Artist Profile: Walter Egan
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Walter Egan is known by most for "Magnet and Steel," the smoky FM radio masterpiece of 1978 that enjoyed a recent and deserved rebirth thanks to its inclusion in hit movies.
But "Magnet and Steel" is only one high point in a distinguished career that continues with "Apocalypso Now," Egan's new CD on Gaff Music.
For the Queens, NY native, it started in the 1960s with his surf combo, the Malibooz. Egan formed his next band, Sageworth, while earning a bachelor's degree in sculpture at Georgetown University in the early '70s. He soon found himself part of a scene that included Nils Lofgren and Emmylou Harris. (Gram Parsons and Harris covered Egan's "Hearts on Fire" on Parsons' "Grievous Angel" LP.)
Egan moved to L.A. in the mid-70s, performed with Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and others, and was "discovered" during a performance at the famed Troubadour.
Following his debut for United Artists, Egan exploded with his second album, "Not Shy," co-produced by friend Lindsey Buckingham and featuring the Top 10 classic "Magnet and Steel." A second record deal found Egan on Backstreet/MCA in the early '80s with a Top 40 hit ("Full Moon Fire"). He spent the rest of the decade doing movie and TV soundtrack work as well as appearing as a VJ on the fledgling MTV.
Turning his focus to art, Egan reemerged in the 90s with exhibits in New York galleries (his art work is found on Lindsey Buckingham's "Out of the Cradle" album). Egan relocated to Nashville and released his seventh album, "Walternative" in '99.
"Apocalypso Now" is the vehicle for a new generation to discover Egan's impressive song craft.
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