Angel is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band from

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, formed in the mid-1970s by Punky Meadows, Mickey Jones, and Gregg Giuffria. They were primarily known for their flamboyant

glam Glam is a shortened form of the word glamour. Glam or GLAM may also refer to: Film * ''Glam'' (film), a 1997 experimental drama film Institutions * University of Glamorgan, founded in 1913 and merged into the University of South Wales in 2013 ...

stage presence and white satin outfits.

History

Angel was discovered by

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

bass player

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

performing at a nightclub and was eventually signed to the same label as Kiss,

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

. Angel's image of dressing in all white was a deliberate contrast to Kiss, who wore black. Angel sported an

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it often r ...

image and elaborate stage sets.

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

wrote a satirical song about Punky Meadows, with Punky's approval titled "Punky's Whips". Angel never achieved mass commercial success but acquired a following as a

cult band A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

. Their first album was the self-titled ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'' (1975) and consisted of guitarist

Punky Meadows Punky Meadows (born Edwin Lionel Meadows Jr. on February 6, 1950) is an American guitarist best known as a member of the band Angel between 1975 and 1980, and for his glam rock image. Background and early career Meadows grew up in the Barnaby ...

, bassist Mickie Jones, vocalist Frank DiMino, keyboardist

Gregg Giuffria Gregg Giuffria (born July 28, 1951) is an American rock musician and businessman. He was the keyboardist for AOR bands Angel, House of Lords, and Giuffria. Career Giuffria is originally from Gulfport, Mississippi, where he graduated from hi ...

, and drummer

Barry Brandt Angel is an American rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in the mid-1970s by Punky Meadows, Mickey Jones, and Gregg Giuffria. They were primarily known for their flamboyant glam stage presence and white satin outfits. History Angel was ...

. This lineup would hold for the following two albums, ''

Helluva Band ''Helluva Band'' is the second album by the rock band Angel. Track listing #"Feelin' Right" – 4:42 (Frank DiMino, Punky Meadows, Gregg Giuffria) #"The Fortune" – 8:40 (DiMino, Meadows, Giuffria) #"Anyway You Want It" – 2:52 (DiMino, Mead ...

'' (1976) and ''

On Earth as It Is in Heaven ''On Earth as It Is in Heaven'' is the third album by the rock band Angel. It is the last album with Mickie Jones who had been the band's bassist since its formation. It was produced by Eddie Kramer and recorded in an actual castle in the Holly ...

'' (1977), after which Jones was replaced by Felix Robinson. They made an appearance in the film ''

Foxes Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

'' (1980) and Frank DiMino sang "Seduce Me Tonight" and "Blood From a Stone" on the ''

Flashdance ''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer, Alex Owens, who aspires to become a professional ballerina, alongside Michael Nouri, who plays her ...

'' (1983) soundtrack and ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'' (1984) soundtrack, credited as Cycle V on both. DiMino and Meadows departed the band in 1981, and the remaining members brought in vocalist

Fergie Frederiksen Dennis Hardy "Fergie" Frederiksen (May 15, 1951 – January 18, 2014) was an American rock singer best known as the former lead singer of Trillion, Angel, LeRoux and Toto, as well as providing backing vocals for Survivor. He contributed to hit s ...

(later of Toto) and guitarist

Ricky Phillips Ricky Lynn Phillips (born October 7, 1952) is an American bass guitarist and was a member of the rock band Styx from 2003 to 2024, splitting duties with original bassist Chuck Panozzo. He has also played in Nasty Habit, as a member of the Babys ...

(later of

The Babys The Babys are a British Rock music, rock group best known for their songs "Isn't It Time (The Babys song), Isn't It Time" and "Every Time I Think of You". Both songs were composed by Jack Conrad and Raymond Louis Kennedy, Ray Kennedy, and ea ...

, then

Bad English Bad English was an American/British hard rock supergroup formed in 1987. It reunited Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in the Babys, along with Journey guitarist Ne ...

, then

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...

), but this lineup did not release new material and it dissolved shortly thereafter. The former members of Angel went on to other things following the release of their live album. Lead vocalist Frank DiMino joined

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

guitarist Paul Raymond in the Paul Raymond Project in which he sang lead vocals. Bassist Felix Robinson played on the debut album of the band

White Lion White Lion is an American glam metal band that was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, they released their debut album ''Fight to Survive ...

, ''

Fight to Survive ''Fight to Survive'' is the debut studio album by the American-Danish glam metal band White Lion, released in late 1985 by Victor Records in Japan, and in June 1986 by Grand Slamm Records in the US. The album charted at No. 151 on the ''Billbo ...

'' (1985/1986). Angel's keyboardist

had success as the leader of the band

Giuffria Giuffria was an American rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1981 by Gregg Giuffria after his departure from the band Angel. History Giuffria was formed as Gregg Giuffria's side project in 1982 after Angel disbanded. The band's clas ...

during the 1980s as well as with the band

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, who—sans Giuffria—reunited in 2002 and released a new album, '' The Power and the Myth'' on

Frontiers Records Frontiers Music (formerly Frontiers Records) is an Italian record label that primarily focuses on hard rock. The label was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is headquartered in Naples. History In 1996, Serafino Perugino began his care ...

