Alan Merrill

Bronx born New Yorker Alan Merrill started his professional career in music as a teenager with the RCA Victor recording group The Lead in 1969, Tokyo, Japan. When The Lead broke up, Merrill went solo, recording two albums "Merrill1", and "Alone In Tokyo", in 1970-'71. He became the biggest foreign pop star in Japan's domestic market, hosting his own TV show, acting in soap operas, and being featured in major commercials. He formed the glam rock group Vodka Collins (as lead singer and guitarist) in 1972 with Hiroshi Oguchi, a well known drummer who had been with the band The Tempters. The band recorded the album "Tokyo-New York", for EMI Records, their enduring work. It's still available today on CD, and is a consistant seller. They had three hit singles off of the album "Sands Of Time", "Automatic Pilot", and "Billy Mars". The song "Scratchin'" was used as a TV theme. All these songs were Merrill compositions.

In 1974 Alan Merrill went to the UK to form The Arrows, and as lead singer/bassist of that group had chart hits with "Touch Too Much", "My Last Night With You", and "I Love Rock 'N Roll" (the original 1975 pre-Joan Jett version) as well as hosting a TV series in 1976-77, "The Arrows Show" on ITV/Granada Television. A book was written about the band by Bill Harry, the former Merseybeat editor, on Everest Books. The Arrows were produced by Mickie Most on RAK Records. The Arrows broke up in 1978, and Merrill then formed the band Runner, with Steve Gould (Rare Bird), Mick Feat(Van Morrison Band), and Dave Dowle (Whitesnake), and they recorded an album titled "Runner" for Island Records in 1979. When the group broke up in 1980, Merrill moved back from the UK to New York.

In the early 1980's Merrill toured and recorded with Rick Derringer, contributing to his "Good Dirty Fun", and "Rick Derringer and Friends" albums, writing songs, singing, and playing guitar on them. In 1985 Alan Merrill released a solo album on Polydor Records, a collection of self-composed tracks. Some heavyweight friends contributing to this album were Steve Winwood, Mick Taylor, and Dallas Taylor. In 1986 Alan Merrill joined Meat Loaf touring solidly for the remainder of the 1980's and recorded the "Live At Wembley" 1987 album with the band.

In 1990, Alan Merrill got a part in the HBO television series "Encyclopedia Brown" as Casey Sparks in the production. He also wrote the theme song of the show. This was followed in the 1990's by his involvement as a vocalist on the Christmas album "Holiday Heroes" with producer Jon Tiven. The results were so good Tiven and Merrill joined forces for two CD's as the Jon Tiven Group. These featured bluesy lead vocals by Alan Merrill on both of the albums, which were titled "Blue Guru", and "Yes I Ram". Merrill did all the featured singing on these recordings except for a vocal duet he did on each record with both Arthur Alexander, and Jim Carroll, respectively. Meanwhile the public demand for a Vodka Collins reunion in Japan was overwhelming, and the band reformed in 1995 to record the first of three reunion albums, "Chemical Reaction". The band then went on to record the albums "Pink Soup" and "Boy's Life" in 1996-97.

As a composer Alan Merrill has written songs recorded by such diverse artists as Lou Rawls, Rick Derringer, Chuck Jackson, Runner, Felix Cavaliere, Vodka Collins, Joan Jett, The Arrows, and Troy Turner. He currently resides in Paris, France

Alan Merrill has had a long and varied career as a pop musician on three continents. Born Allan Sachs, the son of singer Helen Merrill and horn man Aaron Sachs, singer, guitarist, bassist and songwriter Merrill played in several bands in Greenwich Village as a teen before moving to Japan, where, as a member of the group the Lead, he signed a recording deal with RCA Victor Tokyo in 1968. The Lead had one big hit in Japan, "Aoi Bara," before breaking up, leaving Merrill as a solo act. He recorded two albums in 1970 and 1971, Merrill 1 and Alone in Tokyo, becoming a huge star in Japan's domestic market, working as a TV host and soap opera actor as well as recording music. Tired of being viewed as a "teen idol," Merrill formed the glam rock group Vodka Collins with drummer Horoshi Oguchi, recording the enduring Tokyo-New York album for EMI Records, which spawned three hit singles, including a beautiful Merrill composition, "Sands of Time." Merrill left Vodka Collins to form The Arrows in the U.K. in 1974. Among the groups' hits was the first version of "I Love Rock N Roll," later an even larger smash for Joan Jett. Merrill continued his television appearances in Britain, hosting a weekly series called The Arrows Show. When punk hit, The Arrows broke up, and Merrill formed the band Runner, recording the self-titled Runner for Island Records in 1978, before returning to the States, where he joined Rick Derringer's band. He released a solo album on Polydor in 1985, then joined Meat Loaf's band for a pair of albums. He had a reoccurring part in the HBO series Encyclopedia Brown, and began working with producer Jon Tiven in the Jon Tiven Group. Demand for a Vodka Collins reunion brought him back to Japan for three reunion albums by the band in the late 1990s. In 2002 Merrill released a 22-song solo project called Cupid Deranged, which was in essence a career retrospective. A holiday album, A Merrilly Christmas appeared that same year. A double album tribute to songwriters Arthur Alexander and Otis Blackwell, Double Shot Rocks, saw release in 2003, followed by another solo project, Aleecat, in 2004. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide