Couchois was an American

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

consisting of the Couchois brothers - Chris (vocals), Pat (guitar), and Mike (drums) - along with Chas Carlson (keyboards) and Howard Messer (bass). Formed in 1979, the band released two albums on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

: ''Couchois'' in 1979, and ''Nasty Hardware'' in 1980.

History

The Couchois brothers began playing in bands together while in junior high school in Huntsville, Alabama during the 1960s. In 1971, Chris and Pat joined Ratchell with bassist Howard Messer and former Steppenwolf guitarist

Larry Byrom Larry Clifton Byrom (born December 27, 1948 in Huntsville, Alabama) is an American guitarist. Byrom performed in a band called the Precious Few in the 1960s, then joined T.I.M.E.; in 1970, he joined Steppenwolf. He left Steppenwolf in 1972 and ...

. The group released two albums for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

before splitting up. A few years later, Mike Couchois joined his brothers and Messer and Chas Carlson to form the group Couchois. The band signed with Warner Bros. Records and released their self-titled debut album, which peaked at #170 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in 1979. The album featured a guest appearance by

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical ab ...

. A review of the album in a 1979 issue of ''

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 ...

'' called ''Couchois'' a "solid debut LP" with a "very melodic rock sound" and "noteworthy" keyboard work. Pete Bishop of ''

Pittsburgh Press ''The Pittsburgh Press'', formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'', was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for over a century, from 1884 to 1992. At the height of its popul ...

'' said it was an "enjoyable and promising debut album" and compared the band's style to that of

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American Rock music, rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, h ...

and Orleans. In 1980, Couchois released their second album, ''Nasty Hardware'', which included their song "Roll The Dice", which was later covered by such bands as

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, Charlie and John Verity. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' gave the album a one-star rating and characterized Couchois as an "aggravatingly lame soft-rock quintet that sports three brothers and zero talent." After the band dissolved, Chris wrote and played drums on the

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

song "Heart Attack" for the 1982 film '' Comeback''. The song later featured on many of Burdon's

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products, such as video game co ...

s, such as '' The Best of Eric Burdon'', '' Soldier of Fortune'', as well as on the original album ''

Power Company The Power Company is a team of superheroes-for-hire in the DC Comics universe. The team, created by Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett, first appeared in '' JLA'' #61 (February 2002). They subsequently starred in an eponymous series that ran for eigh ...

'', which also featured

Snuffy Walden William Garrett Walden, known as W. G. Snuffy Walden (born February 13, 1950), is an American musician and composer of film and television soundtracks. Walden is an Emmy Award winner for the theme music to ''The West Wing'' ( NBC), has been nomi ...

Ronnie Barron Ronnie Barron (born Ronald Raymond Barrosse, October 9, 1943, in Algiers, New Orleans – March 20, 1997) was an American actor, keyboardist, organist, and blue-eyed soul singer during the 1970s. He was known for his work as a session music ...

and Terry Wilson. Couchois' "Visibility Zero" is also featured on the 2006 compilation ''Munich Rock Disco''.

Discography

References

External links

* {{authority control American pop rock music groups Musical groups established in 1979 American musical quintets Rock music groups from Alabama Warner Records artists 1979 establishments in Alabama Musical groups disestablished in 1981