Thursday, December 4, 2008

Whatever happened to the Classics IV?

It's another one of those days where I get in the car, turn on the radio, hear a tune...and it's stuck in my head all day. This wasn't a bad one, or too bad I think, it will depend on your own mood.

My curiosity got the better of me and I started to look up the group, not remembering one of the singers names. Much to my surprise, they aren't dead. But there's very little info on the band.

Most of the band members started out as the Classics and played cover songs in local places in Jacksonville, Florida. The original Classics IV members were Dennis Yost (vocals & drums), James R. Cobb (guitars), Wally Eaton (guitars) and Joe Wilson (bass). During live shows, Yost would stand in the front of the stage and play drums while singing the lead vocals. Wilson was eventually replaced by Dean Daughtry (no relation).

I was surprised to see that the songs I liked never reached # 1 on the charts. They composed and sang Spooky, Stormy...and my favorite that I heard on the radio, Traces. Yost continued to perform with Classics IV for the next thirty years with the most recent lineup also including Brian Correll (lead guitar, backing vocals), Don Martin (bass guitar, backing vocals), Perry Williams (keyboards, backing vocals) and Doug Reed(drums). 2006 would have marked the groups 40 year anniversary. However, plans for 2006 were soon abandoned after Yost became seriously ill. On July 11, 2006, while recovering at home in a suburb of Cincinnati, Yost fell down a flight of stairs and suffered serious brain trauma. Although Yost subsequently underwent a significant amount of rehabilitation, he is still unable to perform. Since Yost's unique voice is integral to the Classics IV sound, his injury puts the group on hiatus.

Too much information, I know...but I said, I was curious. So here's Traces. Pretty song, kinda sad, bad lipsyncing, and one fugly band.

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