Autograph

Autograph was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1983. The band was best known for its 1984 hit song "Turn Up the Radio".

The group of musicians began playing and recording together, soon taking the form of an actual band. Together, they chose the name "Autograph" while driving from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Florida, to open for Van Halen in January of 1984. They recorded their first rough demos in late 1983, but played them only for a few close friends. One of them was Andy Johns, a famous record producer whom Steve Plunkett had met while helping singer Joe Cerisano produce Silver Condor's second album "Trouble At Home". Johns invited the band to re-record and upgrade the demos at the Record Plant Studios for free under his guidance. Keni Richards then played the demo for David Lee Roth, who subsequently invited the band to open for Van Halen on their 1984 tour. The band rose to prominence opening for Van Halen, ultimately playing 48 shows, an act of distinction for an unsigned band. Due to its rising popularity, Autograph soon signed a contract with RCA Records, following a performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City in late 1984. On December 28, 1984, the band opened for Christian metal act Stryper at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, shortly before "Turn Up the Radio" began its chart ascent.

Autograph's debut album, "Sign In Please", was completed and released in October, but did not make an appearance on any record charts until January 1985. The album contained the band's only major hit, and now signature song, "Turn Up the Radio". The song itself was one of the last ones recorded for the album, and the band members were initially very lukewarm toward it. However, the tune became a top-30 hit, pushing album sales past the gold album mark of 500,000 copies sold. The song was featured in an episode of "Miami Vice" entitled "Little Prince" and was also leased out to numerous other films, even further elevating the song's popularity. Lynch's guitar work in "Turn Up the Radio", featuring a distinctive two-handed, fretboard-tapping technique, won him the Guitar Solo of the Year award from Guitar Player magazine in 1985.

"Send Her to Me" was released as a follow-up single, though its success paled in comparison to the massive first hit. Other songs from the "Sign In Please" album, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend Isn't Me" and "Deep End", along with "Take No Prisoners", which soon appeared on the band's follow-up album, were featured in the 1985 film "Secret Admirer", starring C. Thomas Howell, Kelly Preston, Corey Haim, Lori Loughlin, and Casey Siemaszko. The 1985 films "Fright Night" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge" also included a song the band recorded titled "You Can't Hide From the Beast Inside".

A second album, "That's the Stuff", was quickly recorded and released in the fall of 1985, and the group went on tour in support of several other bands, including Mötley Crüe and Heart. Although record sales were disappointing in comparison to the first album, it still achieved near gold status. Supported by the singles "Blondes in Black Cars", which became a minor hit, and the title track, "That's the Stuff" eventually peaked at No. 92 on the Billboard albums chart. The band then recorded a song titled "Winning Is Everything" for the film "Youngblood".

Autograph recorded a third album, which took longer to record than the other two combined, and "Loud and Clear" was released in the spring of 1987. The title song's music video featured Ozzy Osbourne and Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe as extras. The band also made three appearances on "Headbangers Ball" in support of the album. In October, the band made a cameo in the film "Like Father, Like Son", starring Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron. The first song featured was "Dance All Night", which played briefly, and then they performed the song "She Never Looked That Good for Me" for the film, appearing in a brief cameo as themselves. Despite all three of these songs being released as singles, the album was not a big success.

The band left RCA Records in early 1988. Isham left the band to pursue other options but was not replaced, as the band felt it no longer needed keyboards and wanted to take a newer and heavier direction. The remaining members began recording a new album in 1988 which they hoped to release sometime the following year, but those plans ultimately failed to materialize.

Richards also left the band around this time. However, in early 1989 the band toured with new drummer Eddie Cross and continued to sporadically record. The band was eventually offered a new deal with Epic in 1989, which it declined.

In its short time, the band recorded three albums and toured with several famous bands, including Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Heart, Aerosmith, Ronnie James Dio, Van Halen, Bryan Adams, and Whitesnake, but in the end could not sustain its own career. Disappointed, the remaining members disbanded in December 1989. During the time from 1983 to 1989, Autograph had songs in several major motion pictures, including "Secret Admirer", "River Rat", "Youngblood", "Like Father, Like Son", and "The Amy Fisher Story", among others. More recently, their song "Turn Up the Radio" was featured in "Hot Tub Time Machine". They also had songs in television series, including "Miami Vice". More recently they had their song "All I'm Gonna Take" in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City", as well as "Guardians of the Galaxy". They were featured on numerous compilation albums and still receive radio play throughout the world.

Though the group had disbanded, some of their music videos, most commonly "Turn Up the Radio", continued to be played on music channels and programs such as MTV's "Headbangers Ball" for several years after their initial debut.

When the original group disbanded in 1989, Steve Plunkett became a staff writer and producer for All Nations Music, where he had over 170 of his songs released, including over 40 in movies like "Rock Star", "Brave New Girl", a Britney Spears penned movie for ABC Family, and "Gods and Monsters". Many artists recorded his songs, including Vixen, The Go-Go's, Marc Anthony, and Edgar Winter. He also produced artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Loretta Lynn, Graham Nash, and En Vogue. He wrote and performed the theme song for the WB television series "7th Heaven", as well as several other theme songs for shows such as "Summerland", "Kojak", and "Queen of Swords", which featured "Behind the Mask" performed by Jose Feliciano. Plunkett had his original songs in many television shows, such as "Beverly Hills, 90210", "Melrose Place", "Sex and the City", and "The Simpsons". Plunkett also released a solo album in 1991 entitled "My Attitude".

The original lead guitarist, Steve Lynch, was a guitar teacher for several years, schooling students in his virtuosic signature eight-finger hammer-on guitar technique. He also published several books on his guitar styles as well as an instructional video that was a top seller worldwide. He conducted 325 guitar clinics in 20 countries. He eventually formed another band named Network 23, and the album by the same name was released in 2004. He also owned a music school in the Seattle area from 2004 to 2016 and completed a new teaching website called lynchlicks.com that went online in 2009. In 2013 to 2019, Steve reunited with Randy Rand and two replacement players to tour and do some additional recording. He temporarily left touring with Autograph in 2019. Then, when COVID-19 hit in March 2020, Lynch decided to write his autobiography, "Confessions of a Rock Guitarist". He spent his time between Tampa, Florida, and the New Jersey shore.

The former bassist, Randy Rand, began a career in leather-making, establishing an international importing and exporting shop that sold his own handcrafted leather products, and even worked with Harley Davidson for a time. According to Autograph's website, he had a daughter named Sterling Knight who became a relatively well-known model in Italy. Rand died in April 2022.

The drummer, Keni Richards, went on to work with the band Dirty White Boy, but later took a hiatus from the music business due to a chronic back problem he had for several years. Nevertheless, he continued his passion for music and art. He later returned to the music industry, involving himself in songwriting and producing duties even after the band broke up, and continued it even after the band's reformation, wherein he participated for a short period of time. Richards died on April 8, 2017.

The keyboardist, Steven Isham, remained active in the music business through the following years until his death from liver cancer at the age of 56 on December 9, 2008. Some of Isham's well-known duties included forming a band named The Pack with Gary Moon, who later replaced Jack Blades in the band Night Ranger, and being Vince Neil's drummer and assistant musical director during the latter's solo tour in 1993.

The drummer of the Los Angeles band Hot Wheelz, Eddie Cross, joined Autograph and played on its 1989 tour and the new tracks on the "Missing Pieces" CD. He was later a member of several other Los Angeles bands, including Bad Boys with former members of Quiet Riot, Vigilante Man with Guns N' Roses co-writer West Arkeen, and Gilby Clarke, who later joined Guns N' Roses. In 1991, Cross went to law school in Orange County, California, and became President of Law Offices of Edward H. Cross & Associates, PC in 1995. The firm opened in Santa Ana, California, relocated to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in 2004, and finally landed in Palm Desert, California, in 2005, where he practices construction and real estate law.

In late 2013, original members Steve Lynch, Randy Rand, and Keni Richards got back together for a reunion and began touring in 2014. Due to Plunkett not being interested in doing the reunion, they replaced him with Brazilian American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Simon Daniels, a member of Jailhouse, Agent X, Flood, and 1RKO.

Since 2014, by which time Richards had been replaced by Mark Wieland on drums, the band played the Monsters of Rock Cruise, M3 Rock Festival, The Moondance Jam, The Halfway Jam, Firefest UK, Rockin the Rivers, and the Iowa State Fair, along with other festivals, theaters, and worldwide tours.

On January 15, 2015, they released their first single, "You Are Us, We Are You", on iTunes. On April 21, they released their second single, "I Lost My Mind in America". In July, the band was featured in USA Today after playing the Halfway Jam Rock Festival. On September 23, the band released their third single, "Every Generation", which was featured as track of the week on Classic Rock Magazine.

On January 7, 2016, the new five-song EP "Louder", with four original new singles and a live version of "Turn Up the Radio", was released and was made available on the official website.

On January 10, 2017, the band completed the recordings for a new full album. In March, the band toured the Midwest and Northeast United States again, with shows in the United Kingdom and Germany.

On April 8, 2017, Keni Richards died at the age of 60.

On July 29, 2017, the band signed with EMP Label Group, owned by David Ellefson of Megadeth, and announced a new album titled "Get Off Your Ass", which was released on October 6 with a limited-edition LP.

On July 24, 2019, Steve Lynch decided to take a temporary break from touring and was replaced by Jimi Bell, who previously played in House of Lords and Maxx Explosion.

On April 26, 2022, it was announced that bassist Randy Rand, one of the original members, had died at the age of 69.

On August 16, 2023, original lead guitarist Steve Lynch announced that he had won in his opposition in the trademark against Daniels, Wieland, and Bell, who intended on resuming touring following the death of original bassist Randy Rand without the licensing rights to the name, trademark, and logo. The remaining members then renamed the band Autograph Beyond to avoid future trademark issues.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autograph_(American_band)

Studio albums Sign In Please (1984) That's the Stuff (1985) Loud and Clear (1987) Missing Pieces (1997) Buzz (2003) More Missing Pieces (2003) The Anthology (2011) Louder (2016) Get Off Your Ass (2017) Beyond (2022)