Keel Reunion news

From Keel's website:

The Right To Rock” still echoes the sentiments of a generation and remains one of the defining anthems of 80’s Heavy Metal Music. And KEEL, the band that created it, is finally poised to revisit their legacy and reunite on stage for the first time to celebrate two decades of good music and good times. 2009 will mark the band’s 25th anniversary, and the passing of twenty years since the original lineup performed on stage together.
Ron Keel, Marc Ferrari, Bryan Jay, Dwain Miller, and new bassist Geno Arce are preparing to perform a select number of dates in 2009. Due to the high visibility the act continues to receive, the members finally feel the time is right to deliver the show fans everywhere have been clamoring for: a KEEL reunion.
In 1985, “The Right To Rock” became the fastest-selling debut album in A&M Record’s history. The title track was a hit on radio & MTV and remains a staple on VH1 Classic, in addition to the group’s subsequent hits “Tears Of Fire”, “Because The Night”, “Somebody’s Waiting”, and “Rock & Roll Outlaw”. They developed a reputation as one of the genre’s most entertaining live acts, opening for heavyweights like Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Van Halen, and many others. KEEL sold over 2 million units and was proclaimed Best New Band by Metal Edge Magazine and Circus Magazine.
Through the years, the nucleus of the band has remained close friends, working together in various musical and business enterprises. Vocalist Ron Keel has maintained a high profile with a variety of projects and has remained intensely active as a recording and touring musician. He has continued to embrace and promote his time in KEEL in countless interviews, and his live shows have proudly included the KEEL hits. Guitarists Marc Ferrari and Bryan Jay have continued to write, record, and perform and have remained in the industry via music publishing, song licensing, and other business ventures. When Ron’s band passed through LA on tour, they were joined on stage by Marc & Bryan – performing a medley of KEEL hits, and proving to themselves and the fans that the magic was still as strong as ever.
Unlike most of their contemporaries, none of the members has ever performed as KEEL since 1989. “It would not have been right,” expresses Ron. “Even though it was my last name, KEEL was a true band and I have always taken a stand against performing under that name with different musicians. I’ve had a number of bands in the years since, including Fair Game, IronHorse, and K2 – but there’s only ever been one KEEL and without Bryan, Marc, and Dwain we wouldn’t be doing this.”
Recent highlights have included KEEL’s live version of “The Right To Rock” on the “Hollywood Rocks”, boxed 4-CD collection, and the band also participated in the accompanying documentary from Cleopatra Records/Ultra Films – Ron, Marc, and Bryan contributed a candid and insightful interview segment to the project, telling tales of Metal’s heyday, and discussing their career and the possibility of a Reunion Tour.
And in 2008, for the first time ever, KEEL’s rare independent debut album “Lay Down The Law” was released on CD by Shrapnel Records, digitally remastered with new packaging.
Plans are for KEEL to reunite at a select number of festivals and showcase dates in 2009 to perform all their hits and classic favorites in celebration of 25 years of rock n roll history.

Quote :

Due to the high visibility the act continues to receive, the members finally feel the time is right to deliver the show fans everywhere have been clamoring for: a KEEL reunion.

Who in bloody hell is "clamoring" for this?

DenimAndLeather wrote:

Quote :

Due to the high visibility the act continues to receive, the members finally feel the time is right to deliver the show fans everywhere have been clamoring for: a KEEL reunion.

Who in bloody hell is "clamoring" for this?

Ron Keel's accountant

DenimAndLeather wrote:

Quote :

Due to the high visibility the act continues to receive, the members finally feel the time is right to deliver the show fans everywhere have been clamoring for: a KEEL reunion.

Who in bloody hell is "clamoring" for this?

Beat me to it. Keel was a semi-decent band, but the amount of P.R. horsesh*t being thrown around in this press release is hilarious. It makes Keel sound like they're this legendary act and that millions of people have been asking for years, "God, when the hell are KEEL gonna get back together?" when they were, at best, a cult act even in their prime.

I also call bullsh*t on the claim that they 'sold 2 million records' unless Ron and his Mom bought a few hundred thousand of each album when they came out.

I really like 80's Keel, but this is one band I could care less about reuniting.

I am with Spec, I kind of liked them in the 80's but reading this press release you would think this reunion was at the same level as Led Zeppelin or the Police.

manny wrote:

DenimAndLeather wrote:

Quote :

Due to the high visibility the act continues to receive, the members finally feel the time is right to deliver the show fans everywhere have been clamoring for: a KEEL reunion.

Who in bloody hell is "clamoring" for this?

Ron Keel's accountant

Yeah, they're gonna' make a buttload of cash.

