Alias (band)

Alias is a Canadian rock supergroup, formed in 1988 in Toronto by vocalist Freddy Curci and guitarist Steve DeMarchi of the Canadian arena rock band Sheriff, along with Heart founding members Roger Fisher, Steve Fossen, and Mike Derosier.[2]

Alias
OriginToronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresHard rock,[1] AOR
Years active1988–1991, 2009–present
LabelsCapitol
Associated actsSheriff, Heart
WebsiteOfficial Myspace
MembersFreddy Curci
Steve DeMarchi
Roscoe Stewart
Wolf Hassel
Chris Sutherland
Past membersDenny DeMarchi
Roger Fisher
Steve Fossen
Mike Derosier
Marco Mendoza
Larry Aberman
Robert O'Hearn

The band released its self-titled debut album in 1990 which went gold in the US and platinum in Canada, scoring hits with the power ballad "More Than Words Can Say" (#1 Canada, No. 2 U.S.), "Waiting for Love" (#13) and "Haunted Heart" (#18 on Mainstream Rock Charts). They also recorded the Tonio K song "Perfect World" for the Christina Applegate film, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.

History

Alias was founded in the late 1980s by two Canadian musicians, songwriter/lead vocalist Freddy Curci and songwriter/lead guitarist Steve DeMarchi.

Before Alias, Curci and DeMarchi were members of the Canadian rock band Sheriff, from 1979 to 1985. Sheriff's popularity in the club circuit garnered the attention of Capitol Records, which led to their self-titled album Sheriff. Sheriff's singles received a large amount of airplay and reached the No. 1 spot in Canada, due to the success of "When I'm with You". Although promotion and distribution problems stalled the record's initial American momentum, the song reached a respectable No. 61 on the Billboard charts. Reports of fans not being able to buy the record in their local shops plagued Sheriff's American tour. Rigorous touring, frustrations and disappointments caused tensions that split the band in two. In 1985, Sheriff disbanded.

After Sheriff, Curci and DeMarchi teamed up to pursue their music. With the financial backing of friends and family, and with the help of DeMarchi's brother Denny (who later played keyboard and sang backing vocals on the Alias album), they built a recording studio in the DeMarchi family home basement. They worked as couriers during the day, while continuing to write and record at night. Most of these songs would later end up on Alias' self-titled debut album.

In 1988, 3 years after Sheriff split, their song "When I'm with You" re-entered and climbed the US Billboard chart for a second time. A DJ named Jay Taylor in Las Vegas had played this song on his radio station, resulting in massive audience response and requests for the song.

In January 1989, Capitol Records made an unprecedented move and re-released the Sheriff album in the US. "When I'm with You" hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart in February 1989. Curci and DeMarchi tried to get Sheriff back together, but the other members of Sheriff, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Arnold Lanni and bassist Wolf Hassel (who had formed the successful band Frozen Ghost in 1985) were not interested. Curci and DeMarchi moved on and joined forces with ex-members of Heart: Roger Fisher, Steve Fossen and Mike Derosier, to form Alias.

In 1990, Alias released its first album, a self-titled debut recorded under the Capitol label. The album went gold in the U.S. and platinum in Canada, while several tracks enjoyed radio airplay in both countries. The power ballad "More Than Words Can Say" proved to be the band's biggest hit, climbing to number one on the Billboard Hot AC chart and number two on the Billboard Hot 100. A tour followed throughout 1990 (including a stint as the opening act for REO Speedwagon), but while touring, the trio of former Heart musicians decided to leave the band due to musical differences.

In an interview with Strutter magazine, Curci indicated that Alias was never formally disbanded:

Alias never split. Music changed. We couldn't get our music out there. No one wanted to hear it anymore. Grunge was in and, you know what, that's OK, 'cause music needs to do that. It needs to change all the time. That's how it stays fresh. Alias is still Steve and I. Alias will always be Steve and I. Steve and I will do a record tomorrow if the fans need one![3]

The band also performed twice on The Tonight Show, once with Johnny Carson and once with Jay Leno.

