Live

YOUNG, impassioned, and idealistic enough to want to understand the world fully before they die, the members of Live have gone from teenage upstarts to multi-million-selling stars in just a few short years. Led by the commanding voice of Ed Kowalczyk, this York, Pennsylvania, foursome has split the difference between the grandeur of eighties rock's more mainstream side and the agitated sound of nineties alternative.

Kowalczyk was born in York, a medium-sized industrial town about seventy-five miles due west of Philadelphia, near the western edge of the famed Pennsylvania Dutch region. His parents divorced when he was seven, and he and his younger brother (later lead singer for a group called Portion) were raised by his mother, who was a legal secretary.

The group's other three members, drummer Chad Gracey, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, and lead guitarist Chad Taylor, played together in junior high in an instrumental trio called First Aid. They changed their name to Action Front and entered the Great York Talent Hunt, but did not emerge victorious. Soon after, the three invited Kowalczyk, whom they had known since sixth grade, to rehearse with them, and the lineup that would one day be Live was born.

While other groups in the area were playing classic rock, the four teenagers began their performing career by tackling the newer hits of the day. At a local temple dance, they stepped in during another group's break and were an instant hit, crashing through tunes by R.E.M., the Cure, and Psychedelic Furs before an eager audience. Their first real gig at the temple came on November 25, 1987, and the event sold out, with more than four hundred people in attendance. Soon they were in demand, performing at Y.M.C.A.s and clubs from York to Lancaster, where Club Chameleon became a sort of home base for the group. By the time they graduated high school in 1989, they'd changed their name again, this time to Public Affection.

Having learned that a local booking agent, David Sestak, was looking to manage an up-and-coming young band, they bugged him to no avail until Taylor's father told him he'd be making the biggest mistake of his life if he turned them down. Sestak relented, and advised the band to record an indie album for promotional purposes. To finance the project, they raised $5,000 by selling $100 "shares" in the venture (on advice from Taylor's father's boss). They released two thousand copies of the resulting album, The Death of a Dictionary, on their own Action Front Records label.

At eighteen, Kowalczyk happened upon a book that influenced his writing greatly: Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti's You Are the World provided him with a non-deist basis for his lyrics, emphasizing personal transformation through selflessness. By this time, Sestak was booking the band twice a month at CBGB's in New York, and they got a demo deal from Giant Records. Although the label passed on the tape, their continued presence at CBGB's eventually won them a record deal with Radioactive. Recorded in Milwaukee and produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads, Mental Jewelry was released in 1991 and, despite minimal radio airplay, nearly went gold. (Interestingly, it was only after they'd made the album that they finally chose Live as their name, partly because Taylor had dreamt that his cousin was wearing a hat with that name on it.)

Live soon took part in a large-scale tour with P.I.L., B.A.D. II, and Blind Melon, and the vibrant single "Operation Spirit" became an MTV hit. Still, it was nearly three years before they released a follow-up, the more assured Throwing Copper, in 1994. Fueled by the R.E.M.-influenced "Selling the Drama" and the devastating "Lightning Crashes," the disc ultimately sold six million copies, and the band won the Rolling Stone readers poll for 1995.

In February 1997, Live released its third album, Secret Samadhi, which reunited the band with producer Jay Healy, with whom the band had recorded some early demos. Several songs on Secret Samadhi were written during an extended songwriting-rehearsal session in Jamaica. In the studio, the band augmented its sound with strings, sitar, and organ on a few tracks. Plans call for Live to spend most of 1997 on the road, with a full-scale tour beginning in the U.S. in February, European and Australian shows in the spring, and more Stateside dates in the summer and fall.

Live rose to chart success on the strength of its anthemic music and idealistic, overtly spiritual songwriting, two hallmarks which earned the group frequent comparisons to U2. Live first formed in the early '80s in their hometown of York, Pennsylvania, when future members Chad Taylor (guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass) and Chad Gracey (drums) began playing together under the name "First Aid" while attending middle school. After losing an area talent contest, they decided to enlist singer Ed Kowalczyk, and as a foursome the group played under a series of names before settling on Public Affection.

After earning a rabid local following, in 1989 Public Affection released a cassette, The Death of a Dictionary, on their own Action Front label. After graduating to CBGB and other famed New York clubs, they earned a demo deal with Giant Records which proved unsuccessful; the completed demo earned them a deal with Radioactive, however, and before drawing their new name out of a hat, Live recruited Talking Head Jerry Harrison to produce their 1991 debut, Mental Jewelry. A collection of songs based on the writings of Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, the record made Live one of the key players in the post-Nirvana alternative music scene thanks to singles like "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)" and "Pain Lies on the Riverside."

Three years later, Live returned with the muscular Throwing Copper, which lingered a number of months on the charts before pushing the group into the rock mainstream; after a series of popular singles like "Selling the Drama" and "I Alone," the album's slow build climaxed with the funereal "Lightning Crashes," which propelled the album to the top of the charts and paved the way for the hits "White, Discussion" and "All Over You." Secret Samadhi, the third Live LP, followed in early 1997, but failed to match either the commercial or critical success of previous efforts. The band resurfaced two years later with The Distance to Here. Through 2003, the band continually refined their ambitious, spiritual sound; both 2001's V and 2003's Birds of Pray cracked the Billboard Top 30. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide