berkelium ← californium → einsteinium Dy ↑ Cf ↓ (Uqo) 98Cf Periodic table
Appearance
silvery
General properties
Name, symbol, number	californium, Cf, 98
Pronunciation	/ˌkælɨˈfɔrniəm/ KAL-i-FOR-nee-əm
Element category	actinide
Group, period, block	n/a, 7, f
Standard atomic weight	(251) [1]
Electron configuration	[Rn] 5f10 7s2 [2]
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 32, 28, 8, 2 (Image)
Physical properties
Phase	solid
Density (near r.t.)	15.1[1] g·cm−3
Melting point	1173 K, 900 [1] °C, 1652 °F
Atomic properties
Oxidation states	2, 3, 4 [3]
Electronegativity	1.3 [4] (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies	1st: 608 [5] kJ·mol−1
Miscellanea
Mohs hardness	3–4[6]
CAS registry number	7440-71-3 [1]
Most stable isotopes
Main article: Isotopes of californium
iso NA half-life DM DE (MeV) DP 248Cf syn 333.5 d α (100%) 6.369 244Cm SF (2.9×10−3%) 0.0029 – 249Cf syn 351 y α (100%) 6.295 245Cm SF (5.0×10−7%) 4.4×10−7 – 250Cf syn 13.08 y α (99.92%) 6.129 246Cm SF (0.08%) 0.077 – 251Cf syn 898 y α 6.172 247Cm 252Cf syn 2.645 y α (96.91%) 6.217 248Cm SF (3.09%) – – 253Cf syn 17.81 d β− (99.69%) 0.29 253Es α (0.31%) 6.126 249Cm 254Cf syn 60.5 d SF (99.69%) – – α (0.31%) 5.930 250Cm Isotope references: [7][8]
v t e · r

Californium is a radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Cf and atomic number 98. The element was first made at the University of California, Berkeley in 1950 by bombarding curium with alpha particles (helium-4 ions). It is an actinide element, the sixth transuranium element to be synthesized, and has the second-highest atomic mass of all the elements that have been produced in amounts large enough to see with the unaided eye (after einsteinium). The element was named after California and the University of California. It is the heaviest element to occur naturally on Earth; heavier elements can only be produced by synthesis.

Two crystalline forms exist for californium under normal pressure: one above 900 °C and one below 900 °C. A third form exists at high pressure. Californium slowly tarnishes in air at room temperature. Compounds of californium are dominated by a chemical form of the element, designated californium(III), that can participate in three chemical bonds. The most stable of californium's twenty known isotopes is californium-251, which has a half-life of 898 years. This short half-life means the element is not found in significant quantities in the Earth's crust.^[a] Californium-252, with a half-life of about 2.64 years, is the most common isotope used and is produced at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States and the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Russia.

Californium is one of the few transuranium elements that have practical applications. Most of these applications exploit the property of certain isotopes of californium to emit neutrons. For example, californium can be used to help start up nuclear reactors, and it is employed as a source of neutrons when studying materials with neutron diffraction and neutron spectroscopy. Californium can also be used in nuclear synthesis of higher mass elements; ununoctium (element 118) was synthesized by bombarding californium-249 atoms with calcium-48 ions. Use of californium must take into account radiological concerns and the element's ability to disrupt the formation of red blood cells by bioaccumulating in skeletal tissue.

Characteristics[link]

Physical properties[link]

Californium is a silvery white actinide metal^[9] with a melting point of 900 ± 30 °C and an estimated boiling point of 1745 °C.^[10] The pure metal is malleable and is easily cut with a razor blade. Californium metal starts to vaporize above 300 °C when exposed to a vacuum.^[11] Below 51 K (−220 °C) californium metal is either ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic (it acts like a magnet), between 48 and 66 K it is antiferromagnetic (an intermediate state), and above 160 K (−110 °C) it is paramagnetic (external magnetic fields can make it magnetic).^[12] It forms alloys with lanthanide metals but little is known about them.^[11]

The element has two crystalline forms under 1 standard atmosphere of pressure: A double-hexagonal close-packed form dubbed alpha (α) and a face-centered cubic form designated beta (β).^[b] The α form exists below 900 °C with a density of 15.10 g/cm³ and the β form exists above 900 °C with a density of 8.74 g/cm³.^[14] At 48 GPa of pressure the β form changes into an orthorhombic crystal system due to de-localization of the atom's 5f electrons, which frees them to bond.^[15][c]

