Dwight Twilley Band

I mentioned in my Cheap Trick post that gradually I began to buy albums by artists other than The Beatles (or a Beatle). "Sincerely" by the Dwight Twilley Band was one of the first. I really don't remember why I bought it...either I heard "I'm On Fire" on the radio, or I read a great review in Rolling Stone.

One of the things I loved about DTB was that there were just three guys making big sounding records. Dwight Twilley wrote, sang and played guitar and piano. Phil Seymour sang and played drums AND bass, and Bill Pitcock IV fired off jolts of great lead guitar. Dwight and Phil were rock star pretty...Bill..not so much. That may be why only Dwight and Phil were pictured on the albums.

The sound of those two albums were different. Where most power pop bands mixed The Beatles with The Who, or The Hollies...DTB seemed to mix The Beatles and Elvis. It was really an original sound.

The guys only made two albums before Phil left the group. Dwight and Phil both hit the Top 20 with solo singles (Dwight with "Girls", Phil with "Precious to Me"), and they must have stayed friends as Phil sang on a couple of cuts on future DT solo albums...and Twilley gave Phil two great songs for his first solo album. Bill continued to appear with both Dwight and Phil.

Dwight continues to make solo albums, frequently with Bill on guitar. Phil died of cancer in the early 1990's. I started a Dwight Twilley band chat board on AOL in the late 1990's. I got a few emails from Dwight and his wife. They were always very cool with me, which I appreciated. I went to a DT live show in a small club supporting "Tulsa", and even though I practically walked right into Dwight when I entered...I was too chicken to introduce myself. I am still kicking myself for that!

Clip number 1 is Dwight, Phil and Bill (with Tom Petty on bass) lip syncing to "Looking For the Magic". Clip #2 is an early 1980's live performance of "I'm On Fire". Bill is on guitar, Susan Cowsill sings harmony.

RIP Phil Seymour.