38 Special Founding Members Jeff Carlisi, Donnie Van Zant Take Aim on '80s Best
Dallas, TX - January 2, 2015. North American syndicated Rock radio program and website InTheStudio: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands heads south to get the 38 Special story from founding members Jeff Carlisi and Donnie Van Zant on the 35th anniversary of their breakthrough album Rockin' Into The Night.
Hailing from the Southern Rock capital of the world, Jacksonville, Florida, and with the connection to Ronnie Van Zant of Southern Rock royalty Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special found themselves in an advantageous position. But after two albums, not much had materialized until the release of 1980's breakthrough Rockin' Into The Night and the platinum follow-ups, 1981's Wild-Eyed Southern Boys and 1982's Special Forces.
Jeff Carlisi shares with InTheStudio host Redbeard how 38 Special drew a bead on the musical bullseye and came into their own with hits including 'Rockin' Into the Night','Hold On Loosely','Fantasy Girl', and 'Caught Up in You'.
'38 Special found a bit of a focus with the third album Rockin' Into The Night and then Wild-Eyed Southern Boys , which was the first platinum record for the band. We had finally developed a style of music that was not typically Southern in the sense of three chord shuffles or those type of things, but it was the attitude, the way Southern musicians approached there music.' - Jeff Carlisi