BMI presented Freddy Curci and Steve DeMarchi with the "Million-air award" for "More Than Words Can Say". According to BMI's website, only 1,500 songs including "When I'm With You" by Sheriff have achieved Million-air status (one million air plays) among the 4.5 million songs by 300,000 BMI represented artists. One million performances is the equivalent of approximately 50,000 broadcast hours, or more than 5.7 years of continuous airplay.[4]

In early 2005, an acoustic version of the band's hit ballad "More Than Words Can Say" was released on a VH1 compilation disc, Classic Metal Mania: Stripped.

Also in early 2005, "More Than Words Can Say" was featured in a Subway commercial aired during the Super Bowl.

Recent work

In January 2009, Alias announced the release of their long-awaited second album. This album, appropriately titled Never Say Never, was recorded in 1992 and was planned to follow their highly praised debut album, but due to the rapidly evolving music scene of that time where grunge was on the rise and metal was fading, it was never released. A few of the songs from this album were re-recorded and appeared on lead vocalist Freddy Curci's solo album Dreamer's Road, however many tracks remained unreleased until 2009.

On 6 August 2014, Alias announced on their social media page that they were to play at Sturgis Canada in Merritt BC on 21 August 2014, the first full live show for the band in many years. The reunion band members include original founding members, lead vocalist Freddy Curci and lead guitarist Steve DeMarchi, keyboardist Denny DeMarchi, guitarist Roscoe Stewart, Sheriff bassist Wolf Hassel, and drummer Chris Sutherland.

Band members
Current members
  • Freddy Curci – lead vocals, keyboards, piano, guitars (1988–1991, 2009–present)
  • Steve DeMarchi – guitar, backing vocals (1988–1991, 2009–present)
  • Roscoe Stewart – guitars (2014–present)
  • Wolf Hassel – bass (guest in 2011, 2014–present)
  • Chris Sutherland – drums (2014–present)
Former members
  • Roger Fisher – guitar, backing vocals (1988–1991)
  • Steve Fossen – bass, backing vocals (1988–1991)
  • Mike Derosier – drums (1988–1991)
  • Denny DeMarchi – keyboards (1990–1991(touring), 2009–2020; also performed session keyboards and backing vocals on Alias' debut album) (Died 2020)
  • Marco Mendoza – bass (2009–2014)
  • Larry Aberman – drums (2009–2014)
  • Robert O'Hearn – keyboards (2009–2014)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums
Title Details Peak chart
positions
DEN
[5]		 US
[6]
Alias 31 114
Never Say Never
  • Release date: 3 March 2009
  • Label: EMI Canada
  • Formats: CD, music download
 — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Album
AUS
[7]		 CAN
[8]		 CAN AC
[9]		 NZ
[10]		 UK
[11]		 US
[12]		 US AC
[13]		 US Main
[14]
1990 "More Than Words Can Say" 30 1 1 37 — 2 2 — Alias
"Haunted Heart" — — — — — — — 18
1991 "Waiting for Love" — 4 — — 87 13 17 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Other charted songs
Year Single Peak chart
positions		 Album
CAN AC
[9]		 US
[12]
1991 "Perfect World" 33 90 Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (soundtrack)

Album appearances
Year Song Album
1991 "Into the Fire" Nintendo: White Knuckle Scorin'
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gollark: I do play it.
gollark: "like in factorio"?
gollark: Also, some recipes in mods take, say, 1 redstone, to make 2 redstone.
gollark: Not *very* modded (this is on a server with ComputerCraft) but it's still a bit annoying.

See also

References
  1. "Alias | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  2. Saulnier, Jason (15 March 2012). "Roger Fisher Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  3. "Strutter Magazine Interview with Freddy Curci". Archived from the original on 22 October 2009.
  4. "Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)". BMI.com. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  5. "danishcharts.dk – Danish charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  6. "Alias Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  7. "australian-charts.com – Australian charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  8. "Results – RPM – Library and Archives Canada – Top Singles". RPM. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  9. "Results – RPM – Library and Archives Canada – Adult Contemporary". RPM. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  10. "charts.nz – New Zealand charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  11. "The Official Charts Company – Alias". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  12. "Alias Album & Song Chart History – Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  13. "Alias Album & Song Chart History – Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  14. "Alias : Allmusic : Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

Bibliography
  • Feldman, Christopher (2000). The Billboard Book of Number Two Hits. ISBN 0-8230-7695-4.
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