. In the late 1990s, Angel reformed with a new line-up: Frank DiMino, vocals;

, drums; Randy Gregg, bass; Steve Blaze, guitars; and keyboardist Gordon G.G. Gebert. Gebert left the band in 2002 and was replaced with Michael T. Ross on keyboards. The band's 1999 release ''In the Beginning'' also features guest appearances by original guitarist

, as well as Robinson. In 2000 came the release of ''Angel: The Collection'', making it the most extensive Angel greatest hits compilation, including 16 songs. In 2006, two compilations of career-spanning singles were released. "Better Days" from the ''White Hot'' (1977) album was notably replaced with "The Winter Song". It had only been previously released on a rare 7" single. Bassist Mickie Jones (born Donald Eugene Jones on December 17, 1952, later changed to Michael David Jones in 1967), died in

San Dimas, California San Dimas (Spanish language, Spanish for "Penitent thief, Saint Dismas") is a city in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 34,924. It historic ...

on September 5, 2009, at the age of 56, after a long battle with liver cancer. Jones performed on four Angel albums (''

'', ''

'' and ''An Anthology''). He toured extensively with the band in the United States for several years. Before Angel, he played in the rock group

BUX BUX is a blue chip stock market index consisting up to 25 (currently 16) major Hungarian companies trading on the Budapest Stock Exchange. Prices are taken from the electronic Xetra trading system. According to the operator Budapest Stock Exc ...

, which included guitarist

(Angel) and singer Ralph Morman ( Joe Perry Project, and

Savoy Brown Savoy Brown (originally Savoy Brown Blues Band) were a British blues rock band formed in Battersea, southwest London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they p ...

released one album on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, '' We Came to Play'' in 1976 (recorded in 1973). Both Jones and Meadows were asked to join the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...

but declined. After leaving Angel, he formed the Los Angeles band

EMPIRE An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

and was the lead singer. Empire included drummer Steve Riley (

L.A. Guns L.A. Guns are an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (musician), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Mar ...

). Over the years, he became interested in film production and would later work in the film industry. Singer Frank DiMino now resides in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. He appeared on the Sin City Sinners

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

album, singing lead vocals on the holiday classic "

Winter Wonderland "Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himb ...

". In 2015 he released his solo album "Old Habits Die Hard", with Punky guesting on the song 'Never Again'.

issued his first-ever solo album in 2016, ''Fallen Angel''. Felix Robinson plays bass on the album. The deluxe edition had two bonus songs, one of which, 'Lost and Lonely', had Frank DiMino on vocals. Later Angel members Danny Farrow and Charlie Calv participate on this album as well. In 2018, Meadows and DiMino toured together under the moniker 'Punky Meadows and Frank DiMino of Angel' performing a set of classic Angel songs and solo cuts. They are backed by a band featuring Danny Farrow on rhythm guitar, Charlie Calv on keyboards, Steve Ojane on bass and Billy Orrico on drums. In 2019, with the same lineup, the band reverted back to the name "Angel"—returning to wearing all white—and released a new album, "Risen". The band returned with new music on the 2023 album ''Once Upon a Time.'' Bassist Steve Ojane left the band at the end of 2023. Felix Robinson rejoined the band for select dates in 2024. Tommy Caradonna is announced as the new bass player.

Logo

Angel's logo is

ambigram An ambigram is a calligraphic composition of glyphs (letters, numbers, symbols or other shapes) that can yield different meanings depending on the orientation of observation. Most ambigrams are visual palindromes that rely on some kind of symmetry ...

matic; it reads the same when turned upside-down as when viewed normally.

Members

Current members *Frank DiMino — lead vocals * Edwin "Punky" Meadows — lead guitar *Danny Farrow — rhythm guitar, backing vocals *Charlie Calv — keyboards *Billy Orrico — drums, backing vocals *Tommy Caradonna — bass, backing vocals Former members *Barry Brandt — drums, percussion, backing vocals *

— keyboards *Mickey Jones — bass, backing vocals *Felix Robinson — bass, backing vocals *

Dennis Frederiksen Dennis Hardy "Fergie" Frederiksen (May 15, 1951 – January 18, 2014) was an American rock singer best known as the former lead singer of Trillion, Angel, LeRoux and Toto, as well as providing backing vocals for Survivor. He contributed to hit ...

— lead vocals *

— guitar *

Rudy Sarzo Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont (born November 18, 1950) is a Cuban-American musician. He remains best known as the bassist for Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played with several well k ...

— bass *Richard Marcello — guitar, keyboards *Leo Borrero — bass *Randy Gregg — bass, backing vocals *Gordon "G. G." Gebert — keyboards *Steve Blaze — guitar *Michael T. Ross — keyboards *Joey Anderson — drums, percussion *Keith Robert — guitar *Steve Ojane — bass, backing vocals Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

* ''

Foxes (soundtrack) ''Foxes'' is the soundtrack to the 1980 film of the same name, starring Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, Sally Kellerman, Randy Quaid as well as The Runaways' lead singer Cherie Currie. The double-album was released on the disco label Casablanca Records. ...

'' (two songs: "20th Century Foxes" and "Virginia") (1980) * ''Can You Feel It'' (1989) * ''An Anthology'' (1992) * ''A Rock and Roll Christmas II'' (1998) * ''Angel: The Collection'' (2000) * ''Angel: The Singles Collection Volume 1 (album)'' (2006) * ''Angel: The Singles Collection Volume 2 (album)'' (2006)

Box set

* ''Angel: The Casablanca years'' (2018)

Bootlegs

* ''Blowing Great Guns'' * ''White Heroes'' * ''1981 demo''

Singles

US singles, except where noted. Notes:

References

External links

Angel biography by Rovi Staff, discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Angel discography, album releases & credits
at

Discogs.com Discogs ( ; short for "discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''The N ...

{{Authority control American glam rock musical groups American hard rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 Musical groups reestablished in 1987 Musical groups disestablished in 1987 Musical groups reestablished in 1998