
Mike Magrisi bass, lead vocals
John Hussey rhythm guitar,vocals
Andy Logan - lead guitar, lead vocals
Custer - drums, vocals
Little America, a four piece outfit from Los Angeles, cranked out two of the
best AOR albums of the eighties: The self titled "Little America",
which had the top-ten hit "Walk On Fire", and their second album,
"Fairgrounds", which also yielded a top-ten track "Where Were
You".
Signed to Geffen in late 1985, the band began recording in the Spring of '86,
and released "Little America" in February of 1987. The immediate
success of "Walk on Fire" surprised the label, and Geffen regrouped
and stepped up the promotion on it. An extensive U.S. tour followed, though
sales suffered in some regions of the country because despite many packed
houses, there wasn't sufficient (or in some cases, any) product in the stores.
Nevertheless, "Little America" sold nearly 100,000 units. The band
was particularly big in the midwest , and caused quite a stir in Dallas, thanks
to Little America's biggest fan, KTXQ's Redbeard.
The second album was not to fare as well. Though the material was as strong
(the band felt) as the tracks on the first album, things were starting to
unravel. Due to some internal strife at Geffen, the band was dealt a new A
& R person, who immediately removed several of the band's favorite songs
from the album and teamed Andy and Mike up with Diane Warren, who penned most
of "Where were You" while Mike and Andy watched. (The guys wrote
the bridge) Morale didn't exactly hit an all-time high, songwriting being
the last thing this band felt they needed help with, but they tried to make
the best of it.
"Fairgrounds", released in Winter 1989, did yield a top-ten hit
"Where Were You", but didn't sell well, and the band was dropped.
RCA quickly showed interest, but Mike decided to leave, wanting to pursue
his own musical direction.
As of this writing, both of Little America's albums have recently been re-issued
on Gott records, complete with mostly factual liner notes, save for
a bit too much skimming on Andy's bio page.
The members of the band continue to be good friends, and frequently exchange
ideas over the phone, though they live in different cities. Last we heard,
Mike wants to get the band back together, and the guys are into it, logistics
and time permitting.