Steam

*** PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT "STEAM" IS A REGISTERED US FEDERAL TRADEMARK -- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED GREG BRAVO AND IABM CORP. ***
NOTE: We should have started this page as a "Music" page, and will soon be deleting the present version and address. After which, we'll have to reconstruct it again the right way even though we only recently started this one and never even finished it.
Now that all that's out of the way, we're not actually a 100 year old single male from New York, but we had to put down an age and 100 sounded like a nice round number! LOL :))) Yes, we are a real band, and no it wasn't always that way.
Stay tuned! :)Greg, Eddie, John, and Anthony
The Band: Greg is the lead singer of the ever-mysterious, Steam, that had the #1 and mega-selling hit song Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye(Leka/DeCarlo/Frashuer) at the end of the fateful year of 1969. In the beginning, Steam was not a real group at all, but it was a group of studio musicians produced by the remarkably talented Paul Leka who also previously co-wrote Green Tambourine (Leka/Pinz) for the Lemon Pipers and later went on to produce other famous pop artists like Harry Chapin, Gloria Gaynor, Leslie Gore, and REO Speedwagon. After the Na Na record was released under the imaginary group name of "Steam," it fast became a surprise chart-topping hit, and a separate touring band of musicians was quickly organized and sent out on the road in early 1970 to capitalize on the song's success. The touring band and song did not last long, but thanks to baseball, the song itself was given new life by the Chicago White Sox in the mid-1970s as the melody was played every time a pitcher or other player from the opposing team was removed from the field. The crowds started to sing the na na goodbye chant by the tens of thousands, and today it is used in all types of competitive events in the same manner.
Greg's History: Greg started out playing music semiprofessionally while still in junior high school at dances and in clubs around New York and New Jersey with a number of local musicians and bands. In the late 1960s and early 70s, he performed under the show business name of Gary Scott (originally Gary Allen), a name given to him by his handlers to make him appear to be more British while performing many popular tunes from the most popular UK groups of the day like the Beatles. During this period he frequented some of the cafes of Greenwich Village (sometimes cutting classes at school) where he met and worked alongside some very talented musicians, some of which would later become the band that was called Steam. Others were or would later become Pop Icons. Over the years Steam has experienced a number of personnel changes and breakups, and was reformed in 1996 by Greg and other past members of the band. Two years later, he was also successful in reforming the former members of the legendary Vanilla Fudge at the request of his good friend and Fudge guitarist, Vince Martell, and served as their manager for a short period of time.
Greg and Steam are currently recording new material for new release, and continue to share the stage at a variety of large venues worldwide with many other notable artists from bands like Styx, Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, The Animals, Vanilla Fudge, Freddie Scott, Alan Parsons (Project), and many more! Come out and see Greg and Steam for a heart-and-soul-filled sound experience that you will always remember!
The following article is reprinted with permission of the History of Rock and Roll web site . . .
Now That's Entertainment!
By J. D. Roman
As the crowd chants "na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, Goodbye," wearing dark sunglasses and draped in black leather, he coolly and deliberately struts onto the stage placing one foot in front of the other and arms moving like a drum major. With defined confidence, one fist clenched in the air the other holding the mike, he slowly looks around the 3,000-seat auditorium and asks the crowd, if "anyone wants to hear some rock and roll!" They answer with, "YEAAAA!!!!" That does not appear to be good enough for him. He again asks, "I said (pausing), does anybody wanna hear some ROCK AND ROOOLLLLL???" They reply with an earsplitting clamor, and the band breaks out into a powerful cover of the classic Rolling Stones tune, "Jumpin' Jack Flash. Soon he will follow with "Do You Want To Know A Secret," by the Beatles, "Kind Of Hush," by Hermans Hermits, "Touch Me" and "Light My Fire," by the Doors, and then his own song from Steam, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". Throughout, every single mouth seemingly singing in harmony with him, and every hand clapping, every foot tapping. Some even seem to be more involved in the show than its star! "Thank you and nitey-night," says the singer and the band exits stage right. The throng calls out for more, and they walk back onstage for an encore of "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, "Devil With The Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly," by Mitch Rider, and "All You Need Is Love," by the Beatles. The band exits once again to the thunderous roar of the crowd and a standing ovation!
Such is the typical presentation of the classic rock show and genre of music that Greg Bravo specializes in with his band, "Steam," and apparently loves to perform most. He has the only national act around that does both American and British classic rock, especially from the "British Invasion" era (circa 1964 – 1968), and he does it with a most authentic sound! As good as he is in what he usually is called upon to perform, he’s not as limited in scope as he may seem to be at first blush. There are always the special shows (usually charitable benefits), when he can be heard singing Elvis ballads like "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" — even sounding very much like the King! — obscure hits like Tony Orlando's Burt Baccarach penned tune, "Say Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose," or the still-popular "Groovin,'" by his friends, The Rascals, "Runnin' Down a Dream," by Tom Petty, "Rock The Casbah" and "Should I Stay Or Should I Go," by the Clash, and "Fire And Rain," by James Taylor. He runs the Rock and Pop music gamut. On occasion, one may also find him singing with his good friend, Val Anthony, who played piano and sang behind several of the famed "Rat Pack" at Jilly's, their popular 1960s hangout. Val is also a man who Frank Sinatra himself once called "Mr. Cabaret!" Sinatra’s "That’s life," Dean Martin’s "That’s Amore," and other standards like Harry Connick, Jr.’s "It Had To Be You," even "Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu (mostly sung in Italian) are not uncommon for Greg to sing with these collaborative and sometimes impromptu concerts, much to the delight of the audience!
