Old Enough to Forget

Released in '85 this was an album that marked the end of Nick's initial run. Between 1977 and 1981 he dropped an album a year and was signed with Chrysalis and then Casablanca Records before taking a four year break and resurfacing with this self titled effort on RCA. Gone was his longtime writing partner and guitarist James McCulloch. All that remained was his bass player Eric Nelson who was still holding down the bottom end. Nick did pull together some stellar musicians, from Mr. Mister's Pat Mastelotto on drums, to Mitchell Fromm on keyboards. The two guitar players, Jeff Silverman and Steve (Psycho) Sykes are pretty solid and there are some tasty licks to be heard. I remember CFOX playing a track from this album ... once, and my memory is really fuzzy on this. I keep confusing a memory of them playing Giuffria's "Call To The Heart" with whatever song they played by Nick Gilder. The common thread is both songs sounded like they were sung by Steve Perry. I a...

City Nights was Nick's second solo album, and for most of us it's "Hot Child in the City" that he's best known for ... as a solo artist. He's still somewhat infamous as the guy who left Sweeney Todd just as they were taking off ... but for many years now he's been touring as Sweeney Todd so I guess he ended up having the last laugh anyway. Regardless, there's no denying how good "Hot Child in the City" was ... it was huge on both sides of the border, and Nick's balancing of the glam elements mixed with rock and emerging new wave was pretty impressive. A big part of this was the songwriting team of James McCulloch and Nick Gilder. When Nick left Sweeney Todd, it was with guitarist and songwriter James, and if Nick had a secret sauce it was James' both as a writer, and more impressively - a really tasty and economical player. The album was produced by Peter Coleman, and Mike Chapman. Both had deep roots with power pop and glam. Mike C...

When Nick Gilder and James McCulloch left Sweeney Todd, the remaining members were left in the lurch. They did have an ace up their sleeve: their deal with London records but they'd need to find a worthy replacement for not only their vocalist, but they needed to find a guitar player. To complicate things they'd have to come up material now on their own as Gilder / McCulloch were the primary writers on the band's debut. The band would try out a new vocalist Clark Perry who would re-record the vocals to "Roxy Roller" and it would be released as a single and even managed to crack the top 100 in the US before Chrysalis records, Nick Gilder's label managed to cease and desist the single. Not long after Mr. Perry would exit the band. The search was on once again for a replacement. If Wishes Were Horses is an album that is more infamous for being the starting point for a very young Bryan Adams who took over lead vocals, and managed to pull of a very credible Nick G...

Let's play musical jeopardy.  "I'll take bands that made me want to poke a pencil into my ear drum for 100 Alex." "That's today's daily double. What band sold over 120 million records and turned the world tartan?" "What is Nazareth?" "No, I'm sorry that is incorrect. The answer was Bay City Rollers." Bay City Rollers were a big deal here in Canada for what seemed an eternity but was probably all of two years. Despite watching them on TV when The Krofft Superstar Hour first aired, and later changed to The Bay City Rollers Show, it wasn't cool to listen to their music. Oh, you had to give it up for "Saturday Night" because that was just pure fun ... but generally they were a bunch of guys who wore tartan shirts and were '70s teen idols, who along with David Cassidy and Donny Osmond were hanging on posters in little girl's rooms all over the country. I was rummaging around in the dollar bins, and I stumbled ...

Normally I don't buy a record I already have on CD, but I found this copy in a clearance bin because there was a scratch or something that made it unworthy of being in the regular rack. When I looked it over, it seemed pretty decent, although there was a little scuff on one side. I figured after a good clean it would likely play just fine - and it did. Sitting listening to this again has been like catching up with an old friend. I do get some grief on occasion for my love of Bryan Adams albums from some of my more discerning friends - then again I also like Nickelback - so to them they're justified in their assessment of my lack of musical taste and inability to adhere to the accepted tenets of good taste. Whatever. Once upon a time there was a skinny kid with a really high voice who took over Sweeney Todd from Nick Gilder and wrote songs with his partner Jim Vallance that showed up on albums by Prism, and BTO, although to be fair by that time those bands were no longer in ...

Sweeney Todd will forever be known as the band who released "Roxy Roller," a song that was everywhere when I was a kid. The song was pure glam, and Gilder's sultry vocals enhanced the song and despite his high-pitched delivery there was a cockiness to the song that made you want to strut - or at the very least put on a pair of roller skates and be a rebel and skate counter-clockwise. After the debut, Nick Gilder would leave the band, along with guitarist James McCulloch, and collaborate on Gilder's "Hot Child in the City." For a short time, Bryan Adams would join Dan Gaudin, Budd Marr and John Booth and release one more album and even re-record their seminal hit. I have a few collections that include "Roxy Roller," so it was a jarring surprise to hear the album cut as the guitar solo is vastly different, and the run time is about a minute longer. I've actually gone back and played the song a couple of times just to be sure. This is ...