The bulk modulus of a material is a measure of its resistance to uniform pressure. Californium's bulk modulus is 50 ± 5 GPa, which is similar to trivalent lanthanide metals but smaller than more familiar metals, such as aluminium (70 GPa).^[15]

Chemical properties and compounds[link]

Californium exhibits valences of 4, 3, or 2; indicating the number of chemical bonds one atom of this element can form.^[14] Its chemical properties are predicted to be similar to other primarily 3+ valence actinide elements^[17] and the element dysprosium, which is the lanthanide above californium in the periodic table.^[18] The element slowly tarnishes in air at room temperature, with the rate increasing when moisture is added.^[14] Californium reacts when heated with hydrogen, nitrogen, or a chalcogen (oxygen family element); reactions with dry hydrogen and aqueous mineral acids are rapid.^[14]

Californium is only water soluble as the californium(III) cation. Attempts to reduce or oxidize the +3 ion in solution have failed.^[18] The element forms a water-soluble chloride, nitrate, perchlorate, and sulfate and is precipitated as a fluoride, oxalate, or hydroxide.^[17]

Isotopes[link]

Twenty radioisotopes of californium have been characterized, the most stable being californium-251 with a half-life of 898 years, californium-249 with a half-life of 351 years, californium-250 with a half-life of 13.08 years, and californium-252 with a half-life of 2.645 years.^[8] All the remaining isotopes have half-lives shorter than a year, and the majority of these have half-lives shorter than 20 minutes.^[8] The isotopes of californium range in mass number from 237 to 256.^[8]

Californium-249 is formed from the beta decay of berkelium-249, and most other californium isotopes are made by subjecting berkelium to intense neutron radiation in a nuclear reactor.^[18] Although californium-251 has the longest half-life, its production yield is only 10% due to its tendency to collect neutrons (high neutron capture) and its tendency to interact with other particles (high neutron cross-section).^[19]

Californium-252 is a very strong neutron emitter, which makes it extremely radioactive and harmful.^[20][21][22] Californium-252 undergoes alpha decay (the loss of two protons and two neutrons) 96.9% of the time to form curium-248 while the remaining 3.1% of decays are spontaneous fission.^[8] One microgram (µg) of californium-252 emits 2.3 million neutrons per second, an average of 3.7 neutrons per spontaneous fission.^[23] Most of the other isotopes of californium decay to isotopes of curium (atomic number 96) via alpha decay.^[8]

History[link]

The 60-inch-diameter (1,500 mm) cyclotron used to first synthesize californium

Californium was first synthesized at the University of California, Berkeley by the physics researchers Stanley G. Thompson, Kenneth Street, Jr., Albert Ghiorso, and Glenn T. Seaborg on or about February 9, 1950.^[24] It was the sixth transuranium element to be discovered; the team announced its discovery on March 17, 1950.^[25][26][27]

To produce californium, a microgram-sized target of curium-242 (242
96Cm) was bombarded with 35 MeV-alpha particles (4
2He) in the 60-inch-diameter (1,500 mm) cyclotron at Berkeley, California, which produced californium-245 (245
98Cf) plus one free neutron (n).^[24]

242
96Cm + 4
2He → 245
98Cf + 1
0n

Only about 5,000 atoms of californium were produced in this experiment,^[28] and these atoms had a half-life of 44 minutes.^[24]

The discoverers named the new element after California and the University of California. This was a break from the convention used for elements 95 to 97, which drew inspiration from how the elements directly above them in the periodic table were named.^[29][e] However, the element directly above element 98 in the periodic table, dysprosium, has a name that simply means "hard to get at" so the researchers decided to set aside the informal naming convention.^[31] They added that "the best we can do is to point out [that] ... searchers a century ago found it difficult to get to California."^[30]

Weighable quantities of californium were first produced by the irradiation of plutonium targets at the Materials Testing Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory; and these findings were reported in 1954.^[32] The high spontaneous fission rate of californium-252 was observed in these samples. The first experiment with californium in concentrated form occurred in 1958.^[24] The isotopes californium-249 to californium-252 were isolated that same year from a sample of plutonium-239 that had been irradiated with neutrons in a nuclear reactor for five years.^[9] Two years later, in 1960, Burris Cunningham and James Wallman of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory of the University of California created the first californium compounds—californium trichloride, californium oxychloride, and californium oxide—by treating californium with steam and hydrochloric acid.^[33]

The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, started producing small batches of californium in the 1960s.^[34] By 1995, the HFIR nominally produced 500 milligrams of californium annually.^[35] Plutonium supplied by the United Kingdom to the United States under the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement was used for californium production.^[36]

The Atomic Energy Commission sold californium-252 to industrial and academic customers in the early 1970s for $10 per microgram^[23] and an average of 150 mg of californium-252 were shipped each year from 1970 to 1990.^[37][f] Californium metal was first prepared in 1974 by Haire and Baybarz who reduced californium(III) oxide with lanthanum metal to obtain microgram amounts of sub-micrometer thick films.^[38][39][g]

Occurrence[link]

Nuclear testing has contaminated the environment with traces of californium.

