Dare Force was a legendary hard rock/heavy metal band based in Minneapolis that was initially founded by Johnny and Brian Bart when they were 18 years old. Dare Force released three albums in the 1980s, and performed in concert with numerous national acts such as KISS, Ted Nugent, Triumph, Kansas, UFO, the Joe Perry Project, and Ratt, as well as headlining in venues throughout the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. Dare Force also had several songs that received heavy airplay on rock radio stations throughout the midwestern US in the 1980s. Dare Force released its third album, Firepower, with a reformed version of the band in 1989. The original lineup performed occasional reunion gigs after the long run of the original band ended in 1987, but the original version of Dare Force stopped performing live altogether after their last reunion show in 2002. Dare Force reformed yet again with a return to a four-piece lineup in 2017, and released its fourth album, Callin’ Your Name, in 2018. Xeno, first lead singer for Cheap Trick and the first lead singer of Dare Force, who happened to write “Its Too Hard To Say Goodbye,” which can be heard on the second Johnny O’Neil album. David Reece, former lead singer of ACCEPT, was also the lead singer in Dare Force.
The debut Johnny O’Neil album, TRUTH OR DARE, features nine songs, including never-before-recorded songs I wrote and performed with Dare Force years ago, brand-new tunes written by me, as well as an acoustic tune I wrote when I was 16 years old. I’ve also done a remake of The Beatles’ classic, “Revolution”!
One of the most wonderful aspects of this project has been the chance for me to work in the studio once again with Brian Bart, who is engineering, recording, mixing, mastering, and co-producing the album with me. In addition to writing all but one of the tunes on the album, I am singing all lead vocals, and playing all guitars (lead, slide, acoustic, and bass) on the album.
However, I have also enlisted a "secret weapon," percussion powerhouse Joachim Baecker on drums. Joachim played drums in Rattlin' Bones and Funhouse with former members of Obsession and Flipp, and has worked in the studio with the legendary producer Jack Douglas, and the late, great Mick Ronson, former guitarist for David Bowie.
Joachim and I are also most excited to have a very special guest artist, Danny Peyronel, the original keyboardist for UFO, contributing his stellar keyboard skills to three of the tracks on the album.
