The first incarnation of Crack the Sky included drummer Joey D'Amico, bassist Joe Macre, John Palumbo, Rick Witkowski and Jim Griffiths on guitar.

Although praised by The New York Times and declared the "debut album of the year" by Rolling Stone, promotion and distribution problems with Lifesong Records prevented its widespread success.

termed blind luck, the marketing did work in Baltimore, only because a surplus of records was shipped there and put on display in stores when the album was receiving radio play.

Laidback Larry Allen, music director at WYDD in Pittsburgh, professed love for the album and played Crack the Sky in heavy rotation, but no other place did.

[2] Animal Notes, the band's second album, was intended originally as a rock opera about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but in production, the concept was reduced to only one song, "Rangers at Midnight".

By this time, Crack the Sky had finished two cross-country tours and had opened for Styx, Supertramp, Rush, Foreigner, Electric Light Orchestra, Yes, ZZ Top, Kansas, Edgar Winter, Frank Zappa, and Boston.

The remaining band members, with new vocalist Gary Lee Chappell, Philadelphia guitarist Barry Siegfried, and Pittsburgh keyboardist Vince DePaul, released Safety in Numbers in 1978.

This record featured a number of the "singles-quality" songs that had earlier proved elusive to the band, including "All American Boy", "Skin Deep", "Techni Generation", and "Hot Razors in My Heart".

After the release of the album, the band was put on hiatus, as Witkowski, Macre, and D'Amico went back to the Pittsburgh area to work with the vocalist/songwriter Bill Taylor and formed the B.E.

Meanwhile, Palumbo reformed Crack the Sky once again in 1981 with DePaul, Carey Ziegler, Bobby Hird, and John Tracey, and produced Photoflamingo.

This new lineup of musicians, and subsequent efforts, including World in Motion 1 and the live album The End, failed to garner the critical and public acclaim of the earlier releases, and the group disbanded again in 1983.

Although the album has the signature Crack the Sky sound and feel to it, it featured no past members of the band besides Palumbo (guitarist Jamie LaRitz is the only other musician credited).

Later that year, however, Palumbo reunited Crack the Sky with Witkowski, Hird, DePaul, Ziegler, and D'Amico for a series of live shows at the Baltimore club Hammerjack's.

In 1988, Palumbo joined with Witkowski, DePaul, and D'Amico to produce From the Greenhouse, in many ways a return to the band's classic sound, with solid efforts including the title track and the song "Lost in America" The album peaked at 186 on the Billboard 200, and received a mixed review from People.

During this time, Witkowski composed music for a number of game shows on the children's television network Nickelodeon, including Guts and Figure It Out.

The band at this time featured the same lineup as 1983's The End, with the addition of Nat Kerr (who had participated with Crack the Sky members Witkowski, Macre, and D'Amico in the B.E.

Additionally, the band headlined the ROSfest progressive music festival, and later a full-length DVD of their performance called Crack the Sky, All Access was produced and engineered by Macre.

One review noted: "Not since the band's incredibly popular 'White Music' CD, has Crack the Sky delivered a collection of pop/rock songs that sting while making you smile.