Highway Chile

Highway Chile came together in 1981, featuring vocalist Armand Vander Stigchel, guitarists Peter Barnouw and Ben Blaauw, bassist Eric Finck, and drummer Ernst Van Ee, and quickly ranked among Holland’s leading heavy rock outfits of the early 1980s next to Vandenberg and Picture. Their debut album Storybook Heroes appeared in 1983 and firmly established the group on the Euro-metal scene, opening doors to tours supporting Whitesnake, Motörhead, and Accept. An EP titled For the Wild and Lonely followed in 1984, and the 1985 LP Rockarama introduced new singer Sav Pearce, yet mounting musical differences ultimately prompted the band’s breakup the next year. Several members later achieved wider success in the more commercial Helloïse, while Highway Chile reconvened in 2002 for a special Dutch tour that produced the live album On the Road Again Live!.