451 Degrees - 451 Degrees

An obscure album that barely qualified as a postscript on the late Jim Clench's Wiki page. I will admit to being a little uncharitable to Mr. Clench over the years. His contributions to April Wine prior to his departure from the band were not among my favourites, although you absolutely have to give it up for "Oowatanite," a song that apparently led to a rash of fire bell thefts across the country back in the mid '70s.

From there Jim would bounce around. He was the original bassist in Loverboy, but left the band. He was on Bryan Adams' debut album and was also a member of B.T.O. on their last two studio albums after Randy's departure. Albums I originally refused to buy, but have recently been trying to make up for lost time with. Frankly, they're both decent albums, but they've been mostly forgotten.

Along the way, Jim joined up with 451 Degrees, and the band would release one album and then disappear. Now, I'd seen the album a couple of times, but it was a little more than I wanted to spend on an album I had no history with. However, a while back I found a really decent copy for under ten bucks and figured it was worth a shot.

Right out of the gate, the first cut, "Everybody Loves a Hero," tears it up and is a really promising start to the album. Martin Barre from Jethro Tull played guitar on this song, as well as "Fastest Guns in Town," which was a pretty great cameo. This is followed by "China," an odd song lyrically, but musically another solid song. Two in a row, and so far the album is far better than I expected.

I'll try to avoid just ticking off the tracks as they pop up. Although I will mention that the Clench co-written track "Don't Walk" was pretty solid too, and was sung, I'm guessing, by him as well. It's kind of hard to keep the voices straight, as it certainly seemed that everyone in the band except the drummer sang.

The band did seem to be centred on the songwriting of guitarist Dan Lowe and lead vocalist Hal Whitford, and the guys were mining from a pretty rich vein of hard rock that should have resonated more than it did. I'm really kind of perplexed as to why this wasn't bigger here in Canada. I mean, this is pretty great stuff. Heck, even "Santa Anna Winds," which blended elements of The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and Led Zeppelin's "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," is actually a pretty solid song. I mean, once you get past the initial, "Wait, isn't that..." it gets into a decent groove and is a fitting closer to the first side.

The second side opens with the second Martin Barre guest appearance on "Fastest Guns in Town," and clocking in at close to seven minutes, it's a pretty decent song. "I've Got the Power" is another goofy earworm that in some ways shouldn't have worked with its cascading vocal chorus, but dang it, it was catchy. The album closes with a slow bluesy acoustic track, complete with a whistling solo. You gotta give it up for a good whistler. It's like the boys were still set up in the studio and were winding down after a long session with a couple of beers and decided to noodle around before going home. It's a bit of a right turn from the rest of the album, but a fitting closer.

"It's too bad there's so little out there regarding this band. They really deserved a little love, and it's a mystery why this wasn't bigger here at home, considering a little help from CANCON should have given it a nudge, and then it would have done just fine on its own merits."

Of course, the times were changing, and this style of late '70s rock wouldn't have likely made the transition into the '80s, but at least the band could have had a glimpse of success. It would have been well earned. This really is a lost gem, and sadly will no doubt be forgotten.

I did try to find out more about the band, and as near as I can tell, Mister Clench and Hal Whitford have both passed away. If you know more about this lost bit of Canadian music history, drop me a comment. I'd love to know more.