Great Rock Albums of 1985: Glen Frey- The Allnighter

 

When I begin a new year of my trip through the golden decade of heavy metal, I always start with albums that were made in the previous year but didn't come to my attention until the said year. Because there were so many great albums in 1984, I didn't get around to listening to a good number until 1985. One of these was "The Allnighter" from the late former Eagles guitarist/singer, Glenn Frey.

Reflecting back to early 1985, I used to wonder if I was a little unfair to both Glenn and one of his former bandmates who also released a solo album in this year. First, I was very much into all things metal and "The Allnighter" is definitely not metal. Furthermore, I was very much into the last two Eagles albums, "Hotel California" and "The Long Run" which did feature some harder rock than their early 1970s albums.

Glenn goes further away from his Eagles roots with this album as it's a more mellower and somewhat bluesier sound. There are some ballads on here like "Let's Go Home" and "Lover's Moon." Glenn's voice has always been suited to these but it is also versatile enough for the faster songs. "Sexy Girl" is kind of in the middle here and he does sing it well. I recently heard a live version of it and it sounds better than the commercial version. However, the best song and one that I've come to appreciate far more in my aging years is "Smuggler's Blues." This song is proof that Frey can sing harder stuff, not that I had any doubt he couldn't. What has really impressed me about it is the musicianship. Like his previous album, Glenn uses a ton of musicians on it, so I don't know who does the guitar solos on the song but they are ace. Full marks to whoever played them. The song did feature on the mid 1980s TV show "Miami Vice."

Track Listing:

1. The Allnighter
2. Sexy Girl
3. I Got Love
4. Somebody Else
5. Lover's Moon
6. Smuggler's Blues
7. Let's Go Home
8. Better in the USA
9. Living In Darkness
10. New Love

[caption id="attachment_2716" align="aligncenter" width="190"] Glenn Frey[/caption]

Glenn Frey- lead vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano, synthesizer

Josh Leo, Duncan Cameron- guitar

John 'JR' Robinson, Michael Huey, Larry Londin- drums

David Hood, Bryan Garofalo- bass

Greg Smith, Willie Bergman, Al Garth- saxophone

Vince Melamed, Allen Blazek, Barry Beckett- piano

Barry Beckett, David 'Hawk' Wollinski- synthesizer

Nick DeCaro- strings

Steve Foreman- percussion

Victor Feldman, Jack Tempchin, Oren Waters, Jack Galloway, Luke Waters- backing vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSXKyHM133c

I might have mellowed a bit with age and while I like some of what's on "The Allnighter," it really isn't my cup of tea. There are some good songs on it and it's a great album to mellow out to or provide suitable background settings but I won't put away my metal albums in favour of it.

Next post: I know I said at the beginning of the post that I'll be starting with albums that came out originally in 1984 but I have to make an exception. I went to the Download Festival the weekend after I posted this originally, so I need the correct inspiration.

Kreator- Endless Pain

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

1985: The Backlash Begins

 

Ever since the days of Elvis, there has always been a backlash against rock music and the backlash against heavy metal in particular has always been many folds greater. Whether it be religious fanatics, parents or just trendy top forty followers who just didn't like the genre, there have been people dead set against heavy metal music. This backlash had been slowly building up throughout the early 1980s but the fact that heavy metal had gotten mainstream attention in 1984 was enough to blow the powder keg in 1985.

The first instance that turned my attention to this backlash was reading letters to MTV citing that they were either playing too much heavy metal or not enough. It would appear that in or around March of 1985, the anti heavy metal brigade won out as MTV made a statement that it would be playing less metal on the air. Now, it's easy to think that there were that many more anti than pro metal people writing to MTV and if anyone says that it was because metalheads are too stupid to write, me and many of my followers here will be over to your house to kick the crap out of you! Once again I digress but my theory was that by the end of the previous year, MTV was already becoming nothing more than a glorified commercial radio station. Some Dead Kennedys lyrics come to mind here and I'll reveal those when I visit their "Frankenchrist" album which came out in said year. Oops, digressing again but less and less metal was being played on MTV or the radio.

[caption id="attachment_1897" align="aligncenter" width="273"] Dead Kennedys[/caption]

As 1985 progressed, I began to notice it in more ways. There wasn't just a backlash against heavy metal but persecution of metalheads as well. One thing I was criticized for in "Rock And Roll Children," though I don't regret it one bit, was over pounding the point of how metalheads were discriminated against back then. Truth was they were! I simply pointed this out. Example, based on my own experiences: in 1984, I went to a McDonald's after the Dio/Twisted Sister concert and had no problems, nor did the many other metalheads who hit up the place after the show. One year later, my friends and I hit the same McDonald's after the Motley Crue/Loudness concert and upon entry, were greeted by all sorts of negative comments. Also, like in the story, there was an off duty cop in the store pontificating how no one did anything like that in his day and how he busts punks like us for drugs all the time. While, there were no arrests that night, one month later, after seeing Dio, we hit the same McDonald's and this time, it was like a policeman's convention. This brings me to another point, while I never saw it happen, there were tales in 1985 of police getting warrants and going into pre-concert parties and busting metalheads. However, they didn't do that at the Wham concert where I heard eyewitness accounts of 12 year old kids getting falling down, sickly drunk. It was definitely war on metalheads in 1985.

