John Ford Coley: From trials to triumph

He took the world by storm as part of the celebrated ’70s musical duo England Dan and John Ford Coley which popularized such classic hits as Just Tell Me You Love Me, Love Is The Answer, I’d Really Love To See You Tonight and many more.

But did you know that before he dreamed of becoming an international pop star the singing sensation had a modest musical beginning as a classical pianist in the church in his hometown in Texas?

From obscurity to fame, from trials to triumph as he struggled to scale the ladder of success, could very well describe the musical odyssey of John Ford Coley,  who continues to actively perform for a worldwide audience more than 30 years after the acclaimed team-up broke into the music scene.

Coley will revisit the numerous hit songs that swept the famous tandem to the height of worldwide popularity when he returns this month  to perform at a four-city concert tour titled Just Tell Me You Love Me. 

The concert series to be produced by Steve O’Neal Productions will premiere with a show on Oct. 12 at the Aliw Theater, CCP Complex, Pasay City, to be followed by other performances on Oct. 14 at La Salle Auditorium, Bacolod City; Oct. 20, Casino Filipino-Angeles; and Oct. 21, Tacloban Convention Center.

The concert tour to be co-presented by Live Artists will reunite Foley with his thousands of Pinoy fans more than two years after his last performance here in February 2005.  It will also mark his fifth visit since his debut appearance here in the ‘70s at the height of the popularity of England Dan and John Ford Coley.

His forthcoming concert is the latest leg in his current series of tours outside the US and Canada as he continues to perform for a worldwide audience as a singer, musician, actor and author in a consistently active career spanning more than 30 years.

Coley was swept to worldwide popularity by such  hit songs as Love Is The Answer,  Gone Too Far, I’d Really Love To See You Tonight, Nights Are Forever,   We’ll Never Have To Say Goodbye Again, Come Back To Me, Soldier In The Rain, Sad To Belong, Simone, Westward Wind, Part Of Me, Part Of You and many more.

Coley’s musical career had its auspicious beginnings in Dallas, Texas where he performed throughout high school and college as a classical and rock pianist. It was while playing for the high school band that Coley and schoolmate Dan Seals began their acoustic act, Coley and Wayland, which eventually became known as England Dan and John Ford Coley.

After being signed by A & M Records in 1971, the duo got its first break the following year with the song, Simone, which became a No. 1 hit in Japan and was popular in France. Two years later, the tandem acquired another recording deal from Atlantic Records, subsidiary of Big Three Records, which released the song I’d Really Love To See You Tonight.   The song catapulted the duo to the top of the charts, and the rest is history.

Overall, England Dan and John Ford Coley have garnered four Top 10 hits and two Top 20 songs. It received a Grammy Award nomination, triple-platinum and gold records and released a total of eight albums.

After the disbandment of the partnership in 1980, Coley formed another group, entered acting and wrote songs for film and TV before returning in 1996 to active touring, in which he currently performs the hits and other favorite songs with groups like Ambrosia, Alice Cooper and Terry Sylvester (formerly of The Hollies).

In 2003, the song Nights Are Forever was performed in the feature film  Dickie Roberts Former Child Star,  while another hit was featured in the movie, Long Kiss Goodnight, starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson.

As part of the songwriting community of Nashville, Tennessee, where he moved to in 1999, Foley has produced two new country acts and has written new songs, such as Free Spirits,  a duet, Till The Light Turns Green  and  She’s Got Another Think Coming that he performs in songwriter rounds throughout the South.

Tickets to the Aliw Theater show are priced at P1,000, P2,000 and P2,500 and available at Ticketworld outlets at National Book Stores, Robinsons Department Stores, Ayala Malls, Tower Records and Music One, and at Ticketnet outlets at SM Department Stores.  For inquiries and reservations, call Ticketworld at 911-5555 or Ticketnet at 891-9999.