Firefall was a 70s soft rock band best known for their top ten smash, "You Are The Woman," which peaked at #9 in 1976. One of the few top ten singles I can recall that featured a flute ("Down Under" by Men At Work being another). The band would score some additional hits like "Just Remember I Love You" (#11 in 1977) and "Strange Way" (#11 in 1978). They racked up a few lesser known top 40 hits before the fire died in the early 80s. The Colorado group was put together by Rick Roberts of the Flying Burrito Brothers and Jock Bartley of Zephyr. They recruited Larry Burnett and Mark Andes, who just finished his tenure with Jay Ferguson in Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne, and Mike Clarke of The Byrds (and also of Flying Burrito Brothers). "Leave It Alone" is one of my favorite guilty pleasure tracks from "Undertow," the fourth and final album to feature the founding lineup. Andes left to join Heart in 1980 and Clarke, who was causing problems with his drinking, also departed. Sadly, Clarke died of liver failure in 1993.
Singer/songwriter Jay Ferguson got his start back in the mid-60s with the Beatles-inspired band called Spirit. In 1971, he moved on to form his own band, Jo Jo Gunne, which had a minor hit in 1972 with "Run, Run, Run." In 1976, Ferguson struck out on a solo career and landed his biggest hit. Lifted from his second solo effort, "Thunder Island" made a big splash at #9 in 1978. The success got the album of the same name all the way to #72, making it Ferguson's best charting record. He had one other appearance on the chart in 1979 when "Shakedown Cruise" reached #31. Ferguson was unable to strike gold again on the charts and for many people is remembered as a one-hit wonder. His final album, "White Noise," was released in 1982. "Tonite (Fallin' For Ya)" was released as a single and should have performed better. Upbeat and catchy like "Thunder Island," one wonders what an early '80s comeback might have sounded like for Ferguson. Instead, he moved on to working on soundtracks for movies and TV, most notably composing the theme to the hit show, The Office.
