Marc Storace
Encyclopedia
Marc Storace is a Maltese rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 vocalist and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

. His career in music started in the 1960s, but he is most noted for his position as frontman, lead singer and songwriter of Swiss hard rock band Krokus
Krokus (band)
Krokus is a hard rock/heavy metal band from Switzerland. They enjoyed moderate success in North America during the 1980s.Krokus was founded in Solothurn in 1974 by bassist Chris von Rohr and guitarist Tommy Kiefer...

 from 1980. Before joining Krokus he sang with the Swiss progressive rockers TEA following smaller bands - including one he had formed himself in London. He has since also undertaken a solo project, duets and an acoustical project. He also had some close encounters with the classical world and has worked with numerous other rock acts as both a writer and a singer.

Marc has a very high, three octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...

 voice, making him a very distinct vocalist, and has been compared to AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

's former lead singer Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...

 or Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

's Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...

 in terms of vocal style, sharing many of their vocal qualities. Since he began singing professionally in the 1970s, his style and voice have remained largely the same, with a noticeable increase of character, through maturity and years of live and studio experience.

Marc has recently played a major role in the Swiss-German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 films Anuk and Handyman, in which he acted as well as writing and performing songs for the film's soundtracks.

Early life

Born as one of six children to Anthony Storace and Edna Crockford on the Mediterranean island of Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, Marc taught himself to sing at a fairly early age. His life in music began at the age of fourteen when he made his first live performances with two local bands - Stonehenge Union (who covered the likes of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

 and The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...

) and The Boys (who covered some of the same songs, as well as chart material and more vocally challenging songs). In the late sixties, The Boys (still with Marc as lead vocalist) changed their name to Cinnamon Hades, and changed their genre to cover hard rock acts such as Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

 and The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

.

After these early experiences, and wanting to make a career out of his talent, he moved to London, England, in 1970.

Further on in his career, after joining Krokus, many people who heard Marc sing thought that he sounded like Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...

 of AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

. He did not take this as a compliment at the time, saying that, with all respect to Bon, he had his own singing identity. In fact, Marc was later approached to audition for the frontman job with AC/DC after Bon's tragic death, but Krokus was enjoying a very fast increase in success and Marc's loyalty to his bandmates meant a lot to him.

Early career

At the end of 1971, Marc joined Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band TEA. With them, he toured with big acts such as Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

 and Nazareth
Nazareth (band)
Nazareth is a Scottish hard rock band, founded in 1968, that had several hits in the UK in the early 1970s, and established an international audience with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog. Perhaps their best-known hit single was a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts", in 1975...

, and released three studio albums: Sprouts, The Ship and Tax Exiles. All were produced by Dieter Dierks, at that time the man behind the Scorpions. For a while, TEA became Switzerland's rock Flagship, performing as far as Hamburg, London or Glasgow.

In 1976, TEA performed their last tour, taking Krokus on-the-road as supporting act. His friendly encounters with the Krokus bandmembers were the seeds to what followed later on. He returned to London and formed the band Eazy Money. Their song "Telephone Man" was included on a Metal-Music-Compilation album called Metal for Muthas Vol.2. In 1979, he received a phone call from Krokus
Krokus (band)
Krokus is a hard rock/heavy metal band from Switzerland. They enjoyed moderate success in North America during the 1980s.Krokus was founded in Solothurn in 1974 by bassist Chris von Rohr and guitarist Tommy Kiefer...

 who were looking for a new singer and invited him to a "weekend jam" in Switzerland. After a very exciting weekend session both Marc and Krokus were pleased with the outcome and he was heartily initiated into the band.

1980-88

In 1980, Marc recorded and released his first album with Krokus, Metal Rendez-vous
Metal Rendez-vous
Metal Rendez-vous is Krokus' fourth album, and the first to feature Marc Storace on vocals. It was released in 1980. The track Heatstrokes charted number one in the British Heavy Metal Charts, and arguably opened up markets for Krokus in Britain and the United States, along with Bedside Radio and...

. It was Krokus's first big hit, and made it to triple platinum status. With Marc, Krokus's success increased dramatically, and from then until 1988 they toured extensively around the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, with tours lasting up to around nine months at a time, as well as releasing a further six studio albums (Hardware
Hardware (album)
Hardware is the fifth album by Krokus. It did not match up to the success of their previous album, Metal Rendez-vous.- Track listing :# "Celebration" - 3:23# "Easy Rocker" - 5:28...

, One Vice at a Time
One Vice at a Time
One Vice at a Time is Krokus' sixth album, released in 1982 on Arista Records. It was the first album to feature Mark Kohler on rhythm guitar. It includes a cover of The Guess Who's song "American Woman", and a song "Rock N' Roll" which is very similar to the Led Zeppelin song "Rock And Roll"...

, Headhunter
Headhunter (album)
Headhunter is the seventh album by Krokus and was released in 1983. It achieved Gold status in the United States. The track "Screaming in the Night" was the band's biggest hit to date, and is still played on classic rock radio stations...

