1994: -

1994: was an American hard-rock band from Los Angeles with singer Karen Lawrence. They released one album as L.A. Jets, followed by the 1976 single “Prisoner (Captured By Your Eyes),” a later hit for Barbra Streisand. As 1994:, they cut two albums in 1978/79 on A&M. In 1981, Lawrence released an album of retro girl-group pop with backing act The Pinz.

Members: Karen Lawrence (vocals), Bill Rhodes (bass, guitars, vocals), John Desautels (drums), Steve Schiff (guitar, 1977-1978), Rick Armand (guitar, 1979)

Background

1994: sprung from L.A. Jets, formed in 1975 by singer Karen Lawrence and GoodThunder alumni.

Lawrence joined her first band, Just Cookin’, as a teenager inspired by Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Through mutual contacts, she met drummer John Desautels, who played beforehand with bassist Bill Rhodes, keyboardist Wayne Cooke, and percussionist James Cahoon Lindsay in GoodThunder, which made a 1972 self-titled album on Elektra.

Desautels played recently with guitarist Harlin McNees in Daddy Warbucks, whose recordings first appeared as an unofficial 1976 album on the Tiger Lily tax-scam label. The two welcomed Lawrence into their new band, L.A. Jets, along with Cooke and Lindsay.

On March 20, 1976, L.A. Jets opened an all-day rock concert at Sun Devil Stadium in Arizona with sets by Peter Frampton, Santana, Montrose, and Graham Central Station. Rock promoter Bill Graham organized the event for the outdoor concert sequence in A Star Is Born, the Warner Bros. remake of the 1937 musical drama. In this 1976 version, Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand star as singing lovers with inverse career trajectories. Lawrence and Streisand interacted on the film set.

L. A. Jets

L.A. Jets released their self-titled album in April 1976 on RCA.

L.A. Jets spread Lawrence across a seven-piece layout with two guitars, keyboards, percussion, bass, and stacked support voices around the lead line. Guitarists Silver D. Hanson and Harlin McNees keep the upper register active, keyboardist Wayne Cook widens the center with keyboard and synthesizer parts, and drummer John Desautels with bassist Ron Cindrich hold the backbeat under James Cahoon Lindsay’s percussion and extra vocals.

A1. “Dancin’ Thru the Night” (3:07) — Desautels
A2. “Bailin’ Out” (3:02) — Desautels, Schiff
A3. “An Elemental Song” (3:49) — Hanson
A4. “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” (3:04) — Bob Dylan
A5. “At the Dardanelle” (3:07) — Hanson, Linvill
A6. “Music Is My Life” (2:57) — Gordon

B1. “Never Satisfied” (4:20) — McNees, Lawrence, Owens
B2. “Money Money” (2:33) — Hanson
B3. “Carmel Dodge” (3:10) — Hanson, Linvill
B4. “Then the Rains Came” (2:55) — Hanson
B5. “Bandido” (5:10) — McNees, Desautels

L.A. Jets recorded L. A. Jets at Record Plant, Sausalito, with producer Bob Johnston and engineer Tom Flye.

Acy Lehman handled art direction, Patric Donaghy devised the album concept and shot the back-cover photograph, Ron Slenzak shot the front-cover photograph, and Tim Bryant prepared the package graphics. RCA Victor lifted “Dancin’ Thru The Night” as a single (b/w “Money Money”).

“Prisoner (Captured By Your Eyes)”

In late 1976, L.A. Jets released the standalone single “Prisoner (Captured By Your Eyes),” a Lawrence/Desautels original backed with the McNees exclusive “I’ll Get Along Somehow.”

A. “Prisoner (Captured By Your Eyes)” (3:57) – opens as a plaintive piano-vocal number that modulates through minor keys and intensifies as smoldering guitar lines herald a slow, heavy, melodramatic chorus.
B. “I’ll Get Along Somehow” (4:17)

Gary Klein, the president of their Entertainment Co. publishing firm, produced the single between the debut of singer–songwriter Henry Gaffney (Waiting for a Wind) and the 1977 Barbra Streisand release Superman.

“Prisoner” appeared as a promo and standard single on RCA, which dropped L.A. Jets soon after when the label funneled its resources into the back catalog of Elvis Presley.

As the band looked elsewhere, Lawrence dueted with Steven Tyler on “Get It Up,” a raunchy rocker on the 1977 Aerosmith album Draw the Line. Lawrence and Tyler both appeared as backing vocalists on Double Trouble, the 1978 release by Scottish belter Frankie Miller. Elsewhere, the Baby Grand tax-scam label issued one album attributed to Just Cookin’ and another with repurposed Daddy Warbucks material (under the name Warbux).

Aerosmith manager Jack Douglas took L.A. Jets under his wing and suggested a new band name, 1994, inspired by George Orwell’s 1948 dystopian novel with ten added years for enhanced futurism. Douglas whisked the band to Caribou Ranch for a new set of demos that impressed A&M. Cindrich cleared for GoodThunder bassist Bill Rhodes.

Meanwhile, Barbra Streisand covered “Prisoner (Captured By Your Eyes)” as the theme to Eyes of Laura Mars, the 1978 paranormal thriller starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones. Babs’ version peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. (In 1980, Sue Saad & The Next released a moderate ballad titled “Prisoner” that Sheena Easton covered on her 1981 debut album.)

1994:

1994: released their self-titled debut album in August 1978 on A&M.

