Blackjack was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band, active from 1979–1980, featuring

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin (born February 26, 1953), known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton performed in the hard rock and heavy metal music genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo a ...

(who was performing under his real name, Michael Bolotin),

Bruce Kulick Bruce Howard Kulick (; born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist best known as a former guitarist of the band Kiss (band), Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union (band), Union with John Corabi from 19972002, Blackjack (American ba ...

Sandy Gennaro Santo Michael "Sandy" Gennaro (born July 3, 1951 in Manhattan, New York) is an American rock drummer, author, musician, public speaker and mentor. He has recorded and toured with many musical artists including Blackjack, The Monkees, Pat Travers, ...

and

Jimmy Haslip James Robert Haslip (born December 31, 1951) is an American bass guitarist who was a founding member of the jazz fusion group the Yellowjackets, which he left in 2012. He was also an early user of the five-string electric bass. Early life and ...

. The band was short-lived, released two albums, the self-titled ''

Blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...

'' in 1979 and '' Worlds Apart'' in 1980, and embarked on a small US nationwide tour.

Biography

Blackjack was formed in late 1978 after Bruce Kulick had come off the road touring with

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...

behind the ''

Bat Out of Hell ''Bat Out of Hell'' is the debut studio album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. The album was developed from the musical ''Neverland'', a futuristic rock version of '' Peter Pan'' which Steinman wrote for a worksho ...

'' album. Kulick and his older brother

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Bob (surname) * Bob (dog), a dog that received the Dickin Medal for bravery in World War II * Bob t ...

had done a show backing up Michael Bolton, then a solo artist with two albums, at a club show in Connecticut. Afterwards both Kulick brothers were invited to join Bolton in a proper band. While Bob declined, Bruce accepted. The band's manager Steve Weiss, also an attorney for

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

, brought drummer

and bassist

into the fold to complete the line-up. The band was quickly signed to

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

and named Blackjack. At the behest of their record company and management, the foursome went to work with producer

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...

Criteria Studios Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

to record their debut album. ''

'' was released in 1979 and peaked at No. 127 on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

selling around 100,000 copies. The album's biggest single, "Love Me Tonight", reached No. 62 on ''Billboard''. Blackjack shot videos for both "Without Your Love" and "Love Me Tonight", which were part of a nine-minute promotional movie circulated by the label, and toured with acts such as

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 the

Marshall Tucker Band The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. Whi ...

. In 1980, Bruce Kulick played guitar on

Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include " The Stroke", " Lonely Is the Night", " My Kinda Love ...

's solo debut album, ''

The Tale of the Tape ''The Tale of the Tape'' is the debut studio album by American rock musician Billy Squier.Strong, Martin C. "The Great Metal Discography." Canongate Books Ltd. Edinburgh, Scotland. 1998. p. 315 It was his first solo album, following two albums w ...

'', produced by

Eddy Offord Edward Offord is an English retired record producer and audio engineer who gained prominence in the 1970s for his work on albums by the progressive rock bands Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes. Life and career Offord studied physics at university, an ...

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

fame. Offord also became the producer for Blackjack's second album ''Worlds Apart''. But, with the disappointing sales of their debut album and a regime change at Polydor, Blackjack were no longer a priority act at the label and '' Worlds Apart'' was released in 1980 with very little backing and no tour support from the record company. It spelled the end for Blackjack as individual members had opportunities and offers to join more promising musical situations.

After break-up

By 1981, Gennaro had replaced

Tommy Aldridge Tommy Aldridge (born August 15, 1950) is an American heavy metal and hard rock drummer. He is noted for his work with numerous bands and artists since the 1970s, such as Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesn ...

in the Pat Travers Band, making his debut on the '' Radio Active'' album. Haslip would re-team with members of the

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock music, rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets (band), Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harriso ...

Band under the name

Yellowjackets A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp. Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to: Places * Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town * Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida Arts, ...

who issued their self-titled debut album in 1981. After turning down a touring gig with Billy Squier in favor of staying with Blackjack, Kulick recorded ''Great American Music'' with

The Good Rats The Good Rats are an American rock band from Long Island, New York. Their music mixes elements of rock with blues and pop. They are best known on their native Long Island, although they had some success nationally and internationally. History ...

in 1981 and also played guitar on Michael Bolton's eponymous 1983 '' debut album'' for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

before joining

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

in 1984. He subsequently performed lead guitar on Bolton's 1985 follow-up album, ''

Everybody's Crazy ''Everybody's Crazy'' is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Michael Bolton. The album was released on March 15, 1985 by Columbia Records. The lead guitarist on the album is Bruce Kulick, later of KISS fame. After Kulick left to ...

'' and on several tracks from his 1987 breakthrough album, '' The Hunger''.

Rap appeal

The Blackjack song "Stay" off their second album '' Worlds Apart'' was sampled by rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

for the song "A Dream" off his 2002 album '' The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse'' which reached No. 1 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

charts. In 2004, rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

re-recorded a section of "Maybe It's the Power of Love" off '' Worlds Apart'' for inclusion on his song "

Never Let Me Down ''Never Let Me Down'' is the seventeenth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 21 April 1987 through EMI America Records. Co-produced by Bowie and David Richards (record producer), David Richards and featuring guit ...

"; it was released on his triple platinum selling debut album ''

The College Dropout ''The College Dropout'' is the debut studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. In the years leading up to its release, West had received praise for his p ...

'' which peaked at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Speaking to the website

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

in 2015, Bolton gave his approval of the sampling, stating that "the song turned out beautifully".

Album re-issues

''Blackjack'' and ''Worlds Apart'' were first issued on CD as a two-for-one package by PolyGram in 1990, with a Japanese release following in 1996. UK-based label Lemon Records would do another 2-for-1 reissue in 2006, titled ''Anthology'', with extensive liner notes by English rock journalist

Malcolm Dome Malcolm Dome (1955 – 29 October 2021) was an English music journalist. Dome wrote about rock and heavy metal from 1979. In addition to writing books, he was a journalist for ''Record Mirror'', ''Kerrang!'', ''Metal Hammer'' and ''Classic Ro ...

. The most recent re-issues came in December 2013 when both albums were released individually by Universal Music Japan in the cardboard sleeve mini-LP format as SHM-CD remasters.

Band members

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

(1979–1980) *

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s (1979–1980) *

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

(1979–1980) *

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

(1979–1980)

Discography

* ''

'' (1979) * '' Worlds Apart'' (1980)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackjack American hard rock musical groups American musical quartets Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1980 Jewish heavy metal musicians