Point Blank (band)

Point Blank is an American rock band hailing from Irving, Texas, United States. The band formed in 1974 in Irving, Texas, and recorded six albums between 1974 and 1982. Garnering occasional airplay on AOR radio stations, the band is best known for their 1981 hit single, "Nicole" and their prior hit "The Hard Way" gained much exposure. They toured with many bands, such as: Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Kiss, Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blue Oyster Cult, Johnny & Edgar Winter, Bad Company, J. Geils Band, and Ted Nugent.
After playing concert arenas, playing before thousands each night, POINT BLANK decided to call it a night in 1983. Most of the band members either continued playing locally in Dallas/Ft. Worth area and/or started their own successful businesses.

History

The band was discovered and managed by Bill Ham's Lone Wolf Productions (ZZ Top, Jay Boy Adams, and Eric Johnson). The original six albums were recorded in Memphis with engineer/producer Terry Manning. Point Blank's sound is rooted in southern rock and boogie, but drifted towards hard rock and mainstream AOR by the early 1980s. In 1981, they released their fifth album, ''American Exce$$'', which included the hit single "Nicole". With strong air-play on AOR radio stations the track reached #20 on Billboard Magazine's Rock Tracks chart. Subsequently, "Nicole" was also released as a 45 RPM single and peaked inside the Top 40, at #39 on ''Billboard'''s Hot 100. In their heyday they were known for their relentless touring, sometimes playing more than 200 shows per year. In 1984, the band broke up.

The band's core members reunited for a benefit concert in 2005. The benefit concert, held on September 17, 2005 was recorded and became a new live album titled ''Reloaded''. After its initial release, they continued touring. In late 2009, Point Blank released ''Fight On!'', their first studio album in 27 years. Both the ''Reloaded'' and ''Fight On!'' albums were released on the Dixiefrog label.

Bassist Phillip Petty died from cancer on June 7, 2010. Guitarist Kim Davis died on October 18, 2010 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, aged 58. The studio musician Michael Hamilton, who played keyboards for the group died, also from cancer, on May 13, 2011.

In January 2014, the band completed ''Volume 9'', a Kickstarter-funded project originally titled ''Locked, Stocked and Two Smoking Barrels''.

Replacing bassist Philip Petty after his death was Kirk Powers. In 2012, after receiving a phone call from Billy Gibbons recommending him, the band hired drummer Greg Hokanson.

James Russell Burns, better known as Rusty Burns, died in Denver from lung cancer on February 19, 2016, aged 63.

The singer and a founding member, John O'Daniel, died from cancer on November 17, 2018, he was 70. The last surviving founding members are Richard Heaton & Buzzy Gruen.

Discography

*''Point Blank'' (Arista, 1976)
*''Second Season'' (Arista, 1977)
*''Airplay'' (MCA, 1979)
*''The Hard Way'' (MCA, 1980)
*''American Exce$$'' (MCA, 1981)
*''On A Roll'' (MCA, 1982)
*''Reloaded'' (Dixiefrog, 2006)
*''Fight On!'' (Dixiefrog, 2009)
*''Volume 9'' (Fairway, 2014)
*''Very Best'' (2019)

Members

*Bold = Original members

1974
*Rusty Burns – Guitar/Bass
*Kim Davis – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Richard Heaton – Drums

1975
*Rusty Burns – Guitar/Bass
*Kim Davis – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Richard Heaton– Drums

1976
*Rusty Burns – Guitar
*Kim Davis – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Buzzy Gruen – Drums
*Phillip Petty – Bass

1979
*Rusty Burns – Guitar
*Kim Davis – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Buzzy Gruen – Drums
*Bill Randolph – Bass
*Steve Hardin – Keyboards

1980
*Rusty Burns – Guitar
*Kim Davis – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Buzzy Gruen – Drums
*Bill Randolph – Bass

1981
*Rusty Burns – Guitar
*Kim Davis – Guitar
*Buzzy Gruen – Drums
*Bill Randolph – Bass
*Bubba Keith – Vocals
*Mike Hamilton – Keyboards

2005
*Rusty Burns – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Phillip Petty – Bass
*Buzzy Gruen – Drums

2007
*Rusty Burns – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Phillip Petty – Bass
*Mike Gage – Drums
*Buddy Whittington – Guitar
*Jeff Williams – Piano

2008
*Rusty Burns – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Phillip Petty – Bass
*David Crockett – Drums
*Mouse Mayes – Guitar
*Larry Telford – Keyboards

2012
*Rusty Burns – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Mouse Mayes – Guitar
*Larry Telford – Keyboards
*Kirk Powers – Bass
*Greg Hokanson – Drums

2014
*Rusty Burns – Guitar
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Mouse Mayes – Guitar
*Larry Telford – Keyboards
*Kirk Powers – Bass
*Mike Gage – Drums

2016
*John O'Daniel – Vocals
*Mouse Mayes – Guitar
*Larry Telford – Keyboards
*Kirk Powers – Bass
*Greg Hokanson – Drums

References

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American southern rock musical groups
Rock music groups from Texas
Musical groups reestablished in 2007
Hard rock musical groups from Texas
Heavy metal musical groups from Texas