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Jim Foster - Power Lines

Jim Foster

The other day Jim Foster popped into my head. I hadn't thought of him in well over thirty years. Who knows what brought that up. At least it wasn't "Pop Muzik" by M - then I'd have never gotten it out of my head.

"X-ray Eyes" was a catchy song, and because of that one song I bought Power Lines when it came out in 1986. It got played a few times, and I put the hit on my mix tapes, and honestly, other than that one song, I didn't remember much about Jim Foster.

I do remember that "X-ray Eyes" got airplay on the radio station just across the border, which I thought was cool. That meant it was a real hit, not just a CANCON obligation. I don't remember the video, but I did watch it on YouTube and I still really liked the song.

I was browsing through my other favourite record store when I found a sealed copy of Power Lines for under six bucks. It was a remaindered cutout, but my goodness, how could I pass this up? I didn't, and I was pretty stoked to listen to this one again.

Back in the day, I had no idea that Jim Foster had been around for a while. He'd cut his teeth with the band Foster Child, who released a trio of albums. Then there was a gap of several years before he released his debut solo effort.

This was an honest-to-goodness run at the brass ring. The album was produced by Jim Foster along with Walter Stewart, who'd worked with Stonebolt, a Canadian band that never did find success despite the talents of Ray Roper, Bill Henderson from Chilliwack, and Bob Rock before he became BOB ROCK! Bob Rock, along with Mike Fraser, mixed the album at Little Mountain Sound, and none other than George Marino mastered the album at Sterling Sound.

There was some muscle and budget behind this one. Although it does seem strange that all of the songs are dated from 1984, but this didn't see the light of day until 1986. Not sure what that was about. Who knows, maybe management had a plan for world domination that just needed a little more time to come together.

Scanning through the track list, I'd have to go through the first side before getting to the song that inspired me to pick up the album again. Honestly, my memory of the album seemed to be non-existent, which I was afraid meant one killer and a shitload of filler.

So I hesitantly drop the needle and settle back to revisit my past.

The album kicks off with "Dancin' on the Power Lines," and this is a kick-ass tune. No disrespect to Doug & The Slugs, but this is how the song was supposed to sound. This is near-perfect '80s AOR. The songs just kept coming one after another, each one a crisp sonic delight.

It makes me wonder what I was thinking back in '86. I mean, yeah, it was a great year for music and I was buying a lot of albums, but this one is really good.

The second side continues the streak of killer, no filler, and "X-ray Eyes," oddly enough, while still my favourite song here (mainly due to nostalgia and familiarity), is also the most dated of the songs here as well.

Which is an odd thing to hear from me, given I've been going on about how the album plays like near-perfect '80s AOR. I mean, this whole album is a revelation, but the stuff that tends to hold my attention and keep it is grounded in straight-ahead rock roots.

The fact that Jim was augmenting and utilizing technology and sequencers to colour his songs was no different than what ZZ Top had done when they blended their Tex-Mex blues with technology on Eliminator. Although by the time they released Recycler in '86, it was no longer cool.

I think I just shot whatever point I was trying to make in the foot. I think, in essence, I'm trying to say that Jim Foster was a rock guy who used technology, not a techno guy who dabbled in rock.

There were times the music had a Loverboy vibe, but this isn't Loverboy. Although Matt Frenette gets a credit for playing cowbell on "Do It to Me." Coincidentally, Jim was managed by Lou Blair, who also looked after Loverboy, so he had a team who knew what they were doing behind him.

With Power Lines, Jim had all the ingredients for success, and he got some attention, but it didn't take off.

When I was migrating to CD, I never saw this re-issued, and even now, as much as I love having the vinyl, I'd like to have this in my library, and I can't find it on iTunes or Spotify (I don't have Spotify, but at least people could listen to it). It really is a lost classic that deserves a little love.

From what I've read, Jim, while in his '70s now, is still active and doing his thing on his terms.

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