Michael Moon

Michael Moon is the name used by vocalist Michael Franano on his one and only solo recording, You, released in 1998 on Mutiny Records. Franano grew up listening to and imitating his favorite rock and pop bands and by his high school years the young musician was singing for various bands at parties and bars around his Kansas City home. Eventually, Franano formed the Front with his brother, keyboardist Bobby Franano. Around 1988, the group settled on a permanent lineup that included guitarist Mike Greene, drummer Shane Miller, and bassist Randy Jordan. The Front was quickly picked up by the influential management company headed by Doc McGhee and subsequently signed to Columbia Records in 1991. The first single off the group's self-titled debut, "Fire," debut peaked at number 29 on the Billboard charts thanks largely to a healthy video rotation on MTV. Despite this modest success, the Front never took off completely and the band found themselves without a label home not long after "Fire" ran its course on rock and pop radio. After changing their name to Baker's Pink, a slightly modified version of the Front (still led by Franano) once again emerged out of Kansas City's local music scene. In 1993, Baker's Pink released their own self-titled disc, this time for Epic Records. While the Front were intensely derivative of the Doors (especially on "Fire"), and perhaps the Cult too, Baker's Pink cast aside some of the brooding, more classic rock sound and opted instead for a more modern pop sound that was also heavily influenced by a much more popular group. On this second time around, Franano's writing and breathless, sultry performances seemed targeted toward INXS fans. With his dynamic voice and long brown locks, Franano spent years in the Front and Baker's Pink feigning the mystery and sexual energy of Jim Morrison and Michael Hutchins respectively, never successfully creating a persona or vocal style of his own. After Baker's Pink near-inevitable release from Epic, Franano went out on his own to perhaps try and create that unique musical identity that had eluded him throughout the late '80s and early '90s. This re-creation took the form of a solo project and a new name for the singer, Michael Moon. The project was perhaps supposed to be the resolution to this problem of identity, and while the music of Michael Moon is not specifically attributable to any other artists, it still generally lacks personality, despite being well-crafted and performed. It took a little while for Michael Moon to take shape. The debut You was released in 1998, five full years after Baker's Pink. Moon managed to get his song "Chanel #5" featured in the Woody Allen film Celebrity, but not much else happened commercially for You. More sugary and not quite as rock-oriented as the singer's earlier work, You still lacked the originality needed to lift Moon out of the confines of major-label damaged goods isolation, and like his other efforts, sales weren't significant and the project dissolved. Franano eventually put the Front back together in 1999 and continued much as he had started, playing club dates around Kansas City.
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