Kyle Vincent

A gifted singer and tunesmith, Kyle Vincent draws from the melodic craftsmanship of 1960s and 1970s Tin Pan Alley along with power pop and soft rock lineages. Attention first came his way in the mid-1980s when he fronted the Los Angeles group Candy, after which he launched a solo path with the 1993 album Trust. A modest success arrived via the single “Wake Me Up (When the World’s Worth Waking Up For)” from 1997’s Kyle Vincent. Subsequent years brought shared stages with Barry Manilow, Rick Springfield, and Bay City Rollers, while he maintained a steady output of polished, melody-driven records such as 2005’s Don’t You Know, 2015’s Detour, and 2020’s Whatever It Takes.

Raised in Berkeley, California, Vincent encountered an eclectic blend of 1970s AM radio voices that included the Bee Gees, the Raspberries, and Elton John. Though already displaying vocal promise, he began on saxophone at age eight and concentrated on jazz under the private guidance of saxophonist Hal Stein. During his teenage years he switched to bass and joined a local punk outfit, yet continued refining his abilities through guitar instruction with Joe Satriani and vocal work with opera singer Claudine Spindt. Following high school he relocated to Los Angeles, where he served as personal assistant to cult rock figure Kim Fowley and contributed backing vocals to several Runaways tracks. Additional vocal study followed with coach Seth Riggs.

Channeling his affinity for 1970s power pop outfits such as the Raspberries and Bay City Rollers, Vincent helped form the band Candy alongside guitarist Gilby Clarke, later of Guns N’ Roses. The group cultivated a dedicated Los Angeles audience and secured a deal with Mercury/Polygram. Their 1985 debut Whatever Happened to Fun?, produced by Jimmy Lenner, yielded a music video for the title track that received MTV airplay, and the band supported Rick Springfield and Corey Hart on tour. Despite early momentum, Vincent eventually left to pursue solo endeavors.

Independently he supplied backing vocals for Kill for Thrills, the Rubinoos, and additional projects before signing with MCA. Trust, issued in 1993 and later reissued in 1999 as A Night Like This, introduced the single “Never Say Die” and reflected a more refined adult contemporary pop/rock direction. Working with producers Clif Magness and Steve Levine, the album included input from Gilby Clarke and America’s Gerry Beckley. Around this period Vincent joined Barry Manilow’s Greatest Hits & Then Some tour as opening act.

His follow-up, the self-titled Kyle Vincent from 1997 on Disney’s Hollywood Records, revisited classic 1970s soft rock and power pop textures with further appearances by Gerry Beckley and Chicago’s Robert Lamm. The track “Wake Me Up (When the World’s Worth Waking Up For),” co-written with vocalist/guitarist Parthenon Huxley, reached Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Two years afterward came his third solo effort, Wow & Flutter, on SongTree Records.

Throughout the ensuing decade Vincent issued further studio albums including 2003’s Solitary Road and 2005’s Don’t You Know, contributed to Gilby Clarke’s 2002 project Swag, and assembled three rarities collections such as 2000’s Sweet 16 and 2006’s Gathering Dust. The fifth solo album Where You Are appeared in 2009. He reinforced his standing as an exponent of 1970s pop by touring as lead singer with a reunited Bay City Rollers configuration and performing alongside Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. Multiple 1970s covers albums surfaced in the Philippines, and he maintained a regular touring schedule that often included Japan appearances with a Candy cover band. Detour arrived on SongTree in 2015, followed in 2016 by the tribute set Kyle Vincent Sings the Great Manilow Songbook. Subsequent original releases included 2018’s Miles & An Ocean and 2020’s Whatever It Takes.