, The Blitz, Change of Address
Change of Address
Change of Address is Krokus' ninth album, and is largely seen to be their least successful. It has been described as "plainly one of the worst efforts" from Krokus, and the band's website claims that they and their musical style were put under too much pressure from their record company...

and Heart Attack
Heart Attack (album)
Heart Attack is Krokus' tenth studio album, and is described by the band as "The last attempt to keep the band together in a deep crisis"....

) and one live album (Alive & Screamin'
Alive & Screamin'
Alive & Screamin' is hard rock band Krokus' first live album, recorded on their tour of the United States and Canada in 1986.- Track listing :# "Long Stick Goes Boom" – 5:33# "Eat the Rich" – 4:57# "Screaming in the Night" – 6:02...

). This intense period or touring and recording naturally wore the band out, and they went on hiatus at the end of 1988.

1994-Present

In 1994, Marc encouraged fellow ex-Krokus member Fernando Von Arb
Fernando Von Arb
Fernando von Arb or simply FVA, is a Swiss guitarist, songwriter and producer. He is known for the consistency of being the Swiss based, hard-rock guitarist of Krokus.- Career :...

 to re-form the band, and so a reunion tour commenced. It went very well, and in 1995, Krokus released another studio album, To Rock or Not to Be
To Rock or Not to Be
To Rock or Not to Be is a 1995 album by Krokus. The album stayed seven weeks in the top ten of the Swiss charts, peaking at number 5.- Track listing :#"Lion Heart" - 5:16...

. Though this album was not as successful as some of those before it, it brought the band back together and they began touring again, with Marc once again the frontman. The year 2002 saw Krokus, with an altered line-up to that of the 1988 hiatus and 1994 return, begin touring Europe once more. Their long awaited comeback in the USA began in September 2005. To date, Marc has been the Krokus vocalist for twenty-six years, recording 12 albums and extensively touring Europe, the United States and Canada.

Solo project

In spring 1989, Marc returned to Switzerland and wrote songs for his first solo project, The Blue Album. It contained a collection of pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 influenced rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, and was released in 1991 by the short-lived record company Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....

. It was re-released in 1998 under the name Vergeat-Storace (Vergeat was Marc's guitar player and co-songwriter during the project) at the time.

Various guest vocal projects

Shortly after AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

 vocalist Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...

's death in 1980, Marc was offered the vacancy in the band, but he turned it down because things were going extremely good at the time for Krokus. He also claimed that, besides his feelings of loyalty to his mates, he felt his band was going to continue to get bigger.

In 1993, Marc joined up as guest with the Swiss rock band China. A live album of their one and only tour with Marc in 1993 was eventually released on CD as "Live!" in 2000 (the live radio broadcast of the event was also released on the label Phonag Records). Shortly after Marc left the band, they split up due to the fact (according to Marc) that their use of a different vocalist for each of their albums meant that they could not establish a solid identity in the music world. A "Best of China" album was recently released by Universal Records in Switzerland.

With China's guitarists Freddie Lawrence and Claudio Matteo, Marc formed Acoustical Mountain that same year. This trio, performing without drums, played rock 'n' roll classics around Switzerland but never released any albums of their own, making them a "live-only" project. They split and then reformed in 1995, this time with China's bassist Brian Kofmehl replacing Freddie, who moved on to join Swiss melodic-rockers Gotthard
Gotthard (band)
Gotthard is a Swiss hard rock/heavy metal band founded in Lugano by Steve Lee and Leo Leoni. Their last eleven albums have all reached number 1 in the Swiss album charts, making them one of the most successful Swiss acts ever....

. Storace and Claudio today still perform regularly all over Switzerland as Acoustical Mountain, sometimes taking Charly Preissel along as 2nd guitarist. [www.acoustical-mountain.com]

In 1994, Marc, alongside the Krokus Reunion, became part of Manfred Ehlert's Amen and released an album with them in the same year in Switzerland. Marc was the lead vocalist along with Glenn Hughes, and together they performed rock songs with a light touch of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

. Marc's second album with them - Aguilar - was released in 1996, but this time it was sung by Marc alone (bar one track that again featured Glenn Hughes).

In 2003, parallel to Krokus commitments, Marc wrote and recorded with Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 based metal rockers Warrior
Warrior (band)
-History:Warrior is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1982.As was the case with contemporaries Ratt and Rough Cutt, the group's core - guitarists Joe Floyd and Tommy Asakawa, bassist Rick Bennett and vocalist Parramore McCarty - was made up of San Diego, CA...

. This adventure resulted in the one-off album The Wars of Gods and Men
The Wars of Gods and Men
The Wars of Gods and Men is the fourth album by American band Warrior. It is the first and only album to feature vocalist Marc Storace of Krokus fame.- Track listing :#The Wars Of Gods And Men - 04:54 -#Do It Now - 03:14 -...

