Jack Mack and the Heart Attack


Jack Mack and the Heart Attack is a soul and R&B band that was formed in 1980 in Los Angeles, California. Their debut album, Cardiac Party, was produced by Glenn Frey of The Eagles on Irving Azoff's Full Moon Records/Warner Bros. label. They are known for performing in and writing songs for many major motion pictures and television shows as well as being the house band for Fox TV's The Late Show. They were the band that was performing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia when a pipe bomb exploded near the sound tower. This event is depicted in the film Richard Jewell, directed by Clint Eastwood, which was released on December 13, 2019 as well as the Netflix TV series Manhunt Season 2, being released in 2020.

Career

Formation

Jack Mack and the Heart Attack are a Los Angeles, California soul and R&B band that was formed in 1980 by guitarist Andrew Kastner, drummer Jack Mack and drummer Rick Shlosser. Jack Mack started as an 11 piece band with Rick Shlosser and Jack Mack aka Claude Pepper on Drums, Kastner on Guitar, Bill Bergman tenor sax, John Paruolo Hammond B3 organ, Lee Thornburg trumpet and flugel horn, Scott Chambers bass, Max Gronenthal aka Max Carl lead vocals, guitar and keyboards, Jerry Jumonville tenor sax, Greg Smith baritone sax, and John Berry trumpet.
Before booking any gigs, the band rehearsed for several months, focusing on obscure soul tunes and a fast-paced show that featured their dancing 5-piece horn section, “The Heart Attack Horns.” Lee Thornburg and John Berry had played with Wayne Cochran & the CC Riders before moving to LA, and with them came the CC Rider dance steps and horn arrangements. The band's first gig was at the Blue Lagoon Saloon in Venice; however, they soon started playing every Monday night on Sunset Blvd. at The Central.
As their popularity grew, lines started forming around the block, so the band moved down the street to Club Lingerie. They performed there until one night in 1982 — the LA fire marshals came in during one of their performances and closed the club down for hosting 900 patrons. The club's legal capacity was 325. Jack Mack's fast-paced, highly polished, dynamic soul show with their dancing horns made Club Lingerie "the" place to be in LA on those Thursday nights. Celebrities, rockstars, and TV & film producers often attended to hear Jack Mack, and on many occasions producers would ask Jack Mack to appear in or record songs for their film and TV projects, such as Police Academy, Tuff Turf, and Beverly Hills Cop II. One of those producers was Penny Marshall, who asked the band to appear in an episode of Laverne & Shirley.

Full Moon/Warner Bros. Records

On December 31, 1981 guitarist Andrew Kastner was in a car accident; while he was in the hospital, guitarist Josh Leo took his place. Josh at the time was playing on Eagles founding member Glenn Frey's solo album, and he invited Glenn to come see a Jack Mack performance. After seeing the band at the Club Lingerie, Glenn brought the Heart Attack Horns into the studio to record on his first solo album, No Fun Aloud. He became fond of the band and their sound; within weeks, they were signed to Full Moon/Warner Bros Records owned by Irving Azoff and Dan Fogelberg. They released the album Cardiac Party, produced by Glenn Frey for Full Moon Records, in 1982.
After the album release, Jack Mack began touring and continued appearing in TV shows and films, as well as performing backup for famous artists and performing on their records. Notably, the band performed in the 1982/83 second annual MTV New Year's Eve concert in New York City with Duran Duran and A Flock of Seagulls. They also wrote and recorded 4 songs for the film, Police Academy. In June 1984, Mark Campbell became the band’s lead vocalist, and the band performed in the film, Tuff Turf, which starred James Spader and Robert Downey Jr.

Voss Records

In 1988, Jack Mack was signed to Voss Records and became the house band for Fox TV's The Late Show backing up artists such as Joe Walsh, The Young Rascals, Bobby Womack, Ginger Baker, and many others. Their album Jack it Up was released in 1990. Combining soul and rock, the retro-style effort recalled the days when blue-eyed soulsters like Rare Earth, the Spencer Davis Group, the Rascals, and Blood, Sweat & Tears dominated the music world. Jack Mack & the Heart Attack was greatly inspired by Stax/Volt, Motown, and Rock and Soul.

