Monday, December 21, 2009

Jango Song Of The Day-The Ides Of March


Artist:The Ides Of March
Song:Vehicle
Album:Top Hits Of The Seventies: Amazing Hits






The Ides Of March was one of several bands to piggyback onto the success of jazz rock groups like Blood, Sweat & Tears. Vehicle was a top five hit in 1970 but lead singer and songwriter Jim Peterik has had a long career in music and is still active today. He was born Nov. 11, 1950 in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, IL. He first formed a group called The Shon-Dels in 1964. After changing the name to The Ides Of March, they signed with Parrot Records. They had some success in the Chicago area but were unable to break nationally. Meanwhile, Peterik experimented by adding a horn section and changing the band's sound from Britpop to jazz rock. They signed with Warner Bros. in 1970 and Vehicle reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Obviously a lot of folks thought the song was by Blood, Sweat & Tears and that seems to have been Peterik's intention. The Ides Of March toured extensively but were unable to repeat the success of Vehicle. After two albums on Warners and two on RCA, they split up in 1973. There doesn't seem to be a reasonable Ides Of March comp but you can get Vehicle on this Collectables various artists comp. Jim Peterik went on to form the very successful group Survivor in 1978 and had a huge hit in 1982 with Eye Of The Tiger from the film Rocky III. He has also written and produced other artists and currently leads a band called Pride Of Lions. And his son Colin Peterik was a member of the band Lobster Newberg. The Ides Of March reunited in 1990 and continue to perform occasionally today. Here's the video for Vehicle by The Ides Of March.

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