Fandango

Hailing from New Jersey, the rock outfit Fandango navigated a string of setbacks and calamities across their undistinguished run, earning lasting notice chiefly as the platform that introduced vocalist Joe Lynn Turner, who subsequently lent his voice to Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen, Deep Purple, and further high-profile ensembles. Although Turner had already participated in several non-professional bands during the first half of the 1970s, it was the 1975 launch of Fandango that marked his entry into professional ranks, alongside guitarist Rick Blakemore (no relation, huge coincidence), keyboardist Denny LaRue, bassist Bob Danyls, and drummer Abe Speller—the same roster that advanced from repeated club appearances to securing a deal with RCA. Their self-titled opening release arrived in 1977, displaying a polished approach shaped equally by Boston’s crisp hard rock and the relaxed manner of the Eagles. The follow-up, Last Kiss, surfaced in 1978 and brought in drummer Lou Mondelli, keyboard player Larry Dawson, and a percussionist known only as Santos, while 1979’s One Night Stand added traces of Southern flavor reminiscent of the Allman Brothers Band; none of these efforts reached the charts or extended the group’s reach past the American Northeast. Further calamity followed when the ensemble’s tour vehicle, loaded with equipment valued at $80,000, vanished after a festival date in Chicago, compelling the members to relinquish their publishing rights for replacement funds ahead of tracking the 1980 album Cadillac. Despite the strained circumstances of that session—marked by poor atmospheres, unsuitable producers, and overall adversity—the record arguably captured the band’s strongest work, as mounting friction among the musicians, management, and label appeared to sharpen its hard-rock focus, at moments evoking the style Turner would later pursue with his immediate next collaborator. Even so, the album met the same commercial indifference, and Fandango dissolved amid broken ambitions and internal disputes shortly after its release.