Official Crack the Sky thread
Crack the Sky
The Band
John Palumbo — Lead vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar, harmonies
Rick Witkowski — Electric guitar, harmonies
Joe Macre — Bass guitar, harmonies
Jim Griffiths — Electric guitar, harmonies
Joey D'Amico — Drums, harmonies
It was 1977 and I think I was in grade 10 at the time. My musical taste had me listening to Rush, Saga , and anything that was interesting, progressive, and shunned by all my friends.
So one day I decide to go to the library, yes the library, and check out some albums because ,hey, it was free. I came across Crack the Sky and thought it looked interesting so I checked it out.
After taking it home and listening, I was addicted to this band for a long time. My friends didnt get it or see what was so great about it but I thought they were amazing.
Well its been years since Ive given them a listen and so I thought I would listen to a few of those old tracks again and you know what, Crack the Sky is an anomaly. They still have a small following to this day
The Best band that never was. As indicated below
Wikipedia
Crack the Sky is an American progressive rock band formed in Weirton, West Virginia in the early 1970s. In 1975, Rolling Stone Magazine declared their first album "debut album of the year"
In 1975, the band released their critically acclaimed first album, the eponymous Crack the Sky, which reached 161 on the Billboard chart. Although praised by The New York Times and declared the "debut album of the year" by Rolling Stone Magazine, promotion and distribution problems on Lifesong Records' behalf prevented its widespread success.According to Terry Minogue, "Records were promised but never arrived at the distribution centers. The record would be on the radio but there would be no product on the stores or visa versa. When people wanted it, it would never be available."By blind luck, the marketing did work in Baltimore, only because a surplus of records were shipped there and put on display in stores when the album was receiving radio play.
Animal Notes, the band's second album, was originally intended to be written as a rock opera about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but the concept was shrunken down to one of the songs, "Rangers at Midnight". Like the band's debut release, it was critically acclaimed, reaching 142 on the Billboard chart, performing better than their first album. This time, the high concept and lack of "radio singles", due to the band's disdain for commercial music, contributed to lack of sales. The song "We Want Mine" was a slam at Lifesong Records for royalty withholdings.
By this point, Crack the Sky had finished two cross-country tours and had opened for Styx, Supertramp, Rush, Foreigner, The Electric Light Orchestra, Yes, ZZ Top, Kansas, Edgar Winter, Frank Zappa, and Boston. They were thrown off tours with Kansas, Styx, and ELO because they outplayed all of them as the opening act.Due to contractual locks with Lifesong, combined with their chief song writer and front man no longer with them, members of Crack the Sky felt they had no other choice but to disband, and Classic Crack, a greatest hits compilation, was released by Lifesong in 1980.
In 1980, Palumbo reunited with Witkowski and keyboardist Vince DePaul to release White Music. This record featured a number of the "singles-quality" songs that had earlier proved elusive to the band, including "All American Boy", "Skin Deep", "Techni Generation", and "Hot Razors in My Heart." "Techni Generation" saw small airplay in the Pittsburgh area during this time.
Crack the Sky continues to perform occasional live shows and collaborate on new music under Palumbo's guidance. The albums Ghost and Dogs from Japan were released to critical acclaim in 2001 and 2003, respectively, and the band continues to enjoy a devoted fan following. The band completed a new concept album in 2007, entitled The Sale, which features the return of original bassist Joe Macre performing and co-producing the record with John Palumbo[2]. In 2008, Joey D'Amico and Joe Macre returned as Crack the Sky's drummer and bassist, respectively.
A great article
Perfect Sound Forever: Crack the Sky
Full-length albums
Crack the Sky (1975, Lifesong)
Animal Notes (1976, Lifesong)
Live on WBAB (1976, Lifesong)
Safety in Numbers (1978, Lifesong)
Live Sky (1978, Lifesong)
Classic Crack (1980, Lifesong)
White Music (1980, Lifesong)
Photoflamingo (1981, Lifesong)
World in Motion 1 (1983, Criminal)
The End (1984, Criminal)
Raw (1986, Grudge)
From the Greenhouse (1989, Grudge)
Dog City (1990, Grudge)
Rare! (1994, Yodelin' Pig)
Crack Attic (1994, Renaissance)
Cut (1998, Stepford Wives-2007 Aluminum Cat Recordings)
The Best of the Rest (And Then Some) (2000, Winthrop)
Live—Recher Theatre 06.19.99 (2000, self-release)
Ghost (2001, self-release)
Dogs from Japan (2004, Red Line)
Alive and Kickin' Ass (2006, Lifesong)
The Sale (2007, Aluminum Cat Recordings)
1975
1976
2006
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