Orleans is a 1970s soft rock band, best known today for "Dance with Me" and "Still the One". The band was founded in January 1972 in Ulster County, New York by Wells Kelly , John Hall and Larry Hoppen . The band took their name from New Orleans because that city was home to the mixture of music they played when the band was founded. Lance Hoppen , Larry's brother, joined the band later in that year.

The band signed with ABC Records in 1973. Their debut album was Orleans , recorded in Muscle Shoals. After ABC dropped the group, their self-produced second album, Let There Be Magic , came out on Asylum Records in 1974. One of its singles, "Dance with Me", became a Billboard top ten song in 1975.

"Still The One " from their follow-up LP Waking and Dreaming was their second big hit. The song was used as a slogan by ABC television in 1977.

In 1977, Hall left to begin a solo career and became active in the anti-nuclear program, cofounding Musicians United for Safe Energy.

Orleans, meanwhile, got another hit with Forever's "Love Takes Time". They continued performing, in spite of a diminishing audience, and released One of a Kind in 1982. Kelly died of a heroin overdose in 1984. Hall quit his solo career and reunited with the band in the early 1990s, releasing a few recordings on the band's own label, Major Records .

The band made the news briefly in late October 2004 when John Hall publicly commented that the Bush presidential campaign never received permission to use the song at campaign events. The campaign responded by dropping the song from their playlist.

External link

• Band's official website