DenimAndLeather wrote:

manny wrote:

DenimAndLeather wrote:

Quote :

Due to the high visibility the act continues to receive, the members finally feel the time is right to deliver the show fans everywhere have been clamoring for: a KEEL reunion.

Who in bloody hell is "clamoring" for this?

Ron Keel's accountant

Yeah, they're gonna' make a buttload of cash.

Quote :

Yeah, they're gonna' make a buttload of cash.

Maybe I'll be able to catch them on the State Fair circuit this summer.

DenimAndLeather wrote:

Yeah, they're gonna' make a buttload of cash.

Yea, the only way Ron and the boys are gonna make "a buttload of cash" is if they rob the box office on their way out of the Rocklahoma or Rock Gone Wild festival grounds.

I find it hard to believe that Keel sold 2 million albums. I didn't even think any of their albums went gold, as far as the best selling debut on MCA, wasn't the label once nick named Music Cemetary Association.

What I remember about Keel in the 80's was their name was always mentioned in the rock magazines, but you rarely ever seen them on MTV. So the sales numbers sound a bit padded.

If I remember right I liked them well enough back in the day, but haven't heard them in years and years. I did like Steeler. I guess his country/western act as Ronnie Lee Keel didn't pan out so well.

Ron lives here in Vegas and talk about an ego problem. He's in a band here called K2 which is ok I guess but kinda... I don;t know what to call it. Its just rock though.

Is that Malcolm In The Middle on the far left and the Cowardly Lion on the far right? Yikes!

HAHAHA Seems like it. HAHA!

Lurideath wrote:

Ron lives here in Vegas and talk about an ego problem. He's in a band here called K2 which is ok I guess but kinda... I don;t know what to call it. Its just rock though.

That Sam McCaslin guy who plays keyboards for Ron is also the owner/operator of Retrospect Records, by the way.

Quote :

That Sam McCaslin guy who plays keyboards for Ron is also the man in charge of Retrospect Records, by the way.

I didn't notice that. No wonder he released that two CD set of Ron's.

I used to LOVE the band KEEL back in the day...The Right To Rock and The Final Frontier were mainstays in my cassette collection...my first reaction is that a reunion is kinda pointless...but, as long as they're having fun...

spectrefate wrote:

Quote :

That Sam McCaslin guy who plays keyboards for Ron is also the man in charge of Retrospect Records, by the way.

I didn't notice that. No wonder he released that two CD set of Ron's.

I am sure the sells of these two CD's help account for those 2 million albums sold.

Re reading this thread Ron Keel had a country act going as Ronnie Le Keel? Is this a joke? Ronnie Le Keel?!?!?!? Is it as horrible as I imagine it to be?

manny wrote:

Re reading this thread Ron Keel had a country act going as Ronnie Le Keel? Is this a joke? Ronnie Le Keel?!?!?!? Is it as horrible as I imagine it to be?

I have heard the Ronnie Lee Keel CD and yes, it's just as horrible as you imagine. He recorded it in the mid 90s and it was basic, by the numbers, "Oh-Lord-how-I-Wish-I-Was-Garth-Brooks-Please-Buy-My-Record-because-I-really-really-really-sound-like-him-look-I'm-even-wearing-a-black-cowboy-hat-just-like-Garth-does" radio friendly country stuff.

A while back I also read that he portrayed one of the Brooks & Dunn guys (I don't know which one is Brooks and which is Dunn) in some kind of "Legends of Country" tribute show that plays around Vegas.

Dunn is the one with the bad hairdo and Brooks is the one with the cowboy hat.

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

Re reading this thread Ron Keel had a country act going as Ronnie Le Keel? Is this a joke? Ronnie Le Keel?!?!?!? Is it as horrible as I imagine it to be?

I have heard the Ronnie Lee Keel CD and yes, it's just as horrible as you imagine. He recorded it in the mid 90s and it was basic, by the numbers, "Oh-Lord-how-I-Wish-I-Was-Garth-Brooks-Please-Buy-My-Record-because-I-really-really-really-sound-like-him-look-I'm-even-wearing-a-black-cowboy-hat-just-like-Garth-does" radio friendly country stuff.

A while back I also read that he portrayed one of the Brooks & Dunn guys (I don't know which one is Brooks and which is Dunn) in some kind of "Legends of Country" tribute show that plays around Vegas.

It sounds like Ron Keel would jump on any band wagon in hopes that he gets some notice, sad. I am surprised Ron Keel did not try to get into gangsta rap in the 90's or maybe jump on the alternative nation bandwagon, formed Keel's Addiction or re write his classic track has 'The Right to Rap'

It's too bad that he is turning into a joke. Those first couple of Keel albums were pretty good. I guess I need to pull those old records off the shelf and spin them again and see what they sound like now