Rubicon (American band)

For other uses, see Rubicon (disambiguation).

Rubicon
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California
Genres	Funk rock, later: progressive rock
Years active	1977–1979, 1990s
Labels	20th Century Fox
Past members	Jerry Martini, Greg Eckler, Brad Gillis, Max Haskett, Dennis Marcellino, Jim Pugh, Jack Blades, Johnny Colla, Chuck Crenshaw, J. P. Michaels, David Christians, Randy Newhouse.

Rubicon was a California funk rock band, whose "I'm Gonna Take Care of Everything" spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, peaking at number 28.[1]

History

Rubicon was formed in San Francisco by Jerry Martini, who was an original member of Sly & the Family Stone. Other members of the group included Greg Eckler (vocals, drums), Brad Gillis (guitar), Max Haskett (lead vocals, horns), Dennis Marcellino (sax, vocals), Jim Pugh (keyboards), Jack Blades (bass),[2] and Johnny Colla (saxophone/guitar).[3][4] Their first album, the self-titled Rubicon, released in 1978, generated their only chart single.[5] They released a second album in 1979, entitled America Dreams, before disbanding.[6] Drummer Kelly Keagy was brought on as a touring drummer before the breakup.[7] Keagy, Gillis, and Blades went on to form the successful band Night Ranger.[3] Johnny Colla would become a founding member of Huey Lewis and the News.[3] "I'm Gonna Take Care of Everything" also peaked on Canada's RPM 100 Singles at No. 31.[8]

Rubicon reformed in the early 1990s as a progressive rock band with Greg Eckler (drums), Chuck Crenshaw (keyboards), J.P. Michaels (vocals, bass guitar), David Christians (vocals, lead guitar), and Randy Newhouse (guitar). This version of Rubicon produced one CD called Best of Rubicon, and a single "Whipping Boy", written by Michaels and Crenshaw.

Trumpeter/vocalist Max Haskett died on September 15, 1999, of pancreatic cancer.[9]

Discography

Studio albums

• Rubicon (1978)
• America Dreams (1979)

See also

• California Jam II

References

1. "Rubicon - Chart history". Billboard. April 22, 1978. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
2. "jack Blades bio". jambase.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
3. Cavacini, Michael (April 19, 2017). "One-On-One With Night Ranger Lead Guitarist Brad Gillis". theAquarian.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
4. Colla, Johnny. "Johnny Colla - A Photographic Journey". JohnnyColla.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
5. Hamilton, Keegan (August 12, 2008). "Second Spin: Rubicon, Rubicon". The Riverfront Times. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
6. "Rubicon bio". Bad Cat Records. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
7. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Night Ranger Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
8. "RPM 100 Singles" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 29, no. 6. May 6, 1978. p. 19.
9. "Giving Garage Bands a Chance". SFGate. September 26, 1999. Retrieved September 10, 2022. AD-LIBS... Trumpeter Max Haskett, 52, a longtime Bay Area music-scene veteran who played with dozens of bands including Cold Blood, Pacific Brass and Electric, Todd Rundgren and most recently David Martin's House Party, died September 15 of pancreatic cancer.