KANSAS’ second studio album of the ’80s was the first to feature a change to a more 80s AOR/Hard rock direction. Gone was singer/keyboard player Steve Walsh, and in was new singer John Elefante. Now, let me add in – I was never a Kansas fan, but I liked the single “Play The Game Tonight” when this came out in the summer of 1982, as well as 1983’s hit “Fight Fire With Fire”, and that is really where my big ‘like’ for this band starts and ends. Oddly, back in the day of super-cheap vinyl LPs, when hardly anyone wanted them in the mid-90s I regularly filled gaps in catalogues and added to my collection picking up albums for 1 or 2 dollars at the flea markets. So, one Sunday I came across the entire Kansas catalogue (up until 1983) for $2 a piece! I never got in to them much, I found the debut tough to get through, but occasionally would pull out Vinyl Confessions and Drastic Measures due to the hits. Over the past year I’ve pulled this one out a lot more, and dig most of this album. I’ve also been motivated to revisit the band’s catalogue more due to Tim Durling’s book Let It Be Your Guide: The Kansas Album Review (who’s Youtube channel is ironically titled Tim’s Vinyl Confessions!). The first 4 tracks here are all very good, from the well known “Play The Game Tonight” (a top 20 hit in the US, and my favorite Kansas song), the 2nd single “Right Away” (a minor hit), “Fair Exchange” and the piano based ballad “Chasing Shadows”. Not so enthused with “Diamonds and Pearls”, but things pick up again with “Face It” (tho’ I can do without the sax solo). The latter half also features “Windows”, a faster paced progressive track, curious why they did a video for this one if it wasn’t released as a single(?), “Borderline”, “Play On” (this is a great track, that might’ve made a decent single, though it was a B-side), and closing out is the minor epic “Crossfire”, another pretty progressive track, lots of changes, and a memorable chorus – all good songs. Some pretty Christian based lyrics throughout this album, with both Livgren and Elefante being religious (this causing a rift amongst some bandmembers, which lead to Walsh leaving prior to and Livgren leaving after the next album), but really, I haven’t taken much notice, and enjoy most of this album; probably their most accessible for those not so familiar with Kansas. Also noted is Roger Taylor (Queen) singing backing vocals on a few tracks (uncredited).
KANSAS -Vinyl Confessions, Kirshner FZ 38002 (CBS). Produced by Kansas and Ken Scott. Producer Scott’s high -tech studio finish is as well- suited to the progressive pop /rock sextet as it was to such kindred souls as Supertramp, yielding expansive keyboard crescendos, sweeping drum codas and layered choral harmonies, among other headphone highlights. Brass and reed choruses from the Heart Attack horns, borrowed from LA’s Jack Mack, inject a whiff of soul into the proceedings, but the main suit is still the rococo, portentous brew that’s made their reputation.
KANSAS (Kirshner ZS5 03084) Right Away (4:06) (Full Grown Man Music/Mastodon Music — BMI) (J. Elefante, D. Elefante) (Producers: Kansas, K. Scott) After the great chart recovery with “PlayThe Game Tonight,” Kansas continues in the by-now-familiar cascading keyboards and thundering guitar vein with this encore from “Vinyl Confessions.” It may seem a bit more suited to AOR, but Kansas is hot again, and pop will keep that In mind. (CashBox, 08-07-82)
KANSAS- Drastic Measures, CBS Associated Records QZ 38733. Produced by Kansas, Neil Kernon. Kansas made it back to the top 20 last year with the album “Vinyl Confessions,” and here returns with another set of high- energy pop – rock. The sound is a bit punchier and more uptempo, almost in the Loverboy vein. It’s been awhile since Kansas was a top 10 consistent platinum act, but it still has a sizeable audience. The label designation is CBS Associated Records rather than Kirshner.
Wouter Bessels is a Dutch writer, sound engineer, producer, musician, and an archivist of some classic bands from The Netherlands. Heading the remasters and expanded versions of the GOLDEN EARRING catalogue, Bessels has recently put together the 50th Anniversary expanded edition of the Golden Earring classic album Switch. This was released April 25th on the Red Bullet label. The expanded version adds singles, B-sides, alternate takes and demos from the Switch recordings. Though the album didn’t match up in success to it’s predecessor Moontan, it is highly regarded among Golden Earring fans for it’s changes and chances it took to expand the band’s sounds. The single from the album “Kill Me (Ce Soir)” was a huge hit in Holland, but did not make much of an impact in North America. It does have the distinction of being one song from this album covered by another huge act – IRON MAIDEN, who covered it in 1990. Bessels is also well known for working on projects of FOCUS, JAN AKKERMAN, TANGERINE DREAM, PINK FLOYD, and numerous others.
In this interview Wouter discusses his some of the bands he’s worked with, Golden Earring’s Switch expanded edition, as well as some of Golden Earring other albums he’s worked for remastered reissues. Switch can be purchased easily from Amazon and other online shops.
I want to talk a bit about Switch and some of the other Golden Earring stuff you’ve done. When is its official release?
April 25th. Okay.
So I’m kind of curious, I looked into you through Discog, I looked at some of the other projects you’ve done, and I see you’re a bit younger than me, so you’re kind of archiving bands that neither of us grew up with, so to say, especially Golden Earring, they were kind of past their prime or in their prime at that time you were born. I follow a lot of that stuff and Uriah Heep and Deep Purple,…. I’m curious how you got into the whole business of going back and working on these older bands like Golden Earring, Jan Akkerman, and whoever else.
I grew up in the 80s. I’m from, I was born in 1977 and during the 80s, I was, at a very young age, I was already very much into music, rock music in particular. And Golden Earring were doing a comeback since 1982 when they released the Cut album.
And they also did two American tours in 82, and also Canada, by the way, in 83 and 84. And I still remember that very well. And when I was six or seven, I used to pick up video clips from Dutch TV and MTV was also starting to emerge in those years.
And during the late 80s, I expanded my taste a little bit more into, like you said, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, but also the electronic stuff mainly coming from Europe, like Tangerine Dream or Jean-Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield and the German progressive stuff, like Kraftwerk and Neu and Can and Faust. I was very much into that at a very young age. And so I was like a sponge, I got all those different types of music into my taste.
And that’s how I got more into the music and the backgrounds. And I’m Jan Akkerman’s archivist since the mid 90s. And he’s a good friend of mine since then. And he still performs regularly. And so, when I was asked much later in 2016 to curate his box set featuring all his studio albums, 26 studio albums, 26 CDs, I got in touch with Willem van Kooten from Red Bullet label. And he also had the Earring back catalogue, and Shocking Blue and Focus. So that’s kind of kickstarted my role as a reissue producer. But beside that, I was also involved with Universal doing the Tangerine Dream box set. And I’ve been in touch with also with Esoteric Recordings from the United Kingdom, who regularly put out reissues by Dutch bands, but also other stuff. And Mark Powell and he’s also one of the consultants at Universal. So, he also did the Steve Hackett box set and the Tangerine Dream one and Camel and Caravan. And I’m very much and I’m not particularly into prog music, but it’s one area that I’m kind of specialized in and I’ve very much got into in the last 35 years or so. So, yeah, that’s basically it. And one of, I’m most proud of is that’s coming out on May the 2nd is the remix of Live in Pompeii by Pink Floyd, that’s been done by Steven Wilson. And I’ve suggested to him a few things for the new mix he’s done in Stereo 5.1 and Dolby Atmos. So, I’ll be attending the premiere in two weeks in London. So, I’m flying over there and it’s just 45 minutes flight from Amsterdam to London. I’m attending that. And he’s doing a Q&A with Nick Mason and David Gilmour is supposed to be there as well. So that’s going to be a very exciting evening. (Since then (…and it was indeed an exciting evening, as both Mason and Gilmour were there – and I’ve met them very briefly)
And I’m very glad that because Pink Floyd, when I was 10 or 11, Pink Floyd had their comeback. That was really my first love of serious rock music. And from the moment I discovered their music, I started to listen to music differently – more the space, the depth of the lyrics and the music, that really made a big impression, not only on me, but also on other people from the same age as I am. Because, as you say, I was kind of late in, I was born 20 years too late.
It’s funny, a lot of those bands you mentioned, a lot of the prog bands, aside from Pink Floyd, are very scarce over here. So, they’re very, obviously they’re highly collectible over here and hard to find. But you go to Europe and you still find these bands like Eloy and that that are still playing.
Yeah. Eloy and Grobschnitt. Have you heard of Grobschnitt?
I’ve heard of them. I don’t know anything of them.
But that’s about in the same league as Eloy. It’s very exciting, energetic German rock, prog rock. But on the more on the heavy side. Yeah, very interesting band.
So how did you get into Golden Earring? And if you can explain to me, because I know they are huge over there and probably up until they retired, they were probably the longest running band out there.
Well, Golden Earring is sort of a Dutch equivalent of the Rolling Stones, really. That’s what it is. I mean, the band’s got a very, very long history dating back to 1963, 1964, coming from The Hague, which still is kind of the Liverpool of the Netherlands. It’s really a rock city. There are a lot of musicians there. And the background also in The Hague, like with the Indonesian rock influences. So, there are a lot of rock and roll bands that are combining the Indonesian influences with like The Shadows, the guitar bands coming from Britain and also the blues stuff from USA and Canada. But the Earring is really, that’s why I grew up with them. When they performed in the 80s and in the 90s, I used to visit them twice or three times a year with my mother, who brought me along to their concerts – in theaters, and in big concert halls when they play for five, six thousand people, weekly in the Netherlands. And in theaters, they did more the acoustic shows like they released on albums like The Naked Truth in the early 90s, like they kind of their ‘unplugged’ album, one of their best-selling albums. And they’re international successes; they still rely on those who like “Radar Love” and “Twilight Zone”. Everybody outside of the Netherlands knows those, (mostly) hit singles in particular. So, the Earring are like one of – like with Focus and Shocking Blue, they are the most important export music products from the Netherlands. I grew up right in the middle, you know the Netherlands aren’t very large and they’ve got a huge, huge following over here and still have. But also, in Germany and in the UK and over, like in Canada as well because they also did, I think, four or five shows in 84 during their last tour as headliners in Canada, in Toronto, if I remember among them when they did one of those shows. So, I wasn’t their biggest fan. But when I got the opportunity to work on a back catalogue, I really knew that this was really something special. I really wanted to fly on things very seriously. And of course, I knew the big reissue packages like King Crimson and the Beatles and also like how the back of Elton John has been done in the last few years, which is splendid reissues. And Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep as well. Those were like very good examples for me like they how they should be done. Good reissues! It’s not just milking the previously released stuff, but we’re adding something worthwhile that people have never heard before. But on the other hand, it’s the very high musical quality and relevant for the band as well, because the band has got that legacy and they want to keep the level of their legacy high.
