Bob Seger
Most of us have probably heard the commercial for a popular pick-up truck with the music "Like A Rock." But Bob Seger, the artist who sings this song, is much more than a pitchman for trucks, illustrated by his long and successful rock 'n' roll career.
A platinum recording artist, Bob Seger was languishing in local bands in and around the Detroit area before hitting big time rock 'n' roll success. In 1975, with his critically acclaimed album "Beautiful Loser," the hard-rocking effort produced a single "Katmandu," which was a substantial hit in the mid west and was recorded with his newly formed band The Silver Bullet Band.
In 1976, Seger and The Silver Bullet Band released "Live Bullet," a two-album effort that was recorded live in Detroit and catapulted Seger and The Silver Bullet Band to national prominence. The album, which would eventually reach quadruple platinum status, spent years on the U.S. charts and is a mainstay in any record collection and a staple for any rock 'n' roll enthusiast.
But for Seger, the best was yet to come. With his breakthrough record album of classic blue-collar rock, the album "Nightmoves" (1976), spawned several radio-friendly hits including "Night Moves," "Mainstreet," and the edgy rocker "Rock and Roll Never Forgets," entrenching Seger further into the mainstream music audience.
In 1978, Seger released his critically acclaimed album "Strangers In Town," which further showcased Seger's great song writing skills. The highlights of this effort were top ten hits "Hollywood Nights," "Feel Like A Number," and the rock ballads "Still The Same," and "We've Got Tonight."
The Detroit rocker released his first number one album in 1980 called "Against The Wind," which produced radio hits such as "Fire Lake" (with backing vocals by Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles), "You'll Accomp'ny Me," "The Horizontal Bop," and of course the title track "Against The Wind," which peaked at number five on the Billboard charts.
Firmly established as a rock 'n' roll star, Seger continued to record and in 1981 contributed to the soundtrack for the movie "Urban Cowboy" and had hits with "Nine Tonight" and a splendid cover of "Trying To Live My Life Without You." In 1982, Seger released "The Distance," getting back to his hard-driving rock roots with the Chuck Berry-like "Makin Thunderbirds," rock anthem-like "Even Now" and a splendid cover of Rodney Crowell's "Shame On The Moon" (Glenn Frey backing vocals), which spent four weeks occupying the number 2 spot on the Billboard charts.
In 1986, Seger released his thirteenth album which spawned the hit previously mentioned "Like A Rock," the hard-rocking "Sometimes" and the beautiful ballad "Somewhere Tonight." But in 1987 Seger secured his first number one single with "Shakedown," from the movie "Beverly Hills Cop II" (starring Eddie Murphy) and the album was the number one rock album for four weeks.
This seemed to be the pinnacle of Bob Seger's career as he did not secure any more substantial hits after 1987. Although he has recorded and released a few albums since then, it seems his career had leveled off, but America rock 'n' roll is certainly richer because Bob Seger lent his song writing skills to his audiences.
Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and operates www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can secure your copy of his ebook called "The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting." Robert can be contacted at robert@collectingvinylrecords.com.