The Alessi Brothers, also known as Alessi, are an American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

singer-songwriter duo who first came to international prominence with their 1977

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

"Oh, Lori". The duo are identical twin

brothers A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingl ...

, Billy and Bobby Alessi (born July 12, 1953, West Hempstead, New York).

Career

In their early teens, the brothers attended West Hempstead High School and formed the band The Country Gentlemen with schoolmate Don Droege and drummer Bob Pelicane. The band often played at a teen club called The Mod Scene and

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

summer beach club gigs, as well as playing at other venues which included Murray the K's World in

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, on Long Island, New York, United States. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aero ...

, the Raleigh Hotel in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

, and The Café Wha? in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. The band released one 45 single entitled "Saturday Night" which was credited to William Alessi. The Country Gentlemen in 1967 evolved into The Look and recorded the single "If I were A Carpenter" b/w "Can You Do" on Verve Records. In 1970, the Alessis were working in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

cast of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'', when former

Blues Magoos The Blues Magoos are an American rock group from The Bronx, a borough of New York City, United States. They were at the forefront of the psychedelic music trend, beginning in 1966. They are best known for the hit song " (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Y ...

guitarist Peppy Castro joined the show. The three formed the band

Barnaby Bye Barnaby Bye was an American band formed in 1973. Peppy Castro, ex-Blues Magoos, formed Barnaby Bye with Long Island musicians the Alessi Brothers, Billy and Bobby, and Mike Ricciardella of The Illusion (band), The Illusion. They recorded for Ahmet ...

and, with Mike Ricciardella on drums, the band were signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and released albums in 1972 (''Room to Grow'') and 1973 (''Touch''). The next Barnaby Bye album (''Thrice Upon a Time'') was not released until 2008, after the band reformed. After the early years with Barnaby Bye, the brothers continued writing, recording and performing as the duo, Alessi. In 1977, their song "Oh Lori" (from the 1976 album ''Alessi'') reached no. 8 and spent 11 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, and became a Top Ten hit in seventeen more countries. In May 1982, "Put Away Your Love" (from the 1982 album ''Long Time Friends'') reached No. 71 and spent four weeks in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. They also charted in Brazil with "Sad Songs" (from the album ''Alessi'', 1976), "All for a Reason" (from the album ''All for a Reason'', 1977) and "Forever" (recorded with

Christopher Cross Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1979), and " Arthur's Theme (Best ...

, from the album ''Long Time Friends'', 1982). The first four Alessi albums (1976–1979) were released on the A&M record label, with the fifth, ''Long Time Friends'' (1982) being on Quincy Jones's Qwest label. In 1984, Alessi released the track "Savin' the Day" for the soundtrack to the film ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

''; this soundtrack album was released on the Arista label and was nominated for a Grammy Award for the Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special. Over the years Alessi have arranged, produced and/or written releases for many artists including

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, Deborah Gibson,

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk music, folk, soul music, soul (both of which he frequently cover song, covered), and rhythm and b ...

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...

and

. The brothers toured with

Andy Gibb Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer and songwriter. He was the younger brother of Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, musicians who had formed the Bee Gees during the late 1950s. Andy G ...

in his 1978/79 Shadow Dancing tour and contributed background vocals to albums such as

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainte ...

's 1979 album ''

Fate for Breakfast ''Fate for Breakfast'' is the fourth solo studio album by Art Garfunkel, released in March 1979 on Columbia Records. It was his first album to miss the U.S. Billboard Top 40 (charting at 67) and his first album containing no U.S. Top 40 singles. ...

'' and the

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and Yoko Ono album ''Milk and Honey''. Their songs have been covered by artists including

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

and

Rick Springfield Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut ...

and their songwriting and/or vocals have been featured in such films as ''

The Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

'' and ''

''. The brothers have had success working on

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s and advertisements for David Lucas and many mainstream consumer products in the United States. In the 2000s, they resumed their touring and album-recording career as a duo, with the new albums being released on the Eden Roc/Pink Records label. They resumed touring and recording as part of the group Barnaby Bye and, in 2012, were inducted into the

Long Island Music Hall of Fame The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame was incorporated in July 2005 under the New York State Board of Regents, as a nonprofit organization and holds a provisional charter to operate as a museum in the state of New York. It recognize ...

