- Dean Fasano
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Dean Fasano Born 16 January 1955 Died 8 December 2009 Genres Hard rock, AOR, melodic rock Instruments Vocals, guitar, keyboard Years active 1980–2009 Labels Escape Music, Two Sun Songs Associated acts Message, Prophet Dean Fasano (January 16, 1955 - December 8, 2009) was the lead singer of the bands Message and Prophet. He died of coronary artery disease December 8, 2009 at the age of 54.
Contents
Early years
Fasano grew up in New Jersey, and in his youth he got interested in music and singing. His special and emotional voice was long known as one of the most distinctive voices on the New Jersey music scene. Throughout the late 70s he played in various bands with the later Bon Jovi guitarist, Richie Sambora. Fasano was usually the lead vocalist in these bands. He got a record deal with Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label, however, before they got to put out an album, Led Zeppelin's drummer, John Bonham died, and the label disbanded, as would the band later.
The 80s
In 1980 Fasano decided to put a band together; he brought in Richie Sambora, former Phantom's Opera bassist Alec John Such, drummer Andy Rubo of the circuit band Flossie, and Simon from Rivendell. Bruce Foster, who had worked a lot with Richie Sambora, and who had also appeared on the debut KISS album, also came to play keyboard on some songs. They decided to call the band Message. They had their own company, their own publishing deal. Therefore, they weren't capable of putting out many records. Their first album was self titled, they pressed about 1800 copies and they sold it out of the trunk of their car.
In 1982, the band managed to get some concert dates as an opening act for Joe Cocker, who was doing a small scale tour. The band got a great reception; however, they had to quit touring, due to the fact that the money ran out. They went back to Sayreville, New Jersey, to continue to play in clubs and rehearse songs. In one of those clubs, the band ran into a band called "Jon Bon Jovi and the Wild Ones". Because of that meeting, Jon Bon Jovi would call upon Richie Sambora and Alec John Such, who played in Message at that time, in 1983 when he put together a band to support his single "Runaway". Message disbanded.
Since European labels had great interest in his band, an official release with Message bootlegs was put out shortly after the disbanding of the band. In the first five days, the album sold 8,600 copies, and it hit the charts in some countries.
Shortly after The Message broke up, asano got together with a band called "Prophet (band)Prophet". The band featured Fasano (as a lead and backing vocalist), Ken Dubman (guitarist), Scott Metaxas (guitarist and bassist), Mike Brown (Bassist)from Phantoms Opera, Joe Zujkowski (keyboard), and Ted Poley (drummer and lead vocalist). They released a self titled album in 1985 through the label RCA Record. The album did well in Europe, and they released a single called "Everything You Are to Me" where Fasano sings the lead. They also made a music video to this song. Fasano did not sing lead on all of the songs on "Prophet". He sang lead on "Street Secrets", "Power Play", and "Everything You Are to Me", "Away From You" and "Sail Away". He was replaced by Russel Arcara.
The 80s and 90s
Throughout the 80s and 90s, Fasano worked with various musicians, both as a musician and as a producer. He recorded songs with bands like Phantom's Opera and Adrian Dodz. He also started a new company, and he began to work with a new Message album. In 1990, Fasano teamed up with Richie Sambora and Fasano did background vocals on Sambora's first solo album, Stranger in This Town. He also did background vocals on Jon Bon Jovi's second solo album, Destination Anywhere, which came out in 1997. Two years earlier, the first Message album was re-released throughout Long Island Records. It was released on 31 August 1995, in Germany. This album contained songs like "Any Other Girl" written by Dean Fasano, M. Marconi, M. Terpos & L. Terpos, "Is There Love" written by Richie Sambora and "It Won’t Be Long" written by Dean Fasano.
In 1998, Fasano teamed up with Mike Walsh (guitar, keyboard and bass), Tom DeRossi (guitar), Jeff Thompsen (bass), Steve D'Acurtis (guitar, bass and sitar) and other musicians to release another album with Message. The album came out in 1998 and was released through Escape Music. The album was called Fine Line and consisted of many hard rock ballads.
The 2000s
In 2000 he released two Message albums. He did another re-release on the first Message album. He called it Lessons and this release had four bonus songs. All the songs on this album were recorded around 1982-1983. As the previous Message album, this was released through Escape Music. The musicians that appear on this album is Dean Fasano (lead vocals and guitar), Richie Sambora (guitar), Alec John Such (bass), Bruce Foster (Acoustic and electric piano and prophet 5), Simon Gannet (organ) and Andy Rubbo (drums).
The other Message album that was released that year was called Outside Looking In. This time, Message consisted of Dean Fasano (lead vocals and keyboards), Tim Hewitt (bass), Aaron Anderson (drums, percussions), Steve Morris (guitar and keyboard), Chris Ousey (harmony and backing vocals) and David Chapman (keyboards). This would be the last Message studio album.
In 2006 Fasano decided to put together a live album. It was released the same year, simply called "Message Live". The musicians that played on this album were Dean Fasano (lead vocals and additional keys), Richie Sambora (guitar and lead vocals), Alec John Such (bass), Dennis Amorusso (keys and saxophone) and Vinnie Sisser (drums).
Family
Fasano married Geri Fasano, and he had three children with her; Jake Fasano, Chaz Fasano and Max Fasano. He lived in Woodbridge, New Jersey until his death in 2009.
Death
On December 10, 2009 this message was posted on Dean Fasano’s MySpace profile;
To everyone that has supported Dean Fasano and befriended him, God Bless You!! Dean passed away this morning. Say a pray for my brotha Dean and for his family
.
It was later known that Dean Fasano had died from Coronary artery disease on December 8, 2009 11:24 pm. He became only 54 years old. It was held a memorial service for him the following Saturday.
Discography
Studio albums
- Message - around 1980, unknown label
- Prophet - 1985, Total Experience Records
- Message - 1995, Long Island Records
- Fine Line - 1998, Escape Music
- Lessons - 2000, Escape Music
- Outside Looking In - 2000, Escape Music
Live albums
- Message Live - 2006, Two Sun Songs
External links
Categories:- 1955 births
- 2009 deaths
- American rock music groups
- American singer-songwriters
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