Thursday, July 9, 2009

Characters In Time and Diablero




To hear David Taylor's vocals you can check out DRIVE tracks at www.myspace.com/drivecharactersintime.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The Captivating Frontman









































Memories On Stage
















Family and Friends




David is survived by his mother, Lamoure Gunnells, his father Jesse Taylor and wife Dellerie, sister Teresa Dupaul and husband Chuck, brother Terry Taylor and wife Amanda, sisters Trina Janowski and husband Jason; Tina Taylor-Helmore and husband Craig, stepmother, Janet Taylor, along with numerous nieces and nephews.




His bandmates and brothers Rick Chavez, Val San Miguel, Michael Anthony Guerrero and Mercy Valdez.

"Heroes Road" (Chavez, Taylor, Guerrero)



"You blast your way into eternity,
Never thinking of yourself,
You'll lose your life but not your dignity,
Medal of honor on someone's shelf,
Live for the moment, A life can be saved,
An unspoken code,
Ripped yourself a place in time,
Walking down a heroes road"

RIP - David Taylor - Lead Singer of the band Drive



David Taylor was the lead vocalist for ’80s hard rock band, Drive. Formed in Houston, Texas by Rick Chavez and Mercy Valdez, Drive soon found their voice in a young David Taylor, just barely out of his teens. In the mid ’80s, the band moved to Los Angeles, which was quickly becoming the epicenter of the ’80s metal scene. Winning a radio contest with their song “I Need The Nights,” Drive landed on the Best Of The West compilation that was released on Rampage Records. Rampage soon signed to band, and in July of 1988, released their debut, Characters In Time. The album received tremendous reviews from the industry’s top hard rock press, including the coveted 5 “K” rating from Kerrang magazine. The album also received solid airplay from hard rock stations around the country, including Los Angeles powerhouse, KNAC. What separated Drive from the “hair” bands of the Sunset Strip, was their intelligent lyrics, intricate musicianship, and of course, Taylor’s suburb voice that fell somewhere between Ronnie James Dio and Queensryche’s Geoff Tate. And what endeared them to true metal critics and fans alike was that they were more Iron Maiden than Poison, more Judas Priest than Winger. Characters In Time was followed by the more mature and sonically advanced, Diablero on Zoo Records. Unfortunately, a shake-up at the label along with the dawn of the metal-killing “grunge” scene, left the album without much of a push, so the band’s recording career was put on hold as the band members moved back to Texas, where Taylor was living in recent years. While driving along a San Antonio interstate on June 25, 2009, Taylor apparently lost control of his vehicle after a tire came off, causing him to crash. He was airlifted to an area hospital where he died of his injuries five days later. He was 44.