<<I have been seeing ads for his 'greatest hits' and have wonderd who he was as I have never heard of him before. So is he one of the Doobie Brothers?>> Colin, You may be most familiar with him by way of the duet he does with Joni on "Good Friends" (DED). He started as a backup vocalist, my first exposure to McDonald was on Steely Dan's records like "Katy Lied" & "The Royal Scam". His airy light tenor was a perfect complement to their music, I thought. When Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers had some health problems (one too many Doobies perhaps?) Michael stepped in and took over a lot of the lead vocals. (Takin' It To The Streets marked his debut) The band changed quite a bit as Michael played piano and sang in a totally different style than Johnston. The Doobies moved from a guitar-based rock band to a keyboard-based pop sound. They actually enjoyed as much success in both incarnations, I think. McDonald also got lots of airtime with his backup vocal to Christopher Cross' "Run Like The Wind". He released a couple of solo albums, and had a fairly good hit here in the US with the single "I Keep Forgettin'" from the record Evian mentiond, "No Looking Back". While it was a good record (and Joni herself calls him one of her fave vocalists), imo he serves better as a backing vocalist than as a lead. That's about all I know, hope it helped! Bob NP: Nick Drake, "Pink Moon"