The debut reduces the group to a harder four-piece core with Lawrence at the center of a two-guitar front. Guitarist Steve Schiff drives the lead line, Bill Rhodes thickens the middle through bass and added guitar, and John Desautels locks the songs to a firm backbeat.

1994: opens with “Once Again” on chugging guitar and a hard opening shove that sets the album’s pressure at once. Lawrence holds the center with a throaty lead, and the band keeps the arrangements packed tight, with the rhythm section pushing straight through the middle while the guitars crowd the upper range. “Heleana” adds Brad Whitford’s guest guitar, which throws extra flash across that setup and gives one of the album’s clearest lead breaks.

A1. “Once Again” (5:47) — Rhodes, Desautels, Lawrence, Schiff
A2. “Shoot to Kill” (3:54) — Douglas, Lawrence, Schiff
A3. “Sing to Me” (4:47) — Douglas, Lawrence
A4. “Heleana” (4:46) — Douglas, Lawrence

B1. “Bring It Home” (4:45) — Lawrence, Doherty
B2. “Radio Zone” (3:32) — Rhodes, Douglas, Lawrence, Schiff
B3. “Hit The Hard Way” (4:15) — Rhodes, Douglas, Desautels, Lawrence, Armand, Schiff
B4. “Read Up” (3:18) — Rhodes, Desautels, Lawrence, Armand, Schiff
B5. “Anastasia” (3:19) — Douglas, Lawrence, Schiff

Sessions occurred at Record Plant Studios in New York with producer Jack Douglas and engineer Jay Messina.

Roland Young directed the art, Rod Dyer, Inc. handled design and illustration, Chris Callis shot the photographs, and Dave Bottoms supplied the inner-sleeve artwork.

A&M issued “Once Again” as a single (b/w “Anastasia”). Meanwhile, Steve Schiff cleared out for guitarist Rick Armand, who cut a recent album with The Sunset Bombers, an Ariola four-piece with Doug Fieger, who soon after formed The Knack.

Please Stand By…

1994: released their second album, Please Stand By…, in 1979 on A&M.

The second album keeps Lawrence in front but opens more room for overdub detail and auxiliary color. Guitarist Rick Armand supplies lead, rhythm, twelve-string, and acoustic parts, Bill Rhodes adds slide, clavinet, bass, and Eboe guitar color, and John Desautels drives the pulse while Terry Linvill and selected keyboard guests broaden several cuts.

Please Stand By… opens with the title track on a ticking beat, held guitar chords, and a steady pulse that keeps the pressure firm. “Wait For Me” eases the pace and holds Lawrence in a calmer register before a late guitar rise pushes the emotion higher. “Don’t Break It Up” snaps in with jangling guitar and a bright metallic edge, then carries a quick, playful pace into a broader chorus. “Our Time Will Come” slows to a stagger, then bursts open when the chorus arrives and the guitar cuts across the arrangement.

Side two leans harder on texture: “Wild in the Streets” rides a strutting chord pattern and drops in a short sax break, “Stop This Heartache” keeps a slinkier mid-paced pull, “So Bad” stacks multiple guitar parts over pounding bass, and “Nerves of Steel” drags a grimy slide line through a more methodical beat. “Keep Ravin’ On” closes at full charge, with Lawrence opening on a raw cry and the band driving behind her in a fast, hard rush.

A1. “Please Stand By…” (3:56) — F. St. John, K. Lawrence
A2. “Wait For Me” (4:34) — F. St. John, K. Lawrence, R. Armand
A3. “Don’t Break It Up” (3:57) — B. Rhodes, F. St. John, K. Lawrence
A4. “Our Time Will Come” (4:40) — F. St. John, K. Lawrence

B1. “Wild In the Streets” (3:34) — originated on Ghost Writer, the 1977 third album by Brooklyn singer–songwriter Garland Jeffreys; covered in 1978 by the Mott spinoff British Lions.
B2. “Stop This Heartache” (3:31) — F. St. John, K. Lawrence, R. Armand, T. Linvill
B3. “So Bad” (4:05) — E. Leonetti, J. Desautels, K. Lawrence, R. Armand
B4. “Nerves of Steel” (4:20) — B. Rhodes, E. Leonetti, J. Douglas, J. Desautels, K. Lawrence
B5. “Keep Ravin’ On” (4:08) — F. St. John, K. Lawrence, R. Armand

1994: recorded Please Stand By… at Record Plant, Los Angeles, with producers Eddie Leonetti and Jack Douglas and engineers Ed E. Thacker and Lee DeCarlo. Douglas worked in sequence with Canadian hard-rockers Harlequin on their second album, Love Crimes, which features backing vocals on the tracks “Heaven (Dial 999)” and “Crime of Passion.”

A&M issued “Don’t Break It Up” as an autumn 1979 single (b/w “Our Time Will Come”), shortly before the band’s demise.

Postlude

Karen Lawrence formed The Pinz, inspired by the new wave revival of 1960s girl group sounds. Douglas produced their 1981 album, Girl’s Night Out, housed in a hot-pink sleeve with retro photos of the singer.

As a sessionist, Lawrence backed Graham Parker on his 1982 album Another Grey Area. She also sang for Jeff Beck on “Back On the Street,” a bonus track on CD editions of his 1985 comeback album Flash.

In 1986, Lawrence resurfaced with Rip and Tear, a rock album on Revolver Records. When 1994 (the year) arrived, she emerged yet again with Blue By Nature, a band steeped in her blues-rock roots.

Discography: