Lane looks forward to reunion with old partner Rodney
If not as well-known as Seals & Crofts or Loggins & Messina, Lane & Rodney were at least as famous as Cecilio & Kapono.
Of course, the early 1970s were the heyday of the acoustic folk duo. Simon & Garfunkel may have been the most successful, but the above bands also carved out significant fan bases during the '70s. And if the folk duo pretty much disappeared from the Top 40 charts in the 1980s, the lingering popularity of the format some three decades later can be seen in recent reunion tours by Loggins & Messina and the ongoing career of Cecilio & Kapono.
John Lane & Mark Rodney issued three albums in the early 1970s, and had two hits ("You Are a Song" and "Somewhere in the Night") - and then split up in 1975, pretty much disappearing from public view.
They will reunite, playing together in public for the first time in 31 years at Normal Heights Methodist Church for the Acoustic Music San Diego series.
So where have they been all these years?
"My last contract was in 1980 with 20th Century," Lane said by phone from his San Fernando home he shares with his wife and twin college-age sons. "They signed me to do a solo record.
"Shortly before the album was supposed to be released, the label got sold," he said.
If that album never saw light of day, the process of making it led Lane into a different musical career.
"When I was doing that record, I met a guy who did commercials. He introduced me to these guys up in L.A. I ended up doing commercials and movies and theme titles for TV cartoon shows, like 'Tom & Jerry Kids,' 'Garfield and Friends.' "
"Then in the '90s, I met a guy named Michael McLean, who was up in Salt Lake City. He was an ad exec guy, and it turned out he was a great songwriter. So we evolved into a songwriter team, which we still are today. He kind of got me back into writing songs again."
By this time, Lane was the staff songwriter/musician for the hit TV show "Touched by an Angel" and its spin-off, "Promised Land."
After "Touched by an Angel" was canceled in 2003, Lane said he received an e-mail from a Lane & Rodney fan asking if he would perform at a house party in Malibu.
"I played a 2 1/2-hour set - it was really a lot of fun, people were singing along. It was a freakout."
Shortly after the house party, Lane said fellow '70s folk-rock veteran James Lee Stanley called. They ended up recording an acoustic album of Rolling Stones covers released last year, "All Wood and Stones."
Which brings us back to the present, and the upcoming reunion.
While Lane has been re-immersing himself in the acoustic music scene, Rodney (son of the late jazz trumpeter Red Rodney) hasn't been playing professionally for about 15 years, Lane said. Their breakup in '75 wasn't friendly, and the two men lost track of each other after the mid-1980s.
But Lane said a couple years ago, his brother-in-law found some old tapes containing live recordings of Bardorf & Rodney in concert.
"I had to find Mark - Mark had to hear this," Lane said.
He tracked down Rodney, and the two have been corresponding for a while. When Carey Driscoll, the producer of the Acoustic Music San Diego series, booked Lane, he mentioned in passing how exciting it would be to have a reunion at the show (which also marks the third anniversary of the Acoustic Music San Diego series).
Lane said the more he thought about the idea, the more he liked it. Rodney got excited, too, and they've been working out a short set of old Lane & Rodney songs to play during Lane's second set (Bill Batstone will be joining Lane for the rest of the evening).
"It should be fun," Lane said of the reunion with Rodney, "if nothing else, just for that night."
Of course, the early 1970s were the heyday of the acoustic folk duo. Simon & Garfunkel may have been the most successful, but the above bands also carved out significant fan bases during the '70s. And if the folk duo pretty much disappeared from the Top 40 charts in the 1980s, the lingering popularity of the format some three decades later can be seen in recent reunion tours by Loggins & Messina and the ongoing career of Cecilio & Kapono.
John Lane & Mark Rodney issued three albums in the early 1970s, and had two hits ("You Are a Song" and "Somewhere in the Night") - and then split up in 1975, pretty much disappearing from public view.
They will reunite, playing together in public for the first time in 31 years at Normal Heights Methodist Church for the Acoustic Music San Diego series.
So where have they been all these years?
"My last contract was in 1980 with 20th Century," Lane said by phone from his San Fernando home he shares with his wife and twin college-age sons. "They signed me to do a solo record.
"Shortly before the album was supposed to be released, the label got sold," he said.
If that album never saw light of day, the process of making it led Lane into a different musical career.
"When I was doing that record, I met a guy who did commercials. He introduced me to these guys up in L.A. I ended up doing commercials and movies and theme titles for TV cartoon shows, like 'Tom & Jerry Kids,' 'Garfield and Friends.' "
"Then in the '90s, I met a guy named Michael McLean, who was up in Salt Lake City. He was an ad exec guy, and it turned out he was a great songwriter. So we evolved into a songwriter team, which we still are today. He kind of got me back into writing songs again."
By this time, Lane was the staff songwriter/musician for the hit TV show "Touched by an Angel" and its spin-off, "Promised Land."
After "Touched by an Angel" was canceled in 2003, Lane said he received an e-mail from a Lane & Rodney fan asking if he would perform at a house party in Malibu.
"I played a 2 1/2-hour set - it was really a lot of fun, people were singing along. It was a freakout."
Shortly after the house party, Lane said fellow '70s folk-rock veteran James Lee Stanley called. They ended up recording an acoustic album of Rolling Stones covers released last year, "All Wood and Stones."
Which brings us back to the present, and the upcoming reunion.
While Lane has been re-immersing himself in the acoustic music scene, Rodney (son of the late jazz trumpeter Red Rodney) hasn't been playing professionally for about 15 years, Lane said. Their breakup in '75 wasn't friendly, and the two men lost track of each other after the mid-1980s.
But Lane said a couple years ago, his brother-in-law found some old tapes containing live recordings of Bardorf & Rodney in concert.
"I had to find Mark - Mark had to hear this," Lane said.
He tracked down Rodney, and the two have been corresponding for a while. When Carey Driscoll, the producer of the Acoustic Music San Diego series, booked Lane, he mentioned in passing how exciting it would be to have a reunion at the show (which also marks the third anniversary of the Acoustic Music San Diego series).
Lane said the more he thought about the idea, the more he liked it. Rodney got excited, too, and they've been working out a short set of old Lane & Rodney songs to play during Lane's second set (Bill Batstone will be joining Lane for the rest of the evening).
"It should be fun," Lane said of the reunion with Rodney, "if nothing else, just for that night."
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