So, I had some discussions with the bass player, Rinus Gerritsen, and the singer Barry Hay about it, and they just gave me carte blanche. So, it was like, ‘you know what’s in the cellar of the label of Red Bullet, and what’s there, it’s you’re taking care of it and just get the best out of it as best as you could?’ That was not really their request, but it was OK, if that’s what the philosophy is from the from the side of the band, because they have got nothing to say, because they don’t have the master rights because the label has it, then I’ve just got to make the best out of it. And taking very seriously, this is an international well-known band coming from the Netherlands, and I’m the one who’s got make it future proof, so to speak. That was like how I started things up about five and a half years ago, just before the first pandemic lockdown in the Netherlands, early 2020, I think. Then I started off with Moontan. I just I was just like, ‘OK, let’s start with their most well-known album’.
I went into the archives, I found the original two-track masters from the IBC studios with the notes on it from Damon Lyon Shaw, the original engineer who also did The Who back in the days. And it was like I was holding those in my hands and like, you know, like you’re holding the same as the masters for Tommy or The Who Sell Out, the same layout as on those master tapes. So that’s very, very special. I knew that those were the original masters. So, I digitized them in high resolution with a friend of mine. And we found some outtakes and, some B-sides and the follow up single. So that was the first issue that I produced. And then the guitarist became known that he was very ill, ALS, a muscle disease. And he’s still around, but gradually he’s getting worse and worse. And I’ve been in touch with him a few times, but it’s very difficult. I’m in touch with Rinus, the bass player, and with the singer, Barry Hay sometimes about what I do and how to and I update them from what I do. And yeah, It’s exciting. And also, from the from the fan base, the reactions are stimulating, so to speak.
Yeah, it’s interesting because over here, I got into Golden Earring just before the pandemic, I think, because I had an uncle that lived in Toronto and he would once in a while go to Europe and he imported records on his own that he would sell to friends at work and that. And he would always bring me the catalogs and say, there’s a new Golden Earring album out. He’d always try to hand me Golden Earring tapes back then is going back to the late 80s and 90s. And I didn’t take much of them because we all we ever knew over here was ‘Radar Love’ and ‘Twilight Zone’. But then at some point in 2017 or 2018, I bought the live album, and I thought, well, now I’m going to start buying everything because that kind of kind of got my attention, obviously, but the stuff is still hard to find over here. So even on CDs and that Switch, I don’t have a proper CD issue of Switch. I’ve got four or five vinyl versions of it. But trying to find that stuff over here and then there’s obviously, there’s a lot more of the catalog than those two songs that people need to hear, right?
At the moment, there are about 25 or 26 albums and the reissues that we’re doing. They are available through Amazon, I think. But in the shops, I agree that in the shops there are much more difficult to obtain. They’ve got to be ordered special; they’re not regulars now.
I’ve got I’ve got the Moontan one, I’ve got about three or four vinyl copies of it, plus they had the different cover over here.
Yeah. Different track listing as well. Yeah.
So, when you went into the archives, I’ve noticed on the Switch one, there’s a lot of B-sides and outtakes. One thing I don’t see (because I know I’ve got a few on CD and on my computer) is any live recordings, like full shows.
We don’t simply we I have to rely on what’s in the archives of the label. And to license material from other parties that can be very difficult on, let’s say – the logistics side and also on the financial side. And that makes it very that can be very expensive. And the budget for the reissues that we do, I mean, these are only, a couple of thousand copies for one run. And if there’s enough demand, then we do another run, as we have done already with the Moontan expanded thing that came out four years ago. But to obtain stuff from other parties, it’s simply it doesn’t weigh up to the costs and the amount of what they sell for. And we want to keep the price not too high. These sell for like, ten dollars or so, and we want to keep it that way. And the other stuff, like the Winterland and the Sausalito recordings from ‘75, they’re still widely available. They’re available for YouTube, in pretty much good quality. And fans have made their own remasters of them. So, we don’t see a real priority to license the recordings for, let’s say, two or three years, put them out as a bonus on our CDs…this it’s not a big asset to sell, or a big selling point to sell these reissues. We want to offer material that’s available nowhere else. That’s basically it.
Did you get a lot of (I haven’t seen the packaging, the inner packaging) input from the band members, as far as printed stuff and photos?
Sure. One of the biographers in the Netherlands of Golden Earring is a guy called Jeroen Ras. And he wrote a story about the production of the albums, like he’s done with the previous reissues in the Remastered Expanded Series.
And also there’s a lot of photographs from concerts in New York City at the Academy of Music in October 74, from the tour that preceded the recording of the Switch album, also with Robert Jan Stips. And I’ve written some additional notes about the remastering itself and how I compiled this reissue, and the fact that we also putting out now a track that’s been unavailable and never been available before, which was intended for the Switch album, but was shelved for some reason. And we found that on a tape and we have added this to as a bonus to the CD. I’ve contacted Barry and Rinus about it, and they were very enthusiastic. Barry said something like “Ah put it out. Yeah, I can vaguely remember what it was. It’s about a very dirty girl and a very fast guy. And I really sang it with a posh English accent…And it’s very tongue ‘n cheek, put it out!” It’s a very good addition. And so, he vaguely remembered that track. And I sent him an MP3 and he was he wasn’t really over the mountains. But, because it’s 50 years ago, he couldn’t remember it very well. But he was very happy to see it added to this one.
This is not the most popular because it was the follow up of Moontan. As you know, it wasn’t a very commercial success, but it’s musically very interesting. It’s with the follow up from this one To The Hilt. I think it’s their one of their most interesting albums. So, it wasn’t a commercial success. But adding such a previously unavailable track, that’s like, you know, a selling point for this reissue. And it really adds something special.
I think like I did a review. I’ve done some reviews on my site on those albums. And I think like Switch, I liked it; it’s probably my favorite album. I like the experimentation with the keyboards and the different stuff they did. I think obviously for them, it just kind of lacked that “Radar Love” – type, that one huge song . You know what I mean?
I know there was in between Moontan and Switch, there was “Instant Poetry” released as a single, which is really part of the Moontan story. So, we added that one to the Moontan expanded edition four years ago. But essentially, it’s right in the middle between Moontan and Switch. They were they were like, ‘oh, we’ve got to follow up ‘Radar Love’ with a very catchy…’, but also, it’s not really lightweight pop music, “Instant Poetry”, it’s very dynamic with a really easy part and a heavy part. And I think “Kill Me (Ce Soir)”, which was the single off Switch, the leading single, which went to, I think, number 10 in the Netherlands, but it failed to chart anywhere else in the world. I think it’s one of the most interesting songs ever.
And even better, I think the first side of Switch is, I think, the most exciting album sides they’ve ever produced. I mean, starting off with an instrumental, but Focus-like, then into “Love Is A Rodeo” with the very fast parts from Robert Jan Stips and the backing vocalists and the saxophone and then the title track, which got more into funk and a bit of David Bowie “Young Americans”, a bit of Philly soul in there, and then into “Kill Me (Ce Soir)”. I think that’s a very good build up, a very good climax. And the second side, I really think they should have added “Lucky Number” to the album because “Lucky Number” is, I think, like “ “Exile On Mainstreet”, sort of swampy rock and roll. And I think that’s the best song, with “Kill Me (Ce Soir) of the whole Switch story. But they left it off for a reason and they put it out as a B-side. But it made a great album track, and of course we’ve added it to this reissue. And I even found some instrumental rough mixes of “Lucky Number”. I’ve added one too.
That one got played live, too, didn’t it? They played that in their show.
Yeah. Even better, they opened with it. They started off with the intro “Minus Absurdio” from a tape. They played it over the PA and then that was that was finished, and the audience all should’ve expected “Love Is A Rodeo” but they played “Lucky Number” first. And that was a great show opener. You have seen the Winterland recording, right!? That’s what they do. It’s mind blowing. And the funny thing about it also is that the show has been filmed in black and white and the whole stage design was black and white, too, because all the instruments were black and they were wearing white suits and white overalls. So, it’s people always complain, well, it’s in black and white, but it’s that’s no big deal because the show was black and white anyway.
The song I like is the last one “The Lonesome DJ”. That would have been a song that could have got that late night radio airplay like “Radar Love” still does.
That’s a typical George Kooymans track, and it’s the only track he does lead vocals on. And it’s a great way to round off the album. I think after a bit more let down tracks for me personally. I mean, “Tons Of Time” and “Troubles And Hassles”, It’s OK, but it’s not really in the Moontan league. They’re nice, but they did much better stuff. And “Lonesome DJ” kind of lifts the whole quality a bit more up. Yeah, I agree with that.
Version 1.0.0
The album art for both those albums, for this one and for Moontan. I’m curious if you had any contact with the album artist and you got any kind of alternate or early versions of those sketches? I mean, the cover design, the cover for Switch and the cover for Moontan.
(I hold up my MusicOnVinyl reissue LP of Switch) Oh, you’ve got the music on vinyl there. That’s great. That’s the previous one. We’re doing a two LP reissue later this year, in the fall with the remasters on the CD. Well, the cover artist for this one is a guy called Corstiaan De Vries. No, I haven’t been in contact with him. Barry Hay has always done the final artwork concept. So, he kind of realized the concept, and then a particular artist realized his ideas into the cover art. But no, I’ve not been in touch with the cover artists. So, I don’t know if there are any outtakes on designs or… But I do know that the follow up to Switch is To The Hilt, and I did a long interview with Aubrey Powell from Hypnosis some years ago. And Aubrey told me that from To The Hilt, there are some image outtakes, like with different photographs that they based the album cover on.
That was a strange cover.
Yeah! It’s a bit dark. And it’s yeah, it’s with the train…
That’s why I never figured it out.
Yeah, it’s almost morbid.
Will there be anything if you know, as far as the label goes, in promoting this, any kind of like retro singles or anything or videos that they might put out?
I think the record label will do some promotion and some promos on social media and probably taking the video clip that was done in 1975 for the Dutch TV TopPop Live show of “Kill Me (Ce Soir)”; I think they will put it out to promote this reissue.
And if you know, promoting Golden Earring these days is they don’t have anything much to promote because the band is still a big name and these will sell anyway, but on the other hand, there are four members, and one member is very ill. So, there’s not really radio silence or something in that way, but the promotion on the band is we’ve got to do it with great respect, you know. And knowing that one key member is terminally ill, sometimes we have to think about it a bit more than, you know, with other bands. And there’s a huge respect for George, and we have to take that into account.
Yeah. One thing I’ve always wondered about, I have the live album, the 2 CD version, and I’ve always wondered when disc one trails off it sounds like they’re starting the drum intro to, is it “Bombay”?