Very minute amounts of californium exist on Earth due to neutron capture reactions and beta decay in very highly-concentrated uranium-bearing deposits.^[41][42] Traces of californium can be found near facilities that use the element in mineral prospecting and in medical treatments.^[43] The element is fairly insoluble in water, but it adheres well to ordinary soil; and concentrations of it in the soil can be 500 times higher than in the water surrounding the soil particles.^[41]

Fallout from atmospheric nuclear testing prior to 1980 contributed a small amount of californium to the environment.^[41] Californium isotopes with mass numbers 249, 252, 253, and 254 have been observed in the radioactive dust collected from the air after a nuclear explosion.^[44] Californium is not a major radionuclide at United States Department of Energy legacy sites since it was not produced in large quantities.^[41]

Californium was once reported to have been found in supernova spectra, but this has been subsequently regarded as an incorrect identification.^[45]

Production[link]

Californium is produced in nuclear reactors and particle accelerators.^[46] Californium-250 is made by bombarding berkelium-249 (249
97Bk) with neutrons, forming berkelium-250 (250
97Bk) via neutron capture (n,γ) which, in turn, quickly beta decays (β⁻) to californium-250 (250
98Cf) in the following reaction:^[47]

249
97Bk(n,γ)250
97Bk → 250
98Cf + β⁻

Bombardment of californium-250 with neutrons produces californium-251 and californium-252.^[47]

Prolonged irradiation of americium, curium, and plutonium with neutrons produces milligram amounts of californium-252 and microgram amounts of californium-249.^[48] As of 2006, curium isotopes 244 to 248 are irradiated by neutrons in special reactors to produce primarily californium-252 with lesser amounts of isotopes 249 to 255.^[49]

Microgram quantities of californium-252 are available for commercial use through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.^[46] Only two sites produce californium-252 – the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States, and the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, Russia. As of 2003, the two sites produce 0.25 grams and 0.025 grams of californium-252 per year, respectively.^[50]

Three californium isotopes with significant half-lives are produced, requiring a total of 15 neutron captures by uranium-238 without nuclear fission or alpha decay occurring during the process.^[50] Californium-253 is at the end of a production chain that starts with uranium-238, includes several isotopes of plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, and the californium isotopes 249 to 253 (see diagram).

Scheme of the production of californium-252 from uranium-238 by neutron irradiation

Applications[link]

Fifty-ton shipping cask built at Oak Ridge National Laboratory which can transport up to 1 gram of ²⁵²Cf.^[51] Large and heavily shielded transport containers are needed to prevent the release of highly radioactive material in case of normal and hypothetical accidents.^[52]

Californium-252 has a number of specialized applications as a strong neutron emitter, and each microgram of fresh californium produces 139 million neutrons per minute.^[23] This property makes californium useful as a neutron startup source for some nuclear reactors^[14] and as a portable (non-reactor based) neutron source for neutron activation analysis to detect trace amounts of elements in samples.^[53][h] Neutrons from californium are employed as a treatment of certain cervical and brain cancers where other radiation therapy is ineffective.^[14] It has been used in educational applications since 1969 when the Georgia Institute of Technology received a loan of 119 µg of californium-252 from the Savannah River Plant.^[55] It is also used with online elemental coal analyzers and bulk material analyzers in the coal and cement industries.

