Hotel

This US rock band, formed in the late 70s, was frequently accused of ‘taking a hammer to crack a nutshell’, to quote one analogy. The assembled ranks of Hotel, who specialized in grandiloquent, multi-layered AOR, included Tommy Caton (guitar, vocals), Marc Phillips (keyboards, vocals), Michael Reid (guitar, vocals), George Creasman (bass, vocals), Lee Bargeon (keyboards, vocals) and Michael Cadenhead (drums, percussion). Their 1979 debut album, released on MCA Records, was a disappointing collection of songs where the focus on unnecessary musical embellishment detracted from the group’s songwriting. Half Moon Silver, which followed a year later, was an improvement, but it, too, failed to elevate them into the AOR mainstream.