. The 2012 compilation album from the

Late Night Tales ''Late Night Tales'' and its predecessor ''Another Late Night'' are the names of two related series of artist-curated compilation albums released by Azuli Records in the UK until 2009 when the independent record label Night Time Stories took ...

series, '' Late Night Tales: Metronomy'' by UK band

Metronomy Metronomy are an English electronic music band, formed in Totnes in 1999. Their lineup consists of founding member and leader Joseph Mount (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Oscar Cash (keyboards, backing vocals, guitar, saxophone), Anna Prior (drums ...

included "Seabird". The song was later included in the music over the closing credits of

Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. Known for quirky comedy films and expanding his career as a voice actor and producer on numerous projects, he ...

's 2016 adventure-comedy '' Hunt for the Wilderpeople'', the 2021 comedy-drama series ''

Resident Alien In law, an alien is generally any person (including an organization) who is not a citizen or a national of a specific country, although definitions and terminology differ across legal systems. Lexicology The term "alien" is derived from the L ...

'', a season two episode of the 2022 television series ''

Our Flag Means Death ''Our Flag Means Death'' is an American period romantic comedy television series created by David Jenkins. Set in the early 18th century during the Golden Age of Piracy, the series follows the misadventures of gentleman-turned-pirate Stede Bon ...

'', and a season 4 finale episode of ''

Sex Education (TV series) ''Sex Education'' is a British teen sex comedy drama television series created by Laurie Nunn for Netflix. It follows the lives of the teenagers and adults in the fictional town of Moordale as they contend with various personal dilemmas, ofte ...

''. A cover of “Seabird” was performed by Jari Jones as Marshmellow on the Season 15 episode of Bob’s Burgers “Hope ‘N Mic Night”.

Discography

Albums

*''Alessi'' – (1976) – A&M *'' All for a Reason'' – (1977) – A&M *''Driftin – (1978) – A&M *''Words & Music'' – (1979) – A&M *''Long Time Friends'' – (1982) –

Qwest Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western and midwestern U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dako ...

*''Hello Everyone'' – (2003) – Eden Roc Records *''Just Like That'' – (2006) – Eden Roc Records *''Live! All Our Life'' – (2009) – Home of Jazz *''Two of Us'' – (2012) – Eden Roc Records *''Marathon Day'' – (2013) – Eden Roc Records *''Water'' – (2018) – Eden Roc Records

Singles

Notes

Contributions to film soundtrack

*1979: ''

'' – backing vocals on three tracks ( Columbia) *1984: ''

'' – "Savin' the Day" ( Arista) *2016: '' Hunt for the Wilderpeople'' – "Seabird"

In popular culture

Alessi (アレッシー Aresshī), a minor antagonist from the Japanese manga series

Stardust Crusaders is the third main story arc of the manga series ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. The arc was serialized for a little over 3 years. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from April 3, ...

, draws his namesake from the duo. Their song "Seabird" was used in the mission 'Howard' for Marvel's ''Spider-Man 2'' (2023 video game). Their song "Seabird" was used during the credits of the movie, 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople', written and directed by Taika Waititi. Their song "Seabird" appears at the end of the episode 'fun and games' for 'Our Flag Means Death'. (TV Show) Their song “Seabird” was featured in Season 15 of

Bob's Burgers ''Bob's Burgers'' is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is centered on the Belcher family—parents Bob Belcher, Bob and Linda Belcher, Linda and their three children, Tina Belcher, Tina, G ...

. This rendition was sung by the character Marshmallow at an open-mic event. Their song “Seabird” was featured in the series finale of ''Sex Education'' where Aimee works on healing from her assault by burning the jeans she was wearing on the bus. A duet version of the song "Seabird" was covered by

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and ...

and his daughter

Clara McGregor Clara McGregor (born ) is an English actress and model. She is the first daughter of Scottish actor Ewan McGregor. Early life Clara was born in England to Ewan McGregor and his first wife Eve Mavrakis. The eldest of McGregor's five children, ...

on the soundtrack of the coming of age feature film the did together ''

Bleeding Love "Bleeding Love" is a song recorded by British singer Leona Lewis for her debut studio album, '' Spirit'' (2007). It was originally written and recorded by American singer Jesse McCartney, and was co-written and produced by American singer R ...

'' (2023).

References

External links

* – official site *
Alessi Brothers
– official Barnaby Bye site () {{DEFAULTSORT:Alessi Brothers 1953 births Living people American male singers Songwriters from New York (state) Musical groups from Long Island American identical twins Twin musical duos Musical duos from New York (state) American pop rock music groups American soft rock music groups Soft rock duos American rock music duos American twins A&M Records artists American male musical duos American male songwriters