Neutron penetration into materials makes californium useful in detection instruments such as fuel rod scanners;^[14] neutron radiography of aircraft and weapons components to detect corrosion, bad welds, cracks and trapped moisture;^[56] and in portable metal detectors.^[57] Neutron moisture gauges use californium-252 to find water and petroleum layers in oil wells, as a portable neutron source for gold and silver prospecting for on-the-spot analysis,^[18] and to detect ground water movement.^[58] The major uses of californium-252 in 1982 were, in order of use, reactor start-up (48.3%), fuel rod scanning (25.3%), and activation analysis (19.4%).^[59] By 1994 most californium-252 was used in neutron radiography (77.4%), with fuel rod scanning (12.1%) and reactor start-up (6.9%) as important but distant secondary uses.^[59]

Californium-251 has a very small critical mass (about 5 kg),^[60] high lethality, and a relatively short period of toxic environmental irradiation. The low critical mass of californium led to some exaggerated claims about possible uses for the element.^[i]

In October 2006, researchers announced that three atoms of ununoctium (element 118) had been identified at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, as the product of bombardment of californium-249 with calcium-48, making it the heaviest element ever synthesized. The target for this experiment contained about 10 mg of californium-249 deposited on a titanium foil of 32 cm² area.^[62][63][64] Californium has also been used to produce other transuranium elements; for example, element 103 (later named lawrencium) was first synthesized in 1961 by bombarding californium with boron nuclei.^[65]

Precautions[link]

Californium that bioaccumulates in skeletal tissue releases radiation that disrupts the body's ability to form red blood cells.^[66] The element plays no natural biological role in any organism due to its intense radioactivity and low concentration in the environment.^[43]

Californium can enter the body from ingesting contaminated food or drinks or by breathing air with suspended particles of the element. Once in the body, only 0.05% of the californium will reach the bloodstream. About 65% of that californium will be deposited in the skeleton, 25% in the liver, and the rest in other organs, or excreted, mainly in urine. Half of the californium deposited in the skeleton and liver are gone in 50 and 20 years, respectively. Californium in the skeleton adheres to bone surfaces before slowly migrating throughout the bone.^[41]

The element is most dangerous if taken into the body. In addition, californium-249 and californium-251 can cause tissue damage externally, through gamma ray emission. Ionizing radiation emitted by californium on bone and in the liver can cause cancer.^[41]

Notes[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Cotton, F. Albert; Wilkinson, Geoffrey; Murillo, Carlos A.; Bochmann, Manfred (1999). Advanced Inorganic Chemistry (6th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-471-19957-1. 
• CRC contributors (1991). Walker, Perrin; Tarn, William H.. eds. Handbook of Metal Etchants. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-3623-2. 
• CRC contributors (2006). Lide, David R.. ed. Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (87th ed.). CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-8493-0487-3. 
• Cunningham, B. B. (1968). "Californium". In Hampel, Clifford A.. The Encyclopedia of the Chemical Elements. Reinhold Book Corporation. LCCN 68-29938. 
• Emsley, John (1998). The Elements. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-855818-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=qgYpAAAAYAAJ. 
• Emsley, John (2001). "Californium". Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-850340-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=Yhi5X7OwuGkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Greenwood, N. N.; Earnshaw, A. (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-3365-9. 
• Haire, Richard G. (2006). "Californium". In Morss, Lester R.; Edelstein, Norman M.; Fuger, Jean. The Chemistry of the Actinide and Transactinide Elements (3rd ed.). Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4020-3555-5. 
• Heiserman, David L. (1992). "Element 98: Californium". Exploring Chemical Elements and their Compounds. TAB Books. ISBN 978-0-8306-3018-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=24l-Cpal9oIC. 
• Jakubke, Hans-Dieter; Jeschkeit, Hans, eds. (1994). Concise Encyclopedia Chemistry. trans. rev. Eagleson, Mary. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-011451-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=Owuv-c9L_IMC&printsec=frontcover. 
• Krebs, Robert (2006). The History and Use of our Earth's Chemical Elements: A Reference Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33438-2. 
• National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Radiation Source Use and Replacement (2008). Radiation Source Use and Replacement: Abbreviated Version. National Academies Press. ISBN 978-0-309-11014-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=3cT2REdXJ98C&printsec=frontcover. 
• O'Neil, Marydale J.; Heckelman, Patricia E.; Roman, Cherie B., eds. (2006). The Merck Index: An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals (14th ed.). Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co.. ISBN 978-0-911910-00-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=kEYfRAAACAAJ. 
• Osborne-Lee, I. W.; Alexander, C. W. (1995). "Californium-252: A Remarkable Versatile Radioisotope". Oak Ridge Technical Report ORNL/TM-12706. DOI:10.2172/205871. http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=1&page=0&osti_id=205871. 
• Ruiz-Lapuente, P.; Canal, R.; Isern, J. (1996). Thermonuclear Supernovae. Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 978-0-7923-4359-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=I6Rl1VAAX3QC. 
• Seaborg, Glenn T.; Loveland, Walter D. (1990). The Elements Beyond Uranium. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. ISBN 978-0-471-89062-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=QFhRAAAAMAAJ. 
• Seaborg, G. T. (1994). Modern alchemy: selected papers of Glenn T. Seaborg. World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-02-1440-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=e53sNAOXrdMC&pg=PA245. 
• Seaborg, G. T. (1996). Adloff, J. P.. ed. One Hundred Years after the Discovery of Radioactivity. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. ISBN 978-3-486-64252-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=whGiCQywLi8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Seaborg, Glenn T. (2004). "Californium". In Geller, Elizabeth. Concise Encyclopedia of Chemistry. McGraw-Hill. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-07-143953-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=Owuv-c9L_IMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Szwacki, Nevill Gonzalez; Szwacka, Teresa (2010). Basic Elements of Crystallography. Pan Stanford. ISBN 978-981-4241-59-5. http://www.scribd.com/doc/39588027/Basic-Elements-of-Crystallography. 
• Weeks, Mary Elvira; Leichester, Henry M. (1968). "21: Modern Alchemy". Discovery of the Elements. Journal of Chemical Education. pp. 848–850. ISBN 978-0-7661-3872-8. LCCN 68-15217. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Californium

