Peter Wolf
Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946)[1] is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of The J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983[2] and as a solo artist.[3]
Not to be confused with Peter Wolf (producer) or Pete Wolf.Early life and education[edit]
Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946, in the Bronx, New York City.[1] He attended the High School of Music & Art, located in west Harlem, Manhattan, near the Apollo Theater. He often attended the Apollo, seeing many of the famous soul, rhythm & blues, and gospel artists who influenced him.
He moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to attend the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts[1] on scholarship, where he studied painting. His first roommate was film director David Lynch.
Career[edit]
In 1964, Wolf and fellow art students Paul Shapiro (guitar), Doug Slade (guitar), Joe Clark (bass), and Stephen Jo Bladd (drums) formed a music group, The Hallucinations. They performed at nightclubs in the Combat Zone area of Boston and developed a large following as one of the first bands to play at the Boston Tea Party. During this period, they appeared on bills with The Velvet Underground, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison (who became close with Wolf while residing in nearby Cambridge, Massachusetts), John Lee Hooker, and Sun Ra.[4]
During his time performing with the Hallucinations, Wolf was asked to help establish Boston's radio station WBCN and became their first all-night deejay creating the moniker Woofa Goofa as his on-air personality.[1] His show became a popular late night staple where he interviewed many of the well-known rock, blues, and jazz artists that were touring through Boston in the late 1960s. In 1967, Wolf and Bladd joined the J. Geils Band. Wolf and keyboardist Seth Justman were responsible for most of the band's songwriting.
During the early days of MTV, the band enjoyed heavy airplay of their videos "Centerfold" and "Love Stinks". They toured stadiums with the Rolling Stones and others. Following the success of Freeze Frame, the other band members wanted to take the band in a new pop direction musically, but Wolf wanted to stick to a more roots-based direction so he was asked to leave in 1983. In the ensuing years the band has been nominated five times for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Personal life[edit]
Wolf married actress Faye Dunaway in 1974.[8] They divorced in 1979.[9]