That’s “Bombay”. Yeah, the shuffle for “Bombay”.
So, I’m curious because that’s not on the album, so curious if there was any songs that kind of are still on tape that just didn’t make the album that could have been put on or added!?
Well, I got that question a lot of times when that reissue was released. The story is this – When they recorded two nights at the London Rainbow Theatre, those were recorded by Capital Radio. They took the multi-tracks to the IBC studios, and they cut the album from the multi-tracks, and they decided there what the best tracks were. And they took those two-track masters to Holland to polish it a bit more and to press the records, to cut the records first and then press them. But they didn’t bring along the multi-tracks. So, we don’t have any outtakes from the Rainbow concerts, although they’ve recorded some other gigs themselves, the band, John Kriek, the engineer. And some of them were even mixed to two-track, and we only found one reel in the archives with 3 or 4 songs from a concert in Belgium, in Brugge. I was able to cull 2 or 3 tracks from that one tape, for the reissue. And it’s a bit lacklustre, maybe, but why not put a DVD in the package with one of their most famous concerts, television appearances from that era at the TopPop Live show, with Eelco Geiling on guitar. And a large part of it was filmed in 16 millimetres. So, we dug out the original film box, and we digitized that. The audio was better than I expected, so I remastered that to give it a bit more clarity and a bit more EQing; so, we added that. But, from the Rainbow concerts that was all we had, because Capital Radio didn’t let any multi-tracks go outside of London, and I don’t know where they are. They’re probably stashed away somewhere…I don’t know.
Following Switch, I know you haven’t done everything in order since you started with Moontan
No, not really. I’ve done Moontan first, then the Live album, then Eight Miles High, So that’s from 73 to 77, to 1969, and then I went into the 80s with Cut, and Back Home – the live concert from 84, and then NEWS was released last year, that’s 84, and now we’re in to 75 with the 50 year anniversary, and the next one will be from 1968 – the first one on Red Bullet album from Golden Earring – On The Double, which will be released in full. And because it’s a double album they’re going to put it out as one CD. I think there are 4 bonus tracks – 2 singles, but in stereo mixes, not the mono issued tracks; so, they are like bonus tracks that haven’t been released before because they are in stereo.
Seven Tears is one of my favorites. And that one never got released over here to begin with.
It’s a heavy record. The 70s – “She Flies On Strange Wings” – that’s one of their best tracks ever, and it should’ve been a big hit back in the day, but it wasn’t for some reason.
The cover on Seven Tears is not very imaginative, but I really like this album – the lead off track… I think they were fitting in with that whole 70s hard rock kind of thing.
Absolutely. They listened very well to everything that was coming out of the UK, and the US. And later 70s albums they very much influenced by Rush. (Ed-I turn my cap around, which is a Rush cap!). I’m a big Rush fan too. Rush is very big here in Holland, always has been very big in the Netherlands. I’ve seen them multiple times. And the members of Golden Earring were very influenced, especially the early 80s Rush, when they concentrated more on compact rock songs, combined with more progressive elements. I think you can hear that on Earring albums from those days.
I liked To The Hilt, is another great one, and Grab It For A Second though it’s very different. It’s almost like they took that power-pop, and newer American stuff…
Jimmy Iovine produced this record, and we already put it out as a vinyl reissue 2 years ago, but I really don’t have the time and the urge to do a compact disc of that, but who knows, maybe next year. And we’re also planning on doing something with the No Promises, No Debts album, which followed Grab It For A Second, because I found some outtakes from that period which would make a great bunch of bonus tracks for that one. There’s even some live stuff from that late 70s era. Also, with Contraband – I have a bonus concert from the Pinkpop Festival, where Rush also played, I think in 1979, but in 1977. I’ve got stuff for some albums, and more bonus stuff for some albums than others, I’m just trying to find a nice balance between interesting album and an album that would sell, with bonus tracks, and make a great addition.
Canadian writer and radio personality Tim Durling, is from a small town in New Brunswick. Adding to his career in radio, Tim has taken to writing books on rock bands and collecting. His book UNSPOOLED: An Adventure In 8-Tracks is about the 8-track cartridge collecting of the 80s(!), with focus on those record club releases. He’s also penned books on Kansas, Y & T, and most recently Sammy Hagar! Below is my interview with Tim Durling, discussing his collecting 8-tracks, his interest in writing about them, and how, as well as touching on his books about Kansas, Y & T, and Sammy Hagar. Tim knows his topics, and speaks passionately and in detail about his works.
So, I’ve went through Unspooled a couple of weeks ago, put it down. For me it’s kind of like a coffee-table book, a fun book to pick up whenever.
Exactly! I’ve even called it a bathroom reader, and I don’t have any problem saying that because those are books that people return to time and again…But yeah, you’re right, it is a coffee table book. It’s not a book that you necessarily have to pick up and read from cover to cover. Just flip it open to a page and go.
As far as your interest in 8-Tracks, you don’t play 8-Tracks, so how do you kind of get onto it becoming such an obsession? Is it kind of in the way you look at hockey cards or something, where you can’t really do anything with them, you just look at them?
Yeah, so it is kind of weird. When I first started collecting 8-Tracks, I guess it would have been the early 90s, I actually did have a little portable player that I found somewhere, but it ate up an almost pristine copy of ‘Queen II’. So, I said, “I think I’ll just collect these and listen to the CDs. I think that’s what I’ll do”. And I’m a physical format guy, and if I like an album, I kind of want to have as many formats as I can, and 8-Tracks just happened to be one of them a lot of the time. And it is a very niche collecting thing, especially where I don’t actually have anything to play them on. But I basically judge it on – is the label in good shape? Is it nice and smooth? Sometimes they get left in the sun, and they’re all warped and bubbling and sun damaged or water damaged. So, if a label looks really nice, that has a lot to do with my decision to buy one, as well as price and stuff. I do know that there are collectors. They have players, and they refurbish the players, and they refurbish the tapes, and it takes an awful lot of dedication and patience, because you’ve got to get down there. You’ve got to oil the parts. Sometimes you’ve got to re-spool the tapes. What collectors typically say is you don’t ever get a brand new tape and just shove it right into the player. It takes a lot of work, and I’m just not that inspired to go through that. I admire that dedication, but I couldn’t do it for myself.
I’m particularly fascinated by what I call RCOs, the Record Club 8-Tracks, which is mainly what’s in this book, which are the tapes that the record clubs, Columbia House and RCA Music Service, made available well past the time when record labels were manufacturing them for retail sale, which was around 1982. That’s when you started seeing 8-Tracks disappear from store shelves. I guess I kind of always thought that’s pretty much the end of the 8-Track, because I never saw any past 1982, 1981, but sometime in the mid-’90s, one of the first times I ever had the opportunity to go online, I wanted to know more. I was really curious about when they did stop making these things, and that’s when I stumbled upon a website called 8-Track Heaven, which is now defunct. There is a chapter about it in the book. There’s an archived version of it. That’s when I discovered this section called the 80s, Record Club Only, the 80s 8-Tracks. I looked, and that’s when I realized that there was this whole other world of collecting that I knew nothing about, where most major label titles were still being manufactured on 8-Tracks, and it went all the way up to 1988. For a kid that grew up in the 1980s like I did, that blew my mind, because I don’t ever remember seeing albums from the mid-’80s onward on 8-Track. Now, part of the reason for that is because it seems to be strictly the record clubs in the United States. There was Columbia House in Canada, of course, but it looks to me like from all the research I’ve done, they went later than retail did, but they stopped around 1984, because I’ve never seen an 8-Track from Canada newer than 1984. The newest one I have is a Columbia House version of Rush Grace Under Pressure.
But in the States, they didn’t manufacture everything. There are some gaps, but they did a lot. They did a lot more than I had any idea, and I thought there should be, I think, any part of music history, no matter how small, should be documented, and this is a part of music history. So that was one of the things I always wanted to do.
Now, when I started off writing Unspooled, I was just going to have a by-the-year list of all confirmed known titles to exist on 8-Track throughout the 1980s. But after speaking with Martin Popoff, who I was a fan of his writing, and then I got to know him through… I was on an episode of Rush Fans, which is just what it sounds like, we’re a group of Rush fans. Martin was on the same episode as I, and I remember thinking ‘if I wanted to have him on my show to talk, I better message him now while it’s fresh in his mind, Hey, Martin, we just did the Rush Fans show together’. Because I wanted to pick his brain, because since he’s older than me, what he remembers about 8-Tracks and when they disappeared, and I told him about these RCOs, he had no idea. He thought, I think like most people did, turn of the 80s is when they stopped making them, and everybody either, kept buying vinyl or switched to cassettes. And at the end of our interview, he said ‘I think there’s a book here’. And I remember thinking, because I had no… I really had no plans of actually doing a book. It wasn’t something that entered my mind.
I would have been perfectly content if somebody else had done it. I would have just bought the book. But I thought, if Martin Popoff thinks there’s a book idea here, and it doesn’t sound like he’s going to do it, then maybe I’ll give it a go. And so he suggested that I add some more stories in it, some personal stories, some collector stories, because really the broader picture is what drives us to collect things. Like, you know, what drives us to collect hockey cards or antique toys or guns or whatever it is that people are into…And this is just a very, very specific… I call it niche within niche, because it’s not just collecting 8-tracks, but it’s specifically about these hidden ones that you won’t… you’re not likely to see them at flea markets, although you seem to be able to see some good ones. But somebody must have unloaded some from the States, because they’re American ones. I can tell by looking at them. And I wanted to go through year by year. So, it ended up starting in 1981 and going to 1988. The reason it starts in 1981 is because there are the titles that are in the 1981 list, which I put the list at the end of each chapter, those are all titles which seem to exist only as record club tapes. There don’t seem to be any retail versions of them, although it’s very possible that there are, I’ve just never seen them.
Now, between the first and the second edition of Unspooled, I did have to make some changes. There were more titles that I found, and there were certain titles that I found that actually did exist in retail that I had to remove from the first version. As a matter of fact, if I ever did a third printing of this, I’d have to have more to it to do that. But in the 1981 list, I think, I’m going to check this, I think I’m right about this, there is one that needs to come out, and it is, bear with me here, yeah, Nazareth Snaz, the live album, because I actually found a retail version of it. So I’m like, well, that can’t be in the list then. But I went on, you know, have I seen a picture of it? I belong to a lot of Facebook groups about 8-track collectors, and I’ve met a lot of really knowledgeable, reputable people, and if they’re telling me something exists or doesn’t exist, I believe them. And most of the time I’m like, do you have a picture? Yes, here. And here’s how the songs are broken up on it. And so I did a lot of that. And in doing so, you notice a lot of trends, you notice that they really slacked off around 1985, and then 86, and by the time you get to 1988, it’s a pretty small list. But, you know, there’s other things, one of my regrets is that I really wish that I could have found someone who worked at Columbia House or our music service back in the 80s, and said “Look, what was the thought process? Number one, why did they keep making them on 8-track when retail wasn’t selling them anymore? And what finally made you decide to stop making them?” Because between 1986 and 1988, if you were a member of Columbia House, you had four options. You had 8-track, vinyl, cassette, or CD.