1996 Centennial Park Olympic Bombing

In July 1996 the band was engaged to perform at the XXVI Olympiad, the international multi-sport event being held in Atlanta, Georgia. In the early morning of July 27, 1996, shortly after the band performed their original tune "I Walked Alone", a pipe bomb exploded in very close proximity to the stage, directly killing 1 person, and injuring 111. There were about 40,000 people attending the concert.
This event is the basis of the 2019 Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell. The film, released by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 13, 2019, features actual video footage from Centennial Park in Atlanta in 1996 of Jack Mack performing two songs, "I Walked Alone" and "I'll Take You There."

Jack Mack Entertainment

In 1999, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack released the album Arrhythmia independently under Jack Mack Entertainment. In 2003 Jack Mack, in conjunction with Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Hamilton, released the live recording Scott Hamilton & Friends: Live in Philadelphia. Jack Mack released Club Lingerie - Live in 2005, a recording from their show at Club Lingerie in 1982. In 2006, they released By Request. In 2011 Jack Mack and The Heart Attack celebrated their 30th Anniversary by releasing Soul Meeting, featuring special guests vocalists Bill Champlin, Max Carl, Mike Finnigan, Tim Scott, and Curtis Salgado. Also in 2011 the band released their compilation album The Best of Jack Mack & The Heart Attack. In 2013, Jack Mack released their Lookin' Up - EP produced by Grammy award winner, Tom Hambridge.

SSR Free Roll Records

In 2016, Jack Mack released their album Back to the Shack, produced by Bill Bergman & Andrew Kastner under SSR/Free Roll Records. The band was Mark Campbell, lead vocals; Andrew Kastner, guitars; Carlos Murguia, keyboards; Bruce Atkinson, bass; and Les Falconer, drums. The Heart Attack Horns were Bill Bergman, sax, and Les Lovitt on trumpet. The band brought in other special guests including former members Tony Braunagel, drums, and Lee Thornburg on trumpet, trombone, and friends of the band Mike Finnigan, keyboards and vocals, Ed Berghoff, Acoustic Guitar, and Melanie Taylor, Niki J. Crawford and Kathy Merrick on backing vocals. Nine of the ten songs were newly written by Kastner, Campbell, and Bergman. All but one of the horn arrangements were by Bergman, the other by Lee Thornburg.

''Richard Jewell''

In 2019, Clint Eastwood's producer Tim Moore contacted the band, seeking video footage of Jack Mack for Eastwood’s upcoming film Richard Jewell. Fortunately, Kastner had saved a box of video from the band’s seven nights of performances at the 1996 Olympics in Centennial Park. The band ended up licensing the footage and two of their songs for the film.

''Live from Centennial Park, Atlanta 1996''

Live From Centennial Park, Atlanta 1996 was released on December 6, 2019 featuring the actual recording of the band's live performance at the XXVI Olympiad in Atlanta in Centennial Park, and includes songs recorded on the night the pipe bomb exploded. The album features two songs performed in Clint Eastwood's film Richard Jewell. This collection of originals and classic soul covers places the listener right in the middle of what became one of history's most infamous terrorist attacks.
Jack Mack released the single "Jealous Heart" on December 12, 2019.

