New England (band)

New England is an American rock band that was mainly active from 1978-1982. The group is best known in the US for their first single, "Don't Ever Wanna Lose Ya", which received heavy radio exposure on Album-oriented rock (AOR) stations and reached #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1979. The follow up "Hello, Hello, Hello" also received some airplay. New England described their sound as "power-melodic-googang-song-oriented rock"

New England started their career as Carot Time Cornucopia and soon thereafter renamed themselves The Fossils, playing a mixture of "jazz funk and progressive music, kind of like everyone in mid 1970s". When they were discovered in a Boston area bar by former DJ Eugene "The Friskman" Frisky, their first professional manager, he suggested they rename themselves New England. They subsequently toured locally under that name. About a year later, it was discovered that there was already a band with the name New England, so the band called themselves Newer England for several months. The band New England filed suit over this name, claiming it could lead to confusion, and Newer England became, for a brief time, Newer England's Newest Hitmakers—a reference to the Rolling Stones, whose songs formed a liberal part of their live playlist at the time. When the band finally signed to a major label, their manager at the time negotiated with the other band with the name New England, and Newer England's Newest Hitmakers became New England. The name New England was used for the remainder of the band's existence.

John Fannon, Jimmy Waldo, Gary Shea and Hirsh Gardner formed the band in the Boston area. They were discovered by Kiss manager Bill Aucoin. Paul Stanley helped the band record and produce their self-titled debut album, along with producer Mike Stone, known for his work with Queen and Asia among many others. The group went on tour in support of Kiss, but New England slid between the cracks of other Aucoin projects. The group's success stalled when their record label Infinity Records failed and was absorbed by its parent company, MCA Records in 1980.

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