Great Rock Albums of 1984: Tommy Shaw- Girls With Guns

  

Styx guitarist, although back in 1984 it was former, Tommy Shaw's first solo album is yet another reason why I don't let one song influence me when I buy an album. It was the opening title track that was played by radio and while "Girls With Guns" is a decent song, it on its own, wouldn't have been enough for me to buy the album. What influenced me to buy it was the songs Tommy wrote whilst he was in his former band.

The great thing about Styx in the 1970s and 80s was that Tommy, Dennis De Young and James Young all had the ability to write and perform great songs. While I don't have a preference in this realm, the songs that Tommy wrote which I really loved were: "Too Much Time on My Hands," "Blue Collar Man," "Renegade" and "Man in the Wilderness" for starters. Therefore, like with Dennis's solo album, I used the memories of the great Styx songs Tommy wrote to influence my decision to buy "Girls With Guns."

[caption id="attachment_649" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Styx[/caption]

Did my logic work out? My answer is yes. It's true that the opener, title track and first single was always intended to sound more 80s synth but I did like it. It doesn't really matter because each track after offers up something new each time. The very next track, "Come In and Explain" is very much heavy rock and Tommy does open up with his guitar on that one. Following that, he attempts a ballad with "Lonely School." Now, I don't want to knock his voice because Tommy Shaw can sing and it's not a bad song but I don't think that voice is made for ballads, at least on this song. Just my thoughts that's all. However, he does go into more familiar territory with "Heads Up." This sounds like his days with Styx and there is good harmonizing in the vocals. Plus, there's the added bonus of him laying down a particularly cool guitar solo, so full marks here.

Pure speculation here but maybe he realized he wasn't up for singing ballads because while "Kiss Me Hello" is a ballad, there is much more harmonizing on it and therefore a big improvement. Additionally, I have to give full marks to Peter Wood here because he does a marvelous job on the keyboards on this one. Tommy does end the song with a little guitar solo so full marks all around, actually.

"Fading Away" has a very progressive rock intro and then goes to a reggae sound. Now Tommy Shaw is no Bob Marley but his voice sounds okay on it. He does fuse more progressive rock into the song and the mix sounds okay. "Little Girl World" has a catchy feel good factor about it. It's one of those songs you would play at a celebration or something and has some more good keyboard work from Wood. But there's some hard guitars that do manifest themselves out of the background. A similar thing can be said for "Outside in the Rain" but the guitars are more noticeable, especially with one of Shaw's solos on it. He is also accompanied by one Carol Kenyon on the vocals. "Free to Love You" is the love child between 1980s synth and traditional Styx. Elements of both permeate the album without either establishing dominance and with another cool guitar solo, Tommy blends them well. The closer, "The Race is On" is a decent progressive rock song with saxophones on it. Nicely done in a way that closes the album out on a good note.

Track Listing:

1. Girls With Guns
2. Come In and Explain
3. Lonely School
4. Heads Up
5. Kiss Me Hello
6. Fading Away
7. Little Girl World
8. Outside in the Rain
9. Free to Love You
10. The Race is On

[caption id="attachment_4066" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Tommy Shaw, now sporting a mullet in 1984[/caption]

 

Tommy Shaw- guitars and lead vocals, mandolin

Steve Holley- drums, percussion

Brian Stanley- bass

Peter Wood- piano, electric piano, synthesizers

Carol Kenyon- accompanying vocals on "Outside in the Rain"

Richie Connata- sax solo on "The Race is On"

Molly Duncan- saxophone section on "The Race is On"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wNBsGy17V4

Tommy Shaw followed Dennis De Young in releasing a solo album after Styx. While he's not afraid to stretch out a bit on the album, he does remember that his guitar work is his main weapon as it was for Styx. However, he does have  good keyboards player in Peter Wood and that helps to make "Girls With Guns" the winner here. If I were to compare it to Dennis's album.

Next post: The Kinks- Word of Mouth

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1984: John Parr

 

History has always misrepresented English rocker John Parr. For the masses, he is considered a one hit wonder, that one hit being the title track of the soundtrack for the film "St. Elmo's Fire." If you were to judge him on that song alone, you would have thought him to be just another 80s synth pop singer. However, I know that this wasn't the case and most, possibly all the songs, on his 1984 self titled debut album are better. In fact, the "St Elmo's Fire" track only appears on the UK release and not the US Atlantic records one, which was what I experienced. My conclusion here is that the album is just fine without it.

