Old Enough to Forget

Foreigner was one of those bands people loved to dump on. They were a commercial behemoth, and the band had been on a killer run releasing one multiple platinum album after another since their debut in '77.  Apparently their previous albu m Head Games  from '79 had reportedly "under performed" compared to Double Vision. Which doesn't make any sense, for goodness sake the album has gone on to sell over 5,000,000 copies in the States alone ... sure Double Vision sold a couple million more than that south of the border but  Head Games was hardly a failure. Whatever the reason the band would take some time and literally regroup. They'd jettison Ian McDonald (keyboards, guitars, backing vocals) and Al Greenwood (keyboards) and emerge as a lean mean hit making machine. Depending on where you got on the wagon reactions to 4 were a little split. For me, I'd always liked the songs I heard on the radio, but my first album was Head Games , and that was a transitio...

Flash and the Pan was the brainchild of Harry Vanda and George Young. The duo had been active since the '60s, first with a band called the Easybeats, and from there they would launch George's two younger brothers Malcolm and Angus' band AC/DC. They would produce them up to 1978 before the band engaged Mutt Lange (who then was still Robert "Mutt" Lange) to produce their 1979 release Highway to Hell. Mutt was an interesting fellow, and although synonymous now with slick hard rock (or slick Shania albums) he also produced The Boomtown Rats The Fine Art of Surfacing in 1979 as well. From what I've read the origins of Flash and Pan go back to the later '70s, where they had released a couple of singles, starting with "Hey St. Peter" in 1977 and "Down Among the Dead Men" in 1978. They would release their self title album at the end of 1978, and then in 1979 the album would be released in North America on Epic. While I don't really remembe...

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. From there I found out he'd been in a band called City Boy and that was about it. 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 ... that includes Shania Twain (I k...