So that’s four different, you know, that’s a lot of manufacturing costs. And it’s just crazy that, it’s crazy to me that 8-tracks and CDs coexisted for as long as they did. And it’s just something that I didn’t seem to see any real books on.
I mean, cassettes have come back. A lot of new albums are released on cassette. Vinyl made a major comeback, of course. Vinyl’s always kind of had that cool factor. Cassettes are kind of getting it. 8-tracks have always kind of been frowned upon, people remember how unreliable they were. But what made 8-tracks successful in their earliest days was the portability. It was the first time you could put a player in your vehicle and listen to whatever album you wanted when you wanted. That’s what won out. It won out over sound quality. It won out over being able to look at the artwork. There was no back cover artwork, no lyric sleeves. And even the front cover, if you were listening to a tape, half of it was shoved into the machine. But it was the portability, just being able to drive around and listen to your favorite albums, your favorite songs.
And cassettes, by way of comparison, when they first came out, my understanding is that the manufacturing quality was not up to speed. They really weren’t reliable. So, it was a combination of the 8-tracks just peaking in popularity like any format does, and cassettes becoming more reliable, more advanced, sounding better, and a little smaller, too. A little more portable. And then, of course, when the Walkman came out, hey, not only can you listen to something in your vehicle, you can walk around listening to whatever you want. So that was kind of the death knell, I think, for the 8-track.
But obviously, the record clubs must have felt that there was enough of a market out there that still, that weren’t ready to have a wholesale shift of all their music collection over to another format to keep making them. And it is absolutely fascinating to me because 8-tracks are pretty much synonymous with the 70s when people think of radio stations say, “Hey it’s the 8-track flashback”, and it’s always a 70s song. You wouldn’t think that you’d have albums from 87 and 88. And really, you shouldn’t be. That’s another thing about these. They’re out of time. They don’t make any sense. And that just, for some reason, that concept fascinated me to the point where not only have I looked for albums that I like in this format, it’s not just collecting 8-tracks for the sake of collecting them. I have to like the artist. I have to like the album. But it’s documenting them so people can see ‘wow! Madonna had 8-tracks, Cindy Lauper had 8-tracks…’ To me, it just doesn’t make any sense because you just don’t think of these artists as coexisting with the 8-track era, but they did, and they’re absolutely legitimately….people do manufacture their own. There are people that put new albums on 8-track and, as a tribute, and that’s cool and everything, but these were legitimately sanctioned by the record labels for the record clubs to put their albums out on 8-track form. So, it wasn’t anything I saw, any book resembling this subject, so that’s why I did it.
It’s funny, before we got on, I was flipping through your Sammy Hagar book, and I saw that you had a picture of 1987 on 8-track.
Yep, again, that’s a prized possession of mine too, because you get into those last few years… I can’t imagine that the numbers were produced, even for platinum albums. I can’t imagine there were too many of them produced. So that’s another reason why I would have wanted to talk to somebody that worked there and said, “Did you have some titles that were in the catalogs, but you never actually manufactured? or did it have to be a case where “We’ve got 50 people that want Michael Jackson’s Bad, we’ll have to run a few off.” or something like that. I don’t really know.
I know that artists that have fan bases that are big into collecting, 8-tracks are just part of that, and that’s why you don’t see a lot of heavier bands, even if they were manufactured on 8-track, because there’s always going to be a bidding war breakout. I know one of the best examples, and it’s not even a band that fits in the purview of this book, because their first three albums came out on 8-track, but they all came out in retail form. There were no, you know, it wasn’t a record club. The only thing, and that’s Iron Maiden, their first three albums came out in the U.S. on Capitol 8-tracks, and those go for hundreds and hundreds of dollars when they do go on sale, because Iron Maiden fans are generally collectors. Kiss collectors, same thing. If you collect Kiss, chances are you’re going to want to collect all the variants of the records and the cassettes and everything, but you’re going to get into the 8-tracks, and that’s when you find out how hard it is to find Creatures of the Night or Lick It Up or Animalize on 8-track, and that’s when they stopped. And that’s another thing. Not everybody stopped in 84. You mentioned Sammy Hagar, I mean, so you’ve got the example of Kiss. Why isn’t Asylum or Crazy Nights on 8-track? I don’t know.
Yeah, it’s kind of random. There are unanswered questions about it, and I can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they weren’t made, but I’ve been looking into this for an awful long time, and either there are so few of them, and people don’t know what they’ve got, or they’re in somebody’s attic somewhere, and they belong to somebody’s parent or grandparent, and they haven’t been unearthed yet, or they just weren’t made. So, I don’t know. That’s why I included a section in my book where I did this ‘fantasy’ of, here’s five titles that could exist on 8-track given the year they were released. Here’s why they could exist. Here’s why they probably don’t, and Asylum is one of them, because I also judge by what else came out on the same label that’s in the same sort of ballpark, and that makes me think that it’s possible.
In researching, I know that 8-tracks had an appeal to truckers in that. Did you ever make connections with anybody that kind of was in that kind of field?
No, no, but that is one of the, I don’t want to say cliches, but, one of the cliches is truck drivers and even just people that drove pickup trucks. You’re typically talking about country and western. And I will say that there is some truth to that in so much as if you were a country music fan in the 80s and you did not want to stop buying 8-tracks when you couldn’t find them in stores anymore, you were well served by the record clubs, because just about every country star you could name, all of their albums came out on 8-tracks. So even relatively newer artists like (say) Dwight Yoakam or Randy Travis or Sawyer Brown, they have 8-tracks. Reba McEntire, for a while, she started a lot earlier. So I think there was something to that. And that’s why it’s even more bizarre to think that there’s an 8-track version of the first Bon Jovi album. There’s an 8-track version of Dokkens’, there’s Ratt Invasion Of Your Privacy, Motley Crue Shout At The Devil. Makes no sense, but they exist. They are 100% real.
And also, I just think people get used to things. That’s why I also included a picture of an 8-track cassette adapter in the book, because I can vividly remember that my grandparents, they had one of those old four-model stereos that had a turntable, and it had an 8-track and a radio. And I had an aunt and uncle that were visiting, and they listened to a cassette, but they had this adapter, and there’s a picture of it in the book. It’s shaped like an 8-track, but there’s a space. You can lay a cassette down in it, plug it into the 8-track player, and it will play the cassette. And that just makes me think of when VHS switched over to DVDs, and then they started coming up with those hybrid combination players. It’s a format shift. There’s been lots of them. Look at VHS tapes now, they’re pretty much worthless. You can go to any flea market, any Salvation Army place, and there’s hundreds of them. Will there ever be a time when they’ll be like, “Hey, you remember those? Those were cool.” I don’t know. But I do know, you know, the fact that you get Blu-rays now manufactured to look like the old VHS tapes shows that there’s a nostalgia for it.
Yeah, I got tons of VHS tapes. I used to tape stuff off the TV in the 80s and 90s.
Oh, yeah, when we first got MuchMusic. that’s how I consumed music a lot. I’d put a tape in and just let it go.
Of your 8-track collection, is it more retail or more record club stuff you’ve got?
Oh, it’s definitely more retail. There’s just more of them, right, like the bands that started in the early 70s. I’ve got a decent amount of record clubs’, though. It just depends on who it is and how long their career kept going, right? You take a band like Aerosmith, so obviously from their first album, through to Rock And A Hard Place, those were all retail 8-tracks. The one to look for and the one I don’t have is Done With Mirrors. And that’s highly in demand because there don’t seem to be many of them. You get a band like Kiss that obviously kept on going. Their 8-tracks go up to Animalize. So, sometimes there’s only two or three record club ones. And then they stop. So, I definitely have more retail than record club ones.
For me, the interesting reading in the book obviously is the interviews and the guests you had in there that told their stories of that, as you said earlier. Did you come across any collectors in all these groups that you visited that maybe weren’t able to get into your book that had crazy amounts of 8-tracks or,…
I had pretty good luck. Pretty much everybody that I sought after was willing to talk to me. Now, there was one person I talked to who was all ready to talk to me and I was going to do a chapter on them, but then they said they were going to do their own book, and I said “well, ok that’s cool”. They haven’t yet. I’d like to get it when it comes out. But it wasn’t a bad thing.
Did you come across anybody that had an insane amount of 8-tracks compared to what you got?
Yes, I definitely have met people that have hundreds upon hundreds of them. These are people that like a wider span of music than I do, too. So, they’ve got more artists to look for. I haven’t counted them in a while. I’m looking at them, but I’ve probably got, I don’t want to say 300. I’m not sure. But it’s in the hundreds anyway. It’s a lot. These RCO ones, you’re not likely to find them on eBay, you do sometimes or sometimes Discogs. Most of the time, you go into these Facebook groups. And once people know what it is you’re looking for… because a lot of people buy and sell. I don’t sell, I just buy. But a lot of people buy and sell. And they’ll say “I got a couple of such and such. Is that one you were looking for? …”
That’s how I’ve gotten the last bunch that I’ve been able to get, which include titles like Deep Purple Perfect Strangers, Rush Power Windows – That was a major grail for me. That’s the last Rush one. Queen The Works; that’s the last Queen one. Once you’ve come so far with your collection, about the only way you’re going to really complete any of them, you’ve got to spend a little money. So, you have to balance that out with everything else. I’ve got a few collections that I would say are complete as far as these are all the eight tracks this group or artist put out.
Is there anything, do you have any holy grails yourself, things you’re looking for?
