Screams

The Illinois band, Screams, was started in late 1976 by drummer Brad Steakley, along with bassist Steve Jones, L vocalist David Adams, guitarist John Siegle and guitarist Jimmy England. Screams were pioneers in the Midwest for the new punk scene, opening and promoting shows with The Ramones, David Johansen Group, Iggy Pop, The Diodes and playing at the legendary "Max's Kansas City " in NYC opening for an unsigned, Devo. Guitarist Jimmy England left the band in early 1978 and the band steered away from their punk groundwork and focused on the new power pop scene that was being fueled by "new" bands like, Cheap Trick, Blondie, etc.. The new 4 piece version clicked and by the end of 1978 they were signed to the new record label, Infinity/MCA and released their first (and only) album in the Spring of 1979. They did a three month tour of the U.S. with Van Halen who were on their first headlining tour. Every date was sold out and the final date was at the LA Forum. Screams then played a successful headlining tour in the UK and also appeared on the TV rock show, "Old Grey Whistle Test". It was November 1979 and towards the end of that tour, every major label cut their costs and '70s excess spending and many subsidiary labels like Infinity, were dropped almost over night. Unfortunately, this happened to Screams at the end of their UK tour and the band had to cut a few of the dates and return to the Midwest without a label. Their last show of their UK tour was a sold out show at the legendary Marquee Club in London. The wind was knocked out of the band and management who had just been given the word that they were good to go with their second album. With the label dropped, that was not to happen. The band continued to play shows and record demos all of 1980 but eventually decided to call it quits. The last Screams show was New Years Eve back where they began, in Pekin, IL. Brad Steakley went on to be a founding member of The Elvis Brothers and is known by the name, Brad Elvis. The Elvis Brothers were signed to Portrait/CBS for 2 albums in the early/mid '80s. The band moved to Chicago and released an indie album in 1992. The Elvis Brothers split in 1996 and Brad formed his own bands Big Hello (3 album releases) and currently his band, The Handcuffs (3 album releases). Brad also has played drums for The Romantics for the past 11 years. John Siegle also moved to Chicago right after Screams split up and played in various bands. In the late '80s, he played with The Insiders from Chicago who were signed to Epic Records for one album with a few more indie album releases into the '90s. Steve Jones, David Adams continued playing in various bands and solo projects for a number of years.