Brad Whitford / Derek St. Holmes - Whitford St. Holmes

My goodness. Right out of the gate "I Need Love" hits it out of the park. I honestly had no idea what to expect. I sort of figured this would be one of those easy to shit on records because no one else knew about it either when it came out in 1981. Derek St. Holmes oddly seems to really be channelling his inner Sammy Hagar. Admittedly, I don't have the deepest well of recordings with Derek to draw upon. Double Live Gonzo from Uncle Ted about sums it up for me - don't get me wrong, that album is the cats pajamas and security blanket all rolled into one. I like Sammy, but he was never my favourite vocalist. So I guess I sort of expected Derek to sound like Derek ... maybe it's Sammy who sounds like Derek and I have it backwards.

That said, Derek is all swagger and Brad Whitford was finally allowed off leash to play lead and he's really solid - the rest of the band was rounded out with Dave Hewitt on bass and Steve Pace on drums. The album was produced by Tom Allom who the year before helped Judas Priest unleash British Steel. So it wasn't like the guys weren't given a shot. It's just unfortunate that Columbia decided the album cover was a keeper. I mean, it looks like something the guys in Air Supply passed on.

"Every Morning" is up now, and this song is great. Listening to this now is a bit weird as I have all the years of stuff that came after, and my experience is coloured by four decades of musical baggage. So really what I am left with is a pretty simple equation. I either like it, or I don't. 

I like it. Then again I am particularly partial to guitar driven rock, even if it is derivative. I'll probably give this a couple of spins and file it away, but I'll think of this as a decent album that deserved a better fate.

I mean, I really do like this, and who knows where this would have been fitted into my experiences had I discovered this earlier. I mean, back in 1981 I was still listening to Aerosmith's Rocks and even Ted's live album was still in regular rotation so there's a really good chance this would have been ... just what the doctor ordered.

The second side kicks of with "Action" and while this isn't as good as songs of the same name by Sweet, or Streetheart, it's decent lead in. Thankfully the band gets back to their groove with "Shy Away" another very good rock song. So far, there hasn't been a dud. Maybe this was a little too slick, and at times too generic, but man it was pretty darned good. I suppose people dismissed this out of hand without hearing it or giving it a chance assuming that compared to the best of what Aerosmith or Nugent with Derek on vocals put out, this album while enjoyable, very enjoyable at times, just couldn't possibly measure up.

Keeping with the baseball analogy the boys managed to hit more than a few out of the park here, and overall this was a much better album than I expected it to be ... a lost gem? Maybe. It's a solid dependable rock record. It's too bad they were playing to empty seats at a preseason exhibition game and no one got to see what they were actually capable of.

Those who were in the stands got it.

Fair or not, the album wouldn't catch on, and Brad would eventually go back to his old band, and Derek would be an off and on again wingman for Ted Nugent. Still, there must have been an itch only the two of them together were able to scratch and in 2016 they put out Reunion, and as fate would have it, if you look for it on iTunes, their '81 release is there in its entirety as bonus tracks. Nice.