Pablo Cruise

Pablo Cruise
Pablo Cruise founding members' bow Photo: Floyd J. Jasinski, MYi2U
Background information
Origin	San Francisco Bay Area
Genres	Pop, rock, blue eyed soul
Years active	1973–1986, 1996–present
Labels	A&M
Associated acts	Stoneground It's a Beautiful Day Southern Pacific
Website	www.pablocruise.com
Members
David Jenkins Cory Lerios Steve Price Larry Antonino
Past members
Bud Cockrell Bruce Day John Pierce Angelo Rossi David Perper Stef Birnbaum Ken Emerson George Gabriel

Pablo Cruise is a pop/rock band currently composed of David Jenkins (guitar and vocals), Cory Lerios (keyboards and vocals), Steve Price (drums) and Larry Antonino (bass and vocals). Formed in 1973, the band released eight studio albums over the next decade, during which time four singles reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The group underwent several personnel changes and split up in 1986. The original lineup - Jenkins, Lerios, Price and Bud Cockrell - reunited in 2004.

History

Pablo Cruise began in 1973 with former members of Stoneground (Cory Lerios on keyboards and vocals, David Jenkins as vocalist and on guitar, and Steve Price on drums) and It's a Beautiful Day (Bud Cockrell on bass and vocals).^[1] The band released its first album in 1975, a minor success self-titled Pablo Cruise,^[2] and their second album in 1976, titled Lifeline. Their second album achieved slightly higher success than their first but still only managed to chart at #139 in the United States.

1977's A Place in the Sun was the turning point in the band's career as they finally entered the mainstream music scene. With hit single "Whatcha Gonna Do?" and the title track "A Place in the Sun", the album peaked at #19 on the Billboard charts. Other chart hits followed, including "Love Will Find a Way" and "Don't Want to Live Without It" (both in 1978), "I Want You Tonight" in 1979, and "Cool Love" in 1981.^[3]

Lineup changes

Bud Cockrell was replaced by Bruce Day in 1977. Day had a short tenure and was replaced himself in 1980 by popular session bassist John Pierce. Also in 1980, the band added Angelo Rossi as an additional guitarist.

In early 1981, Price left suddenly and was succeeded by Donny Baldwin, who had played with Elvin Bishop and would move on to Jefferson Starship by the summer of 1982. David Perper was next to take over the drum throne and Angelo Rossi was replaced by Stef Birnbaum (aka Stef Burns) after just one album. In 1983, the group released Out of Our Hands and toured again that year with another new member, Jorge Bermudez on vocals & percussion. Mostly due to the rising popularity of New Wave, the album struggled with sales.

By the end of 1984, Pierce, Birnbaum and Bermudez had left.

1985 reunion

In 1985, the four original members reunited hoping to score a new record deal. It was not to be, however, and the group called it quits in 1986.^[4]

Jenkins moved on to join country rockers Southern Pacific and Lerios worked on movie & TV scores, providing the music for the popular 90s show Baywatch.

1996 partial reunion

Around 1996, Jenkins & Cockrell reunited once again as Pablo Cruise. But Lerios, at the time, was not able to rejoin due to his busy sessions schedule and Price was likewise unavailable, so keyboardist Kincaid Miller and drummer Kevin Wells were brought in. Percussionist James Henry joined in 1999. Second guitarist Ken Emerson and two additional backup singers, Caroline & Renita, were also recruited (briefly in 2002) for added stage attraction. Drummer Billy Johnson temporarily sat in for Wells in 2002.

Former Pablo bassist Bruce Day died June 30, 1999 in Windsor, CA from unknown causes. He was 48.

2004 to present

In June 2004, all four original Pablo members were back together again at Steve Price's wedding. This led to three of the four—Jenkins, Lerios and Price—deciding to reconvene permanently. Cockrell was not involved this time and George Gabriel joined on bass and vocals.

In 2010 Larry Antonino (ex-Air Supply) came in on bass in place of Gabriel, who'd left Pablo Cruise in November 2009. The band continues to tour, mainly in and around California.

