JOIE ANES - BMHOF CLASS OF 1991

Award-winning singer Joie Anes fronted one of the most popular hard-rock bands on the Buffalo scene in the late 1980s. His group Rock Candy won multiple Buffalo Music Awards, and Joie was named Top Male Rock Vocalist for three consecutive years, in 1988, 1989, and 1990. 

Anes was originally from Boston, Massachusetts, where he grew up as a fan of 70s pop. He became a regional star in New England as the front man of the popular group Sinful. Joie and Rhode Island guitarist Stephen Shaw then formed the glam-metal band “L.A. Twist.” They moved to Buffalo and became Rock Candy with the addition of former Talas guitarist Johnny Angel.  

Playing all-original material, the band released an album called Sucker for a Pretty Face in 1987. The LP sold 10,000 copies, mostly in the Buffalo area, where they performed extensively. Joie and Rock Angel opened for major artists such as the Ramones, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and the Romantics, and toured regionally in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Toronto, New York City, Providence, and Boston. They shot a video for “Love Loaded,” a song from an unreleased second album.

  Johnny Angel left the group in 1988, and after several personnel changes, Rock Angel disbanded in 1989. Anes moved back to Boston and continued to perform in New England.