Old Enough to Forget

A while back I'd found City Boy's second album Dinner at the Ritz and I'd made a comment about being on the lookout for more of their stuff. Well, I didn't have to look that hard or wait that long. In addition to finding Young Men Gone West I also snagged a copy of Book Early, both of which have been patiently sitting waiting. There are others out there ... it's just a matter of time, and space ... I'll need more space soon. Before the recording sessions started drummer Roger Kent left the band, and Tony Braunagel from Crawler was brought in to play on Young Men Gone West . The dual lead vocalists Lol Mason, and Steve Broughton were awesome and really worked off each other. Their voices are fairly similar but not entirely alike. Sort of like how people used to confuse Henley and Frey. Mike Slamer the band's guitarist has a lot of room to stretch throughout the album but never overplays or resorts to technical noodling for the sake of the noodle. The...

I've picked up an awful lot of stuff over the last few months, probably more than I should have, but dagnabbit a deal is a deal, but the shelf where my incoming pile is stored is getting pretty full. Which means I get to spend more time in the basement listening to tunes and avoiding other chores. Win win. Of all the guys in City Boy, it was Mike Slamer's name I was familiar with from his work with Steve Walsh - both solo and as a member of Streets. The guy was a super tasty player and could really rip it up too. I found out he'd been in a band called City Boy and ever since I've sort of kept an eye out for a long time. Fast forward, and I picked up a really nice looking copy of Dinner at the Ritz . I scan the back cover and there are six dapper looking lads wearing tuxedos. Also on the back cover Mutt Lange was listed as producer and co-engineer. I was already sold, this just made is more solder. I have yet to hear anything associated with Mutt that was a stinker ... t...

After leaving Kansas, Steve Walsh formed the band Streets. The band was comprised of ace fretman Mike Slamer, bassist Billy Greer, and drummer Tim Gehrt. Their debut album, 1st was released in October 1983, a few months after his former band Kansas dropped Drastic Measures. Coincidentally, Neil Kernon engineered and produced both albums. Whereas the Kansas album felt dark and murky, 1st was bright and crackling - not brittle, but everything felt forward in the mix. Much of the energy came from Mike Slamer's guitar work, which was pretty awesome. Musically, this is much more early '80s rock than I expected. If Steve wanted to shed the progressive baggage he'd packed with Kansas, Streets was a solid run at commercial rock - even if the near six-minute rocker "Lonely Woman's Cry" flirts with some prog elements, it's a rock song at its core. Here's the thing, I had no idea this album even existed back in '83. It would literally be a couple of decades...