Old Enough to Forget

Fosterchild was a Canadian band who released three albums before calling it quits in 1980. The band's debut released in 1977 was produced by Bob Gallo, who also happened to be the head of A&R for CBS (Columbia) Records in Canada. The album was recorded at Little Mountain Sound in Vancouver, and mixed at Manta Studios in Toronto. I had been curious about the band for a long time, as I'd first heard of them around the same time I'd picked up Jim Foster's Powerlines. I just assumed the band would be one of those generic '70s rock acts that was good but nothing special. A while back I managed to find all three of the band's records and figured I get them all. Why not? I'll admit that the first spin through side one was pretty uneventful as I wasn't really paying attention and nothing really stood out. When I dropped the needle for a second pass I was more attentive and found myself enjoying the songs. I really liked the interplay between Jim Foster and V...

Before cell phones the big advance in telecommunications was the cordless telephone ... before that he who had the longest coiled cord ruled the world. If you could make it from the kitchen to an adjoining room you were just showing off. The long red cord is all over the album cover, and the insert. Certainly Chris was flexing. Here we have Chris De Burgh's 1984 follow up to his rather good 1982 album The Getaway , and this was so good. Man on the Line was again produced by Rupert Hine who also provided keyboards and the orchestral arrangements. I also assume he programmed the drums for most of the album. Phil Palmer was again present on guitar, and oh my stars and garters he was ON FIRE throughout the album. The guitar solo on "High on Emotion" is jaw dropping. Speaking of the drums, this is how they should have sounded on The Getaway , oh I'm  not trying to do Steve Negus dirty, the man is a premier pounder but his drums sound absolutely horrid on that album - which...

Suzi ... and Other Four Letter Words was another in a long line of Mike Chapman produced albums for Suzi Quatro. It's a mystery as to how Mr. Chapman found the time to work in Suzi when he had been working with The Knack and then Blondie on their breakthrough albums that same year.  I never really kept up with Suzi Quatro in real time. I was less than a casual fan and aside from when I heard "Devil Gate Drive" as a kid, didn't know any of her songs. The little AM station in my small town seemed to play it over and over back in 1974. Of course the reality was this all likely happened over the course of a week ... but hey, time is different when you're young. Other than Happy Days and that one song I really didn't know much about her, other than she looked good in black leather. 1979 was the height of new wave (disco was still huge too, but let's pretend it wasn't), Suzi Quatro dropped a glam infused collection of tight pop songs that were honestly a ...

Albert Hammond is a name I knew as a kid because I loved "I'm a Train" a song that appeared on one of the K-tel collections I had. When I recently found a copy of Dynamite I got reacquainted with Mister Hammond and it got me thinking, "Surely he did more than just the train song." Surely (and don't call me Shirley) he did. I was actually quite surprised at how many songs of his I did know. As a solo artist he had recorded and released "It Never Rains In Southern California" in 1972, and when he found the hamster wheel life of a recording artist to be too much he turned to writing for and with others. A few of the songs he had a hand in: "99 Miles from L.A."  "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love"  "The Air That I Breathe"  "When I Need You"  "To All the Girls I've Loved Before"  It was his solo work I was interested in, and it just so happened I found a copy of his 1974 self titled release. ...

Back in '86 Glass Tiger seemed to come out of nowhere with "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)." The song was infectious and benefited from the Adams effect. Bryan Adams was pretty much the king of the world and it seemed like even a passing association with Mister Adams was like receiving a blessing from the Pope. Bryan sang maybe two harmony lines on the song, but it was enough. The song was huge, and it pulled the album along with it and for over a year the band pulled singles from the album. I'll admit my reaction to the album initially was a bit more complicated. To me they belonged in the same boat as Duran Duran and Platinum Blonde. That boat needed to be towed out to sea and used for target practice. I was torn though, I liked the songs I heard on the radio. True, "Don't Forget Me" was worn out, but the singles were so strong. Often you're lucky to pull off one or two highlights on an album, this album was chock full of solid songs: ...

As a kid "Ballroom Blitz" was one of the coolest songs I'd ever heard, followed closely by "Fox on the Run." Those two songs more or less cemented Sweet's reputation for me. In the '80s I finally bought Desolation Boulevard and that more or less scratched that itch. Then in the early '90s I picked up their best of CD and got "Action" and the radio edit of "Love is Like Oxygen" and as a bonus "Little Willy" a song I knew but honestly never associated with The Sweet, or simply Sweet. During my formative years though it was the 45 of  "Action" that rocked my world. I was never a big fan of 45s and only had a few as I hated having to change the record after one song. However, as mix tape fodder they were awesome, except I didn't have the ability to make mix tapes until I was in my late teens. What does all this meanderambling have to do with anything? Not much, it's just me sitting here while listening to ...

