Formed in Berea, Kentucky, USA, in 1963 as the Exiles, Exile first reached the pop charts in the late 70s before changing musical direction and becoming one of the most successful country bands of the 80s. They toured with the Dick Clark Caravan Of Stars in 1965 as back-up band for artists including Brian Hyland and Tommy Roe. In the late 60s, they recorded for Date Records and Columbia Records, and in the early 70s for SSS International, Date, Curb and Wooden Nickel. In 1973, they changed their name to Exile and in 1977, recording for Atco Records, they had their first chart single. Following a switch to Warner Brothers Records, Exile had a number 1 pop hit with ‘Kiss You All Over’, in 1978. After two more pop chart singles they switched to country. The group’s membership in 1978, when they had their first hit, was J.P. Pennington (b. 22 January 1949, Berea, Kentucky, USA; guitar/vocals), Buzz Cornelison (keyboards), Les Taylor (b. 27 December 1948, Oneida, Kentucky, USA; guitar/vocals), Marlon Hargis (b. 13 May 1949, Somerset, Kentucky, USA; keyboards/vocals), Sonny LeMaire (bass/vocals), and Steve Goetzman (b. 1 September 1950, Louisville, Kentucky, USA; drums).
Exile’s second, and more lucrative, career as a country group began in 1983 (by which time Cornelison had left). The first country chart single, ‘High Cost Of Leaving’, reached number 27, but was followed by four successive number 1 country singles in 1984: ‘Woke Up In Love’, ‘I Don’t Want To Be A Memory’, ‘Give Me One More Chance’ and ‘Crazy For Your Love’. There were six further number 1 country singles by 1987: ‘She’s A Miracle’, ‘Hang On To Your Heart’, ‘I Could Get Used To You’, ‘It’ll Be Me’, ‘She’s Too Good To Be True’ and ‘I Can’t Get Close Enough’. Hargis was replaced by Lee Carroll (b. 27 January 1953, Glasgow, Kentucky, USA) in 1985 and Pennington left in 1989, replaced by Paul Martin (b. 22 December 1962, Winchester, Kentucky, USA). The group signed to Arista Records in 1989 with a noticeable decline in commercial success. They were dropped by the label in 1993 and broke up soon afterwards, but a new version with Pennington and Taylor was on the road in 1996.
