Michael Des Barres
Encyclopedia : M : MI : MIC : Michael Des Barres
Michael Des Barres (born 24 January 1948) is an English actor and rock singer. He first attracted attention as an actor in To Sir, with Love in 1967. He continued to act in small roles throughout the following years, even as he pursued success in rock and roll.
Des Barres formed his first band Silverhead in England in 1972. They recorded two albums and toured the U.S., Europe and Japan, before disbanding in 1974.
After relocating to Los Angeles, he formed the band Detective in 1975. They recorded two albums that were released on Led Zeppelin's Swan Song Records label.
Des Barres released the solo album I'm Only Human in 1980, which was followed by a solo tour of the U.S. and UK.
He was part of the band Chequered Past from 1982 to 1984, which included Steve Jones from Sex Pistols and Clem Burke and Nigel Harrison from Blondie. In 1983 he wrote and recorded the song "Obsession" together with Holly Knight, which later became a hit when covered by Animotion in 1985.
Des Barres met the members of Duran Duran when Chequered Past opened for a few shows during their 1984 tour. In 1985, when Robert Palmer withdrew from the Duran Duran side project Power Station just before their American summer tour, Des Barres was chosen to take his place as lead vocalist. He performed live with them for several months before they disbanded, including a set broadcast to millions at the 1985 Live Aid charity concert in Philadelphia. Des Barres' friendship with actor Don Johnson got Power Station a guest appearance on Johnson's TV show Miami Vice. He wrote one song with the band, "We Fight For Love" which appears on the soundtrack to the movie Commando.
He released a second solo album called Somebody Up There Likes Me in 1986, which featured contributions by former bandmates Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) and Andy Taylor (Duran Duran).
Des Barres then appeared in the movie Nightflyers, and then in his famous recurring role in MacGyver as the apparently indestructible international assassin Murdoc. He has had numerous guest appearances on other successful TV shows. He also had a lead role in the movie Midnight Cabaret, and was part of the cast of The New WKRP in Cincinnati; he made a guest appearance, with the other members of Detective, on the original WKRP in Cincinnati as a member of the punk band Scum of the Earth.
He met legendary groupie, actress and author Pamela Des Barres in 1974, when he was on the road with Silverhead. They were married from 1977 to 1991, and have one son together, Nick (born 1977).
Michael Des Barres continues to write music and still performs on stage. In 2006, he did several shows at The Mint Club in Los Angeles with his new band called Free Love.
Selected discography
- Silverhead: "Silverhead" (1972)
- Silverhead: "16 and Savaged" (1973)
- Silverhead: "Live at the Rainbow" (1975)
- Detective: "Detective" (1977)
- Detective: "It Takes One To Know One" (1977)
- Detective: "Live from the Atlantic Studios" (1978)
- Michael Des Barres: "I'm Only Human" (1980)
- Chequered Past: "Chequered Past" (1984)
- Michael Des Barres: "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1986)
References
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.