Franke and the Knockouts

Franke and the Knockouts was a short lived, early 1980s band formed in New Jersey, USA and fronted by singer/songwriter Franke Previte. Originally there were five members in the band.Franke and the Knockouts were signed by Millennium Records in 1981 and had three U.S. Top 40 singles and two Top 50 albums. Franke and the Knockouts' biggest single, "Sweetheart," was written by Previte and Guitarist Billy Elworthy and became a Top 10 hit in 1981, peaking at #10 in the U.S. They also wrote and released the original versions of Eric Carmen's 1987 hit single "Hungry Eyes" as well as the song "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," (both of which were featured in the 1987 film "Dirty Dancing"). Previte would later be an Academy Award winner. The band switched to MCA in 1984 and had several album releases but they disbanded in 1986. The group's other two Top 40 hits were "You're My Girl" and "Without You (Not Another Lonely Night)."

Band members

Original Members

*Franke Previte - lead vocals
*Billy Elworthy - lead and rhythm guitars
*Blake Levinsohn - keyboards
*Tommy Ayers - keyboards, backing vocals (played on the first album, but didn't officially join the band until the next one)
*Leigh Foxx - bass
*Claude LeHenaff - drums (left prior to recording of the second album)

Later Members

*Bobby Messano - lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1984)
*Tico Torres - drums (1983-84)

Additionally, several key session men have played with the band:
*Al Wotton: drums on "Below the Belt" (1982) album
*Charlie Dominici: backing vocals on self-titled debut

Dominici would later go on to front the band Dream Theater

Discography

*"Franke and the Knockouts" - 1981
*"Below the Belt" - 1982
*"Makin' the Point" - 1984

ee also

* Dirty Dancing (soundtrack)

External links

* [http://www.frankeandtheknockouts.com/ Homepage]
* [http://www.rockdetector.com/artist,3429.sm RockDetector Page] (some information here about who played on first album seems to conflict with what is on other sites, but early info about original members appears to be correct)
* [http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~takeito/franke.html More information]
* [http://www.glory-daze.com/readarticle.php?article_id=465 Album Reviews]