24. Bobby Friss Band 1985-1990 (Tampa)

Bobby Friss Band, left to right: Mike Locke, Dean Mickey,
Bobby Friss, and Leroy Myers.

 

It was a time when your local radio station was, in fact, a “local” radio station . . . a time when your favorite AOR (Album Oriented Rock) outlet maintained an actual, vinyl-based music library . . . a time when radio stations played deep cuts and not just the hits . . . a time when radio stations took chances with new artists—sometimes even the more-established local artists (like the subject of this latest, Florida musician essay).

It was in that late ’80s, still more personalized broadcast environment (but it was starting to vanish)—not yet decimated by computer-generated playlists, automation, and canned, digitized disc jockeys—that my local rock station aired a commercial for their latest sponsored event (back then, the mention of “wet t-shirts” mixed with rock ‘n’ roll was a perpetual reality) at Fort Lauderdale’s Rosebuds: a sleazy, yet awesome local rock ‘n’ roll joint, featuring the Bobby Friss Band playing songs from their new release, Cut Loose. The station even spun a few tunes in daily rotation (not just on some lame ass, late Sunday night graveyard shift “local’s only” show for an hour)  . . . for a couple of weeks, at least: but still a huge deal for an unsigned local band, to say the least.

Oh, hell yes, I went—for Bobby and not for the wet, thinly-covered cotton ta-tas (no, really). I became an instant fan who then bought a copy of that debut album at my local Spec’s Records and Tapes . . . you know, one of those buildings filled with licorice pizzas and Mylar-reeled goodies called “record stores” . . . that the digital marketplace wiped out of a brick and mortar existence. I soon came to learn more about this mysterious band that came out of nowhere; they were “mysterious” because none of my favorite music magazines of the day, such as Circus, Hit Parader, or Metal Hammer, covered the band. It turns out they were a local band—and not even then, since they actually hailed from Tampa.

So, back in the record store days, as you walked out the door, you could snag a couple of band flyers, “pay to play” ticket stubs (with Sharpie hi-lighted band names, so they get “paid”), or a copies of the State’s competing local music ragazines: RAG and JAM (the latter hosted the yearly “Jammie Awards” for unsigned artists . . . in Tampa). Eureka! There’s a featured article on the Bobby Friss Band, as he delved into his past with his first band, Force, which worked with Dick Wagner and Pat Travers.

The reality of Bobby Friss in my denim-clad body and permed head (back then; bald spot today): I could care less, signed to a major label or not, playing rinky-dink rock ‘n’ roll clubs and not major concert venues: Bobby Friss was a “rock star” in my mind: he was a rock star that ranked with any of the acts I’ve seen at the Sunrise Musical Theater or the Hollywood Sportatorium.

March 1988.

May the Force, Uh . . . Rock ‘n’ Roll

In the early ’70s Bobby Friss was heading down the wrong path in Tampa Bay, Florida, so his parents made arrangements for him to live with an aunt and uncle: out in the sticks of central Lansing, Michigan. Though his uncle: he got a job driving a dump truck for a local factory and came to study journalism at Central Michigan University. As is the case with any college student with rock ‘n’ roll dreams—at 15, Friss started playing guitar in the 9^th grade back in his Florida hometown—school took a backseat: Friss made the decision to become a full-time musician.

So, sharing guitar and vocals duties with Tommy Minelli, along with bassist John Baker (that gave way to the permanent Brian “Budman” Budzinski), and Shelly “Skeeter” Ferrell on the backbeat: Force was born in 1975.

Bobby Friss, left, with Force in 1981.

Quickly rising to the top of the Detroit/Flint rock scene, then branching out across the State, then into Ohio and Illinois, Force was taken under the wing of scene stalwart Dick Wagner. While internationally known for his work with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, Wagner’s Motor City rock ‘n’ roll roots began with the Bossmen in the early ’60s, which gave way to the harder-rocking the Frost.

Signing with Tampa-based music manager Warren Wyatt (who came to lead the careers of Warrant and White Lion, as well as Bay-area rockers Autodrive), Ted Nugent’s attorney Robert Weed, and securing the services of Pat Travers as producer (his bassist, Mars Cowling, did the same with Fort Lauderdale’s Gypsy Queen)—with Wagner as co-producer and co-writer—Force entered the studio to cut their first demo in 1981. The sessions were engineered by Michael Laskow, known for his work with Crosby, Stills and Nash, Eric Clapton, and Neil Young (during his Rust Never Sleep era). The sessions were later remixed by Grammy-awarding winning engineer Eric Schilling of Miami’s world-renowned Criteria Studio.

