the Australian music television series Countdown. She sang 3 Motels songs solo. Her second solo album "So the Story Goes" was released in 2005, although being recorded with many of the new Motels members, it was released as a solo album, not until Standing Room Only was the band refereed to on the albums as the Motels.

Third incarnation: The Motels featuring Martha Davis

In 1996 Martha Davis began appearing with Erik Lemaire-Guitar, Adrian Burke-Bass, Jason Loree-Drums, David Van Pattoen-Keyboards/guitar and then after 1998 with-Mic Taras on lead guitar, Angelo Barbera on bass, Kevin Bowen on keyboards, Michael Barbera on keyboards and sax, and Jason Loree on drums. ^[20] The gigs consisted almost entirely of new material. In 2001 the band changed to a compact, four piece ensemble with Davis, Taras, Fritz Lewak (drums), and David Sutton (bass). ^[21] By 2004 the band had performed more than 70 concerts and toured in the U. S. and Australia. As of 2006 the band included Davis on vocal and guitar, Nick Johns (bass/keyboard), Eric Gardner (drums), Clint Walsh (guitar), and Jon Siebels (guitar). ^[1]

In 2005 Davis and the new Motels released an independent CD titled "So the Story Goes". All copies sold out. ^[22] Sony Records has released a live album, recorded in 2006, titled Standing Room Only, which was recorded live at the Coach House in Orange County. Martha Davis and the Motels still tour and record and they have plans for more music releases in the future. ^[1] The Motels featuring Martha Davis appeared on the U. S. version of Hit Me Baby One More Time and toured the U. Hit Me Baby One More Time is a 2005 Reality show first aired by ITV on British television and later as a new version by S. and Australia in 2007. ^[23]

The album "Clean Modern and Reasonable", issued in September 2007, was the first release under the banner "the Motels" in 22 years. The album contains acoustic versions of past hits, b sides and Martha Davis solo material including new takes on 'Take The L' , 'Only the Lonely' and 'Suddenly Last Summer'. In April 2008 The Motels released two new albums on the same day, "This," and "Beautiful Life," the later taking the listener on a dark journey through Martha's life. ^[1]

On April 9, 2008, Martha Davis and the Motels performed on the reality TV program High School Reunion shown on the TV Land channel. The program staged a mock prom for the show's participants on the last evening. The two songs performed were 'Only the Lonely' and 'Suddenly Last Summer'.

Discography

Albums

• Motels (1979) #13 AU, #175 US
• Careful (1980) #26 AU, #45 US
• Apocalypso (1981) never released
• All Four One (1982) #16 US, #20 AU
• Little Robbers (1983) #22 US, #34 AU
• Shock (1985) #23 AU, #36 US
• Policy (1987) #28 AU, #127 US *
• No Reservations - The Best of The Motels (1988) #48 AU
• No Vacancy (1991)
• All Four One - Expanded (1999)
• Anthologyland (2001)
• Classic Masters (2002)
• The Best Of The Motels (2003)
• So the Story Goes (2004) *
• The Motels Essential Collection (2005)
• Standing Room Only (2007)
• Clean Modern and Reasonable (2007)
• This (2008)
• Beautiful Life (2008) *

note - * Martha Davis album label

Singles

• "Closets and Bullets" (1979)
• "Total Control" (1979) #7 AU, #109 US
• "Anticipating" (1980) JP
• "Danger" (1980) #15 FR, #88 AU
• "Whose Problem?" (1980) #42 UK, #43 AU
• "Days Are OK" (1981) #43 UK
• "Mission of Mercy" (1982) #33 US album track
• "Only the Lonely" (1982) #9 US, #28 AU
• "Take the L" (1982) #21 AU, #52 US
• "Forever Mine" (1982) #60 US
• "Art Fails" (1983) FR
• "Suddenly Last Summer" (1983) #9 US, #34 AU
• "Remember the Nights" (1983) #36 US
• "Little Robbers" (1983) #18 US album track
• "Footsteps" (1984) Europe only
• "In the Jungle" (1984)
• "Shame" (1985) #18 AU, #21 US
• "Shock" (1985) #84 US
• "Icy Red" (1986) AU
• "Love and Affection" (1986) (Martha Davis and Sly Stone)

Martha Davis Solo

• Omnium with Teatro ZinZanni Maestro Norm Durkee (2005)
• A T. All Four One is the third studio album by the New Wave band The Motels, released in 1982 No Reservations - The Best of The Motels is a compilation album by the New Wave band The Motels released in 1988 Suddenly Last Summer is a song by The Motels released on a 7" single in September of 1983 backed with "Some Things Never Change Omnium is concept CD released by Teatro ZinZanni through One Reel productions Rex Named Sue (2005)
• That 80's Merry Christmas Album (2006)

Singles:

• "We've Never Danced" (1987)
• "Don't Tell Me the Time" (1987) #8 AU, #60 US
• "Tell It to the Moon" (1988) #65 AU
• "Just Like You" (1988) #15 US album track
• "Don't Ask Out Loud" (1988) #90 AU
• "What Money Might Buy" (1988) AU

Notes

References

• Rolling Stone Magazine - The Motels Return With Their "Version 2. 0" - 9/2/99
• Orange County Register - Entertainment Section - 7/16/05
• Personal Writings from band members - Official website themotels. com
• Former band member Marty Jourard - Jourard. com
• Creem Magazine - Take The El Out Of MOTELS And It's Motes - February 1983
• Creem Magazine - The Motels: Martha Davis Feeds Her Family - December 1980
• Los Angeles Times - The Motels: Booked Solid - 4/29/79
• Orange County Weekly - No Vacancy - 10/5/2000

External links

• Official website
• Major website
• Biography from the VH1 website