Head East

Multiple lineup shifts and stylistic experiments preceded Head East’s stabilization in St. Louis during the early 1970s, when the hard-rock quintet coalesced around University of Illinois alumni John Schlitt on vocals, Mike Somerville on guitar, Roger Boyd on keyboards, Dan Birney on bass, and Steve Huston on drums. The group cut its debut album, Flat as a Pancake, independently and issued it on the self-owned Pyramid Records imprint in early 1975. Radio interest in the track “Never Been Any Reason” prompted A&M Records to sign the band and reissue Flat as a Pancake in June 1975. Both that single and “Love Me Tonight” registered modest entries on the pop charts, while the album itself lingered on the charts for six months and ultimately earned gold certification. Get Yourself Up (April 1976) and Gettin’ Lucky (March 1977) achieved smaller returns, yet the self-titled Head East (February 1978) climbed into the upper half of the Top 100 on the strength of the minor single “Since You Been Gone.” The double-LP Head East Live! (January 1979) likewise entered the Top 100, as did A Different Kind of Crazy (October 1979); the band also contributed to the soundtrack of the 1979 comic anthology film J-Men Forever!. By year’s end, however, Birney and Somerville departed, and Schlitt joined the Christian rock outfit Petra. Boyd and Huston brought in Mark Boatman, Tony Gross, and Dan Odum to record U.S. 1 (October 1980), Head East’s final charting album and its last newly recorded effort for A&M, which appeared only briefly on the charts. In the years after its commercial peak, Boyd steered ongoing tours and sessions for independent labels. The band received induction into the Iowa Rock & Roll Music Association’s Hall of Fame in 2011.