Out On Ball

1931 - Legs Diamond 'the gangster' is shot down for the fourth time but survives, amazing his physician with his ability to survive such serious injuries. Legs declares 'I made it again, nobody can kill Legs Diamond. I am going to settle a few scores just as soon as I get my strength back, just you wait and see.' 1975 - Legs Diamond 'the band' starts to form into a recognized, cohesive unit, little aware that in years to come England's acclaimed 'Kerrang!' magazine would have them on a front cover under the banner 'The Bands That Refused To Die!' Parallels between a Californian hard rock quintet and a New York mobster become more apparent when one looks back at our band's many experiences of perseverance, bad luck and refusal to give in. The gangster's personality would also describe their music -- 'mean as hell with a touch of class; hard hitting but stylish.' So, when gangster fans Jeff Poole (drums) and Michael Gargano (bass) chose this name, it became even more appropriate than they could have imagined. A relocation to Los Angeles resulted in the addition of Michael Prince (keyboards, guitar), Rick Sanford (vocals) and Detroit native Roger Romeo (guitar). Legs Diamond was ready to start with guns blazing. 1976 - Their first venture onto vinyl came in 1976 on a compilation sampler by LA radio station K-West. 'Rat Race' stands out as the jewel. But in the music business you also need lucky breaks -- theirs came when they crashed a Kiss after-gig party and met Gene Simmons. They convinced Gene to come to their rehearsal room and he liked the band. He wanted to get his management company and booking agency involved with Legs and that's how they got the first three gigs on Kiss' 'Rock & Roll Over' Tour.' How many groups can play to (appreciative) audiences of 30,000 before their first album? Kiss even wanted to record one of their songs ('Satin Peacock'), but Legs kept it to themselves. The band were signed to Mercury on November 9th, 1976, and started an enviable touring schedule for several years. The likes of Styx, Sammy Hagar, Alice Cooper, Black Oak Arkansas, Bob Seger, Riot, Angel, The Babys, Montrose, Golden Earring -- to name but a handful -- would share the bill around the USA. Sometimes, (famously in the case of Ted Nugent), they would upstage the headliners. Add to this a friendship with the members of Deep Purple -- they attended each other's rehearsals -- and it was looking good. True fact: Eddie Van Halen and Dave Lee Roth begged Legs to let Van Halen open for them! 1977 - The self-titled debut album, produced by Derek Lawrence (that Deep Purple connection again) contains just seven songs -- but these remain today as some of the fan favourites and stalwarts of the live set. The tunes were mainly in the long, hard and heavy vein, each with it's own identity -- variety would soon be recognised as one of Legs' greatest assets. A change of pace or mood within a song was not unusual and Sanford was not averse to an occasional use of flute. The follow-up album 'A Diamond Is A Hard Rock' was also released in 1977. An apt title, a classic sleeve, and superb songs. The tunes are shorter and a touch more commercial than those on the debut and the Eddie Leonetti production brings out the best in each one. ('Eddie was great fun to work with -- he came up with some good stuff.'). This record contains 'Woman', a ballad of more than six minutes, which is still today a rock anthem in San Antonio, Texas and much of middle America. In the future, a festival there would see 20,000+ singing along, word-for-word; this was their 'Stairway To Heaven'. 1978 - More touring around the USA and Canada consolidated Legs Diamond's reputation as a blistering live act. Legendary DJ Joe 'The Godfather' Anthony would play whole sides of an album, helping to create their legendary, god-like status in San Antonio, Texas for decades. Unfortunately, record labels like Mercury were always going through changes of personnel, and when management problems became intertwined with label politics, the ones who suffered because of a lack of promotion or