Blue Tears was an American
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
band from
Henderson, Tennessee
Henderson is a city in and the county seat of Chester County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,309 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 5,670 at the 2000 census.
History
Henderson was platted in 1857, when the r ...
, United States, that enjoyed some short-lived fame in the late-1980s. However, the group failed to find significant commercial success, due to the wave of alternative/
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
music, and the group disbanded in 1993 as the members became involved in other projects. The band reformed in 2006 and released a new album. The band was permanently dissolved after lead singer Gregg Fulkerson died on April 14, 2009.
History
The first iteration of what would becom
Blue Tearsbegan in the fall of 1982, when Gregg Fulkerson (lead guitar), was a senior a
Chester County High Schooland Mike Spears (bass), Bryan Hall (rhythm guitar) and Phil Johns were students a
Freed Hardeman University The band was originally called Misfit. Through the next several years the band had a couple of name changes (NonStop, Sahara) and several vocalists and drummers came and went.
The band made several recordings in Gregg's basement, but the first official recording was of their song "Stay With Me" which was recorded at th
Castle Recording Studioin Nashville, TN. "Stay With Me" received much regional radio station airplay, and peaked at #2 on 92.3 FM Jackson, TN. The combination of radio airplay, devoted fans and multiple sold-out concerts at the Paramount and Malco theaters caught the attention of record industry professionals. One of these recordings landed on the desk of a
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
-based record company. They signed a recording contract with
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...
soon after. The band also changed their name t
Blue Tearsjust two months prior to releasing their debut album.
Blue Tears was made up of founding members Gregg Fulkerson, Mike Spears and Bryan Hall. They were re-joined by Charlie Lauderdale on drums.
The
debut album was released in June 1990 with lead single "Rockin' With the Radio" getting a music video. A second single, "Innocent Kiss" also received heavy promotion. The album was originally titled "Thunder in the Night" and was promoted as such but was eventually changed to a self-titled release. Unfortunately, the band was dismissed as just another
glam metal
Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that features pop music, pop-influenced Hook (music), hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat arena rock, rock anthems, and slow Sentimental ballad#Powe ...
act in that genres fading wave.
Blue Tears entered the studio in 1991 and banged out new tracks for a second album. The tracks included "Long Way Home", "Kisses In the Dark", "With You Tonight", "Follow Your Heart", and "Summer Girl". However, due to the popularity of the grunge genre and MTV's revamp, MCA decided to not release the follow-up album. But the never released tracks would eventually be released, along with some of Fulkerson's solo cuts, almost 15 years later.
The band members got involved in other projects. Most notably, Fulkerson and Spears worked with
Stryper
Stryper is an American Christian metal and heavy metal music, heavy metal band from La Mirada, California. The group's lineup consists of Michael Sweet (lead vocals, guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Perry Richardson (bass), and Robert Sweet (musician), ...
frontman in
his first official solo album released in 1994.
By 2002, Fulkerson and Spears were again involved in another project called Attraction 65. At that time, there was already some sort of cult following of Blue Tears. Fulkerson decided to release a compilation of unreleased songs titled ''
Mad, Bad and Dangerous ''and another called ''
Dancin' On the Back Streets''. Both of these were released on Sun City Records.
However, in 2006, Blue Tears (only with Fulkerson, from the original band) resurfaced releasing an album titled ''
The Innocent Ones'' on AOR Heaven.
It was posted on
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
singer Jessica Miller's
Myspace
Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
page that lead singer Gregg Fulkerson had died on April 14, 2009, morning, aged 44. He was the only constant member in the band and the one who kept it together, and the band was put to rest
Band members
Final line-up
*Gregg Fulkerson - vocals, guitar, keyboards
(1982–1993, 2005–2009)
*Bryan Wolski - bass, backing vocals
(2005–2009)
*Robert Streets - drums, percussion
(2006–2009)
Former members
*Michael "Mike" Spears - bass, backing vocals (1982-1993)
*Bryan Hall - guitar, backing vocals
(1982–1993)
*Charlie Lauderdale - drums, percussion
(1984–1993)
*Phil Jones- drums, singer worker
(1982–1984)
*Vicki Buckley - vocals
(1982–1983)
*Pam Gleaton - vocals (1983-1984)
*Roger LaPointe - vocals (1983-1986)
*Paul Reeves - drums, backing vocals (1983-1984)
*Aaron Sain - guitar (1984)
*Larry Gilbow - drums, percussion (1988-1992)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Blue Tears'' (1990)
* ''
The Innocent Ones'' (2006)
Compilation albums
* ''
Mad, Bad and Dangerous'' (2005)
* ''
Dancin' On the Back Streets'' (2005)
References
External links
Official SiteSuncity Records
{{Authority control
1983 establishments in Tennessee
Glam metal musical groups from Tennessee
Hard rock musical groups from Tennessee
Musical groups established in 1983
Musical groups disestablished in 1993
Musical groups reestablished in 2005
Musical groups disestablished in 2009