Talk:America (band)

Peek

"The band survived the loss of one of its original members near the peak of its success..." Was this intended to be a pun? I had to ask. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.149.203.252 (talk) 23:06, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

View From The Ground and naming conventions

Although a number of websites claim that America's 1982 album is called A View From The Ground (such as allmusic.com), the very cover of the album (see below) does not feature any article before the name. The large "A" within the ellipse is part of America's traditional logo, and the spine of the album confirms this is not part of the title. No subsequent re-release of the album has ever included an article before the main title. Consequently, the correct name of the album is View From The Ground.

With regard to whether the "the" in the album title should be capitalized, it is worth noting that the Wikipedia naming conventions for music albums does not reflect the standard practice of perhaps the definitive bibles of pop music charts and history, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Hits and Top Pop Albums books. Whitburn's books, as well as most discography books of that ilk, tend to capitalize all words of an album title. (unsigned comment)

Phil Hartman

Don't forget that comedian Phil Hartman provided cover art for several of America's albums. That factoid even shows up on the Hartman page (with pics, no less). And a mention of the "H"-oriented superstition about America's album titles might be appropriate. (unsigned comment)

English-American band?

I don't see why it's necessary to describe the band as "English-American." They are just American. If Peek, Bunnell and Beckley have English mothers, then say so. If the band was formed in England, say so. It doesn't make them "English."

Tennis legend John McEnroe was born in West Germany. Should we start calling him German-American?

I agree :) Shadow007 07:08, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

When they speak, do they have accents that be characterized as American or British? They did attend public high schools in England. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.149.203.252 (talk) 05:55, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

They actually grew up in England

This is enough to provide them of double nationality of course, but not only... None of the members of America grew up in the States, they kept on moving from country to country until they finally settled in London during their teens...so we shouldn't even call them "Americans", am I wrong? The fact is that they're Anglo-American, and that's a fact.

Gianmaria Framarin 03:24, 5 November 2006

Their music was/is undoubtedly American. There is very little English/British influence. The best that they could be described in "English-born, American rock and roll band...". Shadow007 01:48, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

They were military brats, period, this "English-American" crap is just p.c. nonsense. 71.193.251.168 (talk) 19:16, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

You are absolutely right. Gerry Buckley's father was the base Commander at South Ruislip Air Station. My older sister was in his graduating senior class at Central High School. I was a junior there. We were Air force brats. The band played at the base teen club. Owen701 (talk) 23:00, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Dan Peek

I pruned some of the Dan Peek info from the article yesterday - it has since been re-added. I'm not going to revert or anything, but just wanted to say that I think a lot of the particulars of his post-America recording activities belongs in the Dan Peek article itself (and not here, at least not to the detail it's been added). The info about him vis a vis the band (ie, rumors about reuniting with the others) would belong here. NickBurns 15:27, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree with you that Dan Peek's subsequent career is best discussed in detail on his own page. But I do think at least a few cursory lines about his solo releases are worth having in the America bio because so many America fans do follow his solo material as closely as they do Gerry's. I refrained from anything more than listing Electro Voice and Crossover, and briefly mentioned his resurgence with PEACE and then as a soloist in 1999. But I haven't spent any time on the details of any of those projects, as that would be best expanded upon in the Dan Peek article. Thoughts? Zevonsky 02:24, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:America album.jpg

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Fair use criteria

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Citations & References

See Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags Nhl4hamilton (talk) 08:42, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Holiday album cover.jpg

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Unsourced material

The following is unsourced information:

• Contrary to popular belief, the choice of the name "America" had no political overtones, and the group has consistently avoided political or patriotic use of its name.
• Bunnell has remarked that the setting for "A Horse with No Name" was inspired by the area around Vandenberg Air Force Base, where he spent some time as a child.
• "A Horse with No Name" has been used more than once for gags in episodes of the "The Simpsons."
• "I Need You" is supposedly the first song Beckley ever wrote.
• America recorded Homecoming in the studio next to Stevie Wonder, who was then recording his classic album, Innervisions.
• Bunnell has suggested that the "alligator lizards in the air" in "Ventura Highway" are references to cloud shapes.
• The legendary rock photographer Henry Diltz is also a skilled banjo player, and was featured on the America tracks "Don't Cross The River" and "Submarine Ladies."
• When played backwards, the lyrics on "Moon Song" from Homecoming say, "All good men come to the aid of their country."
• Another track from Homecoming, "Till The Sun Comes Up Again," became a musical inspiration to Gerry Beckley when played backwards over twenty years later, leading to the song "Now Sue" on his solo album Van Go Gan. A backwards version of the original Homecoming track was included as a bonus track on the 2000 domestic release of Van Go Gan.
• A then-obscure comedian named Jay Leno was the opening act for a number of America shows in the early 1970s.
• Dan Peek re-recorded "Lonely People" for his 1986 solo album, Electro Voice. He reworked the lyrics in a more overtly Christian vein, claiming that this better reflected the original inspiration for the song.
• "Lonely People" was covered by the popular Christian band Jars of Clay in 2003.
• The cover artwork on the album History: America's Greatest Hits was the work of Phil Hartmann, who later became famous as a comedian on Saturday Night Live. Hartmann later dropped an "n" off his last name prior to achieving fame. His brother John was America's manager for many years.
• Around 1976, the Soviet Union expressed interest in having the trio perform in that country, but the deal collapsed before it could come to fruition.
• Despite the presence of other heavyweight acts like James Taylor and Rod Stewart on their roster, America was Warner Bros. Records' biggest selling act of the 1970s.
• In 1978, America performed a song live in concert called "Norman." The song, written by Beckley (who once considered becoming an architect), was an homage to industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes. Although contemporary interviews suggested the track would be recorded for an upcoming album, the song was never released by America. Years later, singer-songwriter Jeff Larson recorded it for his 2002 album, Fragile Sunrise, with Beckley producing the track.
• The title of America's 1979 album, Silent Letter, refers to their previous tendency to name all their albums with names starting with "H". In 1994, the group returned to this practice with the release of Hourglass.
• Bunnell has claimed that America's label toyed with the idea of the group going country during the late 1970s, and that he and Beckley soundly rejected the idea.
• America and their label could not agree on which side of the Alibi LP should be considered Side One, so they came to a unique compromise. The sides would be labelled "Our Side" and "Their Side." The album's unusual cover photo, featuring a severed doll's head, does not have any special meaning. Bunnell recalled that he and Beckley simply stumbled upon it while looking through music photographer Henry Diltz's photo collection and decided to use it.
• America was briefly caught up in controversy in 1981 when they broke the anti-apartheid international cultural boycott against South Africa and played several concerts in that country. However, America was not alone, as black artists such as Tina Turner and Curtis Mayfield did the same. It has been rumored that the group suffered from a low-key industry backlash for several years after the incident.
• The building behind Bunnell and Beckley on the cover of Perspective is 100 Wilshire in Santa Monica, California. The building, tallest in the city, was completed in 1971, and was originally known as Lawrence Welk Plaza. It can also be seen in the background of the opening credits of the hit television sitcom Three's Company during the 1979–1980 and 1980-1981 seasons.
• Hourglass is the last America album to use a contemporary photograph of Beckley and Bunnell's faces on the cover. Human Nature featured the duo on the cover, but with their faces covered by a cloud. This design flourish was supposedly inspired by the work of René Magritte.
• A group of country music all-stars (Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Terri Clark, Trisha Yearwood, and Tim McGraw) recording under the name of "Project Hope" covered Beckley's "Hope" for a charity single in 1996. Many of them later performed the song live for that year's Academy of Country Music awards telecast.
• The album Human Nature takes its name from Beckley's home recording studio in addition to the fact it begins with the traditional letter "H".
• When Garth Brooks covered "Don't Cross The River" on his Scarecrow album, he apparently wasn't aware that it was an America song. His version was based upon a bluegrass cover of the song by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver from the late 1970s.
• Janet Jackson's 2001 hit "Someone to Call My Lover" was focused around the guitar riff from "Ventura Highway". The riff itself was re-recorded for the sample to reduce royalty fees. One of her earlier hits, "Let's Wait Awhile", was supposedly inspired by "Daisy Jane" and has often been compared to it.
• America recorded a track for the Watership Down film soundtrack. It was titled "Watership Down" and was not used in the film, along with a few other songs recorded by different artists.
• In the '90's, the band appeared on the Howard Stern Radio Show, performing a parody of the song, rephrased to be about Stern show producer Gary "Baba booey" Dell'Abate. The song was called "A Boy with Horse Teeth"
• Since there is no real "Ventura Highway", the song was written about the Pacific Coast Hwy, from Los Angeles to Ventura, CA.
• When initially released, "A Horse with No Name" was often mistaken for a Neil Young song, due to the similarity of Bunnell's vocals to Young's. "Horse" replaced Young's single "Heart of Gold" at US #1 in 1972.

While this is all interesting, we can't use it unless you provide a source. Also, none of this is really trivia, as trivia by its definition is "unimportant information" - it therefore shouldn't be in a trivia section but instead the information should be incorporated into the main article. - Tbsdy lives (talk) 05:01, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

Tour dates..?

Chrisdus (talk) 11:31, 13 January 2009 (UTC) Hi, would it be a nice addition to the America page to start including a tour dates section? Not only past concerts, but also future ones?

Fancruft

This article is wildly overstuffed and should be condensed by at least three-quarters. It remains full of unsourced statements and includes large amounts of material of interest only to obsessive fans. (The lineup of acts at the band's first concert? Chart position of a "Greatest Hits" album released 30 years after the group's heyday?) Moreover, breathless prose like "However, a fateful connection would provide a sudden and unexpected change in fortune ..." or "While America remained a hot ticket on the touring circuit..." does not belong in an encyclopedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.117.107.100 (talk) 18:04, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Biased?

The introduction, saying how many people wanted a clone, sounds extremely biased. Is this possibly cited somewhere or should this be changed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.231.195.129 (talk) 05:22, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

Why isn't there a wikipedia article devoted to Dewey Bunnell?

Just thought I'd ask Christian Roess (talk) 22:57, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

There was, but it was back-door deleted when it was changed to a REDIRECT to America (band) by TenPoundHammer. See the page history here -- hulmem (talk) 00:50, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Oh that's absolutely ridiculous. The article on Bunnell needs to be restored. Christian Roess (talk) 01:19, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

As you can see from the page history, on 2010-11-01 TenPoundHammer proposed the article for deletion in accordance with WP:PROD with the rationale, "No notability outside the band". But rather than waiting for the seven-day period to expire, on 2010-11-04 he replaced the content with the redirect. I suggest you either restore the article yourself or post a remark on TenPoundHammer's talk page. -- hulmem (talk) 04:19, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I'll see what I can do. The article on Bunnell will be restored eventually. Christian Roess (talk) 13:50, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

If and when someone provides significant coverage in third party sources, that does more than reiterate his involvement in the band. Active Banana (^bananaphone 21:42, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

Another fine example of the idiocy that is Wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.20.251.75 (talk) 04:07, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Well, I got some more information about how to handle the loss of the Dewey Bunnell article (as a stand-alone rather than as a REDIRECT). (And thanks again for your insight User:Hulmem and your help with the process of organizing my appeal).

And I did make an appeal. I made an appeal over at the WP:BLPN and you can access that over here. User:Active Banana contibuted over there at the BLP noticeboard and commented above. Will have to follow those suggestions. Also, another editor made some very friendly and useful comments on my talk page about what can be done.on my talk page here. So let me get hold of some resources and citations that will (hopefully) justify the restoration of the Dewey Bunnell page & get it back up so that it stays up. And FYI to any possible editors: Those comments on my talk page that I just mentioned and linked to are especially helpful. I'll see what I can do in the coming days (weeks) on my end to restore the article. Christian Roess (talk) 00:06, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

It's been more than eight months since the last post, so I'm guessing you've already figured this out yourself, but for Dewey Bunnell to have even a prayer of maintaining an article of his own, he has to have done something notable outside of the context of America. Otherwise, all the searching for resources and citations is a waste of time, because you aren't going to find anything that doesn't belong in the article America (band). So if the goal is to create an article on Dewey Bunnell, the first step has to be identifying something notable he's done independently of America. Then you can find resources and citations substantiating that something.

Mind you, I think looking for something notable about a subject just so you create an article about him is fairly misguided to begin with; the purpose of an article should be the betterment of Wikipedia, not the glorification of the subject. But if the latter is what you want to do, the above paragraph is the way to go about it.--NukeofEarl (talk) 14:53, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Bunnell's entry at Allmusic indicates he has composed songs for many other artists. Perhaps an article on Bunnell might focus on being a notable composer rather than a notable solo performer? WWGB (talk) 03:05, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

Has he actually composed songs for other artists, or is it just that his songs with America have been covered by a lot of other artists? If it's the latter, I don't think that'll work as a claim for independent notability.--NukeofEarl (talk) 17:32, 12 September 2011 (UTC)

Band Members

The Band Members section needs to be fixed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.169.151.249 (talk) 19:38, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Done. Don't forget you are welcome to be bold and make the edits yourself.--Nick Moss (talk) 21:05, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:America (band)/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

There is a lot of good information here, but the article does not cite any sources, otherwise it would probably qualify for at least a GA(good article) status. - cgilbert(talk|contribs) 18:00, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Last edited at 18:00, 13 February 2007 (UTC). Substituted at 07:32, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Chicago

The article doesn't mention under the recent activity section that America was featured on Chicago's [Christmas Three] album in 2011. The link provided gives info from that album. Don't know if that's important enough to mention in the article or not, so I'm not going to edit it in myself. Rather I'll let others decide if it's worth mentioning rather than editing it in and having someone else decide to edit it out as too trivial. -anonymous 5/23/2016 12:24 EST — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:18B:0:9141:9022:E028:5F:FB4A (talk) 04:24, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

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British-American

What reason are the band categorised as " British-American" when all three are American ?

I understand that Lee Merton "Dewey" Bunnell was born in England to an English mum, but has he got British citizenship? Is the mere formality of having it enough to make a band that's called "America" and famous for it's American country sound even slightly British?

Montalban (talk) 05:13, 25 March 2023 (UTC)

Odd word

"During the summer/fall of 1974, bassist Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels (formerly of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Manassas) was called to fill in for Dickey, who had come to Europe but then flown home inadvertently."

He flew home without meaning to? What is this meant to say? Normally, I'd just fix it when I find a wildly incorrect use of a word, but I don't understand the context. Perhaps it means what it says, but then it should have more context. 128.151.71.7 (talk) 12:16, 28 March 2023 (UTC)