Fandango was 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 ...

band which began as a four-piece, playing in the local clubs in the Tri-state area: New Jersey, New York, Connecticut (circa 1976) before adding three more members prior to their first recording contract being signed in March 1977. It was fronted by

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

Joe Lynn Turner Joe Lynn Turner (born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, August 2, 1951) is an American singer best known for his work with Rainbow (rock band), Rainbow, Deep Purple, and Yngwie Malmsteen. Turner joined Rainbow (rock band), Rainbow in the early 1980 ...

(who by then had already changed his given name 'Linquito' through a suggestion by

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Rick Blakemore). Larry Dawson (stage name of Larry Dvoskin), one of the band's keyboardists, would later play for

Uli Jon Roth Uli Jon Roth (born Ulrich Roth; 18 December 1954) is a German guitarist who became famous for his work with the hard rock band Scorpions and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre. He is also founder of the Sky Ac ...

. The band opened for acts like

The Allman Brothers The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, ...

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. Wh ...

Wet Willie Wet Willie is an American southern rock band from Mobile, Alabama. Their best-known song, " Keep On Smilin'", reached No. 10 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in August 1974. Several other of the group's songs also appeared on the single ...

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

, and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Phil Walden Phil Walden (January 11, 1940 – April 23, 2006) was a co-founder of the Macon, Georgia-based Capricorn Records, along with former Atlantic Records executive Frank Fenter. Biography Walden received his undergraduate degree in economics from Ma ...

's Paragon Agency (who initially represented such artists as

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 19 ...

, and

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (1935–2025) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", " ...

in the early 60s) were responsible for booking Fandango. Turner has stated that the band took influences from the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

and

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

. The group, after the release of their fourth album (''Cadillac''), disbanded shortly after their equipment was stolen at Chicago Fest. Turner's work with the band got him noticed by Barry Ambrosio (who was

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English lead guitarist. He was a founding member and the guitarist of Deep Purple, one of the pioneering bands of hard rock. After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore formed the band Rainbow ...

's personal assistant). He put Blackmore on the phone and asked Turner to audition for

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

Discography

''Fandango'' (1977)

Track listing

;Side One # "Headliner" – (Denny LaRue, Rick Blakemore) – 3:40 # "Down Down Down" – (LaRue, Blakemore) – 4:41 # "Jesse And Will" – (Blakemore) – 4:49 # "San Joaquin" – (LaRue, Blakemore) – 4:02 # "Life Of The Party" – (music: Joe Delia / lyrics: LaRue, Joe Delia, Joe Lynn Turner) – 4:43 ;Side Two #

"Shadow Boxing" - (LaRue, Blakemore) - 3:01 # "Helpless Heart" – (Carole Meyers, LaRue, Blakemore) – 4:07 # "Devil Rain" – (LaRue, Blakemore) – 6:08 # "Misery Road" – (LaRue, Blakemore) – 4:15 # "Goin' Down For The Last Time" – (LaRue, Turner) – 4:11

Personnel

–

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 ...

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 ...

* Rick Blakemore –

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 ...

* Denny LaRue – keyboards,

* Bob Danyls –

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 ...

(1, 3-5, 8, 9),

;Additional Personnel * David Campbell – string arrangements (3, 5, 7) * Candy Kurgen –

(6) * David Sanborn –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

(5) * John Tropea –

(7, 10) * Joe Delia –

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, string arrangements (10) * Don Payne –

(2, 6, 7, 10) * Abe Speller –

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 ...

(all but 4) * Lou Mondinelli –

(4),

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

(2, 7),

handclaps A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), b ...

(7) * Walter Santos –

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...

(2, 6) * Lou Mondelli –

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

(9),

timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfic ...

(9)

''Last Kiss'' (1978)

Track listing

;Side One # "Last Kiss" – (Bob Danyls, Dennis La Rue, Joe Lynn Turner, Larry Dawson, Richard Mason Blakemore) – 4:04 # "Sure Got The Power" – (La Rue, Blakemore) – 4:17 # "Mexico" – (La Rue, Turner, Blakemore) – 5:52 # "Losin' Kind Of Love" – (Turner) – 3:38 # "Hotel LaRue" – (La Rue, Blakemore) – 5:16 ;Side Two #

"Feel The Pain" - (La Rue, Turner, Blakemore) - 5:12 # "CIty Of Angels" – (La Rue, Blakemore) – 7:09 # "The Mill's On Fire" – (La Rue, Blakemore) – 5:49 # "I Keep Going/Hard Bargain" – (La Rue) – 5:36

Personnel

–

(all but 9),

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Rick Blakemore –

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

slide Slide or Slides may refer to: Places * Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998 * ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018 *''Slide'', by Patrick Glee ...

guitars, backing and

(9b) vocals * Dennis LaRue –

* Larry Dawson –

* Bob Danyls –

, backing and

(9a) vocals * Lou Mondelli –

* Walter Santos –

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 ...

* Jimmy Hall –

(2),

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

(4)

''One Night Stand'' (1979)

Track listing

;Side One # "One Night Stand" – (Dennis La Rue) – 2:40 # "Thief In The Night" – (La Rue, Joe Lynn Turner, Rick Blakemore) – 3:48 # "Hard Man (Bless My Soul)" – (Bob Danyls, La Rue, Turner, Blakemore) – 3:56 # "Hard Headed Woman" – (La Rue, Blakemore) – 3:28 # "I Would Never Leave" – (La Rue, Turner, Larry Dawson, Blakemore) – 5:21 ;Side Two #

"Dancer" - (La Rue, Turner, Blakemore) - 3:33 # "Little Cherie" – (La Rue, Blakemore) – 4:05 # "Late Nights" – (La Rue) – 3:15 # "Two Time Loser" – (Turner, Blakemore) – 4:29 # "Ain't No Way" – (Danyls, Turner, Dawson, Blakemore) – 3:48

Personnel

–

(1, 2, 5-8) and co-lead (4, 9) vocals,

* Rick Blakemore –

, backing,

(3) and co-lead (4, 9) vocals * Dennis LaRue – keyboards,

* Larry Dawson – keyboards * Bob Danyls –

, backing and

(10) vocals * Lou Mondelli –

* Walter Santos –

''Cadillac'' (1980)

Cadliac was Fandango's final album before

joined

in the fall of 1980. Released on

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. Re-Released on CD in 2008 on

Wounded Bird Records Wounded Bird Records is an American compact disc only re-issue record label that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from popular and lesser known artists. Most of the Wounded Bird catalogue is licen ...

in the United States and in 2010 on Canyon in the United Kingdom.

Track listing

= Side One

= 1. "Blame it On The Night" – (Rick Blakemore/Dannie LaRue) – 3:42
2. "Rock 'n' Roll You" - (LaRue/Joe Lynn Turner) - 5:44
3. "Hypnotized" - (Blakemore/LaRue/Bob Danyls/Turner) - 2:32
4. "Don't Waste My Time" - (Danyls/Turner) - 3:06
5. "Stranger (in a Strange Land)" - (LaRue/Blakemore) - 4:10

= Side Two

= 6. "Cadliac" – (LaRue/Turner) – 3:10
7. "Fortune Teller" - (LaRue/Blakemore/Turner) - 4:10
8. "Getaway" - (Danyls/Turner) - 3:52
9. "Headliner" (1980 version) - (LaRue/Blakemore) 4:42 Personnel * Arranged By rrangements & Musical Direction– Denny LaRue * Artwork By rt Direction & Design– Pat McGowan * Bass, Vocals – Bob Danyls * Drums – Abe Speller * Engineer – Jack Malken, Michael Barry * Engineer ssistant– Ed Sullivan (3) * Guitar, Vocals – Rick Blakemore * Keyboards, Synthesizer, Organ – Larry Dawson * Lead Vocals, Guitar –

* Mastered By – Howie Weinberg * Percussion – Santos (11) * Piano – Joe De Lia * Producer – Ed Newmark, Warren Schatz

References

{{authority control American pop rock music groups