Fotomaker was a

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

group from

Long Island, New York 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 ...

who released three albums between 1978 and 1979.

History

The band was formed in 1977 by bassist

Gene Cornish Gene Cornish (born May 14, 1944) is a Canadian-American musician. He is an original member of the popular 1960s blue-eyed soul band The Young Rascals. From 1965 to 1970, the band recorded eight albums and had thirteen singles that reached Bill ...

and drummer

Dino Danelli Dino Danelli (born Robert Daniel; July 23, 1944 – December 15, 2022) was an American drummer. Danelli was best known as an original member and the drummer in the rock group the Young Rascals. He has been called "one of the great unappreciated ...

, former members of

The Rascals The Rascals (originally known as the Young Rascals) are an American rock band, formed in Garfield, New Jersey, southeast of Paterson in 1965. The original lineup featured lead vocalist and keyboardist Felix Cavaliere, vocalist and percussion ...

(although Cornish was guitarist for the group). Soon, guitarist/vocalist

Wally Bryson Wallace Carter Bryson (born July 18, 1949) is an American guitarist, best remembered for his time with the Power pop, power-pop group Raspberries (band), Raspberries, famous for their hit "Go All the Way (song), Go All The Way". After the Raspbe ...

, (formerly of the

Raspberries The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

) was added, alongside guitarist/vocalist Lex Marchesi and keyboardist/vocalist Frankie Vinci. Fotomaker debuted at the newly remodeled Cleveland Agora in early 1978. Fotomaker's debut release, titled ''Fotomaker'', was released on February 28, 1978 on

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 ...

. The LP was produced and engineered by

Eddie Kramer Edwin H. Kramer (born 19 April 1942) is a South African-born recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, L ...

, Ron Albert, and Howard Albert. The lead single release, "Where Have You Been All My Life", reached #81 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was included on the Rhino Record's compilation LP ''Poptopia! Power Pop Classics Of The '70s,'' alongside singles by other prominent power pop artists including

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock music, rock band formed in Swansea in 1961. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (musician), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recognised for th ...

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...

, and

The Knack The Knack was an American power pop band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1978 by Doug Fieger (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Berton Averre (lead guitar, backing vocals), Prescott Niles (bass) and Bruce Gary (drums). Spearheaded by the succes ...

. The second album, ''Vis-a-Vis'', was released in October, 1978. It was recorded at The Record Plant studios (used by the

) that summer at Wally Bryson's suggestion. ''Vis-a-Vis'' opened with Vinci's song "Miles Away", which was released as a single and peaked at number 63 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Wally Bryson had already left the band before the band's third album, ''Transfer Station,'' released in 1979. Fotomaker did not tour in support of ''Transfer Station''. The album failed to reach the charts, and the group disbanded shortly afterwards.

Post-Fotomaker careers

In 1997,

and

, along with former Rascals bandmates

Felix Cavaliere Felix Cavaliere (born November 29, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the co-lead vocalist and keyboard player for The Young Rascals. Although he was a member of Joey Dee and the Starliters, known for their hit " Pepperm ...

and

Eddie Brigati Edward Brigati Jr. (born October 22, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was the co-lead vocalist, along with Felix Cavaliere, and percussionist in the rock group The Young Rascals from 1964 to 1970. Prior to his stint with The Young Ra ...

, were inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

. Wally Bryson returned home to Cleveland early 1979, joining Dann Klawon's band "Peter Panic". Bryson has also collaborated with his son Jesse, in The Bryson Group. Frankie Vinci has done plenty of TV work, including jingles and music for the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

, and has written songs for others such as country artist

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

. He also wrote songs for the 1983 summer camp slasher film ''

Sleepaway Camp ''Sleepaway Camp'' is a 1983 American slasher film written and directed by Robert Hiltzik, and starring Mike Kellin (in his last on-screen appearance), Katherine Kamhi, and Paul DeAngelo alongside Jonathan Tiersten, Felissa Rose, Christoph ...

''.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

American power pop groups Musical groups from Long Island Musical groups established in 1978 {{US-band-stub