. He greatly enjoyed his Los Angeles stay which enabled him to do some filming for a planned Krokus movie, but also catch up with old Stateside friends. He experienced working with American guitarist and founding member Joe Floyd. This album was unique in portraying yet unexplored dimensions from the singer's vocals abilities. It was released in the USA and Switzerland in 2004.

November 2004 saw German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 producer Michael Voss
Michael Voss
Michael Voss is the senior coach of the Brisbane Lions Australian Football League team and a former professional Australian rules footballer....

 ask Marc to sing on the new album of the band Biss, titled Face-off, which was released in 2005. It was a melodic rock album with powerful riffs and melodies, and Marc said that he felt that the songs were "too good to be true". *Face-Off* was released in May 2005.

The following year, 2006, saw yet another release by BISS featuring Marc on vocals again with the album X-Tension, and again, he collaborated with some of the songwriting. [www.b-i-s-s.com]

Anuk

In 2006, Marc took part in the German Film Anuk, playing the part of Geisterzunge, a tribal medicine-man. Produced by Luke Gasser (who also plays the lead role), the film tells the story of a Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 tribe trying to save itself from eradication by maurauding horsemen. Marc helped to write the soundtrack also, and he sings on the song "On My Own" (which he also wrote) along with Gasser and Doro Pesch
Doro (musician)
Dorothee Pesch , popularly known as Doro Pesch or Doro, is a female rock vocalist, formerly of the German heavy metal band Warlock ....

. His chanting can also be heard on the film trailer.

Krokus

Title Year
Metal Rendez-vous
Metal Rendez-vous
Metal Rendez-vous is Krokus' fourth album, and the first to feature Marc Storace on vocals. It was released in 1980. The track Heatstrokes charted number one in the British Heavy Metal Charts, and arguably opened up markets for Krokus in Britain and the United States, along with Bedside Radio and...

1980
Hardware
Hardware (album)
Hardware is the fifth album by Krokus. It did not match up to the success of their previous album, Metal Rendez-vous.- Track listing :# "Celebration" - 3:23# "Easy Rocker" - 5:28...

1981
One Vice at a Time
One Vice at a Time
One Vice at a Time is Krokus' sixth album, released in 1982 on Arista Records. It was the first album to feature Mark Kohler on rhythm guitar. It includes a cover of The Guess Who's song "American Woman", and a song "Rock N' Roll" which is very similar to the Led Zeppelin song "Rock And Roll"...

1982
Headhunter
Headhunter (album)
Headhunter is the seventh album by Krokus and was released in 1983. It achieved Gold status in the United States. The track "Screaming in the Night" was the band's biggest hit to date, and is still played on classic rock radio stations...

1983
The Blitz 1984
Change of Address
Change of Address
Change of Address is Krokus' ninth album, and is largely seen to be their least successful. It has been described as "plainly one of the worst efforts" from Krokus, and the band's website claims that they and their musical style were put under too much pressure from their record company...

1986
Alive & Screamin'
Alive & Screamin'
Alive & Screamin' is hard rock band Krokus' first live album, recorded on their tour of the United States and Canada in 1986.- Track listing :# "Long Stick Goes Boom" – 5:33# "Eat the Rich" – 4:57# "Screaming in the Night" – 6:02...

1987
Heart Attack
Heart Attack (album)
Heart Attack is Krokus' tenth studio album, and is described by the band as "The last attempt to keep the band together in a deep crisis"....

1988
To Rock or Not to Be
To Rock or Not to Be
To Rock or Not to Be is a 1995 album by Krokus. The album stayed seven weeks in the top ten of the Swiss charts, peaking at number 5.- Track listing :#"Lion Heart" - 5:16...

1995
Rock the Block
Rock the Block
Rock the Block is a 2003 album by Krokus. It was certified Gold in Switzerland.Line-Up: Marc Storace - Fernando Von Arb – Tony Castell – Dominique Favez – Patrick Aeby- Track listing :#"Mad World" - 3:56...

2003
Hellraiser
Hellraiser (album)
Hellraiser is the album from the Swiss hard rock band Krokus. It marks 30 years since the release of their first album, Krokus . It is also their first album on AFM Records. Armand "Mandy" Meyer featured as lead guitarist, replacing Fernando Von Arb...

2006
Hoodoo
Hoodoo (Krokus album)
-Line-Up:*Marc Storace - vocals, Guitar*Fernando Von Arb - Guitar*Chris Von Rohr - Bass Guitar*Freddy Steady - drums*Mark Kohler - guitar...

2010

Others

Artist Title Year
TEA Sprouts 1972
TEA The Ship 1974
TEA Tax Exile 1976
Marc Storace The Blue Album 1991
Amen Amen 1994
Amen Aguilar 1996
Marc Storace & China Alive 2000
DC/World A Tribute to Bon Scott & AC / DC 2000
Storace & Halsinger One World 2000
Warrior The Wars of Gods & Men 2004
Biss Face-Off 2005
Biss X-tension 2006

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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