Description
This is an AUTHENTIC HAND SIGNED ORIGINAL Vintage 8"x 10" color Photo of the 4 main members in the rock band "STEPPENWOLF" featuring the autographs by John Kay, Michael Wilk, Ron Hurst, & Danny Johnson. Steppenwolf was a Canadian rock band, prominent from 1968 to 1972. The group was formed in late 1967 in Los Angeles by lead singer John Kay, keyboardist Goldy McJohn, & drummer Jerry Edmonton, all formerly of the Canadian band The Sparrows. Guitarist Michael Monarch & bass guitarist Rushton Moreve were recruited via notices placed in Los Angeles-area record & musical instrument stores. Steppenwolf sold over 25 million records worldwide, released eight gold albums & 12 Billboard Hot 100 singles, of which six were top 40 hits, including three top 10 successes: "Born to Be Wild", "Magic Carpet Ride", & "Rock Me". Steppenwolf enjoyed worldwide success from 1968 to 1972, but clashing personalities led to the end of the core lineup. Today, John Kay is the only original member, having been the lead singer since 1967. The band was called John Kay & Steppenwolf from 1980 to 2018. The reformed John Kay & Steppenwolf line-up featured John Kay, Michael Palmer (guitars, backing vocals), Steve Palmer (drums, backing vocals), Danny Ironstone (keyboards, backing vocals), & Kurtis Teel on bass. The Palmer brothers had played in a group called Tall Water & had also been involved with Kay in his solo career playing live gigs in the late 1970s. Teel was replaced by Chad Peery & Ironstone by Brett Tuggle by 1981, & the new grouping released Live in London overseas. Tuggle was then displaced by Michael Wilk & a new studio album, Wolftracks, was released in 1982 on the small Attic (Nautilus in the U.S.) record label. Wolftracks was one of the earliest digitally recorded albums in the industry. It was recorded live on a two-track Sony digital recording system. Bassist Welton Gite, who appeared on this album, left shortly after its completion & was replaced by Gary Link, formerly with Dokken. Another album, Paradox, followed in 1984. in December 1984 the band as it was disbanded & Kay & Wilk decided to continue on in early 1985 with a pared-down quartet composed of Kay, Wilk, Wilk's friend Ron Hurst (drums, backing vocals), & Rocket Ritchotte (guitars, backing vocals). Wilk also handled bass duties from his sequencing computer keyboards from then on. This line-up released Rock N' Roll Rebels (1987) & Rise & Shine (1990); these were on the Qwil & I.R.S. Records imprints, respectively. Ritchotte had departed temporarily in 1989 to be replaced by Les Dudek & then Steve Fister, but then returned in 1990 for three more years. Fister (ex-Iron Butterfly) came back in late 1993, but turned guitar duties over to Danny Johnson (formerly of Derringer, Rod Stewart, & others) in 1996. As the band was named after the novel Der Steppenwolf by German author Hermann Hesse, who was born in the Black Forest town of Calw, the city invited them to come over & play in the International
