Billy Thorpe - Children of the Sun

I had no idea what to expect here. The cover caught my eye, and I thought the logo was cool. It reminded me a bit of Crown of Thorns, or Angel ... turns out when I actually compared them they were nothing alike. For all I knew, this was going to be a disco record, after all it did come out in 1979, and the back photo was hard to peg. Still, I'd been baited with that Patrick Juvet record ... but I was thinking this was more rock, mainly because Leland Sklar was the bass player, and while Leland has played on literally thousands of albums, I generally assume he's a measure of quality. If nothing else, the bass playing will be good.

When I got home I looked up Alvin Taylor as I wasn't as familiar with him but his list of credits is still pretty impressive. He was the behind the kit on Bob Welch's French Kiss, except for Sentimental Lady. He drummed with Elton John, Eric Burdon, Sly & the Family Stone and George Harrison.

As for Billy Thorpe, I figured I'd wait until I played the record before I looked him up. Half the fun is those first few notes and seeing if my preconceived notion matches my expectations. Dropping the needle on the first cut "Wrapped in Chains"  it was a rock record, thank goodness and the first words out of Billy's mouth were unexpected. I'm not sure how to describe them, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting. There was something different, but still appealing to his voice. Of course I had to go back and play it again, and whatever sonic dissonance I experienced the first time didn't repeat itself. The music was guitar driven rock, and Billy Thorpe was a very competent player and he was tightly backed up by Leland and Alvin. They were a power trio sounded really good together. 

The album is a bit of a mixed back of nuts. The first side contains four straight up rock songs, including an obligatory power ballad that pushes nearly six minutes. Not heavy, but they're late '70s rock with enough crunch to give the songs an edge. Billy's voice is a little on the smooth side but he delivers the songs with conviction and emotion and there's grit where it's needed. The songs aren't breaking any new ground, but they're solid and I really enjoyed them. There were enough guitar solos, and big choruses to put a little grin on my face.

The second side caught me off guard. All of a sudden there were more keyboards, and things turned into a progressive rock space opera. Kind of cool, but honestly this wasn't my jam. Although I will tip my hat to him for giving it a go. The '70s were cool like that. I'll admit that it's musically more ambitious than the first side, although Billy's style of playing is pretty consistent throughout. The songs are growers, and I've played this a few times now, and each time it gets a little better.

As for Billy Thorpe, Children of the Sun would be his solo debut in the American market, and would come out on the Capricorn label (distributed by Polygram) right around the time the label was imploding. Timing as they say in show business is everything. While he did gain a cult following worldwide, he would be a big deal in his home country of Australia.

Billy Thorpe passed away in 2007 after suffering a heart attack at the age of 60.