Old Enough to Forget

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 de...