Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

O'KANES, The

Acoustic country band whose eponymous debut album on Columbia '86 made top 40 with several top ten country singles '86--8, incl. no. 1 'Can't Stop My Heart From Loving You'. Kieran Kane (b 7 Oct. '49, Queens NYC) and Jamie O'Hara (b 8 Aug. '50, Toledo OH) were successful songwriters: O'Hara wrote 'Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout The Good Old Days)' for the Judds; Kane wrote 'As Long As I'm Rockin' With You' for John Conlee and had his own country chart hits on Elektra '81-- 2, WB '83--4; they formed a band to play their own work, playing guitar, acoustic bass and drums with Richard Kane on fiddle and Jay Spells on accordion. Vocal harmony in the style of the Everly Bros, minimalist arrangements and excellent songs with intelligent lyrics celebrating the usual down-to-earth concerns of country music; second album Tired Of The Runnin' '88 incl. two hits, reached no. 21; Allen Reynolds prod. an acclaimed third album Imagine That '90 but it yielded no hits and stalled at no. 63. They pursued individual solo careers, Kane on Atlantic with Find My Way Home '93, O'Hara on RCA with Rise Above It '94. By this time they were out of step with formularized radio-friendly country; O'Hara maintained his songwriting career and Kane joined forces with like-minded Kevin Welch, Mike Henderson, Tammy Rogers and Harry Stinson to form Dead Reckoning Records '95: they tour together, play on each other's recordings and share promotional and publicity chores, the collective allowing each the freedom to write and produce their own music.