Origin: New Jersey (USA)
FRANKE & THE KNOCKOUTS
Al Wotton - Billy Elworthy - Franke Previte - Blake Levinsohn - Leigh Foxx
Discography:
Below the belt - 1982 (with lyrics)
Makin' the point - 1984 (with lyrics)Notes:
-... Franke and the Knockouts, lead by singer/songwriter Franke Previte. A frequent guest on the ABC comedy show Fridays, the group scored a top ten hit with the R&B-inflected “Sweetheart.” While Franke and the Knockouts made three albums and scored a a couple more top 50 hits, the band split circa 1986 and were never heard from since.
...By 1982, Torres had joined the band for their next album, Below the Belt, and released the single “Without You (Not Another Lonely Night),”which became their next best hit (reaching number 24 on the Billboard charts). While the synthesizer dates the track, it still demonstrates Previte’s skill in crafting enjoyable pop/rock. “Never Had It Better” features Torres’ hard-driving drumming, with Previte’s powerful voice adding the perfect ingredients for early 80s rock. Other tracks like “Just What I Want” are fairly far removed from the lighthearted “Sweetheart,” which may have surprised some fans. Perhaps Torres’ presence on their second album steered them toward a harder rock sound. Just listen to Previte’s scream toward the end of the tune, and one senses that by 1982 the band decided to jump fully on the Foreigner and Journey bandwagon. At the very least, 2011 listeners will feel compelled to hold their cigarette lighters (or cell phones) high in the air.
Franke and the Knockouts’ final album, 1984's Makin’ the Point, marked their final attempt to recapture their 1981 magic. An equally interesting fact is that Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro played on the track, which makes sense due to the song’s similar sound to Toto tunes such as “Hold the Line.” However, the band clearly wanted to imitate then-successful acts like Night Ranger, and “You Don’t Want Me” accomplishes that goal with its combination of rock guitars and pop melodies. The power ballad “Blame It on My Heart” features the Tower of Power’s sax player, and also showcases Torres’ thundering drumming skills. The saxophone adds a soulful touch to the otherwise straightforward rock ballad... -
"-The press release that I got for the reissues talks about Tico Torres‘ presence in the band before he went on to Bon Jovi. He wasn’t on the first two records, and I’m curious what his tenure in the group was like—how long it was and what he contributed.
After the first record was cut, Jimmy Ienner said, “You know, I think you need a stronger drummer.” I said, “No, I think Claude [LeHenaff] is really good.” But he was insistent—”No, I think you guys should change drummers.” So after the second record, we went down to Criteria [Studios] in Miami, and a bunch of different drummers came down, and they brought the [studio] drummer from Detroit who played on the last record. He was a good drummer, but he didn’t have a rock and roll vibe that we wanted to portray. We went back home planning to try out some more drummers, and after five or six guys, Tico came in to audition. I had jammed with Tico and I had invited him there. He started playing the stuff, and I stopped him and said, “We just found our heartbeat.” He was the drummer on the tour for the second record; he was the drummer who played on the third record; and he was my best man at my wedding.
- Oh, wow! I didn’t know that.
Yeah. In fact, I talked to him two weeks ago. He’s helping me promote these Knockouts releases for pancreatic cancer. He sent me an email last week from the road—[Bon Jovi] are in Europe for about three months—he said, “I’ll do whatever I can with Skype, and I’ll do Modern Drummer for you. Whatever I can do—talk about the record and what my favorite song was, whatever.” So Tico’s involved. Leigh Foxx, who’s playing in Blondie, was our bass player, and he’s also out promoting the record and trying to raise money. -
(Excerpt from an interview with Franke Previte. More details: http://popdose.com/the-popdose-interview-franke-previte/)
- Franke Previte was born in New Brunswick, N.J. His father was an opera singer and was Franke's first musical inspiration. Franke’s first album was released in 1971 with a metal band call Bull Angus on Mercury Records. The band toured with Rod Stewart and the Faces, Deep Purple, and Fleetwood Mac, and also played the three-day Pocono Mountain Festival with such notable groups as Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Humble Pie, Three Dog Night, and many more.
In the late ‘70s, Franke signed with Buddha Records, where he was produced in a more R&B direction by Grammy-winning producer Tony Camillo.
In the early ‘80s, Franke decided to combine his rock and R&B roots for some blue-eyed soul-style rock ‘n’ roll, and started Franke & the Knockouts. The band was signed to Millenium Records (RCA), and its first hit single, SWEETHEART, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981. YOU’RE MY GIRL and WITHOUT YOU (NOT ANOTHER LONELY NIGHT) quickly followed, topping the charts at #14 and #16 respectively.
When the president of the label, Jimmy Ienner, decided to close his label in 1985, Franke & the Knockout were sold to MCA, which released the band’s third and final album, Makin the Point.
Late in 1986, Franke was contacted by the same Jimmy Ienner to write a song for a little movie called DIRTY DANCING, and so the song (I’VE HAD) THE TIME OF MY LIFE was written. Franke’s other DIRTY DANCING hit, HUNGRY EYES, originally had been on Previte's demo reel as a new Franke & the Knockouts track while he was shopping for a new record deal for the band. “Hungry Eyes” found its home in DIRTY DANCING, and became Franke’s second smash hit for the film. The song “(I've) Had The Time Of My Life” earned Previte an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy nomination. What a year!
The honors continued with Franke being chosen as one of America’s top song writers to represent the USA in a “songwriters’ summit” in Moscow. Other attendees were Barry Mann, Mike Stoller (of Leiber & Stoller), Diane Warren, Desmond Child, and Cyndi Lauper, to name a few.
Franke continues to work on new projects such as the Broadway bound stage musical for Dirty Dancing, and is working hard on a cause close to his heart -- raising funds through his music for two pancreatic cancer charities in memory of his friend, Patrick Swayze.
Franke's portion of the new THE BEST OF FRANKE & THE KNOCKOUTS: SWEETHEART – ANNIVERSARY EDITION will go to the PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK, whose spokesperson is Lisa Swayze, Patrick’s widow. Last year, Franke released the original demo recordings of “(I”ve Had) The Time of My Life” and other DIRTY DANCING songs to benefit the Patrick Swazye Pancreas Cancer Research Fund at Stanford.-
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