Point Blank (band)

Point Blank
Point Blank at the Billy Bob's France, June 2007
Background information
Origin	Irving, Texas, United States
Genres	Southern rock
Years active	1974–1984 2005–present
Labels	Arista, MCA, Dixiefrog
Website	Official website
Members	John O'Daniel Greg Hokanson Mouse Mayes Larry Telford Kirk Powers Bobby Armstrong
Past members	Rusty Burns (deceased) Kim Davis (deceased) Phillip Petty (deceased) Peter Buzzy Gruen Steve Hardin Richard Heaton Bill Randolph (deceased) Karl Berkebile Bubba Keith Mike Hamilton (deceased) Buddy Whittington Jeff Williams David Crockett

Point Blank is an American rock band hailing from Texas, United States. The band formed in 1974 and recorded six albums between 1976 and 1982. Garnering occasional airplay on AOR radio stations, the band is best known for their 1981 hit single, "Nicole" and their prior hit "The Hard Way" gained much exposure.

The band was discovered and managed by Bill Ham's Lone Wolf Productions (ZZ Top, Jay Boy Adams, and Eric Johnson). The original six albums were recorded in Memphis with Engineer/Producer Terry Manning. Point Blank's sound is rooted in southern rock and boogie, but drifted towards hard rock and mainstream AOR by the early 1980s. In 1981 they released their fifth album, American Exce$$ which included the hit single "Nicole". With strong air-play on AOR radio stations the track reached #20 on Billboard Magazine's Rock Tracks chart. Subsequently, "Nicole" was also released as a 45 RPM single and peaked inside the Top 40, at #39 on Billboard's Hot 100. In their heyday they were known for their relentless touring, sometimes playing more than 200 shows per year. In 1984, the band broke up.

The band's core members reunited for a benefit concert in 2005. The benefit concert, held on September 17, 2005 was recorded and became a new live album for the band titled Reloaded. After its initial release they continued touring and in late 2009, Point Blank released their seventh album titled Fight On!, their first studio album in 27 years. Both the Reloaded and Fight On! albums were released on the Dixiefrog label. Bassist Phillip Petty died from cancer on June 7, 2010. Guitarist Kim Davis died on October 18, 2010 (born October 6, 1952). The studio musician Michael Hamilton, who played keyboards for the group died, also from cancer, on May 13, 2011.