Formed 1984, U.S.A.
Albums:
1989
XYZ
1991
Hungry
1995
Take What You Can Live
2003
Letter To God
2005
Rainy Days
2005
Forbidden Demos 1985/1991
History:
XYZ were an impressive hook-laden power metal band. They were considered the
unofficial house band of the Los Angeles nightclub The Whiskey in the mid 80's, but
major success eluded them.
XYZ began in Los Angeles, California, with members Terry Ilous (vocals),
Bobby Pieper (guitar), Patt Fontaine (bass) and Joey Pafumi (drums). An early development
deal with Atlantic records led to the recording of their debut album which quickly got shelved - and wouldn't
see the light of day until Rainy Days was released in 2005. After that false start Ilous and
Fontaine regrouped with new members Marc Diglio (guitar) and Paul Monroe (drums).
Don Dokken produced the debut that included the killer single "Inside Out,"
but unfortunately few people seemed interested. The follow-up Hungry did even worse commercially
then the debut and by 1992 Diglio and Monroe had been replaced by
Tony Marcus and Joey Shapiro respectively. The final tour dates were
performed and the group called it a day.
Ilous went on to form Cage with former King Kobra
member Jeff Northrup before recording as Flynn. Fontaine and
Shapiro worked together on a band called Puzzle Gut.
Ilous and Monroe re-teamed in early 2000 (with Diglio
helping to write), and with the addition of Northrup and former Quiet Riot
and Great White bassist Sean McNabb, released the exceptional
comeback album Letter To God in early 2003.
Links:
The Official XYZ Page
The Official Terry Ilous Page
The Official JK Northrup Page
One Flight Up Guitars
XYZ
Buy XYZ CDs:
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