Bobby Alessi - vocals, keyboards; Billy Alessi - vocals, guitar; Jimmy Rippentone - lead guitar; Rafael Goldfeld - bass; Bob Riley - drums; Adam Ippolitto - keyboards, vocals; Dana Krall - vocals, percussion; Carlos Rodriguez - congas, percussion
The Alessi Brothers, Billy and Bobby, never became massive household names during their heyday as pop stars, but they did manage to sell over eight million records between their initial band (Barnaby Bye) and a number of their own albums on A&M Records and Quincy Jones' Warner Brothers imprint, Quest. The band had a number seven hit in 1977 in England with a song called "Oh Lori," which failed to chart in the US, although five years later they reached #71 with a different song entitled "Put Away Your Love." So they were one hit wonders on both sides of the pond, though they did it with two different songs.
Good looking identical twins, and vocally in sync with each other (as many siblings are), they provided a bubble-gum brand of pop that, because of their good musicianship, often slipped into light jazz. Much of time they were derivative of Hall & Oates, although neither of the Alessis could sing as well as Daryl Hall. Although they did a lot of session work as back-up singers, including one track for John Lennon's Double Fantasy LP, they eventually became better known in the music industry as arrangers, working with both Elton John and Paul McCartney. The two brothers had a loyal but small cult audience through the late '70s and early '80s, but eventually turned their focus to advertising jingle work. They have written and recorded popular national jingles for Diet Coke, Ford, Twix, and Slim Fast.
This show is from the band's early Bottom Line performance. The Alessi Brothers open with "Joanna" and run through over a dozen of their songs for the duration of a nearly hour-long set. Of course, they include the aforementioned hit "Oh Lori." They end with "Love To Have You Love Me."
Originally recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour while the duo was promoting their second album, All for a Reason, it is one of few professional live recordings that exist of Billy and Bobby Alessi.