McQueen Street
| McQueen Street | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal |
| Years active | 1986–93 |
| Labels | SBK, EMI |
| Website |
www |
| Past members |
Derek Welsh Chris Welsh Richard Hatcher Michael Powers |
McQueen Street was a hard rock band from Montgomery, AL, consisting of Derek Welsh on lead vocals, Richard Hatcher on bass, Michael Powers on guitar, and Derek's brother Chris Welsh on drums.
Background
The band was originally known as "Klass", which formed in 1987 and played mostly covers of other bands' material and was well-known on the Southeast rock music club circuit in the late 80's. The band changed its name to McQueen Street and signed a record deal with SBK Records, a division of EMI in 1990. The new name came from the name of the street where the band's recording studio was located in their hometown.
The band's debut album, simply titled "McQueen Street" was produced by Tom Werman, with production help on one track from guitarist Steve Stevens of Billy Idol's band, including his guitar work in places, plus vocal assistance from Jeff Scott Soto, formerly of Journey. Two songs, "Money" and "My Religion" had music videos that were played on MTV's Headbangers Ball, and two of the band's songs charted in the Top 50, while "My Religion" went to #1 in Europe. However, the grunge movement out of Seattle in the early 1990s displaced many bands whose music was based on 1980s-style rock, and the 2nd album produced by Tony Platt never saw the light of day. The band was dropped from its record deal and subsequently disbanded.
Drummer Chris Welsh was found dead in his home in 1994 due to an accidental self-overdose of prescription medication while suffering a respiratory illness.
Singer Derek Welsh and bassist Richard Hatcher then formed the band Rat Race Choir which, due to trademark issues involving another band in Long Island, NY with the same name, changed its name to simply The Rat Race, which went into an alternative rock direction. The band toured the USA as a support act for numerous headliners including The Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveller & Widespread Panic for the remainder of the 1990s before breaking up in 2000.
In late 2008, bassist Richard Hatcher joined the existing alt-country band The High Horse Band, formed in 2004 and based in Pensacola, FL, which played the club circuit mostly in the Florida Panhandle and Alabama, then quit the band in 2010 and returned to his hometown to form the short-lived cover band Chronic Illusion, which ironically played many of the hits of the Seattle Grunge movement that displaced bands like McQueen Street.
As of 2011 Richard Hatcher is still on the rock 'n' roll roller coaster. He joined the band Flying 75 and band leader Kerby Carr is a seasoned musician born in the same Year as Richard. "Things just clicked with me and Kerby" said Richard. "It's like we were brought up on the same music.". With band members Nora Gutting and Brandon Hamilton this band has a lot to be proud of. They are going to see the world and have been contracted with Proship, a booking Agency in Canada, to play on the Monarch of the Sea, a Cruise ship from Port Canaveral, for the next 5 months. Richard and the band will be writing original material while at sea and with the vocal talent of Nora this band will be on top in no time. Keep your ears open as you will be hearing a lot more of this band very soon.
Derek Welsh self-released the 2nd McQueen Street album in 2003 after acquiring the rights from EMI, and his personal web site offers all the albums he's been associated with including merchandising. Combining all album sales from both bands, McQueen Street & The Rat Race, album sales have totaled 300,000 worldwide.
Richard Hatcher is now in Dallas TX with a new band called "Icon Rising". They have just released their 3rd CD and have just signed a deal with Zumba to do 33 cities in 2013.