Vince Vance & The Valiants

Vince Vance & The Valiants are a country pop and Rock-'n'-Roll musical group from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, founded by Andy Stone (nee Vince Vance). They are known primarily for their singles: 1) "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts on six separate occasions, reaching its peak of #31 in 2000; and 2) "Bomb Iran", which was "The Most Requested Song in the United States", according to Billboard Magazine, in 1980 for several weeks during the height of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, garnering much radio play and millions of dollars worth of free publicity [Newsweek, US News & World Report, Playboy, Rolling Stone, etc.] for the band and its already notorious live stage antics. Vance was born January 31, 1950 in Oakland, California, the son of Andrew John Stone and Melvina Anne "Molly" Stone. Vance, of Croatian nationality, was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Little is known about Vance's personal life, but at one point became a high school teacher, and had even found time to write a children's book and poetry in his later years. Founded in a New Orleans French Quarter Bourbon Street club in 1971, one of the Valiants' most notable characteristics is the audience interaction and style of frontman Vance, who also serves as the band's keyboardist. The band is also known for its theatrical stage antics, with props such as a 6-foot head in Vance's likeness, and a John Deere five-wheel tricycle. Vance himself has 50 complete costume changes for each show. The group is also known for its still-controversial 1980 song entitled "Bomb Iran", which was recorded in the midst of the Iranian hostage crisis and sung to the tune of "Barbara Ann" by The Beach Boys and The Regents. "Bomb Iran" was "The Most Requested Song in the United States", according to Billboard Magazine, in 1980 for several weeks during the heighth of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, garnering much radio play and millions of dollars worth of free publicity [Newsweek, US News & World Report, Playboy, Rolling Stone, etc.] for the band and its already notorious live stage antics. In October, 1982, the Valiants were decimated by a head-on van crash outside of Palestine, Texas, which took the life of multi-talented Lead Guitarist Richard Heath, as well as the life of the driver of the other vehicle, who had fallen asleep at the wheel on his way in to work at 5am. All six surviving members of the Valiants were severely injured [Stone, Arroyo, Phistry, Gunnstaks, Manousos, and Blanchard], and the group was temporarily sidelined due to those massive injuries until late February of 1983. The crash made the national news wire services, and various benefits were conducted by sponsoring clubs around the country to raise funds to help the band members pay their rent until they could crawl back on stage. The Valiants finally hit the road again in February and have been honored to receive Texas Music Awards for "Best Pop Band 1982" and numerous local magazine awards for "Best Live Show(s)" over the years. They became regulars at the mammoth State Fair of Texas, and were on regular speaking terms with "BIG TEX" himself, who stood in front of the Valiants' stage at the state fairgrounds in Dallas, Texas. The group also performed at The Louisiana World's Fair in New Orleans in 1984 on the outside Coliseum Stage, and annually played at various massive Mardi Gras Celebrations and Parades in New Orleans, while typically performing live shows approximately 300 days/nights per year, in venues ranging in size from private parties to The New Orleans Superdome across forty-two (42) states and Canada, as of 1986. Performance Magazine named The Valiants as "the highest-paid non-major label act in the business" throughout the 1980s. After restructuring the band and re-vamping the show for a wider mainstream audience in 1986, which included the return of The Valiantettes for the first time since 1974, in 1989 the group produced its biggest hit, "All I Want For Christmas Is You", which was sung by then-lead singer Lisa Layne. A video was made for the song in 1993. For many years, Billboard Magazine reported this song as Radio's most-requested Christmas song.[citation needed] The song receives heavy holiday airplay on both adult contemporary and country music radio stations annually; in addition, it charted several times on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, reaching as high as #31 in 2000. "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was written by Vance and former lead guitarist Troy Powers and inspired by one of Vance's real life experiences. Also, the melody of the song is nearly identical to Bobby Vinton's 1964 top 10 pop hit single, "My Heart Belongs to Only You." The single, first released in 1989 on a vinyl 45, came in a picture jacket with a photo of the band on the front, and on the back was the story that Vance told which inspired him to write the song.[citation needed] Since then, the group has performed at the White House and Vince has even met the Pope. Later, in 2003, the group recorded a song called "Bomb Iraq", sung to the tune of "Yakety Yak" and supporting the imminent Iraq war. Vince Vance & The Valiants have also been inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame, among numerous other significant honors. In early 2007, then-Presidential Candidate Senator John McCain [R-Az.] was video-recorded on a cellphone at a campaign rally singing the words to the Valiants' 1980 hit recording "Bomb Iran" in response to an audience-member's question as to what the candidate's position was regarding Iranian interference in Iraq. This video clip was posted to online video services and resulted in unexpected exposure for both the candidate and The Valiants. As a direct result, the notorious 1980s-era Valiants will indeed be performing a Reunion in Dallas, Texas, along with a set performed by the current line-up of "Vince Vance & The Valiants With The Valiantettes" on November 15th, 2008, as well as a third set comprised of other former Valiants from earlier and later incarnations of this long-lived and persistent touring group. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.