Bang was an early metal band from Philadelphia. The band was formed by the two Franks who had gone to grade school together and was only completed when D' Iorio answered an advertisement in a local paper in 1969. The trio would try out several keyboardists and additionally be fronted by a madman named C.J. who would, rumour has it, end up in a sanatorium. It is during this time that the band decided against expanding the line-up and changed the band's name from Magic Band to Bang.
At the same time the band was working on a concept album called Death Of A Country. Having practised and written the album the band hearing of a record company located in Miami which was looking for bands to sign travelled to Florida to try its luck. Once in Florida, looking for a gig, the band stumbled upon an Orlando show featuring Deep Purple, Rod Stewart and others. As the band tells it an impromptu audition on the day of the concert, for a bewildered promoter, gave the band the opportunity to open the gig! The promoter, Rick Bowen, would go on to become the band's manager. This would also translate into shows with Nazareth, Black Sabbath, Guess Who and many others.
The band signed with CAM-USA/Capitol and entered the studio, only to be asked by the producer - Michael Sunday who had produced Blue cheer - to rewrite the album. The result of this session was the Bang album. The Death Of A Country album would remain unreleased for years. In the meanwhile, the band would relocate to Florida and perpetually become known as a Florida-based band. The 'Mother' album was recorded a mere six months after the Bang album. D' Iorio had already departed though and the band would resort to session skinsmen henceforward. By the time Music was released the band had lost the support of Capitol Records and, a couple of singles later, would break up.
The band, almost surrealistically, reunited in 1996 and together with Rick Bowen recorded a new album called Isle Of Hope. The band was joined by drummer Mark Vaquer. Gilcken's son, Jon, would also play in the band at this point. A new album was written and recorded in 2003.