Oh, yeah. Basically it’s completing the collections, starting with my favorite bands. I mentioned Kiss. I don’t have Creatures of the Night or Lick It Up. Now, the funny thing is that Creatures of the Night only seems to exist as a retail, a U.S. retail version, and it’s highly in demand, as is Lick It Up. For some reason, and maybe it’s because it was a more successful album, Animalize is a little bit easier to find. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to find. That means it’s easier than those other two. I have Animalize, but I don’t have Creatures or Lick It Up. So that would definitely be one of my grails. Triumph Never Surrender is one I’d like to get because that would finish my Triumph collection. I have Thunder 7, and again, that seems to be easier to find for some reason. Never Surrender seems to exist only as (I’ve only ever seen) a U.S. RCA Music Service version. But it’s out there. There’s probably a Canadian Attic (Records) one, too. I’ve just never seen one. I know that one of my major grails is the first Coney Hatch, which does exist as a Canadian Anthem, Columbia House 8-track. I was fortunate enough to have Andy Curran on my show, and he didn’t even know they had an 8-track, and I had to show him a picture of it. I said “This is it. And here’s how the songs are broken up”, because they usually had to mix the song order up. We joked. I said “I’ll know if a bidding war breaks out, and it’s me and one of the first, and it was probably you”. The first Bon Jovi album I would love to have. I love that album. And just the idea that there’s a Bon Jovi 8-track; it’s just weird to me. As you know, I’m a big Night Ranger fan. I don’t have Dawn Patrol. I have Midnight Madness and Seven Wishes, but Dawn Patrol seems to be harder to find. Normally, it’s the other way around. Normally the newer ones that are harder to find, but not in that case.
I was going to say, Dawn Patrol wasn’t their biggest seller, though, was it?
No, and also, when it came out, it was a Columbia House only, as far as I’ve seen it, it was on Boardwalk Records, which went out of business within a year of the album being out. So, I think that has something to do with why that one’s more rare, because it’s easier to find Midnight Madness and Seven Wishes because MCA picked them up. Now, they did reissue Dawn Patrol, but I don’t know if there’s an 8-track version of that. I’d be happy with one of those. There’s one Sammy Hagar that I don’t have, and that’s Rematch, which is the Capitol ‘best of’ that they put out in 1982. And that’s another thing that’s odd, because there doesn’t seem to be an 8-track version of VOA, which doesn’t make any sense, because number one, it was his most successful album, and number two, the album that came after that is on 8-track. And there are a few cases that I’ve come across like that. I mentioned Ratt earlier; the Ratt EP exists on 8-track, as does Invasion of Your Privacy, but Out Of The Seller does not seem to. That doesn’t make any sense. Now, I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, I’m saying I’ve never seen evidence of it, and I would never list something in this book if I didn’t. I would never go by someone saying “I think I saw it once”. I need better proof than that. I need either a picture, or I need someone to say, Tim, I can assure you beyond the shadow of a doubt, here it is, this is what the song order is, then okay. But other than that, as far as other Grails, well, if it’s still there for a while, you could go on Discogs, and if you had 2,000 U.S. dollars, you could get Dokkens’ Under Lock and Key. Now, I like that album, but I don’t like it that much. But is that an outrageous price? I don’t know, because when’s the last time you saw Under Lock and Key? When’s the last time you saw a Dokken 8-track? So that’s what you have to deal with. You have to factor that in. It’s like, how bad do you want it? And yes, sometimes I do think things get overpriced, like anything, but at the same time, I think demand drives the price up. And for some reason, the hard rock and metal bands. Those tapes go up. People are willing to pay big bucks for Ozzy’s Bark at the Moon, because that’s the last Ozzy one, right? And Ozzy’s still popular. Or AC/DC Fly On the Wall, Who Made Who? Those are two that I don’t have. I’ve got Flick Of The Switch, which is kind of rare, but I don’t have Fly On The Wall or Who Made Who. So, it’s how far up they went when they stopped, and how popular… Because you could go on eBay today and buy a Statler Brothers 8-track from 1987 for five bucks. Just the demand’s not there, you know what I mean? So, it’s not necessarily just the year, it’s who it is.
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What other books are you working on as far as… You’ve got the Y & T book, the Kansas book, the Sammy Hagar book, which is more of just a review and listings book. So, curious what else you’ve got on the go…
So yeah, Unspooled is unique, because it’s the most expensive book I’ve got, it’s the most graphics-intensive book I’ve got, and I have to give a special thanks to my good friend Matt Phillips. We’ve been friends for over 30 years. He has a company called Go North Design, and he laid this book out, and I would put it up to anybody’s work. I think it’s totally professional-looking. My other books weren’t quite as graphics-intensive, although I was absolutely honored, because my second book (my Y & T book), I made the acquaintance of the one and only Hugh Syme – who’s work I’ve been a fan of for years being a Rush fan. But not just Rush, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Y & T, Kiss – tons of bands he’s done album covers for, so he designed the cover to that, which was an honor. The Unspooled one was kind of an odd thing, but I think that I’m better at doing books on one band. Y & T has always been one of my favorite bands; they’re one of the unsung bands, and I think they should have been much bigger, so it was a no-brainer that that would’ve been my next book. After that, I’m a huge fan of Kansas, and even though they’ve sold millions of albums they seem to be the 2nd tier of what people think of when they think of classic rock bands. I think they should be up there with Queen and Zeppelin, they’re that good. And I think that the new music they’ve put out in the last few years is just as strong as anything. And that has a lot to do with a band I want to write about. If they’re still writing new music, really good and valid, that makes me want to do more work with them. Then the Sammy Hagar one; I’m a huge fan of his – in All of the capacities that he’s been involved in. So that made perfect sense. And that one was different – the Y & T and the Kansas books were very much modelled after Martin Popoff’s Album By Album series, where he gets a panel of guests, asks a bunch of people the same questions about a particular album, gets their answers, and gets the content that way. That’s how I did my Y & T, and that’s how I did my Kansas. I’ve got 2 books in the works, but I’m not ready to talk about them just yet, but they’re also going to be panel books. And I’ve got another one that’s just about done, and it’s more like the Sammy book where it’s basically just me writing it. And I think that that’s the course that I’m going to follow. Again, I have to reference Martin Popoff because he’s been such a great mentor to me, and he always says, “the books that sell best are the books about one band.” If you try to do a book about a movement or something like that, they just don’t sell as well as a book about one band. And I also look for band’s that haven’t had books written about them or haven’t had this type of book written about them; that’s been the driving factor. I plan on doing more. It was just kind of something I stumbled into. Five years ago, I had no books, now I have 4, with 3 in the works. It’s amazing really, and I’m grateful to everybody that promotes them, and has bought them. And the feedback I get – the best thing that I’ve had people come back and say is “I read your Y & T book, I had 1 or 2 of their albums, and now I’ve gone and bought a bunch more of their albums, and I want to check out further.” I’ve heard that with Y & T, I’ve it with Kansas, and I’ve heard it with Sammy, as a solo artist – “You know I have the Van Halen albums, and I had one of his ‘best ofs’, and now I’ve gone back and got a bunch of others”. And that’s why I started my YouTube channel, and that’s why I’m doing these books – to talk about music I love, and I think needs another spotlight on it. I love Kiss, but what am I going to write about that hasn’t already been written. I love Rush, but what have I got to contribute to write a Rush book!? Some bands… I don’t want to say there’s too many books – but there’s plenty! And there’s plenty by authors that have an angle that I just haven’t thought of. I would rather do bands where somebody goes “I like that band; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book on them before.” And that’s really where I’m going with this. I think I’ve got plenty to keep me busy as far as bands, like ‘who hasn’t been done that could sort of use a tribute?’ Any band that’s been around for 40-50 years, I think should be commemorated in some way. And putting that information down in book form is a lot easier than going online and trying to figure out how many albums somebody has. This way it’s right there; you can pick it up any time, any place, and just look at it.
I like the idea of a Y & T book because there’s a band that’s been going since the early-mid 70s, and most people might know 1 or 2 songs from the 80s…
Yeah! And they probably thought that they stopped in the mid-80s, but they didn’t.
Have you got much feedback from some of these bands?
In some cases, yeah. In the case of Y & T I heard from John Nymann, their guitar player, and he’s been with them since the early 2000s, but his history with the band goes way back in to the 80s as far as being a background singer. And I don’t know if you remember when they had the robot character on stage with them from the In Rock We Trust album!? He was in the suit on stage, so he goes back with them a long way. And their current bass player, Aaron Leigh, I had them both on my show. So, they both have copies of the book.
How about Dave Meniketti?
I haven’t heard. I’d love to get a book in Dave’s hands. He’s the keeper of the flame. In the case of Kansas, it was very gratifying because Kerry Livgren, who was a founding member and wrote a bulk of their songs, a couple of fans made a pilgrimage to his home in Topeka and presented him with the book, and he made a very nice post about it on Facebook. I haven’t talked to him, but he did mention the book, and that was a big help. I talked to Tom Brislin, their current keyboard player, and he’s played with a ton of people; he’s played with Yes, Meat Loaf…he was great. I talked to John Elefante, their former singer, he’s in a couple of chapters from the 2 albums he sang on. I haven’t heard back from Sammy, but I have been in contact with Bill Church, his longtime bass player in Montrose and his solo band.
In continuing my gradual revisit/review of the Alice Cooper catalogue, I occasionally still take this one out. I gotta say, there was a time when I first got this one in the mid 80s that I played the heck out of it. And in revisiting it now, I still have a soft-spot for this record. Easy Action was the band’s 2nd album, released in 1970. It was their 2nd for Straight Records, produced by David Briggs (best known for his work with Neil Young), and was an improvement on the band’s 1968 debut Pretties For You. Alice Cooper were still a ways off from the cleverly written and produced hits (w/ Bob Ezrin), Easy Action was definitely a more appealing sound, and with songs and arrangements that were a step up from the debut. A few songs fit into a more mainstream format, with a harder rocking sound, guitars turned up, Alice with more attitude in his vocals, and gone are some of the really short tunes, sound effects….
“The production of course was a little bit better, and anything we ever recorded we thought was gonna be a hit album, and we had David Briggs… I don’t even know how David Briggs got involved in producing the album, but obviously if you’re doing Neil Young in one session and Alice Cooper in the other, he really didn’t give a rat’s ass about our music”. – Neal Smith, 2024
“Shoe Salesman” was the album’ single, and it’s a memorable Beatles’ influenced, lighter tracks; to me it is one of the standout songs on EasyAction. The other standout (for me) is “Below Your Means”, one of 2 tracks here with Michael Bruce on vocals, and featuring some lengthy cool guitar exchanges, blends, and tone, not to mention the changes in the song. A very underrated gem in the AC catalogue.
Although there’s still some odd stuff here, there’s a certain early charm and something memorable about cuts like “Still No Air” (this includes the phrase “easy action”, and a snippet of West Side Story), “Laughing At Me”, and “Beautiful Flyaway”, like these were on to something. Fan favorites were the hard rock of “Return Of The Spiders”, featuring Neal Smith’s (B-side to “Shoe Salesman”, and dedicated to Gene Vincent whom the band opened for in Toronto), “Mr And Misdemeanor”, and the lengthy closing piece (largely instrumental) “Lay Down and Die, Goodbye” (a much lengthier and heavier psychedelic reworking of a song released as a single when the band went by the name ‘Nazz‘). “Lay Down And Die, Goodbye” featured the spoken lines “You are the only censor, If you don’t like what I say, you have a choice – you can turn me off”, this was taken from from a tape of Tommy Smothers (Smothers Brothers), which Briggs had, and the band felt was “oddly appropriate”, according to Michael Bruce. Also included is “Refrigerator Heaven”, not sure what this is about, but Alice would reference the it years later in his solo hit “Cold Ethyl”.
The album cover design is one of my favorites in the band’s catalogue, with the front and back photos (being opposite), and the black and white bandmember photos inside the gatefold sleeve taken by Lorrie Sullivan, who went on to work on numerous major band releases (and promo pics) throughout the 70s (Grand Funk, Joe Walsh, The Eagles, Warren Zevon, etc…)
Easy Action, despite it’s improvements and steps towards the band that would break out with a huge hit and million selling album a year later, was a commercial flop! While Pretties For You just dented the US charts, Easy Action didn’t even manage that, selling significantly less. But the band’s reputation (live show) and persistence to get producer Jack Richardson (w/ Bob Ezrin) involved would eventually pay off.
“I loved The Beatles because they wrote such simple songs, which is a really tough thing to do. I got all the Pink Floyd stuff out of my head and tried to write this three-chord ballad with a simple melody. I’ve always thought if you can break the girl’s heart by the second verse, it’s a hit.” – Alice Cooper, 2010 Metro
” I liked “Lay Down and Die, Goodbye” because it contained a free-form sound collage that was disturbing. I would have been happy if the whole album was like that.” – Dennis Dunaway , 2012
“Matter of fact, on the song ‘Lay Down And Die, Goodbye,’ he said “Oh well we’ll put on this psychedelic shit now.” So you know, he wasn’t enthusiastic or cared about it from the standpoint of it was just a gig for him to get through, record it, get it down, and get on with his life. So from that standpoint there was not chemistry in the production of it, although there was still some great music, great songs… I think ‘Return Of The Spiders’ is one of the songs to me that stands out other than ‘Lay Down And Die Goodbye’,…” – Neal Smith, 2024
“I sang ‘Below Your Means’ and ‘Beautiful Flyaway’ – the latter was a kind of meditation song, sort of my attempt at being George Harrison”. – Michael Bruce, from No More Mr Nice Guy.
“Easy Action was a great album, it was my idea to stand backwards because I had the longest hair in the band for the album cover, and so every band has a front picture of it. We always try to do something different obviously as any fan knows for our album covers, but with that one, I said let’s just turn around and Zappa liked the idea and so we went with that one”. – Neal Smith 2024
“Michael is singing and playing piano on “Beautiful Flyaway.” David Briggs played piano on “Shoe Salesman” which was one of the welcome few times he seemed to care about the sessions.” – Dennis Dunaway, 2012
From the press at the time:
That second album from way-out Alice Cooper, “Easy Action,” will be out this month. Group will perform in the party sequence of Frank Perry’s “Diary Of A Mad Housewife,” now filming in New York, and then wind up an Eastern concert tour. – Cash Box — March 21, 1970
ALICE COOPER/Easy Action. Warner Bros. WS 1845 (S) One of the most unusual live groups, Alice Cooper, in their second straight album, convey much of the power they possess. The extended “Lay Down and Die, Goodbye” with it’s many changes is among the many interesting cuts as is the powerful “Return of the Spiders” and “Refrigerator Heaven.” “Below Your Means” is another good longer number, sharp instrumentally. This album can go even higher than Alice Cooper’s first set, which was a chart item. – Billboard, 04-11-70
EASY ACTION – ALICE COOPER-Warner Bros. WS 1845. Alice Cooper, five guys who seem to be going for the hermaphrodite look, play in a more specific groove – now rock. Their lyrics contain put-downs and put-ons of different sorts and will help them get attention where the folks can’t see them strut their stuff. – Record World, 04-18-70
(March Delights) – Alice Cooper is flinging that dead chicken at us again, this time by way of Easy Action (WS 1845), as strange an album as a Frank Zappa discovery on Straight Records could make, as expected.- RW-1970-03-21
EASY ACTION -Alice Cooper, Warner Bros WS 1845 - Heavy, heavy – but it gets very interesting the deeper you listen. Group currently on U.S. Canada tour which should add potential. They’re a word of mouth group and will find much favor with free formers. – RPM-1970-06-13
Alice Cooper, Easy Action (Straight): A very freaky-looking group that has been panned by many. They’re not too bad at all. There are enough original ideas here to satisfy anyone; unfortunately, their execution often falls flat from half-hearted repetition. – Montreal Star, May 9 1970
Another Straight Records release is Alice Cooper’s LP, “Easy Action” gives them an even firmer hold on that proverbial ladder than they already have. This is an extremely good hard rock group who’s antics on stage are fantastic, but although they add to the group’s success, on record you can only enjoy the ability they have as musicians, and they most assuredly hold their own in that department.. From “Mr. and Misdemeanor” on side one, until “Beautiful Flyaway”, which concludes, the LP prevalent. They seem to be an unusually versatile group, and from what I have heard of their stage antics, they should be as good to see in person as they are to listen to. Listening to them is a pleasure indeed. – Lexington Herald-Leader, April 19 1970
From Metalville (who’ve issued the latest new SWEET album – Full Circle, as well as reissued the previous 2 on vinyl – New York Connection and Isolation Boulevard), Platinum Rare 1 looks to be the same tracklisting as the 2021 RSD release Platinum Rare (w/ a different cover). This is being released as a 2 CD or 2 LP (red vinyl) set. I’m not sure where all these tracks are pulled from, but the SWEET in the 70s had an amazing run of albums starting with Sweet Fanny Adams. These guys could be pop/glam, hard rock or metal, or even a bit progressive. This set is full of classic Sweet outtakes, alternate mixes, demos… *Check out the press info & tracklisting below…
SWEET – one of the most legendary, influential, and enduring names in the history of rock music – will have the absolute collector’s album Platinum Rare 1 available in regular stores for the first time on May 23rd via METALVILLE RECORDS.
Platinum Rare 1 contains extremely rare recordings by the four original SWEET members.
The legendary glam/hard rock band continues to thrill fans all over the world to this day. Over the years, SWEET have sold more than 55 million records and reached 34 #1 chart positions.
The songs on Platinum Rare 1 come from the private archive of SWEET guitarist Andy Scott and were personally selected by him.
Fans of the band will be thrilled with this collection of rare and alternative takes and mixes. Many of the songs on the album have never before seen the light of day on a regular SWEET release.
Platinum Rare 1 is an absolute enrichment for every true fan of SWEET.
Tracklisting CD1: 1. Ballroom Blitz (Rough Mix) 2. IDC Jam 3. Midnight To Daylight (Outtake) 4. Show Me The Way (Alternative Mix) 5. Log One (That Girl) (Brian Vox) 6. Cover Girl (Band Demo) 7. Love Is Like Oxygen (Instrumental) 8. Windy City (Band Demo) 9. Falling In Love 10. Yesterday’s Hero 11. Live For Today (Rough Mix) 12. New Shoes
CD2: 1. Rebel Rouser (Steve Vocal) 2. Fire Engine 3. Blockbuster (Rough Mix) 4. Play All Night (Brian Vox) 5. Strong Love (Outtake) 6. Teenage Rampage (Rough Mix) 7. California Nights (Band Demo) 8. Hellraiser (Rough Mix) 9. Where Do We Go From Here 10. Silverbird (Band Demo) 11. Maggie 12. Lettres D’amour (Band Demo) 13. Lost Angels (Extended Rough Mix)
For many classic rock fans the name RUSS BALLARD is more associated to a number of hits that his name appeared on as a songwriter, but really Russ Ballard has been writing and performing since the mid-60s. From Hertfordshire, England, Russ joined ARGENT (lead by former ZOMBIE Rod Argent), as a singer, guitarist and writer. He wrote a number of Argent classics, notably “Liar” and “God Gave Rock and Roll To You”. Ballard left Argent in 1974 after 5 studio and albums and 1 double live release, and released his first (self-titled) solo album later that year. Over the next decade he would release 6 more. His solo career didn’t take off as much in North America (even though all his records were released here and solo respectably), but a number of his songs would become big hits (and in many cases breakout hits) for a wide range of pop and rock acts. Chances are if you bought a lot of LPs in the late 70s and 80s, you likely have Russ Ballard’s name in your collection, somewhere!
On April 25 Frontiers will release Russ Ballard’s latest recordings, a double feature – Songs From The Warehouse and the Hits Rewired. The first disc is all new songs from Ballard and the second disc is his new recordings of those songs made famous by other artists. The new and the old material sounds outstanding, with new favorites like “Resurrection”, “The Wild”, and “Make Believe World” all showing Ballard (at 79) still writes catchy and timely rock tunes (as well as singing and playing everything himself!), as well as nicely updated takes of his classics like “New York Groove”, “You Can Do Magic” and “Voices”.
Below is from my conversation with Russ Ballard on his new recordings, as well as a bit of his past, including Argent, and some of the songs he wrote back then. After finishing this interview I immediately thought of 101 other things I could’ve or should’ve brought up, but hey – this guy is legendary! Check it out below, as well as the song links I’ve included, and links to Russ Ballard’s new album and websites at the end.
The new album, you’ve done it in two parts.
Well, the Songs From The Warehouse are all new songs. And obviously, the Rewired songs, I’ve had some of them for many, many years because they’ve been recorded by other people or whatever. But Rewired are songs that have been hits by other people, basically. And a couple that I’ve done now.
So, first of all, the new recordings – Can you tell me a bit about how long you’ve come up with these songs? Because I think your last album has probably been a while, correct?
Yeah, the last one was four, five years ago. The songs are usually story songs; there’s quite a few. I’ve been telling people that as you get older, it’s difficult to write so many love songs. I know love songs are very popular and kind of universal, basically, aren’t they(!?) – Love songs, everyone loves a love song. Everybody falls in love, everybody falls out of love, usually. But it’s harder to write love songs as you get older – ‘I love you… Don’t love you. I want you back…. I don’t want you back. Don’t leave me…’ It’s very difficult when you get older. So, I mean, I’m trying to find vehicles to write, stories. Find words, find things that I could turn into a song, basically. There’s one on it called “Courageous”. Courageous came from a news item on the BBC. When I was watching this item, it was a good feeling news item at the end of the usual sort of sad news. They left it with a good feel, a good feeling. They ended up with this girl; It’s all about the family. This girl was about 12 years old. She had a sister who was 8 years old, and a brother who was about 5 years old. The mother had multiple sclerosis, so she was in a wheelchair. This girl had to look after the whole of the family. And she was just amazing; she sort of got up, gave the kids breakfast, bathed the kids, bathed the mother, dressed the mother, dressed the kids. Then you see her walk into school holding the hands of the two kids. So I had to write a song about her, but I saw that news item about 7 years ago. It was an amazing story.
