Device was a short-lived American pop-rock trio formed by keyboardist, bassist and vocalist Holly Knight, vocalist Paul Engemann and guitarist Gene Black. Device’s only album, 22B3, was released in the spring of 1986. It produced a Top 40 single in the U.S. with “Hanging on a Heart Attack,” which peaked at #35 on the Hot 100.
The band’s second single, “Who Says,” peaked at #79. Both of these songs were promoted by music videos which garnered MTV rotation, and both were released as 12″ singles with remix and dub versions which received club play. A third single, “When Love is Good” was released, while the album peaked at #73 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Mike Chapman produced the album.
After Device disbanded, Holly Knight released a 1988 self-titled solo album featuring the single “Heart Don’t Fail Me Now” and her own version of “Love Is a Battlefield,” which she had written for Benatar, and continued writing songs for other performers.
Paul Engemann, who previously sang on soundtrack cuts produced by Giorgio Moroder, joined Animotion. He took over for the original lead singer, Bill Wadhams, and sang opposite Cynthia Rhodes on Animotion’s 1989 Top Ten hit “Room to Move.” Coincidentally, Knight had recorded the original version of Animotion’s biggest hit, “Obsession,” as a duet with
Michael Des Barres; the two co-wrote the song, which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1983 film A Night in Heaven. Gene Black continued to be involved in session work, including a similarly themed 1980′s band, Wild Blue, best known for the aggressive dance-rock singles “Fire with Fire” and “International Language of Dance.”
