Some times you have to give in to nostalgia, which is why I found myself at a St. Louis area casino a few weeks ago to see Foreigner. A note had been left with our complimentary tickets letting us know that we were in for a good night of music. We were assured that although Foreigner guitarist/founder Mick Jones is the only remaining original member, these guys still put on a kick ass show that is worthy of the Foreigner name. And indeed, having seen the new lineup a year prior, I was very aware that this lineup of Foreigner, with veteran singer Kelly Hansen replacing Lou Gramm on vocals, did in fact have the goods. The rest of the Foreigner lineup in addition to Hansen and Jones fills out with veteran players that include former Dokken member Jeff Pilson on bass and vocals, journeyman drummer Brian Tichy, longtime multi-instrumentalist Thom Gimbel (with the band since 1995), and Michael Bluestein on keyboards.
Out of all of the bands touring with “replacement singers,” the revitalized Foreigner deliver an experience that is as close as you’ll come to seeing the original band “back in the day.” When I interviewed Night Ranger’s Jack Blades a few years ago, he spoke of playing a show with Journey after they added vocalist Steve Augeri, himself filling the big shoes of iconic vocalist Steve Perry. Blades watched the crowd sing the “nah nahs” in “Lovin’, Touchin’ Squeezin’,” and said that in that moment, “they didn’t give a shit who was on stage singing.” The statement from Blades is something that sticks with me and resonates when I see a band like Foreigner trying to carry on minus their most visible and well known member. The fact that they’re able to pull it off and present an experience that feels completely authentic is impressive. New music? They’ve cleared that hurdle as well with the release of last year’s Can’t Slow Down, a new Foreigner album that sounds like it could have been released in 1985. (more…)
“It’s always that one song that gets to you. You can hide, but the song comes to find you.”
One of the great eccentrics (and notorious drinkers) in rock, Michael Schenker also served in one of the great hard rock bands of the mid- and late 70s. The Schenker/Phil Mogg/Pete Way/Andy Parker nexus that powered UFO in this period produced a handful of classic albums, including the scorching, varied Lights Out (1977). Mogg is an oft-overlooked voice in this period who, at his best, could match Paul Rodgers and Lou Gramm in strength, sleaze, and swagger.
If I didn’t collect ‘80s music I most certainly would have missed out on these gems and thought that “King of Wishful Thinking” (1990) was Go West’s first single and Indian Summer (1992) their first album. If you ever wanted to get into Go West for some reason, that album could easily be the place to start and stop. However, you’d be doing yourself a disservice by not going back and listening to their 1985 self-titled debut. The follow-up, 1987’s Dancing on the Couch, wasn’t quite as good as Go West, but it still contains some catchy-as-hell pop tunes. All three of the great songs featured here are from Go West, and though they sound dated today, if you think back to 1985 they actually sound a little too sophisticated for that era. Maybe that’s why none of them made an impact on the charts. Go West had one single in ‘87 barely crack the Top 40 — “Don’t Look Down (The Sequel)” hit #39, but it isn’t even included on the British version of Dancing on the Couch.
