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Autograph

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The American hair band Autograph was formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1983. The band was formed by vocalist/guitarist Steve Plunkett, guitarist Steve Lynch, bassist Randy Rand, keyboard player Steven Isham and drummer Keni Richards. Richards and Plunkett had worked together before the formation of Autograph in a band called John Doe. Plunkett had also played together with Lynch in Looker and with Randy Rand in Wolfgang. Rand was able to go on tour with Lita Ford, Plunkket recorded with Silver Condor, Keni Richards recorded with The Coup and Steven Isham had played the keyboards with Holly Penfield.

Steve Plunkett planned Autograph as a solo project at first. The band started recording demos together and Andy Johns, who Plunkett had met during his time with Silver Condor, advised they should recut the tracks (which they did at the Record Plant in Los Angeles). Keni Richards was a good friend of Van Halen front man David Lee Roth and was able to get the band a spot in the 1984 tour. It was a great privilege for a band to act as an opening act for Van Halen on that tour, especially since the band was unsigned and had no record in the stores. The band was then given its name Autograph, over a second choice Krakatoa, and went out on the road. Autograph was signed to a deal with RCA Records by label vice president Jose Menendez following a performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1984.

The band left the Van Halen tour to record their debut album with producer Neil Kernon back at Los Angeles. Autograph’s last song written for the record “Turn Up The Radio” became the band’s signature tune. The album Sign In Please was released in October 1984, thought it didn’t make an impact in the charts until January 1985, and in April that year it went gold. The song “Turn Up The Radio” was able to reach the top 30 in the Billboard singles chart.

In 1985, Autograph released their second album entitled That’s the Stuff. The band was able to go on tour with the likes of Mötley Crüe and Heart. Even though it also achieved gold status, the record was not successful (just #92 in Billboard album charts). Autograph was able to release a third album under RCA, called Loud and Clear, and even if it showed improvement it received poor support from the label. The band ended up splitting soon after that.

In 1997, Steve Plunkett released an album titled Missing Pieces which featured previously unreleased Autograph material. Due to the good reception from the fans, Plunkett released a record called Buzz with a new line up but still under the name of Autograph.




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