Look up californium in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• NuclearWeaponArchive.org – Californium
• Hazardous Substances Databank – Californium, Radioactive

vep:Kalifornii (himine element)

This biographical article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the [[Talk:Jack Blades#biographical article|talk page]]. (April 2009)

Jack Blades
Background information
Born	(1954-04-24) April 24, 1954 (age 58) Palm Desert, California
Genres	Hard rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Bass, vocals, guitar
Years active	1977–present
Associated acts	Rubicon, Night Ranger, Damn Yankees, Shaw/Blades, Tak Matsumoto Group (TMG), Ted Nugent
Website	www.jackblades.net

Jack Martin Blades (born April 24, 1954) is an American musician.^[1] He has worked in several bands: Rubicon, Night Ranger (as bassist and one of the lead vocalists), and Damn Yankees (as one of the founding members). He also recorded with Tommy Shaw under the name Shaw/Blades, and has done work alongside TMG, the Tak Matsumoto Group. His most recent efforts include a second solo CD, and Shaw/Blades is in the process of recording ‘’Influence II’’.

Music career[link]

Jack has released one self-titled solo CD and a second one is on its way. He has written or co-written songs for Aerosmith, Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Roger Daltrey, and many more artists. Jack has also produced or co-produced CDs for Night Ranger, Shaw/Blades and for several other artists including Great White, Ted Nugent, and Samantha 7, among others. Blades appears on Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood album, which was released in 1989. In the 1990s, Jack co-wrote four Aerosmith songs with Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Tommy Shaw: "Shut Up and Dance" (1993), "Can't Stop Messin'" (1993), "Walk on Water" (1994), "What Kind of Love Are You On" (1998). In 1998 Jack was asked by Ringo Starr to be play bass in Ringo Starr VH1 Storytellers with Joe Walsh and Simon Kirke. In 2006 Jack played the role of an 80’s Sunset Strip club owner in the Las Vegas version of the Broadway musical show “Rock Of Ages.”

Rubicon[link]

Jerry Martini formed the funk band Rubicon with Jack as bass player and future Night Ranger guitarist Brad Gillis. Rubicon recorded two albums on 20th Century Fox Records – ‘’Rubicon’’, and ‘’American Dreams’’. They had one single titled “I’m Gonna take care of Everything.” Rubicon played Cal Jam 2, held at the Ontario motor speedway in California before 250,000 people. Rubicon broke up in 1979 and Jack formed the short lived club band Stereo with Brad Gillis and Kelly Keagy, who had joined as touring drummer for Rubicon.

Night Ranger[link]

Jack’s roommate at the beginning of the 80s was Alan “Fitz” Fitzgerald, bass player for Montrose and Gamma and keyboard player for Sammy Hagar. He suggested they form a band. Fitz knew another guitar player in Sacramento (Jeff Watson) and Ranger was formed in 1980. The band recorded demos and played shows around the Bay area for two years. They were signed to Boardwalk Records and released their first album, ‘’Dawn Patrol’’ in 1982. Prior to the release it was discovered that there was a country band by the name of The Rangers. Jack had written the song “Night Ranger” for the album so the band changed their name to Night Ranger to avoid any potential problems. Night Ranger went on through the 80’s releasing albums which sold by the millions, as well as several hit singles. The band toured constantly both in the US and in Japan where they continue to be popular today. In 1989 Jack left Night Ranger and formed the Damn Yankees. Jack re-formed Night Ranger with the original members in 1996. They recorded three CDs – ‘’Neverland’’ in 1997, ‘’Seven’’ in 1998, and ‘’Hole In The Sun’’ in 2008. Night Ranger continues to tour today.

