Sweeney Todd - If Wishes Were Horses

When Nick Gilder and James McCulloch left Sweeney Todd, the remaining members were left in the lurch. They did have an ace up their sleeve: their deal with London records but they'd need to find a worthy replacement for not only their vocalist, but they needed to find a guitar player. To complicate things they'd have to come up material now on their own as Gilder / McCulloch were the primary writers on the band's debut. The band would try out a new vocalist Clark Perry who would re-record the vocals to "Roxy Roller" and it would be released as a single and even managed to crack the top 100 in the US before Chrysalis records, Nick Gilder's label managed to cease and desist the single. Not long after Mr. Perry would exit the band. The search was on once again for a replacement.

If Wishes Were Horses is an album that is more infamous for being the starting point for a very young Bryan Adams who took over lead vocals, and managed to pull of a very credible Nick Gilder impersonation. Frankly if you were listening to this cold and didn't know you'd be hard pressed to tell this was the same guy who would later torture the world with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" when Kevin Costner decided he'd make a good Robin Hood and needed a love song.

Rather than shit on this, you have to listen to it for what it was. This was the tail end of glam, and by 1977 the genre was running out of steam. The band here is game, and Skip Prest who took over the guitar spot, seemed to step into the role seamlessly. I'm guessing the band prior to the departure of Gilder and McCulloch must have been working on material, as the band included "Tantalize" that was written by the duo, and it's a great song, but not the best song on the album.

Like the band's debut, this album was produced, directed and conceived by Martin Shaer. The album was recorded at Little Mountain Sound and a young Bob Rock was one of the assistant engineers. The album really did sound pretty good. Martin also wrote the title track to the album, and it is a really good song, and was the obvious single, but it was no "Roxy Roller." Frankly none of the songs on the debut measured up either. A two year lay off was a long time in the '70s and with the high profile departure of the band's lead singer and guitar player, who were also the main songwriters any buzz for the band seemed to go with them. For many years there was a lot of local backlash directed against Nick Gilder for his role in torpedoing the band.

Which was a shame as the other guys stepped up, and even young Mister Adams co-wrote three of the songs on the album. One of the highlights was the instrumental "All of Sudden" written by keyboardist Dan Gaudin that features a killer solo by Skip Prest. 

The album is more than a footnote or a weird guilty pleasure. This is a really solid album, and part of the problem was timing and a changing landscape more than anything. Glam's brief heyday was pretty much over and more than anything If Wishes Were Horses was a victim of the times more than a deficiency in the source material on the album. 

It's too bad that both of the band's albums have been exiled to the Island of Misfit Toys where only those who can find an old vinyl record can listen to the band. Maybe one day someone at London Records, or whoever holds the licensing will decide to make the band's album available for a new generation.