Long before there was a "St Elmo's Fire," (that film didn't come out until 1985 and it will take a lot of convincing from you the masses for me to visit the soundtrack), I was already familiar with Mr Parr. The first single from the album, "Naughty Naughty" received a good amount of air play on both radio and MTV. It's a rocker and for me, that song defines John Parr.

Fortunately, his album follows suit along with the song I just talked about. In fact the only hint of synth pop on the album is the track "Love Grammar" and I stress only a hint. Even that song has its hard rocking moments as well as a cool guitar solo from John himself. That's another thing about him, he can shred a little too as well as sing. The rest is pretty much straight forward hard rock. (Am I using that phrase too much in my posts?) In this case, it does define the album very well. One great example of this is the track, "Treat Me Like and Animal." Now that song is hard rock, no debate. There is a ballad right after, "She's Gonna Love You to Death" but there are some decent guitars in the song. The album then returns to more rock ground after that with a rather cool intro on the track, "Revenge" and some cool hard guitars on it. I'm glad they did it that way and not try to use synths as was the custom of the time. The keyboards on the track are more progressive rock than anything. The rest of the album pretty much follows along the path with the possible exceptions "Heartbreaker" and the closer, "Don't Leave YOur Mark on Me" which sound like they could have been songs for a 1980s film soundtrack. But even these on has their rocking moments. What you get here is a cool rock album from John Parr.

Track Listing:

1. Magical
2. Naughty Naughty
3. Love Grammar
4. Treat Me Like an Animal
5. She's Gonna Love You to Death
6. Revenge
7. Heartbreaker
8. Somebody Stole My Thunder
9. Don't Leave Your Mark on Me

[caption id="attachment_4060" align="aligncenter" width="331"] John Parr[/caption]

John Parr- lead vocals, lead guitar, African sounds

Pete Solley- organ

Christopher Marra- guitar

Brad Lang- bass

Colin Farley- bass on tracks 3 and 7

Jon Cook- keyboards

Richard Cottle- keyboards tracks 3,4 and 6

Jonathon J Jeczalik- synthesizer

The Kick Horns- horns

Graham Broad- drums, percussion, African sounds

Simon Phillips- drums on tracks 3 and 7

Chuck Kirkpatrick and John Sombataro- backing vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syhrz_AMLQU

So forget "St Elmo's Fire," I never watched the film anyway. Have a listen to this debut album from John Parr. I guarantee you'll enjoy it much more.

Next post: Tommy Shaw- Girls With Guns

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1984: Planet P- Pink World

 

Tony Carey was a very busy man in 1984. In the early part of the year, he hit it big with his solo album, "Some Tough City," which I visited a few months ago. God, has it been that long? In the later part of the year, he attempted to build on the success of his band, Planet P from 1983 with there successful "Project" album. In the latter months of 1984, Mr Carey treated us to the Planet P album, "Pink World."

When I posted about the "Project" album, I was enlightened by a comment on the post to the fact that Planet P was only a band in the loosest of terms. The project was completely under Tony's control with the named musicians brought in to provide necessary assistance. So now enlightened as I strive to get my facts right, I will say that I'm not really bothered by such semantics in this case. Whether Planet P are a proper band or not doesn't matter because the result has been two really cool albums, "Pink World" being the second of those.

What was cool about MTV in 1984 was that they played videos by artists whose songs were never heard on radio. This case in point, the first single, "What I See," which was later fused with the track "Behind the Barrier," both songs fusing to make a rather cool concept video was what got my attention. "Pink World" is a concept album. It tells the story of a young mute boy named Artemis, who can see visions after drinking polluted water, shelters the survivors of a nuclear attack in a place called 'The Zone.' Fearful of the boy's abilities, the government use him to control those living in the zone. As the album goes on, Artemis becomes less sure what to do and in the end vanishes leaving only a pink pool and a basket behind. The residents of "The Zone" realize they no longer need Artemis and leave it. There is a lot of abstract ambiguity here and Tony has always refused to give specifics.