September 1981 at Triad Studio in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Force on the road in 1979 with the Rockets and 1982 with Riggs.

The wee-rockers hit the Midwest U.S touring circuit, where Force opened shows across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin for Blackfoot, the Dixie Dreggs, Doc Holiday, Jay Ferguson, Head East, Eddie Money, Point Blank, the Rockets, Savoy Brown, and Survivor.

Then, as with most of The Sunshine State rock ‘n’ roll tales on Over the Edge Radio South Florida: that coveted record deal never came . . . and the five-song demo was never released to the public (oh, how I have searched for that tape to no avail; but “Memory Girl” returned as part of the Bobby Friss Band repertoire).

By 1985 the Bobby Friss Band was born, soon transplanting from the snowy, Michigan cold to the warm waters of Tampa Bay. Making a quick impact on the town’s local music scene by 1987, the band received a well-deserved infusion of cash sponsored by the beverage company-based Miller Band Network (over the years, you’ll continue to see Miller, as well as Red Dog and Icehouse banners, fly high at their shows). Assisting with promotions and equipment sponsorships, the Miller association also got the band airplay on major market AOR stations (in between the mainstream tunes from Brian Adams and Bob Seger), such as Orlando’s WDIZ 100.3, Tampa’s 95 YNF and 98 ROCK WXTB, and Fort Lauderdale’s 103 SHE, as well as booking two national Miller commercials. Other bands in the “network,” which also benefited from radio support, as well as being featured in commercials, were Los Angeles’ the Bonedaddys, Boston’s the Del Fuegos and the Neighboorhoods, and Texas’ the Fabulous Thunderbirds—all of which received record deals.

Meanwhile, the awesome Cut Loose, while a popular-selling album across Florida, never went national.

November 1988, from another ragazine spread:
for I am a pack rat, forever.

The Force Is Still Rocking . . . Always

So, as with the stalwart, never-giving-up Ronnie Garvin and Greg Billings from the signed-and-dropped Stranger: Bobby Friss carried on, releasing his 1990 sophomore effort, Fate. As of 2025 he’s released four more indie albums.

Today, Friss, along with his long-time rhythm section of Dean Mickey and Leroy Myers from the Cut Loose era—continues to play dates across Friss’s adopted home state of Wisconsin, as well as Florida. Since 1993 Knoxville, Tennessee, native Jerry Riggs—after a ten-year stint with the Pat Travers Band (today: touring with .38 Special since 2019)—is a member on lead guitar. Long-time friends, Friss and Riggs met in 1982 when the Bobby Friss Band opened shows for Riggs, then promoting their self-title debut (and only album) on Full Moon/Warner Bros. Records. Sure, you remember Riggs: Their song “Radar Rider” was featured as the first song in the classic, animated rock flick, Heavy Metal: the scene with the astronaut in the white Corvette spilling out of the space shuttle, from the “Soft Landing” segment of the film.

Yeah, it’s been a long, strange trip of a mindboggling rockin’ 50 years for Bobby Friss since Force first came together in Lansing, Michigan, in 1975 . . . and Bobby Friss is still rocking out of this world . . . and beyond.

You can't keep a good musician down:
Bobby Friss rocking in 2025.

* * *

You can enjoy the studio and live work of the Bobby Friss Band—featuring the albums Cut Loose and Fate—with a catchall playlist on Over the Edge Radio You Tube. You can also visit with Bobby Friss at his official website.

Our very special thanks to Force drummer Shelly Ferrell for the images, as well as some biographical, fill-in-the-holes information, via his social media efforts with his Facebook fan page for Force and the Bobby Friss Band. Be sure to visit: it features a wealth of rare, behind the scenes photos and band stories from the road.

Oh, by the way . . . all this talk about Riggs from Knoxville, Tennessee, reminds me of Jimi Jamison from Nashville with his bands Target and Cobra. Does anyone around here remember Cobra . . . or is it just me. Yeah, just me.

But Cobra sure goes well with the Bobby Friss Band and Riggs on a playlist!