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.
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