Damn Yankees[link]

Damn Yankees was formed by Jack at the start of the 90s along with Ted Nugent and Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw. Damn Yankees had multi platinum success with two albums ‘’Damn Yankees’’, ‘’Don't Tread’’ and a gold selling single “High Enough.” Damn Yankees recorded and toured non-stop for four years. In 1994 the Damn Yankees took a break – which they are still on today...

Shaw/Blades[link]

After the Damn Yankees decided to take a break in 1994, Jack and Tommy decided to record together under the name Shaw/Blades. They wrote and recorded the first Shaw/Blades CD together – ‘’Hallucination’’ was released in 1995. In 2007 Shaw/Blades released ‘’Influence’’ (Vh1 Classic Records) which is a collection of cover songs that influenced Jack and Tommy. Shaw/Blades have toured acoustically across the US. They are currently recording ‘’Influence II’’ with an anticipated Spring 2010 release.

TMG (Tak Matsumoto Group)[link]

In 2004 Jack recorded a CD and toured Japan with TMG (Tak Matsumoto Group) formed by guitarist Tak Matsumoto of the Japanese mega group B'z. TMG scored a #1 single (“Oh Japan, our time is now”) and a #1 CD (‘’TMG I’’) on Billboard Japan’s domestic chart. With TMG, Jack performed "Never Good-bye" the ending credits theme for the 2004 film Ultraman (a.k.a. Ultraman: The Next). The song appears on the 2005 soundtrack album for the movie and on TMG I, the 2004 album by Tak Matsumoto Group.

Solo[link]

Jack released his first solo album in 2004 – Jack Blades. His second solo effort, Rock n' Roll Ride, followed early in 2012.

Radio show[link]

Jack has a weekly Radio show – “Backstage Pass with Jack Blades” – on in Denver Co. (103.5 the Fox) and Phoenix AZ (93.3 KDKB).

Personal life[link]

Born in Palm Desert, California, Jack started playing guitar at 8 years old when his parents gave him a plastic ukulele. Jack graduated from Indio High School in 1972 where he was the senior class president. While attending College of the Desert in Palm Desert he met and jammed with Pat Rizzo (who was then the sax player for Sly and the Family Stone) who introduced him to Jerry Martini (the original Sax player for Sly). Jack went off to college at San Diego State University as a pre-med student, but took a leave of absence in 1975 to move to San Francisco. Jerry and Jack (joined by Brad Gillis) started the band Rubicon, and the rest, as they say, is history.

One of his sons, Colin Blades, has co-written and performed songs with his father^[2] and has also released his own solo material.^[3] He also has another son, James.^[4]

Discography[link]

Rubicon[link]

• Rubicon (1978, 20th Century Fox)
• American Dreams (1979, 20th Century Fox)

Night Ranger[link]

• Dawn Patrol (1982, Boardwalk)
• Midnight Madness (1983, MCA)
• Seven Wishes (1985, MCA)
• Big Life (1987, MCA)
• Man in Motion (1988, MCA)
• Neverland (1997, Columbia)
• Seven (1998, CMC)
• Hole in the Sun (2007, Frontiers)
• Somewhere in California (2011, Frontiers)

Damn Yankees[link]

• Damn Yankees (1990, Warner Bros. Records)
• Don't Tread (1992, Warner Bros.)
• High Enough and Other Hits (2003)
• Essentials (2002)

Shaw/Blades[link]

• Hallucination (1995)
• Influence (2007)

Solo[link]

• Jack Blades (2004)
• Rock n' Roll Ride (2012)

Tak Matsumoto Group (TMG)[link]

• TMG I (2004)

Compilations[link]

• California Jam II
• A Classic rock Christmas
• Bat Head Soup: A Tribute to Ozzy

Soundtracks[link]

• Teachers
• Out of Bounds
• The Secret of My Success
• Nowhere to Run
• Nothing But Trouble
• Tommy Boy
• Ultraman

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website of Night Ranger