Of course, the more astute of you will recall that in the closing months of the year, the backlash against rock music and especially heavy metal became the subject of a congressional hearing and lead to the formation of the Parents Music Resource Center, (PMRC). Even after more than thirty years, I tend to laugh at this if it wasn't so pathetic and there will be a post dedicated to that.

In spite of all the doom and gloom, the backlash achieved very little. Great albums were still being made and you'll get to read about a lot of them. There were other great events and concerts including the most famous one, Live Aid. So, sit back and get ready for another roller coaster year in the golden decade of metal.

Next post: Glenn Frey- The Allnighter

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

Tribute to Beru Revue- A Great Philadelphia Band

 [caption id="attachment_4551" align="aligncenter" width="328"] Beru Revue[/caption]

Living in Southern New Jersey, I was very much influenced by what was happening in Philadelphia which was fifty miles away. I rooted for their sports teams, most of the time, except when the Phillies played the Dodgers, the Eagles played the Steelers or the 76ers played the Celtics. However, I have always been a die hard Flyers fan. Most importantly though, Philadelphia was where I went to see most of my concerts. Which is why most of the concerts in "Rock And Roll Children" take place at the Spectrum. Furthermore, Philadelphia radio stations were far superior to the one in Atlantic City, also I got treated to some of the bands coming out of there. One of these bands was Beru Revue.

[caption id="attachment_107" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Philadelphia Spectrum, now sadly torn down.[/caption]

Back in the mid 1980s, Beru Revue made several trips to South Jersey clubs and I was lucky enough to catch them three times. Their brand of rock, considered new wave by most was definitely unique. They combined great musicianship and if you listened to the lyrics, keen political awareness while maintaining a sense of humour. This gave them a pretty large cult following around the clubs of the Delaware Valley, (comprising Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware.) One of their songs, "Hoods A Go Go For the 80s" got airplay on local radio, unfortunately, their fame never spread much beyond that. Although I did take two friends who were visiting from Rhode Island to see them and they were so impressed, they bought Beru's EP.

Beru Revue:

Bob 'Beru' McCafferty- lead vocals

Greg 'T-Bone' Davis- guitar

Gerry Healy- guitar

Johnny Sacks- bass

Buzz Barkley- keyboards

Tommy 'Sir Francis Drake' Pinto- drums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP3kvxEnhC0

This is my favourite Beru Revue song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhREhk4sqIs

Hopefully, you've had a listen and agree with me that Beru Revue were far too good to be just a locally known band. Even to this day, I have cool memories of them. Maybe one reason they never made it nationally or internationally was the fact that Philadelphia has produced so many great musical acts over the years. One such band would get national attention in 1985, you'll read about that in the near future and a year later, a Philly metal band would do the same. However, I lament as to what a great contribution to the music world Beru Revue would have been if they had been luckier.

Next post: 1985- The Backlash Begins

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

1984 Ends in Metal Tragedy

 [caption id="attachment_2403" align="aligncenter" width="292"] Hanoi Rocks[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2427" align="aligncenter" width="290"] Motley Crue[/caption]

History can never debate that 1984 was the golden year of heavy metal. So many great albums from so many great bands and they even played metal on the radio and MTV. Never again would the genre get so much commercial exposure. However, even with all the great metal, the year would end in a very tragic anti- climax and mean the death of a drummer and his band and another similar tragedy would nearly claim the life of another drummer.

On December 8, members of the bands Hanoi Rocks and Motley Crue had been engaged in a massive drinking binge that had been going on, according to reports, for four days. More booze was being called for so Motley Crue's Vince Neil, eager to show off his new 1972 Ford Pantera, volunteered to make the run even though he was well over the legal drink drive limit and took Hanoi Rocks drummer, Razzle, with him. At 6:38, Neil lost control of his car, (driving 65 in a 25mph zone might have had something to do with it) while swerving around a stationary fire truck and careered into oncoming traffic hitting two other cars. The driver and a passenger in one of the cars was seriously injured and taken to hospital while the driver of the second was miraculously uninjured. Vince himself only suffered cracked ribs and cuts to his face. Things weren't so fortunate for Razzle, he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The loss of Razzle would spell the end for Hanoi Rocks, the band would break up shortly after. Vince Neil's troubles were only beginning as he would have to pay $2.6 million in compensation to the victims, do 200 hours of community service and serve time in prison, albeit a mere 30 days! People are still talking about the leniency of that sentence still. Like I said when I posted about Hanoi Rock's last studio album, I got the chance to see this band about three weeks before the tragedy happened at a small New Jersey night club. That's why this tragedy continues to weigh heavy on me.

If the loss of Razzle compliments of Vince Neil wasn't bad enough, further tragedy would happen on the final day of the year. Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen would lose his arm in car accident. While trying to overtake another car at high speed, Rick lost control of his car, hit a dry stone wall and entered a field where he was thrown from his car because he didn't have his seat belt properly fastened. His left arm was severed and though doctors reattached it, had to re-amputate it on account of infection. Rick's girlfriend also suffered head and neck injuries as well as a concussion. Although this was a tragedy at the time, Rick would be one of the greatest 'overcoming of adversity' stories in all of music.

When 1984 proceeded to 85, a few misguided individuals used these tragedies as some sort of symbol that heavy metal was on its way out. Fools! Yes, heavy metal would never again enjoy the commercial airplay it had in that year, but it would never go away. The lack of radio and MTV play would do nothing to halt record sales and sold out concert attendances.

Next post: My 20 Favourite Power Ballads- 11-20

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