The Falcons (US band)
Introduction
The Falcons were a Los Angeles based blue-eyed soul band formed by Steven Hufsteter (guitar/composer), Marty Zucker aka Marty Martino (lead singer/saxophone) and Danny Benair (drums) who were former members of The Quick. They recruted Billy Persons (bass) and Mickey Mariano (keyboards/singer) to complete the line-up. They were ACTIVE from 1979 - 1981 filling the time gap between the Quick and the 3 o'clock.
History
The group hit the ground running due to the reputations of Hufsteter and Benair. Hufsteter, who wrote the music and lyrics, has the unique ability to write quality music in multiple genres which has become his income to this day. The L.A. music scene was at its peak during the Falcons tenure. Record company interest was thriving due to bands like the Knack who achieved national attention. Although a few bands had management and records available either on indie or corporate labels, many did not. The Falcons were one of them. All these years later thanks to fan sites, blogs, wikis etc. the band can be seen and heard again (see below)**. For those of us who went to clubs such as the Starwood, Whiskey, Madame Wong's etc. the Falcons could be seen on a regular basis either headlining or supporting their peers such as the Plimsouls and the Go-Go's. They also played the odd frat party and collage shows. Blue-eyed rock/soul bands were hard to come by which is why when Chuck Berry needed a backup band and additional support group to play a benefit concert at the Hollywood Palladium for payment of back taxes he chose the Falcons.
Epilogue
After the bands demise Benair played for the Choir Invisible. Mariano joined Great Buildings. These two joined up again in 1982 when the Salvation Army became the 3 O'Clock. Zucker relaunch the band with different members and played in a more pop vein from 1984-85. Hufsteter joined the Cruzados with Tito Larriva formally of the Plugz and later joined Tito as a member of Tito & Tarantula which he is still a contributor.
Video
The Falcons video collection at http://youtube.com/clipvault