Audio Autopsy 1975: Head East "Never Been Any Reason," A&M Records (+ Petra, John Schlitt)
For lead singer, John Schlitt, a reason finally became evident.
Head Eats: The diner photographed, here, on the back cover☝of the A&M re-issue is the Rite-Way Diner, still in business (now as the Olivette Diner) at 9638 Olive Blvd, Olivette, Missouri (an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis):
Spotlight: Head East Lead Singer, John Schlitt
John Schlitt was born February 3, 1950 in Lincoln Illinois. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to the nearby central Illinois town of Mt. Pulaski. When he was 13, he joined a band called Vinegar Hills Hometown Band Something Different.
After graduating from Mt. Pulaski High in 1968, Schlitt enrolled at the University of Illinois in hopes of earning a degree in Civil Engineering. In 1972, he joined Head East as lead singer with some fellow students of the university. Juggling his new musical career and college work, Schlitt finally graduated from college in 1974 and dedicated himself full-time to his music career.
After a couple of founding members dropped out, Head East was solidified with members Schlitt, keyboardist Roger Boyd (who produced Flat as a Pancake), guitarist Mike Somerville (who wrote “Never Been Any Reason”), bassist Dan Birney, and drummer Steve Huston:
Head West
After recording Flat as a Pancake at the Peoria suburb, South Pekin’s Golden Voice Studio in 1974, midwest radio stations like St. Louis’s influential K-SHE, and Kansas City’s KYYS/KY-102, and others, started giving the album airplay enough to catch A&M’s ear.
By the time A&M’s album re-release hit the streets in June 1975, I was a 20-year-old part-time jock at Houston’s KLOL-FM, the leading commercial “progressive rock” station in the Bayou City. To my knowledge, 101 was not one of the stations on the Pyramid release. We had the A&M disc in rotation, though, and I remember playing “Never Been Any Reason” when I was on-air. Those days at KLOL are recounted here:
Behind The Mic: A Personal Peek Into 1970s FM Classic Rock Radio--Pt. 2, KLOL/Houston, Mother's Family
In Part 1 of “Behind the Mic: A Personal Peek Into 1970s FM Classic Rock Radio—The College Years,” I related accounts of my two years at college radio…KNTU at North Texas State (Fall of 1973 through Spring ‘74), and as Music Director with a 3-hour afternoon drive-time shift at the University of Houston’s KUHF (Fall ‘74 through Spring ‘75).
Just based on the single alone, Head East seemed to easily slot into the lane occupied (or soon to be) by dynamic American classic-rock bands like Boston (still a year or so away from the August 25, 1976 Epic/CBS release of their landmark debut, a release week extensively documented here), (fellow A&M labelmates) Styx, REO Speedwagon, and Kansas.
And, like all these bands, Head East hit the road countless times, usually opening for some of these same bands, and focusing on relentlessly traversing America’s mid-section.
The album got to #126 on Billboard’s Pop Album Chart, and reached RIAA gold status (500,000 units) in 1978, with the single (bringing Head East to AM stations) topping out at #68 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s still a well-known song on classic rock stations around the country, and on several appropriately rockin’ Sirius/XM satellite channels.
Into the Grooves
“Never Been Any Reason” features keyboardist Roger Boyd’s double-tracked Minimoog solos throughout the song. Asked about the solos via the band's official website, Boyd said they were created due to an accident during mixing:
“It is two Minimoogs. Back in those days, we did not have computerized mixing and had to mix ‘on the fly’; we forgot to mute one of the moog solos and when it went by, we thought WOW! So we decided to go back and record the second part to match/complement the primary solo part.”
Lead vocals alternate between drummer Steve Huston singing the first two lines of the verses and lead vocalist Schlitt on the remainder of the song. Both sing the last line of each verse, and the choruses feature multi-part vocal harmonies sung by all members. And, par for the mid-’70s course, the obligatory🐮🔔.
Schlitt Fans the Hit: The Petra Years
Head East released five studio albums and one live album in the late ‘70s with A&M. However, during this time, John Schlitt also developed a dependency on cocaine and alcohol. His dependency reached a peak when he was fired from the band in March 1980.
From John’s website bio: “His departure from Head East should have served as a wake-up call, but John immediately decided to start another band in an attempt to feed his drug and alcohol addiction. His lack of musical focus and hunger for a constant ‘fix’ led to the band’s quick demise. John, who seemed poised for a long and fruitful career in music, was suddenly an abject failure. He became another casualty of rock ‘n roll decadence, rejected by his peers and left to his own drug-influenced devices.”
John ended up following his wife Dorla’s journey as a born-again Christian. Dorla’s new-found faith upset John, but it did impress him: “She was so happy all the time; I was like totally miserable. One day I said, ‘What makes you so happy?’ And she goes, ‘I’m glad you asked.’ And I just go, ‘Oh, man - here it comes!’”
Five years after Schlitt was bounced from Head East, he ended up as lead singer of Petra, perhaps the leading rock band in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) field by the ‘80s (Petra enjoyed a 31-year recording career, from their 1974 debut through 2005’s final album, earning 13 Grammy noms, winning four). “Petra” is Greek for “rock.”
John’s signature can be seen, far right, on this Epic/Word 8x10 promo glossy (circa 1995), above. The album, No Doubt, garnered the band a 1995 Gammy nom for Best Rock Gospel Album (John, far right, on jacket front):
John auditioned for the Petra part and sang “Altar Ego,” a song that eventually appeared on Petra’s 1986 album, Back to the Street: “There was one high part in it that I hit, and [Petra founder, guitarist/songwriter] Bob Hartman, goes, ‘Where did that come from?!’ I said, ‘Oh, it’s no big deal.’ I could see his eyes just clicking, going ‘Yeah - got the range, got the….. this is good, this is good!’ And it was funny! I felt like it had worked out well”:
Petra disbanded in 2005, and Schlitt has recorded half-a-dozen solo albums since then. He also appears here and there to reprise the Head East hit his career began with nearly half-a-century ago, like this recent live performance on Mike Huckabee’s TBN network show (with the former Arkansas governor on bass!):
Popular YouTuber, Jamel AKA Jamal gave his first reaction to the song in 2021:
I still need to read this whole thing, a piece definitely not flat as a pancake, but wanted to comment anyway, just to mention how much I appreciate the detail you provide, such as finding the diner in the album art and including a photo of it. It brings an added historical dimension that simply providing information lacks. Also, pancakes are one of my favorite foods. I have a complicated relationship with them due to the post-eating effects on my body, but I will say that 79 percent of the time it is worth the digestive and somnambulistic bodily responses.
I roomed, briefly, with Tim Vear, who was the guitarist with Head East back in 1970 or so. I guess he wasn't with them anymore in 1975, or at least, I didn't see his name.