Pegasus...the mythical flying horse.
Though the name of the band is, in retrospect, a
trifle reminiscent of the Styx-inspired puffy imagery of the late 1970's, this group of
high school guys from Chamblee, Georgia created a little magic of their own together. Largely owing
its existence to the breakup/fragmentation of other area groups, the band forged a tight
sound with competent playing and a camaraderie that had ebbed from the collective members'
previous bands.
The band got its start when area band Fiasco ran out of gas. The ex-members fondly remember
the band and are planning to do some recording in 2001. By 1979, however, Fiasco had
splintered into factions that included the Thom Freeman-Rob House axis that would form Pegasus
and the hard rockin' Monte brothers who would go on to form other successful bands.
Rob fondly remembers what was possibly the last Fiasco jam/practice session. "If memory
serves, it was actually the day of the last Fiasco rehearsal that Pegasus was formed." Bobby Palnau arrived at Thom's house, which was where
both bands did the majority of their rehearsals. Bobby had recently taken an interest in the bass
and had borrowed a Guild bass and Acoustic amp from the local high school jazz band to begin his career. Mike Brooks
would soon follow as the obligatory and very solid drummer as Thom traded his sticks for picks with the
formation of the new group. With the new band assembled, rehearsals/jam sessions began.
The group largely avoided the cover tunes they had been playing in previous bands and began on a new set of
crowd pleasers. Something was missing though. The band needed someone who could deliver a
nice vocal sound uninhibited by instrumental playing. Enter Kevin Charlow...
Rob remembers, "Kevin really had a nice voice. What a fantastic tone...especially for the kind of music we were playing
at the time." Our signature tune was "Suite Madame Blue." Kevin was awesome.
Unfortunately, time was not on Pegasus' side. The band only played one real gig and this was
without Kevin. The group parted on good terms as Bobby moved away with his family to Texas and Thom
left for college. In the years that ensued, only Thom and Rob consistently stayed together, doing a
lot of recording in Thom's 4-track basement studio. There are some Pegasus tunes among the old multitrack
tapes. Rob is in the process of remastering a lot of the old material. The band is making
tentative plans to record a couple of tunes...maybe by summer of 2001.
Long live Pegasus!
A few of the other tunes in Pegasus' live act:
- Don't Bother Me (Beatles)
- Suite Madame Blue (Styx)
- Magnet and Steel (Walter Egan)
- Back in the U.S.S.R. (Beatles)
- Rock'n Me (Steve Miller)
- Spirit of the Radio (Rush)
- Can't Get Enough (Bad Company)
- My Sharona (The Knack)
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