Dennis Frederiksen
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| This article possibly contains original research. (December 2007) |
Dennis Hardy "Fergie" Frederiksen (born May 15, 1951) is an American singer who was the lead vocalist for AOR bands Angel, Le Roux, and Toto in the 80's. He got his start in the mid to late 70's fronting Chicago pomp-rock bands MSFunk and Trillion and was also the background vocalist for Survivor. From 1975 to 1985, Frederiksen was one of the busiest musicians in the business, fronting no less than seven musical outlets. He is also noteworthy for being one of the only singers in history to score hit singles in three consecutive years all with different bands. He achieved this rare feat with Survivor's "American Heartbeat" in 1982, Le Roux's "Carrie's Gone" in 1983, and Toto's "Stranger in Town" in 1984.
Biography
In 1975, while he was still attending college at Central Michigan, Frederiksen was asked by his friend Tommy Shaw to replace him as the lead vocalist for the band MSFunk, as Shaw was leaving to join Styx. Frederiksen was with MSFunk for a year before disbanding in 1976. While living in Chicago, he got wind of another local band called Trillion who was looking for a lead vocalist as well. This band included keyboardist Patrick Leonard, who would go on to produce many of Madonna's albums. Trillion's debut album, which was produced by Gary Lyons (producer of Foreigner's debut album), was released in 1978. Frederiksen would leave the band soon after, citing his having to commute back and forth between college and recording as the main reason. After completing school, Frederiksen started focussing mainly on session work; primarily movie soundtracks. He did, however, record a solo album in 1981 with his friend Mark Christian under the alias of David London. The album landed in the hands of Angel keyboardist Greg Giuffria, and Frederiksen became the band's new lead singer. It was in this line-up of Angel where Frederiksen would meet bassist Ricky Phillips. The two would become long-time friends and would collaborate on many future projects. Although this line-up would not complete an official album, three songs were recorded and are avaliable as part of the Angel Rarities Collection. It was around this time that Frederiksen was considered as the new lead vocalist for the band Survivor by its founder Jim Peterik. Ultimately, the band stuck with original lead vocalist Dave Bickler, and Frederiksen would provide background vocals. The band's third album Eye of the Tiger was released in 1982. It jumped to #2 on the Billboard charts on the strength of the #1 hit title song that was also the theme song to Rocky III. The album's second single "American Heartbeat" also charted in the top 20. Frederiksen would eventually receive a call from long-time friend Bobby Kimball, former lead singer of The Levee Band, aka Le Roux. Kimball, who was currently the lead vocalist for Toto, let Frederiksen know that Jeff Pollard had recently left Le Roux and a lead vocal spot had opened up. Frederiksen became Le Roux's new front-man. So Fired Up, the band's fifth album, was released in 1983. It included the hit song "Carrie's Gone", which Frederiksen wrote after breaking up with Carol Burnett's daughter Carrie Hamilton. Shortly after a feud with RCA Records, the band was dropped from the label and would eventually call it quits before returning to the studio a decade later. Meanwhile, Frederiksen would reuinite with Ricky Phillips to start a brand new band called Abandon Shame. The band would work primarily on two songs written by Greg Giuffria during the Angel sessions that would eventually show up on Phillips' and Frederiksen's collaboration album a decade later. That's when Frederiksen's friend Bobby Kimball was arrested on charges of marijuana possession, leaving Toto without a lead singer. Phillips, who was friends with Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, gave him a Frederiksen demo. The band would invite Frederiksen to come audition for the lead spot. He got the job, and the band would record and release their fifth album Isolation in 1984. It included the hit song Stranger in Town and quickly went Gold. After touring with Toto through 1985, Frederiksen left the band, mainly due to tensions with guitarist Steve Lukather. After 11 years in the music industy, Frederiksen unofficially retired and started focussing heavily on the restaurant business with his father. He would, however, return to music in the mid-90's.
Frederiksen is involved in increasing awareness of Hepatitis C through benefit shows for the American Liver Foundation.
Discography
1976: MSFunk: MSFunk**
1978: Trillion: Trillion
1980: David London: Can't Stop the Music
1981: David London: David London
1981: Angel: Whips, Troubleshooter, and Should Have Known Better**
1982: Survivor: Eye of the Tiger*
1983: Le Roux: So Fired Up
198?: Le Roux: AOR Live (Not released until 2000)
1984: Abandon Shame: Baby Blue Eyes and Captured**
1984: Toto: Isolation
1984: Toto: Dune Soundtrack*
1985: Toto: Live at Castle Hall, Osaka, Japan**
1985: Toto: Live at Budokan, Tokyo, Japan**
1986: Toto: Fahrenheit*
1987: RTZ: RTZ**
1988: Karo: Heavy Birthday*
1995: Frederiksen/Phillips: Frederiksen/Phillips
1997: Joseph Williams: 3*
1999: Fergie Frederiksen: Equilibrium
1999: Fergie Frederiksen: Stockholm, SE**
2000: World Classic Rockers: World Classic Rockers Vol. 1
2001: Radioactive: Ceremony of Innocence
2002: Mecca: Mecca
2003: Radioactive: Yeah
2003: World Classic Rockers: World Classic Rockers Vol. 2
2004: AOR: Nothing But the Best
2005: Radioactive: Taken
2005: Northern Light: Northern Light
2007: Frederiksen/Denander: Baptism By Fire
2009: Myland: No Man's Land
2009: AOR: Journey to L.A.
-**indicates bootlegs or demos, *indicates background vocals
References
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. |
- source - musicmight.com
- source - angelrocks.com
- source - laleroux.com
- source - toto99.com