PABLO CRUISE

Thirty years ago, in 1975, Pablo Cruise released its first A&M album simply entitled Pablo Cruise. The album cover was shot in the tropical gardens of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and it featured a huge gorilla standing front and center. The band, David Jenkins (guitars & vocals), Cory Lerios (keyboards & vocals), Steve Price (drums) & Bud Cockrell (bass & vocals) was nowhere in sight. At that point there was a bit of a mystique as to who Pablo Cruise really was. When asked, "who's Pablo," the band, which is a quartet, would answer, "he's the guy in the middle." When asked what Pablo Cruise meant, the well rehearsed answer went something like this,"Pablo represents an honest, real, down to earth individual; and Cruise, depicts his fun loving, easy going attitude towards life." In essence that's what Pablo Cruise's music is all about. Honest, real, down to earth vocals, accompanied by fun yet elegant, infectious grooves. To hear Pablo Cruise on record is one thing, but to experience the band live is an exhilarating event.

From 1975 to 1985 the band toured the United States, Canada and Japan extensively, welcoming fans to "Climb Aboard The Good Ship Pablo Cruise." Reaching the top 10 with mega hits like "Watcha Gonna Do When She Says Goodbye" and "Love Will Find A Way" and "A Place In The Sun", the band went on to sell several million albums and singles collectively and established themselves as well respected writers and performers within the industry. They appeared on numerous TV shows, including Dick Clark's American Bandstand, The Merv Griffin Show and in 1979 they broke Elvis Presley's attendance record at The Sahara Tahoe in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, becoming the first rock band to play a Casino Showroom. They also became the first rock band to grace the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, but by 1986 after completing several national tours and releasing 7 albums in all, the band seemed to have lost its focus and just stopped. It seemed like Pablo needed some time to think. Cory Lerios and David Jenkins the bands' principal songwriters, along with Steve Price decided to take a hiatus, one that has lasted nearly 20 years ...

Throughout the late 80s, original vocalist David Jenkins continued touring and garnered acclaim in the country markets with the slightly ahead of their time country-rock band Southern Pacific. As they racked up hits like "Midnight Highway", the chart topper "New Shade Of Blue" and "Honey I Dare You" (co-written by Jenkins) the band toured all over the U.S. In 1992 Dave connected with Hawaii's native son, Kapono Beamer, and in '95 the duo released the album "Cruisin' On Hawaiian Time," that became a critics' favorite as well as being nominated for Hawaii's prestigious Hoku Award for "Album Of The Year." Since '99 Jenkins has joined forces with the Classic Voices of Rock, a composite group that includes some of the great singers of the 70s and 80s.

Pianist and Vocalist Cory Lerios decided to turn his writing and producing abilities to Film and Television. In 1986 Lerios landed his first network series, scoring ABC's critically acclaimed "Max Headroom." ABC's "O'Hara" and "Police Story" immediately followed. Writing to "picture" became Cory's newfound passion and in 1989, Cory and partner John D'Andrea landed the theme and underscore for NBC's "Baywatch." Scoring 11 seasons of "Baywatch," garnering several Emmy Nominations, Cory won the coveted award in 1998 for his participation in the music direction of "Days Of Our Lives." Aside from composing music for Film and TV out of his Westlake Village, CA studio, Cory has intimated that he would love to perform live again, so the Pablo Cruise Reunion is a welcome addition to his busy schedule.

In June of 2004, original drummer and groove master of Pablo Cruise, Steve Price was married in Sacramento, CA. For his wedding gift to his wife Nancy, he wanted to throw a concert featuring the original Pablo Cruise, calling Cory and Dave and asking them if they would be up for it. The night of "The Concert," the band did more than just perform, it was reborn. Immediately following the show, Dave, Cory and Steve were so excited to play again; they decided right then and there they were going to make a concerted effort to raise "The Good Ship Pablo Cruise." So .. The search began for a singing bass player.

In 1999 Lerios met composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist George Gabriel. For the last 6 years Lerios and Gabriel have been writing underscore and songs together for all the major networks. Their first effort entitled "Call Me, Beep Me," performed by Christina Milian, was written specifically for what has become one of Disney Animations" most successful series to date, "Kim Possible." While working in NYC last summer, Cory mentioned to George that Pablo Cruise was planning to play live again. George immediately responded, saying he would love to be involved. Cory asked Dave and Steve if they would be interested in meeting George and perhaps running through some of the Pablo repertoire. The rest is history. Joining original members, Cory, Dave and Steve is George Gabriel on bass and vocals.

The fact that Pablo Cruise took 20 years to decide whether they wanted to work together again may be the best thing that ever happened to them. The guys are approaching this whole thing like it's the first time they've ever played together. The point being is that this reunion is generating a lot of excitement within the quartet, and the beauty of it is, is that its coming from the guy in the middle.. PABLO CRUISE.

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