He laughingly calls himself the "accidental rock star" as he tells the tale of how he became lead singer of his band only after the first lead singer got sidelined from drug abuse, and they needed someone to cover for him right away. He said he was more like the "water boy," and only was affiliated with the group because he was the only one they knew who could sing the Beatle and other Brit cover tunes with a real English accent. He was only 14 when he started out in the world of Rock music, but a lot of feeling would come out when the words flowed through his sleek vocal chords. Fans say that the thing is he makes them feel good about themselves with the kind of songs he sings, and in the special way in which he delivers them. He really captures the spirit.
Greg is a multifaceted singer who has touched the hearts and souls of audiences of all sizes worldwide since the late 1960s. He has triumphed over countless successful concert performances and recording projects as singer and producer, and hosted his own radio show in New York in the late 1990s.
While in the sixth grade he started to receive classical training in music, and began with playing the trombone. Several years later he began singing and playing the guitar at an array of venues, especially around New York’s Greenwich Village, with his first bands that were known by various names like the Reckless Riders, Bravo, and as a solo performer, unplugged. It was during these years he also met and came to know an array of topflight musicians and stellar singing legends of the Rock and Roll music world like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and John Lennon who had great and lasting influences on him.
Throughout his career Greg has been involved with several truly remarkable bands and all-star lineups as lead voice, most notably, Steam (originally a studio group and later a touring band), that had the #1 hit "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". Greg reformed the band in the 1990s with some of the other former members, but today he mostly performs under his own name or occasionally his old stage name, Gary Scott.
He is currently recording four new CDs with the help of his good friend and famed soul singer, Freddie Scott (major solo artist most famous for "Hey Girl" written by Carol King and Gerry Goffin, also a writer with King and Goffin for Columbia Records in the early 1960s), and some other former chart-topping recording artists friends blanketed with his inimitable voice on lead vocals. Freddie says that Greg has the look, sound and style of Rock and Roll 'greatness,' pointing to more-famous music legends who he believes Greg is compared to or exceeds in style and talent. He also says that he should know because he has performed in a myriad of events around the US with Greg over the past dozen or so years, and they have collaborated on several other extraordinary Freddie Scott-produced projects in the studio, beginning in the days when DAT files were all the rage.
In recent years, Greg has performed in many prestigious clubs, venues, and landmarks in cites around the world such as Madison Square Garden in New York, the Planet Hollywood in London, in Trafalgar Square at London’s annual Christmas celebration, Rockerfeller Center in New York for the Christmas celebration under the legendary tree, and at many other distinguished locations and festivals around the United States and in Europe. For example, in 2001 he performed at three major events for the fallen firefighters of 9/11, and was invited twice in 2002 - 2003 to sing in a tribute to George Harrison at the world-renowned Beatlefest in New York and Chicago. This celebrated festival, once featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, is the largest Beatles festival of any kind with over 40,000 fans in attendance. Included in the lineup with Greg were Freddie Scott and famous Beatles associates like Alan Parsons (assistant engineer for the Beatles on Apple Records on albums like "Let It Be" and "Abbey Road," and founder of the Alan Parsons Project racking up mega hits with "Eye In The Sky" and "Don’t Answer Me" -- also the producer for several Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney and Wings, Hollies, Al Stewart, projects, Billy J. Kramer (another friend of Greg’s who worked at The Cavern with the Beatles and sang the Lennon/McCartney hit song "Bad To Me" and "Little Children"), and Klaus Voorman (sketch artist who met the Beatles in Hamburg and created the Revolver album cover; also a bassist who played on some John Lennon and George Harrison albums as well as for Manfred Mann). Also headlining with Greg at these events were famed artists from other multiplatinum selling bands like Glenn Burtnick (guitarist for Styx) and Max Weinberg (drummer for Bruce Springtsteen’s E-Street Band and band leader/drummer of the Conan O’Brien TV show). Alistair Taylor (Brian Epstein’s assistant and later general manager of Apple Records), and Robert Freeman (photographer, designer, and cameraman most famous for photographing and designing five of the Beatles' album covers from "Meet the Beatles" to "Rubber Soul"), made presentations during the events recalling and relating many of their past experiences as Beatles associates, as well.
Greg continues to energize audiences of all ages with his lively stage presence, unique vocals, and charisma that is Greg Bravo’s alone, and says he will keep performing until he "drops," with an entertaining laugh that is measured in halting tones straight out of one of those warm old Hollywood "B" movies.
Finally, it is worthwhile noting here that when he is not on stage or recording, Greg is a noted humanitarian and has been the subject of many newspaper articles and TV news stories regarding his philanthropic work benefiting underprivileged and hospitalized children, the homeless, and the community in general. He spends much of his own time and money year-round giving something back to society because he says he is grateful to God for "smiling down upon and watching over one little drop in the Ocean of Humanity like me."
Way to go!