Ken Harck's first introduction to music was through the thundering sound of circus bands, an interest he still maintains. After playing the early Chicago club scene with various bands, most notably D'Thumbs, he relocated to Los Angeles.

He spent over two years with Badfinger who released their Elektra album, Airwaves, featuring the chart single "Love Is Gonna Come At Last" during his stint. He also worked with D'Thumbs vocalist Cliff Johnson in a new band called Off Broadway USA. Handled by Cheap Trick manager Ken Adamany, their Atlantic debut, "On", was a major regional success and spawned the national chart single "Stay In Time". The album remains in such high demand that even with almost 300,000 sold the vinyl now carries a $50.00 price tag. The second album failed to maintain the momentum of the first and the band eventually dissolved.

Harck eventually started working with two different groups, the Tami Show and Jinx. Both groups were signed to Chrysalis. Jinx changed its name to Wild Blue and achieved one minor success with "Fire With Fire" from the film of the same name. Wild Blue's second album was never released. Harck's reputation as a great, versatile and hard-rocking drummer led Chip Z'Nuff to recommend him for the James Young Group, an audition superbly passed.