A forgotten gem or possibly even one that slipped in under radar of fans during its era, the Device pop rock album “22B3” (1986) is one that surely never received the recognition it so properly deserved. It was the only record ever released by the trio consisting of Holly Knight, Paul Engemann and Gene Black. Released in the Spring of that year under the production of Mike Chapman, it made it to No. 73 on the album’s chart and featured two hit singles, “Hanging On A Heart Attack” [No. 35] and “Who Says” [No. 79]. However, and too sadly, the group soon parted ways almost as quickly as it appeared.
Knight, who began her singing career with Spider and was already a prolific songwriter, returned to penning for other artists and even released her own self-titled album. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter and has 13 ASCAP awards to her name. Her list of titles is extraordinary and includes such songs as Tina Turner’s “The Best” and “Better Be Good to Me, Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield” and “Invincible” and ” Heart’s “Never” just to scratch the surface.
Engemann had voiced some soundtrack songs prior to joining Device and went on to front Animotion after Bill Wadhams left the group. You can see him performing alongside Cynthia Rhodes in the music video of “Room to Move” (1989), which reached No. 9 on the pop chart and was featured on the motion picture soundtrack of the sci-fi comedy film “My Stepmother is an Alien” (1988).
Black joined another dance-rock group called Wild Blue, which is remembered for the title track of “Fire with Fire” (1986). He was involved in a lot of session work and even did a tremendous amount with Tina Turner, plus continued writing with Knight, having already helped with Heart’s “Never” (1985) and then also with Rod Stewart’s “Love Touch” (1986).
It is crazy to see the paths of each Device member plus their impact on ’80s music and the faithful fans of the decade. They had all of the synthpop elements that should have bolstered their success during a time when the popularity of the genre was on a continued high. We may never know why the three disbanded so quickly, but they absolutely left us yearning for more.
In 2007, the album was re-released on CD by Renaissance Records, and a handful of used copies are available on Discogs and Amazon for those of us sentimental about the tangible element of it or you can even download the album as well. Either course, you are sure to find yourself reveling in its intensity and blasting it on repeat.