Bud Cockrell died on March 6, 2010 after complications from diabetes. He was 59.

On November 8, 2011, Pablo Cruise released their very first live album, it's good to be live, on the Red Recording label. The package included both a live CD and DVD. The live performances were taken from concerts performed at the Blue Goose in Loomis, CA on July 9 & 10, 2010. The CD also featured new versions of their songs "A Place in the Sun" (featuring fellow Red Recording artist Katrina) and "Love Will Find a Way" (with Ty Taylor of Vintage Trouble).

Initially, there were many fans who were left wondering who Pablo Cruise really was. When asked the question, the band, which is a quartet, would answer, "he's the guy in the middle." When asked what Pablo Cruise meant, the band would say that "Pablo represents an honest, real, down to earth individual; and Cruise depicts his fun loving and easy going attitude towards life." ^[5]

Band members

Current members

• David Jenkins – guitar, vocals (1973–1986, 1996–present)
• Cory Lerios – keyboards, synthesizers, vocals (1973–1986, 2004–present)
• Larry Antonino – bass, vocals (2010–present)
• Steve Price – drums (1973–1981, 2004–present)

Past members

• Bud Cockrell – bass, vocals (1973–1977, 1985–1986, 1996–2004)
• Bruce Day – bass, vocals (1977–1980)
• John Pierce – bass, vocals (1980–1984)
• Angelo Rossi – guitar, vocals (1981–1982)
• David Perper – drums, percussion (1982–1984)
• Stef Birnbaum – guitar, vocals (1982–1984) (aka Stef Burns)
• Jorge Bermudez - vocals, percussion (1983–1984)
• Kincaid Miller - keyboards (1996–2004)
• Kevin Wells - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1996–2002, 2002–2004)
• James Henry - percussion (1999–2004)
• Billy Johnson - drums, percussion (2002)
• Ken Emerson - guitar, vocals (2002)
• Renita - backup vocals (2002)
• Caroline - backup vocals (2002)
• George Gabriel – bass, vocals (2004–2009)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak positions	Certifications (sales threshold)
		US
1975	Pablo Cruise Release date: 1975 Label: A&M Records	174
1976	Lifeline Release date: 1976 Label: A&M Records	139
1977	A Place in the Sun Release date: 1977 Label: A&M Records	19	CAN: Gold US: Platinum
1978	Worlds Away Release date: 1978 Label: A&M Records	6	AUS: Gold CAN: Gold US: Platinum
1979	Part of the Game Release date: 1979 Label: A&M Records	39	CAN: Gold
1981	Reflector Release date: 1981 Label: A&M Records	34
1983	Out of Our Hands Release date: 1983 Label: A&M Records	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

Year	Album details
2001	The Best of Pablo Cruise Release date: May 8, 2001 Label: A&M Records

Live Albums

Year	Album details
2011	It's Good to Be Live Release date: November 8, 2011 Label: Red General Catalog

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions			Album
		US	US Main	US R&B
1977	"Whatcha Gonna Do?"	6	—	46	A Place in the Sun
	"A Place in the Sun"	42	—	—
1978	"Don't Want to Live Without It"	21	—	—	Worlds Away
	"Love Will Find a Way"	6	—	—
	"Never Had a Love"	87	—	—	Non-album songs
1979	"I Go To Rio"	46	—	—	Worlds Away
	"I Want You Tonight"	19	—	—	Part of the Game
1981	"Cool Love"	13	23	78	Reflector
	"Slip Away"	75	—	—
1983	"Out of Our Hands"	86	—	—	Out of Our Hands
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

See also

• List of best-selling music artists

References

1. ^ Pablo Cruise at Allmusic, accessed April 6, 2007
2. ^ 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Pablo Cruise at Allmusic
3. ^ Pablo Cruise > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles at Allmusic
4. ^ The Albums of Pablo Cruise
5. ^ About Pablo Cruise

External links

• Official website