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Michael Stanley (born Michael Stanley Gee; March 25, 1948 – March 5, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and radio and television personality. As a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band (MSB), and Michael Stanley and the Resonators (MS&R), his brand of heartland rock was popular in Cleveland, Ohio, and around the American Midwest in the 1970s and 1980s.
A few years after his graduation, while working as a regional manager for a record store chain, Stanley released his first solo album, Michael Stanley, on Tumbleweed Records in 1973. The album was produced by Bill Szymczyk and featured contributions from Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren, Rick Derringer, and Joe Vitale. Its first song, "Rosewood Bitters," would become a lifetime fixture in Stanley's shows and was later recorded by Walsh in 1985. Stanley's second solo album, Friends and Legends, released later in 1973 on MCA Records, was again produced by Szymczyk and included support from members of Barnstorm and Stephen Stills' Manassas, among others: Walsh, Vitale, Kenny Passarelli, Paul Harris, Joe Lala, Al Perkins, David Sanborn, Dan Fogelberg, and Richie Furay, with J. Geils contributing to the production.
Nicknamed MSB by their fans, the band set several attendance records at Cleveland area venues, including a record 20,320 at the Richfield Coliseum on July 20, 1979, and a record 40,529 for two Coliseum concerts on December 31, 1981, and January 1, 1982. The band's greatest achievement was a total attendance of 74,404 during a four-night stand at Blossom Music Center on August 25, 26, 30 and 31, 1982.
The group reached the peak of their popularity nationally in 1981 when the single "He Can't Love You" from the album Heartland (written and sung by keyboardist Kevin Raleigh) made the Top 40 (#33 Billboard, #27 Cash Box) and "In the Heartland" from the album North Coast went to #6 on Billboard's Top Tracks chart. Their video for "He Can't Love You" was the 47th video ever played on MTV. The band's last Top 40 hit was "My Town" in 1983. "My Town" has been played by the Ohio State University Marching Band since 1986. The special all-brass and percussion arrangement is a favorite in Ohio Stadium.
The band dissolved in 1987 with 12 farewell shows at the Front Row Theater in Highland Heights, Ohio (suburban Cleveland) during the 1986–87 holiday season.
In 2004, the sketch comedy troupe Last Call Cleveland produced Michael Stanley Superstar: The Unauthorized Autobiography of the Cuyahoga Messiah, a play which parodied Stanley's status as a local celebrity.
Following a short stint on Cleveland radio station WMMS, from 1990 until a few weeks before he died in 2021, Stanley was the afternoon drive disc jockey for classic rock radio station WNCX, in Cleveland.
In 1993, he appeared on the Howard Stern Radio Show during one of his Birthday Shows and played Rosewood Bitters with Joe Walsh live.
/ref> and to her best friend, Ilsa Glanzberg, an elementary school instructional aide, from 2017 until he died in 2021. He had twin daughters, Anna and Sarah, born in 1974, and five grandchildren.
Stanley died in his sleep on March 5, 2021, after suffering for seven months with lung cancer.
He is buried in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, OH.
| 1969 | Smooth As Raw Silk | ABC S-694 | 191 |
| 1973 | Michael Stanley | Tumbleweed TWS 106 | 206 |
| 1973 | Friends and Legends | MCA 372 | 207 |
| 1975 | You Break It...You Bought It! | Epic PE 33492 | 184 | — |
| 1976 | Ladies' Choice | Epic PE 33917 | — | — |
| 1977 | Stage Pass | Epic PEG 34661 | 207 | — |
| 1978 | Cabin Fever | Arista AL 4182 | 99 | 97 |
| 1979 | Greatest Hints | Arista AL 4236 | 148 | — |
| 1980 | Heartland | EMI America SW–17040 | 86 | — |
| 1981 | North Coast | EMI America SW–17056 | 79 | — |
| 1982 | MSB | EMI America ST–17071 | 136 | — |
| 1983 | You Can't Fight Fashion | EMI America ST–17100 | 64 | — |
| 1984 | Fourth and Ten... | MSB 101 | — | — |
| 1986 | Inside Moves | MSB 201 | — | — |
| 1992 | Right Back at Ya (1971–1983) | Razor & Tie RE 1991 | — | — |
| 1997 | Misery Loves Company: More of the Best 1975–1983 | Razor & Tie RE 2125 | — | — |
| 2015 | Live at the Ritz NYC 1983 | Line Level | — | — |
| 1993 | The Ghost Poets | Razor & Tie RT 2812 | — |
| 1996 | Coming Up for Air | Intersound 9174 | — |
| 1998 | Live in Tangiers: The Acoustic Shows | Razor & Tie 82836 | — |
| 2000 | MS-LIVE 2K | MK 2000-2 | — |
| 2000 | Eighteen Down | Razor & Tie 82851 | — |
| 2003 | The Ground | Line Level 201 | — |
| 2005 | American Road | Line Level 202 | — |
| 2006 | The Farrago Sessions | Line Level 203 | — |
| 2007 | The Soft Addictions | Line Level 204 | — |
| 2008 | Just Another Night | Line Level 205 | — |
| 2009 | Shadowland | Line Level 206 | — |
| 2012 | The Hang | Line Level 207 | — |
| 2013 | The Ride | Line Level 208 | — |
| 2014 | The Job | Line Level 209 | — |
| 2014 | The Solo Years 1995–2014 | Line Level 222 | — |
| 2015 | And Then... | Line Level 210 | — |
| 2016 | In a Very Short Time | Line Level 211 | — |
| 2017 | Stolen Time | Line Level 212 | — |
| 2018 | The Compact Michael Stanley | Line Level | — |
| 2021 | Tough Room | Line Level 213 | — |
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