Members

;Current members
;Former members


ImageSize = width:1000 height:550
PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:10 right:10
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2019
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Colors =
id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitars
id:Sax value:gray legend:Saxophone
id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:Trumpet value:gray legend:Trumpet
id:Trombone value:gray legend:Trombone
id:lines1 value:black legend:Studio_Albums
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1980
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1980
BarData =
bar:Mark text:Mark Campbell
bar:Gavin text:Gavin Christopher
bar:TC text:TC Moses
bar:Pamela text:Pamela Mattioli
bar:Paula text:Paula Mattioli
bar:Max text:Max Gronenthal
bar:Will text:Will Rize
bar:Kathy text:Kathy Merrick
bar:Niki text:Niki J Crawford
bar:Andrew text:Andrew Kastner
bar:Richard text:Richard Grossman
bar:David text:David Lee Watson
bar:Davey text:Davey Farragher
bar:Scott text:Scott Chambers
bar:Larry text:Larry Antonino
bar:Peter text:Peter Frieberger
bar:Bruce text:Bruce Atkinson
bar:Tim text:Tim Scott
bar:Bill text:Bill Bergman
bar:GregS text:Greg Smith
bar:Cece text:Cece Worrall
bar:Jerry text:Jerry Jumonville
bar:Roy text:Roy Weigand
bar:Jim text:Jim Coile
bar:Dan text:Dan Fornero
bar:Dennis text:Dennis Farias
bar:JohnB text:John Berry
bar:Lee text:Lee Thornburg
bar:LesL text:Les Lovitt
bar:RickB text:Rick Braun
bar:Garret text:Garret Atkinson
bar:Teddy text:Teddy Andreadis
bar:JohnP text:John Paruolo
bar:Robin text:Robin Swenson
bar:GregB text:Greg Brown
bar:LesF text:Les Falconer
bar:Carlos text:Carlos Murguia
bar:KevinC text:Kevin Cloud
bar:KevinW text:Kevin Wells
bar:Jack text:Jack Mack
bar:RickS text:Rick Shlosser
bar:Tony text:Tony Braunagel
PlotData=
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:
bar:Mark from:01/01/1985 till:end color:Vocals
bar:Kathy from:01/01/2016 till:end color:Vocals
bar:TC from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1998 color:Vocals
bar:Gavin from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1995 color:Vocals
bar:Pamela from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2009 color:Vocals
bar:Paula from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2009 color:Vocals
bar:Max from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1984 color:Vocals
bar:Max from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1984 color:Guitar width:7
bar:Max from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1984 color:Keyboards width:3
bar:Will from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2009 color:Vocals
bar:Niki from:01/01/2016 till:end color:Vocals
bar:Andrew from:01/01/1980 till:end color:Guitar
bar:Richard from:01/01/2019 till:end color:Bass
bar:Richard from:01/01/2019 till:end color:Vocals width:3
bar:David from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1992 color:Bass
bar:Davey from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2014 color:Bass
bar:Davey from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2014 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Scott from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:Bass
bar:Larry from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2018 color:Bass
bar:Larry from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2018 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Peter from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1985 color:Bass
bar:Bruce from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2011 color:Bass
bar:Bruce from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2011 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Tim from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/2008 color:Bass
bar:Tim from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/2008 color:vocals width:3
bar:Bill from:01/01/1980 till:end color:Sax
bar:GregS from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:Sax
bar:CeCe from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2006 color:Sax
bar:Jim from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1986 color:Sax
bar:Jerry from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1981 color:Sax
bar:Roy from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:Trumpet
bar:Roy from:01/01/2016 till:end color:Trumpet
bar:Dan from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1993 color:Trumpet
bar:Dennis from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1992 color:Trumpet
bar:JohnB from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1992 color:Trumpet
bar:Lee from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:Trumpet
bar:LesL from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/2016 color:Trumpet
bar:RickB from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1992 color:Trumpet
bar:RickB from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1992 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Garret from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1981 color:Trombone
bar:Carlos from:01/01/2011 till:end color:Keyboards
bar:Carlos from:01/01/2011 till:end color:Vocals width:3
bar:Teddy from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2009 color:Keyboards
bar:Teddy from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2009 color:Vocals width:3
bar:JohnP from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1998 color:Keyboards
bar:Robin from:01/01/2012 till:01/01/2014 color:Keyboards
bar:GregB from:01/01/2016 till:end color:Drums
bar:LesF from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2014 color:Drums
bar:KevinC from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/2002 color:Drums
bar:KevinC from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/2002 color:Vocals width:3
bar:KevinW from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1988 color:Drums
bar:KevinW from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1988 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Jack from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:Drums
bar:Jack from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:Vocals width:3
bar:RickS from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1981 color:Drums
bar:Tony from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1998 color:Drums
bar:Tony from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1998 color:Vocals width:3

Discography

Studio albums