Pablo Cruise

All Music Guide:

Pablo Cruise achieved some measure of success during the latter part of the '70s with their mellow, easygoing California pop. The band was formed in 1973 by former members of Stoneground and It's a Beautiful Day: guitarist Dave Jenkins, keyboardist Cory Lerios, bassist Bud Cockrell, and drummer Steve Price. The group was praised for its compositional and instrumental skill on the albums Pablo Cruise and Lifeline, and was rewarded with the Top Ten hit "Whatcha Gonna Do?" in 1977 from A Place in the Sun. Cockrell left and was replaced by former Santana bassist Bruce Day. Worlds Away went platinum, as did its predecessor, and produced three hit singles, including the Top Ten "Love Will Find a Way." By the time the '80s rolled around, the new wave movement was in full swing on the pop charts, and the group fell out of favor with the record-buying public. Several Pablo Cruise songs were used as soundtrack material for sports programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC, and the band's work also appeared in the films Free Ride, An Unmarried Woman, and Dreamer.

Wikipedia:

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). The band released its first album in 1975, a minor success self-titled Pablo Cruise, 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.

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 attempted 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.

Jenkins moved on to join country rockers Southern Pacific in 1987, alongside former Doobie Brothers Keith Knudsen and John McFee and Creedence Clearwater Revival bass player Stu Cook. After leaving Southern Pacific in 1989, Jenkins relocated to Hawaii where he was introduced to Hawaiian artist Kapono Beamer and began writing music with him. This eventually led to their album Cruisin' On Hawaiian Time (2006), a collection of songs dedicated to the Hawaiian Islands.

In the meantime, Cory Lerios worked on movie & TV scores, providing the music for the popular 90s show Baywatch, among many others.

1996 partial reunion

Around 1996, Jenkins and 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 and 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.

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 and 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). The band continues to tour, mainly in and around California.

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."