Ambrosia (band) - 1980s and 1990s

1980s and 1990s

In 1980 Warner Bros. released One Eighty, which produced two of the year's biggest hits. The first, "Biggest Part of Me", reached number three for three weeks on the Hot 100 and crossed over to the soul chart, where it peaked at number thirty-five. The second, another blue-eyed soul hit, "You're the Only Woman (You & I)", reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. One Eighty earned the band three Grammy nominations, including Best Pop Vocal Group. A headlining world tour followed. For the Japanese leg of the tour, the group was joined by their longtime friend guitarist Cliff Woolley (formerly of The Association).

The title of the album One Eighty was believed by fans to signal the group's "180-degree" change in direction. In actuality, it was so named because it was recorded in January 1980 (1/80). They dedicated one of their songs to Sandie Clark.

In 1980 the band contributed the song "Outside" to the movie Inside Moves and the following year placed another track, "Poor Rich Boy" (written by Burt Bacharach), on the soundtrack of the movie Arthur.

In 1982 David C. Lewis briefly left the touring group to be replaced by Bruce Hornsby, four years before his own rise to stardom. The same year, Ambrosia released their fifth and final studio album, Road Island, their first effort without the assistance of Freddie Piro's production company. Produced by James Guthrie, the album consisted of intense, driving hard rock (outside of the soft ballad "Feeling Alive Again" and the progressive rock closer "Endings"). Though it scored a minor hit with "How Can You Love Me", the album was a commercial disappointment. The band broke up afterwards, ending their run of chart success.

After Ambrosia, David Pack pursued a solo career and produced or worked with many top artists. Pack's 1985 solo album, Anywhere You Go, included the song "Prove Me Wrong," which also appeared on the soundtrack of the 1985 film White Nights. Joe Puerta became a founding member of Bruce Hornsby and the Range.

In 1989 Ambrosia reunited with all four original members and began playing live shows again, mostly on the West Coast. They expanded their touring ranks once again with Tollak Ollestad (vocals, keyboards, harmonica) and Shem Von Schroeck (vocals, percussion, bass, guitar).

In 1995 the band expanded their annual touring schedule. Pack had a conflict and guitarist John DeFaria filled in for him. Bernie Chiaravalle likewise stepped in in the summer of 1997 and Mike Keneally did the honors in 1998 and 2000 for the concerts Pack was unable to play. Brian Stiemke subbed for an ill Burleigh Drummond for a few shows in 1997.

In 1997, Warner Bros. released Ambrosia's greatest hits CD, Anthology, which contains tracks from all five albums plus three new tracks. In addition to Anthology, the entire Ambrosia catalog was remastered and released on CD.