Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania‘s BANG is one of the more important bands in the history of rock and roll. There, I said it and you read it right.
The band released three full-length albums for Capitol Records in the early 1970s where diehard, well-informed, and active band-seekers discovered BANG. But first, before all that, the ultimate boost occurred when BANG – at that time, Frank Ferrera (vocals, bass), Frank Gilcken (guitar), and Tony Diorio (drums) – brazenly got themselves added to a 1971 Rod Stewart & Small Faces show in Florida. The rest is rock ‘n roll history as they say.
That event opened the door for BANG to gain serious traction, they were soon sharing stages with Deep Purple, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Three Dog Night, and many other greats of that time. Eventually, Capitol Records signed them where the three aforementioned LPs were released: ‘Bang’ (1972), which charted at #164 on Billboard’s Top 200, ‘Mother/Bow To The King’ (1972), and ‘Music’ (1973).
In time, BANG would disband with the members pursuing other musical projects and interests but the band’s legend would only grow. BANG became one of the heavy rock underground’s most revered acts over the years since that time, achieving a cult-like status with fans of classic rock and proto-metal around the world. Thankfully, BANG surprised everyone when they reunited in 1996 and have been playing live shows on a regular basis since. Their status and standing in the contemporary age are both highly revered with music lovers old and new, all while demand for a comprehensive collection of BANG music has exploded.
This past Friday, April 20th, 2018, saw that clamor answered with Ripple Music releasing the absolute must-have BANG collection, ‘The Best Of Bang‘ (streaming below).
Now available everywhere on gatefold Double-LP vinyl, this compilation is full of rare photos, adorned with a cover featuring the original BANG Girl, and contains liner notes by esteemed music journalist, Sleezegrinder. ‘The Best Of Bang’ is also being released on digipack CD and all digital music formats worldwide via MVD Distribution, Plastic Head (UK), H’art (Germany / France), Goodfellows (Italy), Suburban (Benelux), and Borders (Sweden) Distributors.
This and all Ripple releases are available via the Ripple Music Webstore and Ripple Music Bandcamp pages.
Tracklist:
Death Of A Country *
No Trespassing *
My Window *
Lions, Christians ^
The Queen ^
Redman ^
Our Home ^
Questions ^
Mother #
Keep On #
Humble #
Idealist Realist #
Feel The Hurt #
Windfare +
Exactly Who I Am +
Don’t Need Nobody +
Feels Nice %
Slow Down %
* – from 1971’s ‘Death Of A Country’
^ – from 1971’s ‘Bang’ (self-titled)
# – from 1972’s ‘Mother/Bow To The King’
+ – from 1973’s ‘Music’
% – lost singles
