John Steel (drummer)
For other persons named John Steel, see John Steel (disambiguation).
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John Steel (born 4 February 1941, Gateshead, England) was the original drummer of the band, The Animals, and is the owner of the rights to the band's name, by virtue of a trademark registration.
History
Initial Association With Eric Burdon
Steel went to the Gateshead Grammar School. He met the future lead singer of The Animals, Eric Burdon, while they were studying together at the Newcastle College of Art and Industrial Design.
Originally a trumpeter, he and Burdon formed a jazz group in January 1957 called The Pagan Jazzmen. They soon switched instruments and embraced the new rock 'n' roll explosion, when they became The Pagans.
Joining With Alan Price
In March 1959, Steel and Burdon met Alan Price at a church hop in Byker, Newcastle, and joined forces. The band went through many name changes and different personnel until, as The Kansas City 5, they broke up on Friday 18 May 1962.
Alan Price to The Animals
In 1962 Price formed The Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo. John Steel then replaced Barry Preston as the drummer of the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo (later to become The Animals) in August 1963.
Steel went on to play and record with them until March 1966. His last charted single with the group was "Inside Looking Out".
Post 1966: Business and Music
Subsequently Steel returned to Newcastle and became a businessman, while also working in former bandmate Chas Chandler's management and publishing organisations. In 1971 Chandler introduced him to Eggs over Easy, with whom he played as they started the pub rock music genre. Over the years Steel has remained active as a part-time local drummer and has joined several Animals' reunion incarnations.
Revisiting The Animals: 1993 - Present
Steel has toured since 1993 as the drummer with variations of The Animals line-up, including Hilton Valentine, Dave Rowberry, Zoot Money and Mick Gallagher. In 1993, Hilton Valentine formed "Animals II" and was joined by John Steel in 1994 and Dave Rowberry in 1999. Other members of this version of the band include Steve Hutchinson, Steve Dawson and Martin Bland. From 1999 until Valentine's departure in 2001. the band toured as The Animals. After Valentine left these Animals in 2001, Steel and Rowberry continued on as "Animals and Friends", with Peter Barton, Jim Rodford and John Williamson. When Rowberry died in 2003, he was replaced by Mickey Gallagher (who had briefly replaced Alan Price in 1965). Animals and Friends continues to perform today, and frequently plays engagements on a Color Line ship that travels between Scandinavia and Germany.[1]
Ownership of Band Name
In 2008, an adjudicator determined that John Steel owned "The Animals" name in England, by virtue of a trademark registration Steel had made in relation to the name. Eric Burdon had objected to the trademark registration, arguing that Burdon personally embodied any goodwill associated with "The Animals" name. Burdon's argument was rejected, in part based on the fact that he had billed himself as "Eric Burdon and The Animals" as early as 1967, thus separating the goodwill associated with his own name from that of the band.[2][3]
References
- ^ Details of The Animals, 1993 and following years, taken from The Animals page.
- ^ Animal rights The Daily Mail UK
- ^ An analogous situation occurred around the same period, when Diana Ross separated herself from The Supremes and the act was billed as "Diana Ross and The Supremes". The Supremes later continued as a separate entity, without Ross, in the same way that several versions of The Animals existed without Eric Burdon. See The Supremes. Details, including footnote, taken from The Animals page.
External links
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