Story or no story, this is a brilliantly crafted progressive rock album. The songs are all very well played and musically thought out and I can say that no two songs are the same. Listening to each of them is an adventure in itself. Plus, while Tony provides all the vocals, he doesn't try to be Joe Cool Rock Singer. Since it was first presented to me as the single, "What I See" continues to be my favourite track on the album. However, there many a good songs that could rival it. I don't even care that "A Boy Who Can't Talk" sounds very much like Pink Floyd to the point that when I first heard the intro, I thought to myself, "Is this 'Pigs on the Wing'?" Other standout tracks for me are "The Shepherd," "Pink World," "What Artie Knows" and the hardest rock sounding songs, "This Perfect Place" and "In the Zone." But fifteen of the 26 songs could easily be included, (the other eleven are all less than 90 seconds and most of those are damn cool), so that's pretty good.

Track Listing:

1. Into the Woods
2. To Live Forever
3. Pink World
4. What I See
5. To Live Forever Pt. 2
6. Power
7. Into the Forest
8. A Boy Who Can't Talk
9. The Stranger
10. What I See Part 2
11. The Shepherd
12. Behind the Barrier
13. A Pink World Coming Down
14. Breath
15. The Perfect Place
16. What Artie Knows
17. In the Zone
18. Behind the Barrier Part 2
19. March of the Artemites
20. The Perfect Place Part 2
21. A Letter From the Shelter
22. What Artie Knows Part 2
23. One Star Falling
24. Baby's at the Door
25. Requiem
26. A Boy Who Can't Talk Part 2

[caption id="attachment_3279" align="aligncenter" width="271"] Planet P[/caption]

Tony Carey- vocals, all instruments except where noted below

Rheinhard Besser- guitar solo on tracks 4, 17 and 19

Helmut Bibi- guitar solo on tracks 6 and 12

Roderich Gold- Fairlight synthesizer

Fritz Matzka- drums on tracks 2, 17 and 23

Robert Musenbichler- lead guitar on track 23

Eddie Taylor- saxophone on track 23

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RxyOAHZyDs

"Pink World" was praised by the critics but sales of the album were modest at best. The latter is probably why Planet P didn't make another album until 2005. However, this and the other Planet P album have gained a huge cult status since. Something Tony Carey can be quite proud of.

Next post: John Parr

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1984: Bruce Springsteen- Born in the USA

 

For a good many people, the "Born in the USA" album from Bruce Springsteen was the album of the year in 1984. No one can debate how successful this album was. Any album which sell 11 million copies certainly is that. For the Top 40 brigade, it produced seven singles and like U2, Bruce Springsteen was one of those artists who both metalheads and non metalheads could listen to and not feel they were being unfaithful to their chosen genre. Needless to say, 1984 was Bruce's year and this album was the reason why.

Now, I'm not one to rain on anyone's parade but I am going to make my opinion known as it was the same now as it was then. Like the rest of the world, I agree that this is a fine album. It was certainly four steps up from his previous album, the rather depressing, "Nebraska," but I don't rate this album as high as classics like "Born to Run" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and only slightly higher than "The River." Still, unlike outgoing governor Chris Christie, Bruce Springsteen has always made me feel proud that I grew up in New Jersey.

Reflecting back, I think my main problem with "Born in the USA" was the fact that all of the singles got played to death on the radio at the time. That usually happens in any artist's home ground so New Jersey radio stations did that. However, some of the singles got tiresome after hearing them played for the 957th time. "Glory Days" and "I'm On Fire" were examples of this and probably "Dancing in the Dark" as well. They were all good songs but got old after hearing them so many times. Saying that, "Cover Me" is the big exception here. I could hear that song 9050 times and wouldn't get tired of it.

Fortunately, the great thing about the album was the tracks that weren't singles. They're all brilliant! There is some good traditional Springsteen rock to be had on all five of these. I'm talking about "Darlington County," "Working on the Highway," "Downbound Train," "No Surrender" and "Bobby Jean." For me, it is these tracks that have made "Born in the USA" so enjoyable for me.