From the catalogue of one hit wonders I present for your reading pleasure Taco. Taco Ockerse is probably best known for his 1982 hit "Puttin' on the Ritz" which was kitschy fun. As a rock guy it wasn't cool to admit you liked it, but the song was ridiculously infectious even if it was a tad too long, but hey it was still a hit, and not just a hit, a worldwide hit. Here in Canada the single moved over 100,000 copies and in the US it was a million seller. Irving Berlin who was 95 when Taco released his cover, made Mr. Berlin the oldest living songwriter to have a top 10 hit in the States. Despite the success of the single, it didn't seem to pull the album along with it. After Eight is an odd record. It's an uneven mix of re-imagined standards with a new wave twist to original compositions that fall into crooner territory with a programmed drum beat. I'll give him credit, it was ambitious. Did it work? Well, it's all in the ear of the beholder I guess. F...

Santana is one of those odd bands that is a band but also a singular musician. The classic lineup of the band was cohesive and the fusion of their various identities was remarkable. As a kid I didn't know a lot about them. Their early work didn't really hit my radar, although over the years "Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen" and the infectious "Oye Como Va" were songs I really enjoyed. I knew that Gregg Rolie the keyboard player and singer in Journey had been in the band along with Neil Schon but that was about it. For me the first song by Santana that caught my attention was "Winning" back in 1981 and I bought the 45 and then a year later the band hit it big with their rendition of Ian Thomas' "Hold On' that was a carbon copy of the original, except it had a great guitar solo. That was it. Santana was just a '70s band that had come and gone. In the late '80s I saw Carlos Santana open for The Grateful Dead in Tacoma and while he...

I found Ram in a discount bin and while there was some rash here and there on the record it looked like once the dust and bits of glitter (yes, glitter) were cleaned off the album was likely going to be a keeper. Sure enough after giving a cursory brush to remove some of the surface crap a cycle through the ultrasonic brought this one back to life. Aside from one or two moments of surface noise it played beautifully. I had briefly considered doing a little A/B comparison but I didn't feel like subjecting my needle to needless punishment. Ram is an album I've seen for decades and other than "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey" I didn't recognize any other songs. The gatefold I picked up didn't have any liner notes, so I'm not sure what originally came with the album but there were some basic credits, and among the supporting cast were Denny Seiwell on drums, Dave Spinoza and Hugh McCracken on guitar. It's funny to me how when I was a kid I just assumed Paul...

I was a little kid when I first heard "Spinning Wheel" on my dad's little AM radio. The song was really cool, and those long unencumbered trombone slides when the band takes a beat still puts a grin on my face. It was a strange song bordering on novelty - the cacophonous assortment of instruments at the end is still a thing of wonder. Then as quickly as they came, they went and I never really thought about them. The band's lead vocalist David Clayton-Thomas seemed to be on the CBC a lot when I was growing up. The most memorable was a black clad, complete with the hat David squaring off against Burton Cummings who was wearing a while cowboy outfit. The two went back and forth duelling their hits. Even then I thought it was a but unfair as Blood, Sweat & Tears couldn't match what Burton brought to the table. Still, it was pretty cool. It's funny to see now, because at the time I thought David Clayton-Thomas must have been an ancient fossil back in 1978 - the...

Although released in 1986 I didn't get it until I found this on sale back in '87. This was when CDs were having a bit of a packaging issue and because most record stores weren't configured for them, somewhere some smartass must have figured that creating a full reproduction of the artwork in a disposable long box was a good idea.  Yeah, it last about as long as you think it would last - not long.  Regardless, I found myself in the possession of This Side of Paradise and I did remember hearing "Emotion in Motion" which was a cool track, and even knew that Roland Orzabal from Tears for Fears provided the guitar. It was a pretty decent song, and oddly not the best song on the album. I always found it cool when a guy did a solo album and then brought along the guys from the band to play on some of the tracks. Ric brought everyone from The Cars except David Robinson to guest on at least one track. Poor David, everyone forgets about the drummer. "True to You"...

When Escape came out in the summer of 1981 Journey went from being big to HUGE. I first heard the band back in the summer of '78 when I was stuck in a forestry camp for the summer and one of the other kids had a copy of Infinity among his collection of summer tunes. I loved "Wheel in the Sky" even though the opening riff seemed to be an unabashed rip off of "Layla" and nobody seemed to mind or care.  The band would follow up a year later with Evolution and then in 1980 Departure contained "Any Way You Want It" which was also featured in Caddyshack. That to me was pure ear candy. How could the bad ever top this? Escape would be the band's seventh album in as many years and would be the band's crowning achievement. Everything seemed to be in place for Journey, REO Speedwagon the year before had seemingly paved the way with their Hi Infidelity album and people were ready for what Journey was about to bring to the table. No, I'm not sleeping...

I'm kind of surprised I didn't write about In Another Land earlier. I suspect this may be longer than it needs to be (likely a lot longer), sorry in advance but you should stick around anyway - it may be worth it. In terms of watershed albums this is right near the top of the most influential albums I have ever heard. The album was released in 1976 and a number of the older kids knew about him, but I was pretty clueless about Christian music. I was at a youth conference in '77 or '78 (things get fuzzy ) and the cool kids (who were likely four or five years older) were talking about an upcoming concert he was going to have in Vancouver, likely the Queen Elizabeth theatre but honestly the details are sketchy. The fact I remember anything at all is kind of amazing.  It was the youth group dances in the late '70s and early '80s where I first got a taste of his music. The big dance songs were "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music" and "The Roc...