Old Enough to Forget

Guilty Fingers was the third and final album by The Cry. Released in '82 on RCA the band's swansong came and went with about the same amount of fanfare as their two previous releases ... probably less I imagine. The core band was still Gary Scrutton on guitars, Brian Whitty on bass, and Robo MacPherson on keys and lead vocals. This time Kimball Fox (Kim Berly) was back on the throne playing drums and singing. After two albums of skinny tie infused new wave tinged pop The Cry moved right into the middle of the road and delivered just that, an uninspired middle of the road collection of generic pop songs that were neither hot nor cold - they're weren't just right either.  Which was a shame, as I had deliberately sought this one out as I had really enjoyed the band's first two efforts. It's not like Kimball Fox wasn't giving it his all on the songs he fronted. He was trying to muster a a sneer and some attitude and while the songs aren't especially memorab...

Leave Your Bones in the Hall was the second album by The Cry. Kimball Fox (Kim Berly of Stampeders fame) and the band were back for another round. Although this time drums were provided by Chas Mitchell. This was a truly collaborative effort with most of the songs on the album being attributed to all of the members in the band. I'll admit that when I see that in the credits it makes me happy. One for all, and all for one stuff. Musically the guys were capturing lightning in a bottle and with their brand of harder rocking skinny tie new wave, even getting the flat robotic backing vocals down. Who knows why the band didn't catch on. Then again the debut suffered the same fate being relegated to obscurity. The band is more or less a footnote, or the answer to a trivia question. Which is a shame. The music was really good, although to be honest by '81 the new wave propelled by the organ and catchy hooks had already crashed to the shore but the tide hadn't gone out. It's...

I managed to score a sealed copy of The Cry's 1980 debut. I'll admit I knew nothing about them before snagging the album. It had an interesting cover and the back cover photo seemed to exude some pretty serious new wave vibes. Skinny ties and striped shirts and tight pants. From the first cut this was indeed new wave keyboard / organ pop that was blending the first wave of post punk. That same year The Kings would be mining the same musical vein with their debut. The difference is you've likely heard of The Kings and their one-two punch of "This Beat Goes On" and "Switchin' to Glide," and you have no idea who The Cry were. It doesn't help at all that The Cry are nowhere to be found on any of the streaming sites. This is actually really, really good stuff, and this would have been right at the forefront of what was going on. As expected, there was very little out there about The Cry, at least this version of The Cry. There were a couple of other i...

This was indeed a New Day , as right out of the gate the Stampeders were plugged in, turned up, and ready to rock. From the first track the guys were killing it. "Ramona" is a great song, and one I always liked as a kid. Ronnie, Rich and Kim were by this time a well-oiled machine, with New Day being their fifth release in a few short years. There were a few power trios in the '70s worth noting, Grand Funk being one, ZZ Top another. Some of the others that pop to mind, like Triumph and Rush, were later, and Cream was earlier. Stampeders were good, really good, and by any yardstick (this was before metric) should be considered one of the best of their era. Kim Berly was a master on a small kit, Ronnie looked a little like Elvis mixed with Dan Blocker and even had the jumpsuit, and Rich played a wicked double-necked FrankenFender. I mean these guys were cool. The cherry on top was all the guys could sing and write - seriously, how cool is that? New Day , as with all of ...