While most people have raved about the songs on here, I think what often gets overlooked is the lyrics behind many of these songs. Personally, I can identify a tiny bit with the title track. I didn't serve in Vietnam but Bruce highlights how badly those who served over there were treated. I had been out of the service about a year and by this time, I was beginning to wonder what had been the point of my serving due to the way I was being treated. Only the Vietnam Vets had it far worse than I ever did. The real eye opener was "My Home Town." It was about his native town, Asbury Park and what was happening while he was growing up. It does make one stand up and think of how divided the nation really was back in the 1960s. Bruce let his feelings be known when he wrote these songs.

Track Listing:

1. Born in the USA
2. Cover Me
3. Darlington County
4. Working on the Highway
5. Downbound Train
6. I'm On Fire
7. No Surrender
8. Bobby Jean
9. I'm Goin' Down
10. Glory Days
11. Dancing in the Dark
12. My Home Town

[caption id="attachment_534" align="aligncenter" width="256"] Bruce Springsteen[/caption]

Bruce Springsteen- lead vocals, guitars

Roy Bittan- piano, synthesizer, backing vocals

Clarence Clemmons- saxophone, percussion backing vocals

Danny Federici- organ, glockenspiel, piano

Gary Tallent- bass, backing vocals

Steven Van Zandt- acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals

Max Weinberg- drums, backing vocals

It is slightly amazing that in a year where heavy metal dominated, a great rock album like "Born in the USA" could do so astronomically well. It was considered by many Bruce Springsteen's crowning achievement.

Next post: Planet P- Pink World

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1984: Billy Satellite

 

Like Jethro Tull, Billy Satellite is the name of a band. As far as I know, there is no individual with that name. Also, like the Bangles, their debut album came and went in 1984 with little notice except for keen persons like myself who had an ear out for some good straightforward rock. Unlike the Bangles or Jethro Tull, this self titled album would be the band's only release and they would drift off into obscurity living only in my memory.

Their album is the reason why Billy Satellite has lived in the back corners of my mind for over three decades. It is a really cool down to earth straight ahead rock album. All the elements to make the album great are there. Good vocals, some cool guitars and a sound rhythm section with a keyboard accompaniment that brings out the flavour of the mix really well. So, my question is, why didn't people take more notice of Billy Satellite? My only suggested answer is that with all of the heavy metal that was flying about at the time, they simply got lost in the hysteria. They definitely aren't a heavy metal band but they were a hell of a lot better than a lot of the non metal in this year.

If you want something to compare them to, then the closest would be Night Ranger but that might being doing them a disservice. They were unique enough to not need any comparison as far as this album is concerned. The first three tracks come straight at you with some of that good straight ahead rock that I have been talking about. The opener was also the highest charting single (#64). It is a good track but I like the following one, "Last Call." That is the standout for me with all the elements of a good hard rock song present. Track #3 is a good one too before the two ballads, "Trouble" being the better of the two. Then things go back to heavy rock with the cool, "Rockin' Down the Highway" and continue to do so for the rest of the album. "Turning Point" has a slight blues feel to it and the tempo change works well on the album. It has a good guitar solo but notes don't reveal which guitarist is responsible. That leads nicely to "Bye Bye Baby" which borders on a ballad and a rock song. Rock returns for sure with "Standing with the Kings" and that leads to the closer which ends the album very well.

Track Listing:

1. Satisfy Me
2. Last Call
3. Do Ya
4. I Wanna Go Back
5. Trouble
6. Rockin' Down the Highway
7. Turning Point
8. Bye Bye Baby
9. Standing With the Kings
10. The Lonely One

[caption id="attachment_4045" align="aligncenter" width="324"] Billy Satellite[/caption]

Monty Byrom- guitars, vocals, keyboards

Danny Chauncey- guitars, keyboards

Ira Walker- bass

Tom 'Fee' Faletti- drums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSqk8ODRsUs

While sitting here typing this, I have come to a conclusion as to why Billy Satellite didn't go further in 1984. It was that they were about four or five years too soon. Thinking about some of the bands in the late 80s, Danger Danger and Hurricane and Winger, these guys would have fit in well with that group. Unfortunately, they were five years too soon and although they had a cool album, it didn't do well enough for them to continue. They would split and go their separate ways.

Next post: Bruce Springsteen- Born in the USA

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com