I don’t know if it’s just from the song titles and some of the lyrics, that there’s a bit more of a spiritual basis in this album!?
I find the spiritual area, it’s an area that I’ve used before and I love it because I think it’s where I’m coming from, basically. I like it. There’s so much out here, to write in spirit, you know – ‘feeling good, feeling bad’ and ‘there’s always another day’ and ‘that’s how it is’, you know.’ If you’re feeling down now – tomorrow you’re going to feel good.’
“Resurrection” – that was an obvious single, that one jumps out at you after, it’s kind of an interesting intro you got there, with the vocal…
Yeah. (Russ sings a bit of the intro) You have to get the hook in really early, if that’s possible.
I think even some of the other songs, there’s good cross-section of influences, with songs like “Fearless” and “Soul Music”.
Yeah.
It’s not just pop stuff…
Yeah it’s nice to go places you haven’t been before. I play the piano, I play the guitar, I can play the instruments and it’s nice to find a vehicle. I mean, soul music, it was such an obvious, such an obvious thing to write about – ‘You are soul music, we are soul music, you are soul music.’ And I thought that…it’s nice to find something that was, ‘new’, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know of another song called “Soul Music”; there probably is, I’m sure.
Do you find yourself writing more for yourself now, as opposed to writing with hopes that other people might record your songs, or…?
Yeah… You know how it is, I think that younger people, when I was growing up, I was the same age as everybody I was writing with. But as you get older, I don’t think younger kids, maybe they don’t want to write with you, because you’re older. So, they write with people their own age, which makes sense. You want to write for somebody older, you want to write for somebody that’s listening to the same music as you, so you want to, and that makes sense to me. But I could do it, I know I could do that, I’m pretty sure, but people don’t come to you as much as you get older.
So, did you separate the new stuff and the old stuff when it came to recording – did you do all of one album first, then the other?
Yeah, I basically did the new songs first, and then decided to do some, ‘rewired’. The idea was to just do songs that had been done by other people, but I’d recorded most of those songs before. I’d done them as demos, or I’d done them as masters, and it goes back to “Winning”, “Since You Been Gone”, I recorded those songs myself, and I had them out in the 70s, a lot of those songs were done. “So You Win Again” was number one for Hot Chocolate in the UK, and that was 1977. So, I did a really good demo for that in 1976. I just kept them basically the same as I made the demos.
Do you find you’re kind of reclaiming these songs in a way, that they’ve all been hits for other people, and not so much for yourself?
I wrote them for myself, to be honest. I only ever wrote two songs, two of those hit songs, when people came to me and asked me to write a song, and one was “New York Groove”, and the other one was “You Can Do Magic” by America. I didn’t write them for me, I wrote “You Can Do Magic” for America, and I wrote “New York Groove” for an English band (Hello), and Ace Frehley recorded that.
When you re-recorded some of these, did you, knowing some of the other versions (like the Rainbow version) did you ever go back and think you liked their arrangement, and did that have any kind of influence on your new versions?
Yeah, because when I did it, I wrote it on the piano. When I went to the studio, it was natural just to play the piano, and I’d go ‘let’s take it’, and I’m playing the piano, which is softer, the piano is always softer than the guitar. When I heard the Rainbow version, I thought they’d actually seen that song better than me. So that’s how I do it when I’m on the stage as well, I do it the same as them.
I think Head East had done it first, and I think that’s where Rainbow got the idea from, from what I read.
Yeah, that’s where they got it from.
So, “Liar” was kind of your first big hit, written for somebody else; that somebody covered!?
Well I wrote an instrumental when I was 14, and that was recorded by The Shadows in the UK, and that was on an album that was a top ten album. But that was an instrumental band, so my first tune I ever wrote was an instrumental. But that did well, and once that had been out, and I thought ‘well if they want me to do it, I must be able to do it’. After that I was writing all the time, trying to write different things, different ideas.
Was it ever kind of frustrating (if that’s the word), I mean over here, people know your name from the songs they see your name attached to, as opposed to you as a solo artist. Did you ever kind of think ‘well why wasn’t this a hit for me, but everything’s kind of been a hit for somebody else?’
Yeah, it did enter my head, but I think, on some of those songs that you listen to a certain one ‘well I could do that, I could improve that song, that demo’… whatever. So I think that’s what people have done. And there’s some really good versions of my tunes out there.
Do you think you’ve heard all of them?
I don’t know. That’s an interesting one (laughs), There’s been a hell of a lot of versions of my songs out there.
But, between all those ones, “Voices” – there’s a band called Wonderworld that did that a couple years ago. Obviously, Uriah Heep, I’m a big fan of their’s, they did “On The Rebound”. Yeah, so there’s lots of stuff out there.
Ronnie Romero did “Voices” as well, he did Voices on his last album, he did that. I saw Ronnie two weeks ago, less than two weeks ago, Sunday before last, and he did “Since You Been Gone”, I was on the stage and he came up with me and he did Since You Been Gone and we sang it together, which was really nice. He’s going to do it; he’s going to do it. I’ve sent him another song, he wants to do another song of mine. I’m still doing it Kevin, I’m still loving it, same as ever.
Aside from the obvious, like the Rainbow version of “Since You Been Gone”, what have been kind of your favorites of covers of your own songs? Aside from the Ace Frehley and the Rainbow, the ones that were the biggest, I guess.
I think a really good version, talking about Kiss, Ace Frehley, I think that “God Gave Rock and Roll To You” was very good. They saw it so well. They had the right tempo, they saw it really, really well. So that’s Bob Ezrin, I think, produced them. That was really good, that was a good one. There’s been others, Colin Blunstone did a couple of my songs and he saw those really well, from the Zombies. Hot Chocolate did a song of mine, it wasn’t a big hit in America, it was called “So You Win Again”. I did a demo which I thought was really good, they made their version slower, but they got to number one in the UK and that was a really good version.
Did you ever hear the Heep version of “On The Rebound”?
Yeah. I mean he sang it so much better than I sang it because he did it full voice. I was trying to do kind of a silly voice (sings) ‘On The Rebound, On The Rebound’, but they did it really well.
I know Peter Goalby who sang that had actually auditioned for your spot in Argent when you had gone.
Did he really!? Why didn’t they get him?
From what I understand, he was signed to a management company that advised him not to. And then John Verity got it, and obviously you know John.
I know John well. I was with John, he did “I Surrender” for me. He sang ‘I Surrender’, which I didn’t plan, I just wanted to produce it so I was in the studio and John sang it and I basically arranged him.
Did you know John before he took your spot (Argent)?
Yeah, I knew him in ’72, I think it was. John was singing, he supported Argent on a tour and I thought he was really great. When I left the band, I said you ought to get John Verity because John is perfect I think, perfect.
Now I know it’s kind of back peddling, but did you leave basically for the solo career or for other things?
No, I didn’t to be honest. I wanted to start a family to be honest. I knew, because I’d had a couple of hit songs that were doing well, I thought I could do it. I was afraid, I couldn’t stand the thought of actually going on tour for three weeks, four weeks and leaving my kid. I could stay at home and write tunes and I could still go in the studio, I could write the tunes which I could go in the studio every day and write a song. I could go to my music room and write. The publishing company, Island, had my publishing and they gave me the resources to go into a studio and they used to rent me everything I needed. I said I haven’t got a good acoustic guitar, I need a Martin, hire a Martin, hire a Marshall 100, a Les Paul, a set of drums or I’d get a drummer and they’d pay for everything. I’d go up with three songs and at that time and every time I seemed to go in the studio I always had one song that was successful, so it was a good time. Someone up there likes me because I was able to survive with a wife and a kid and have a good living and do exactly what I wanted to do, which was pursue this gift of song in music.
Do you own all your songs? Publishing and that?
I’ve owned them up to last year and I’ve sold 50% of my publishing, which I’ve given away 50% of it. I still have a good life, even though you don’t get so much money from streaming, I still do pretty well.
You still regularly play in the UK and Europe and that I see, but you’ve not been over here I assume for a long time?
I’ve been there, I came over there in ’85 with Roger Daltrey, I played guitar and Roger said ‘sing a couple of your own songs, give me a break’. I’ve played the East Coast, New York, Boston, I finished up in Madison Square Garden with Roger. He was doing a couple of my songs and I did a couple of my songs and that’s good, but I haven’t played there myself under my own steam since 1976.
Has it just been a thing where there’s just not offers or at this stage it’s too expensive or no point to it?
Yeah, I mean I’d always go out there, but it was basically because I left Argent and that whole thing, and I didn’t have that big name that Rod had out there as a band. When I was in the band we were doing really well, but the fact is I just couldn’t leave the family, I didn’t want to leave the family while my kids were growing up.
At this stage there’s a lot of bands that have never come over here since the 80s, so I imagine Argent hasn’t been here since you were with them.
No, you get the Zombies, the Zombies still go there don’t they!?
Yeah, actually I saw their last album in the shop, their latest album in the local shop.
I’m seeing Rod, I’ve got to see him next week or the week after, he’s not too well at the moment.
As far as those Argent albums go, do you still have any input as far as reissues or repackaging and stuff?
No, I’ve nothing to do with it, but the only thing I’ve done, I’ve used an Argent song, a song that I wrote for Argent which is “God Gave Rock and Roll To You”, on now on Rewired. I could have done a few Argent songs, but I wanted to just include the songs that I’ve written.
As far as the Argent stuff goes, aside from the hits, do you have any favorites that you wrote that kind of weren’t hits?
Yeah, I liked “It’s Only Money, (Part one and two)”, and I’m still doing that one actually, I still do that song. ‘God Gave…”, “Losing Hold” was a good song, I didn’t write that, Chris White wrote that, that’s a good song. But you had some good things there actually, “Pleasure”, “Liar”, of course that was an Argent song. We did some good. When we were together I didn’t know whether we were losing continuity as a band, you know, one moment we’re doing this, which is my writing, next moment we’re doing that. Maybe if we’d written it together we may have had more continuity, but I listen to things now, I do a great song, it’s a Chris White song, which was “Dance In The Smoke”. You’re too young to remember these, you probably might not.
Well, I’ve got the vinyl in front of me, but I picked up this last year. Have you seen that? (I show Russ the 2 CD Argent Hold Your Head Up, Best Of)
Yeah.
A pretty thorough collection. I know “Hold Your Head Up” wasn’t yours, but that was one that got covered immensely, like a lot of people.
