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| David London (Fergie Frederiksen) |
| Many of you will ask.."why is there a page on David London?" One reason and one reason only.....he sang one of my favorite songs. Born Dennis Hardy Frederiksen May 15, 1951 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Fergie started out as a musician and by 1964 was already performing with musicians much older than himself in nearby clubs. His singing came as a natural progression of performing with local bands. By the time Fergie had graduated school he realized that he wanted to pursue a career as a singer, not as a musician. Old friend and guitarist Tommy Shaw recommended Fergie as his replacement in the Chicago based group MS Funk, when Shaw was leaving to join another Chicago outfit, Styx, so Fergie moved across the lake to the windy city in 1975. His stint with MS Funk was as brief as the groups career. In less than two years the group was gone. While with the band he met pianist Patrick Leonard, (also from Michigan), the two formed a friendship that turned into the formation of Trillion. Fergie recorded the groups debut album with Leonard in 1978 (Epic Records) before leaving to pursue a solo career. Leonard continued for a second album with Trillion before later scoring hits for Madonna, Jody Watley and Elton John, among others. To further his solo career Fergie moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and began session work. This session work would lead to his meeting producer Jacques Morali and becoming "David London." In his role as David London he first appeared in 1980 on the soundtrack of "Can't Stop The Music." His contribution to the soundtrack were two tracks, both of which appeared on a promotional-only Casablanca 12" single. "Samantha" a tribute to the Valerie Perrine character in the movie, and the opening-credits track. "Sound Of The City" was the best thing on the album. It's rousing big band, horn blaring, cymbal crashing feel good atmosphere made it one of the year's club favorites. I remember spinning it at the time and extending it for a good 20 minutes to the crowds delight. The songs were written and produced by Morali and Belolo. Given the climate of music, particularly the death of disco, and the fact that Neil Bogart (Pres. of Casablanca) was trying to distance himself and the company from it's "disco" image are probably two of the main reasons there was not another David London 12" single. He did release a 1981 "David London" album, but it failed to chart. His association with Morali spilled over into his contributing vocals to the Village People's 1981 release "Renaissance." He can also be heard on the additional soundtracks of "Best Little Whorehouse In Texas," "All American Traffic Jam" and "Executioner's Song." In 1983, Fergie became the lead singer for Le Roux, who had scored their biggest hit, yet, the year before with the Top 20 single "Nobody Said It Was Easy." The subsequent album, "So Fired Up," produced the minor hit "Carrie's Gone" written about Fergie's relationship with comedienne Carol Burnett's daughter, actress/singer Carrie Hamilton. After the breakup of Le Roux, Fergie next formed a group called Abandoned Shame, which included long-time friend, bass player Ricky Phillips, who had been with The Babys and would be in Bad English, and drummer Pat Torpey, who would end up with Mr. Big. Before the band could secure a record deal, a videotape of them ended up in the hands of Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro. Toto, which was coming off of the phenomenal commercial success of their album "Toto IV," was in need of a lead singer to replace long-time member Bobby Kimball and enlisted Fergie. Instead of rehashing the successful formula of "Toto IV," the band, with Fergie on lead vocals, pursued an edgier direction. Despite being one of the year's more eagerly awaited records, "Isolation" proved to be a relative failure upon its release in late 1984. It did manage to eke out Gold-selling status and spawn a Top 30 hit, "Stranger In Town." Following "Isolation," Fergie chose to leave the music business for an extended period of time. In 1999, he returned to release a solo album, "Equilibrium," which featured Ricky Phillips, and he also became a member of World Class Rockers, which consisted of former members of Wings, Spencer Davis Group, and The Eagles (among others). In 2002, Fergie appeared on the self-titled release by the band Mecca, which included former Toto bassist David Hungate. We are glad that he is alive, happy and healthy....thanks David for one of my favorite songs of the disco-era. |
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