The J. Geils Band - Centerfold

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The J. Geils Band was a Blues-rock / R&B band that played to large arena crowds in the United States in the 1970s before moving towards a more pop-influenced sound in the 1980s, that got them airplay on MTV, which was just lifting off in the early 80's. They are perhaps best known for the single "Centerfold," an international hit in 1982.

The band started as an acoustic blues trio in the mid 1960s with singer J. Geils (John Geils Jr.) (born February 20,1946), bassist Danny Klein (Dr. Funk) and harpist Richard Salwitz (known by fans as Magic Dick). The band formed while Geils was attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute under the name Snoopy and the Sopwith Camels ; Geils attended WPI for only a couple of semesters and did not receive a degree from WPI. In 1967 the band switched focus, starting to play electric guitar and bass and recruiting drummer Stephen Jo Bladd and fast-talking ex- disc jockey guitarist Peter Wolf , both from Boston . The following year Seth Justman joined as an organist and the group signed to Atlantic Records in 1970. Later in the 1970s, the band signed with EMI America Records .

The J. Geils Band first received FM radio airplay with the live "First I Look at the Purse", then had several hit singles in the 1970s, the most successful of which was "Must Have Got Lost" (1974). The group's commercial fortunes improved in the early 1980s, first with the humorous "Love Stinks", then with their great success with the Freeze-Frame album which included "Centerfold" (#1 for six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 ) and then the title cut (#4). Wolf left the group in 1983 for a solo career not long after, over disagreements about whether to continue to take the band in more of a popular direction, or continue with the purist tradition.

The band went on to record one more album of new material - "You're Getting Even While I'm Getting Odd" - after Wolf left. He was not replaced, and Seth Justman took over most of the vocal duties. The album produced only one single - "Concealed Weapons," a song about breasts - and was not a success. The band toured in support of the album, but never again recorded anything new.

The group was not reunited with Wolf until 1999, and subsequently broke up again when ticket sales proved extremely disappointing. Wolf continues to tour with his own backup band, and the rest of the Geils band makes occasional appearances. Since the semi-retirement of the band, Geils has been restoring sports cars in Massachusetts.

In the Family Guy episode, Road to Europe , Lois Griffin remarks that along with "doing" Gene Simmons from KISS , she also "did" J. Geils.

This text is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "J. Geils Band".