By Uriah Heep (lol)
Yeah, Heep did it. There’s quite a few versions of that out there.
Yeah, I know there’s a few out there. Yeah, good song, but that came from “Time Of The Season”. We used to do Time of the Season, when we played in Germany we used to do Time of the Season, years ago, just as the Zombies split, probably in 1971, something like that, we used to play the (sings a bit of the beat).. You know, used to do that. Rod used to just start playing a solo on the song. We started going (sings the melody)… We started to do that, and it became another song. And Chris White said ‘when we get back from Germany we ought to write a song around that’, and he wrote with Rod, he wrote “Hold Your Head Up”.
What else do you got planned for the new album? I guess you got some shows coming up, do you have any more singles coming out?
Yeah, we’ve got some shows, going to Europe, going to Germany in a month’s time, out there three weeks in Germany. Bavaria is really good for me, I love that area, it’s a nice time to go. But you know, everyone knows my songs there, even my albums, they know my songs and they sing the choruses and everything, it’s beautiful.
I’ve got a great band, we’re very close and I’ve got a guitar player, Roly Jones, who I wrote “Resurrection” with, we wrote together. Marc Rapson on keyboards – he’s good, he’s another Rod Argent; PJ Phillips on bass and John Miller on drums.
Do you still do any producing outside of your own stuff?
Yeah, well I’m producing a band at the moment, I’ve got lots of young friends, 20, 30 years younger than me, so I’m involved with them They’re very, very good and they want to ask me if I could get involved with them. So, I’m doing that, I’ve got a band, Space Elevator, really, really good, I’ve got a girl singer, this is the girl that sang “Since You’ve Been Gone” with me. I was with the guitar player this morning, and I’ve done 14 songs with them, so we’re trying to put an album together. And I hope to get them a record deal, if possible.
Miami Vice was the other thing I wanted to ask about. You had 3 songs in that show!?
Yeah, “Voices” was in one, “In The Night’ was another one in there. People always remember that Miami Vice series.
I used to watch it a lot. There was always a musician as a guest actor or there was good new songs in there.
Jan Hammer did the music, wrote the (theme) music, didn’t he!? They had the 40th anniversary in September, in Florida.
San Antonio’s JASON KANE & THE JIVE have a new album out, as well as another on the way. Find Out For Yourself is their 4th album, and contains 8 tracks. Recorded during CoVid times, so they’ve been waiting to make these available. Find Out For Yourself is now on digital formats HERE and by ordering on CD HERE. You can also check it out at Jason’s YouTube page! It was recorded with Spencer Ramzel at Blackbuck Recording Haus. Again, dig the cool retro cover art, and the mix of funk, blues rock, soul, and hard rock. Early favorites include “Gambler” (complete with horns), the short ballad “Mother Refugee”, and “Rip Apart” (nice ’70s feel to this, cool change of pace after the solo).
There will also be a new ‘live’ album recorded at Jandro’s (Garden Patio), in San Antonio, to be released May 16. It features James Powell on bass, and Tommy Bryant on drums. Following that, the band, with Bryant and (bass player) Ace Jackson, will tour Spain in May & June (see below for dates), followed by shows in Germany and the Netherlands.
Since You Been Gone (or Since You’ve Been Gone) was a major hit for Rainbow (Ritchie Blackmore) in 1979. But the song had had a short history already and would go on to be recorded a number of times by various acts. Since You Been Gone was penned by former Argent singer/songwriter/guitarist Russ Ballard. Ballard made a huge name for himself as a songwriter, despite just the classics he wrote for Argent and his solo career, many rock fans may have heard the name for the numerous covers of his songs that have been hits for other artists – Ace Frehley, Kiss, Head East, America, Uriah Heep, Santana, Steve Windwood, Chuck Negron, Roger Daltrey, Jorn Lande, and dozens of others.
The song “Since You Been Gone” was originally recorded and released as a single in 1975, and featured on Russ Ballard’s 1976 solo album Winning – which also included the title song (which was covered numerous times). Winning also included such gems as “Halloween”, “Cuckoo”, and “Just A Dream Away” – all of which would be covered by other artists. Most recently Ballard has re-recorded the song for his upcoming double album Songs From The Warehouse and The Hits Re-Wired.
Below is a list of the rock versions of “Since You’ve Been Gone”. If there’s more, leave them in the comments. There is a few non-rock versions as well (see Michael Ball 🙂 )
Head East – 1978
Recorded by Illinois band Head East for their 1978 self-titled 4th album. Head East would be the band’s highest charting album, likely helped with there version of this song. It would be the band’s 2nd (and highest placing) charted single – in the US and Canada.
Clout – 1978
The 2nd single from the all-female South African band. The follow up to their big hit “Substitute” (The Righteous Brothers cover). They had a few other hits, including a cover of “Oohwatanite” by Canada’s April Wine.
Rainbow – 1979
The biggest hit version of this song, and one most people recognize. Great vocal from Graham Bonnet (Rainbow’s new singer at the time). Rainbow would later cover Ballard’s “I Surrender” as well.
Cherie & Marie Currie – 1979
Another really good take of this song, was a minor hit in the US. Cherie was in The Runaways and Marie was married to Steve Lukather. This was from their album Messin’ With The Boys (1980), which featured guitarists Lukather, Waddy Wachtel, (Canadian) Trevor Veitch (acoustic guitar), and other members of Toto. I like the keyboards on this version too, played by producer Jai Winding.
Taiska – 1980
From Finnish singer Taiska’s 3rd album Villi Vapaudenkaipuu. Sung in Finnish, and musically well played. The opening riff is played pretty heavier, well produced.
Alcatrazz – 1984
Another (of a few) featuring Graham Bonnet! This one from Alcatrazz’ Live Sentence (No Parole From Rock n Roll). Killer performance, and guitar from Yngwie Malmsteen.
Impellitteri – 1988
Another version sang by Graham Bonnet, this time for the debut album Stand In Line, by Impellitteri (guitarist Chris Impelliteri). The line up also featured Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot), Pat Torpey (Mr Big), and keyboard player Phil Wolfe.
Brian May Band – 1993
From Brian May’s excellent Live At Brixton Academy album. May plays this so well. The female backing singers are a nice add. His band featured Neil Murray, Spike Edney (keyboards), and Cozy Powell (the Rainbow connection). I thought May was a fine vocalist as well, a shame he didn’t continue with his own band instead of resurrecting another version of Queen.
Hi-Standard (1995)
A very different version from Japanese punk-rock trio Hi-Standard, from their 2nd full length album Growing Up.
The Company Of Snakes – 2001
From the band featuring former members of Whitesnake. This from their first release Here They Go Again, a great set of Whitesnake classics, and features the excellent vocals of Swedish singer Stefan Berggren. I imagine this was also in the set as Don Airey was in the band.
Crash Kelly – 2003
From Canadian band Crash Kelly’s debut album Penny Pills. Another cool version. Features guitarist / vocalist Sean Kelly (who went on to play with numerous Canuck acts, notably Lee Aaron and Coney Hatch). Penny Pills also includes a cover of Cheap Trick’s “Elo Kiddies”.
Pentti Hietanen – 2005
This one from Finnish singer’s album On The Rocks. This is a really good rockin’ version, good vocals, cool guitar sound, and piano. The album features covers of songs by Deep Purple, CCR, Procol Harum, Bad Company, etc…
Livesay – 2016
An ’80s influenced metal version from New York band. Kinda interesting with the added keyboard intro, and the Hammond organ in it, big guitar sound (cool solo take). From Livesay’s 4th album Frozen Hell.
Don Airey & Friends – 2017
From former Rainbow (Deep Purple) member’s 2018 release One Of A Kind. This is from the bonus live tracks Live At Fabrik, Hamburg 2017. A great version with Airey adding piano, and a band that includes Simon McBride (now of Deep Purple) and singer Carl Sentance (Nazareth).
Benji Webbe – 2020
Welsh singer who plays reggae or reggae-metal (w/ his band Skindred). This is from his collection of classic rock covers Isolation Project (Classic Rock To Rocksteady Covers). Webbe actually rewords this as “Isolation”.
Graham Bonnet & Marty Friedman – 2024
This newer version of the song was done with guitarist Marty Friedman (ex Megadeth) last year. Bonnet still sounds great!
Canadian author TIM DURLING started collecting 8-tracks well after they went out of style And print. Tim’s latest book ‘Unspooled‘ chronicles his collecting of 8-tracks years after the fact, and with a focus on this record clubs (popular in the decades before the internet) who carried 8-tracks
Unspooled will be of interest not just for the history and information on the 8-track format, but also for the nostalgia and the stories. This is a beautiful looking coffee table kinda book that you can pick up anytime, for the reading and for the cool images of hundreds of 8-track cartridges.
Unspooled isn’t just about 8-tracks, as it lists the year to year record club releases throughout the 80s, but also in here are Tim’s personal stories of the whole adventure of collecting. As a collector (mainly LPs and CDs), many of us can relate. Besides his stories, there’s contributions and interviews from fellow collectors, not just in 8-tracks, from Canadian rock writer Martin Popoff’s Forward, to legendary broadcaster Donna Halper (she who began playing Rush in the US), to various other collector’s and experts (be it in 8-tracks or rock knowledge in general!)
Version 1.0.0
At over 190 pages, full of colored images, lists, tales, antidotes, etc… Unspooled should really be worth checking out for any music collector.
+ Recently spoke with Tim Durling, watch for that interview coming here, soon.
It’s been a while, but here’s another installment of rock songs / classics that share a well known title. If there’s any other tracks titled “Dream On”, please drop them in the comments.
AEROSMITH – 1973
Aerosmith’s first single, from their first album, penned by Steven Tyler. Perhaps the band’s best loved classic.
SWEET – 1978
A ballad from the Level Headed album. Written and sang by Andy Scott. A strange choice as the lead off track on this album in some countries.
BLACKFOOT – 1980
A cool rock track from Blackfoot’s 4th album. Wasn’t the single, and not sure if this was ever played live, but solid tune on one of BF’s best albums..
NAZARETH – 1982
An excellent ballad, from 1982s 2xS album. I bought this album back then, my only Naz album for years (liked this track and “Love Leads To Madness”) Canadian band Helix did a fine cover of this in 1987.
RUSS BALLARD – 1985
A single, from The Fire Still Burns album. A good pop-rock cut, slightly reminiscent of Loverboy’s “Turn Me Loose”. Covered by American band King Kobra in ’86.
URIAH HEEP – 1995
The single and the last track from Uriah Heep’s 1995 comeback album Sea of Light. Penned by Trevor Bolder, another ballad, built around acoustic guitars and harmonies.
Outsider Rock 