BADFINGER: An interview with Bob Jackson

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Bob Jackson has been part of the British rock scene since the late 60s, as a keyboard player / singer / songwriter. He is best known perhaps to classic rock fans as being part of the final BADFINGER line up that featured Pete Ham. The long lost album that Bob recorded as part of BADFINGER, Head First, was given a proper mix and release late late year, mainly due to the efforts of Bob. I recently had the privilege to interview Bob Jackson about the new Head First release, as well as touch on some of the other bands and recordings he was invoked in throughout the 70s.

If you haven’t checked out Head First yet, you are missing out on a fantastic & historic classic rock release! Check out my interview with Bob, as well as visit the links at the bottom.

Are you still active? I haven’t seen any shows or anything lately.

I’m not doing shows at the moment though. As you realize, the Head First thing kind of took more or less a year out of my time. So I dropped doing any shows. I’d still like to think I’ll do some in the future, but it really depends how the album goes really. I’m just waiting to see.

Can you kind of go through the circumstances of how you joined the band (?), because you joined to replace Pete and then you guys had a five piece for a bit and then Joey left before you guys made the album.

That’s right. First of all, Pete wasn’t there. I got this telegram saying, ‘would you like to come and audition?’ And I’d just come off the back of a tour with another band in the States. And I came home, I left the band, which I was with ROSS, and we just did a Clapton tour. And I came back, and got this telegram and it didn’t say who it was for, it just said ‘you’ve been recommended, would you like to come down to London and do an audition?’ So, I did. I went down there, found out it was Badfinger and I just jammed with the guys really. I didn’t know a lot of the album tracks they were talking about. So, I kind of was lucky enough to have the audition, as they say. And then we rehearsed for maybe two to three days, and then Pete showed up at the rehearsal room and it was a little strange. I’d not met him before, obviously, and the guys, it seemed, weren’t expecting him. That was my impression. Anyway, he watched for a little bit, listened and said it sounded great. And then he left, the four of them went out, leaving me with the roadie sitting there thinking, ‘Okay, where am I in all this now? What’s going to happen?’ They were about half an hour (whatever it was), and came back and basically said, well, Pete’s going to rejoin. He knows the sound of it.
And luckily, as I said, I was a bit nervous about the situation, but luckily they said, we want to keep you on, it sounded great! So that was it really. That’s how I kind of came to replace Pete. And then suddenly Pete was back. So then we did a British tour, and that went really well. We went down great. But at the end of the tour, Joey decided to leave. So that was that.

Did you get along with all the guys? Did you guys do much socializing outside of it, outside of the work?

Yeah. I socialized with them all, wherever I could. I was like the new boy, obviously. And yeah, I got on great with everyone. It was really good. Great atmosphere, great social atmosphere as well as a musical atmosphere.

Did you do any guitar work as far as on stage or demos or anything while you were in Badfinger?

No, not yet. Yes, I did, but not at that point.

I was just wondering about the dynamic when you guys became a four-piece again after Joey left, if the expectation was that you were going to be playing guitar on stage, when the band had gone on in that or…

Well, we really didn’t discuss… I mean, I suppose that would have been the obvious thing that I would have played maybe 50% guitar, 50% keyboard or something. But it never really came up because after the tour, it wasn’t that long, we suddenly got a call and it was a surprise call as well, saying that the band had to go back into Apple and start recording again. And this, as I’ve just said, that was a surprise to us all.
So, we didn’t really have time to think about the forward planning of would I play guitar, would I do…It was just all so kind of rushed and confusing. That’s probably how it would have panned out. I’m sure that I would have played some songs on guitar, some songs on keyboard, which was appropriate.

I guess the first songs from Head First that appeared, I have on a 1990 compilation called The Best of Badfinger Part Two. I’m curious how those came about, because obviously nothing was out at that time from the album.

Well, Warner’s decided that they wanted to put those tracks out. And, you know, as you say, not a complete album, but just three or four of them along with other tracks, ‘the best of’. I was kind of put out about that. I thought, ‘well this is ridiculous’. While I was delighted to see that something was happening, why not the whole album? And also, I had a thing about the legality of it – they didn’t own them as far as I was concerned, you know – the master recordings. But anyway, Warners being a big record company like that, they just did it, didn’t they!? They put it out. And so that was the first time that they appeared.

That must have caused, I guess, quite a bit of fan reaction as far as people kind of maybe got the ball rolling at that point to people, fans that wanted to hear the whole album then.

Well, I guess so. I mean, I think the album, from what I can gather from fans, from way back is that the Head First was always a bit of a holy grail. No one could find it. No one knew what was happening with it, least of all me. I’d inquired about it many times over the years, and I was always told that the tapes were missing from their place in the warehouse, and that they must have either been lost, misplaced, or stolen. And I think the public was the same. It was like, ‘what the hell’s happening with this?’ It was a bit of a mystery all round.
And over the years, many years, people were sort of saying, ‘well, what about this album?’ There was a demo going around, which was a demo that I had, and I eventually decided to release that on Snapper Records in 2000. I knew it was just a demo, but it was the best I could do, and I thought, if I don’t do this, nothing will ever come out. That was my feelings at the time.

Had you, Tom or Mike; did you guys ever discuss this album as far as eventually getting it, doing something with it?

Tommy and I did. I can’t remember talking to Mike too much about it. But of course, don’t forget, from quite early on, he was a resident in the States, so unless we rang up specifically to talk about something, I didn’t always see him. Tommy and I talked about the idea of it and said, ‘what ever happened to that’; because no one could find any evidence of the tapes and so on, and then, as I said, there was the argument about the ownership. But yeah, we never had a plan. We never knew what to do about it.

I want to talk about some of the songs, because the one thing that amazes me, and maybe it’s just the whole thing about Badfinger music in general, is that for the time and all the things going on within the band, it’s a very upbeat, very good-feeling album overall. You know!?

Well, it is on the surface, but if you kind of scratch away the veneer of it; the lyrics are pretty dark on a lot of the tracks.

Yeah, I get that from Tom’s songs.

But I know what you mean, yeah. It does have a kind of overall impression of being quite ‘up’.

The songs that you contributed and the songs that you wrote with Tom, how did they come about? Did you have any ideas kind of stored away already that you kind of brought in, or were these kind of all put together in those two weeks?

We didn’t bring anything in that was completed. Just about all the album was just put together from the time that we were told that the studio was being booked, which was about two or three weeks before having to go in. The only one that I’d done a bit of work on was a track of mine, “Turn Around”, which I’d got the guitar parts for it, and I hadn’t really got a lyric. So, I got some bits and bobs toward that. Tommy was saying ‘have you got any stuff already? Bring some stuff in along with the rest of us’. So, I brought that along and kind of wrote the lyric later, when we were in the situation to kind of reflect the position we were in.

And your tracks fit right in. I don’t know how much you guys discussed as far as the actual track listing, what the actual track listing would end up being, or the whole sequencing and that, but it’s well put together, the whole package as far as the flow of the songs and that.

Yeah, I think it’s much improved. I gave it a lot of thought, the track listing, because I didn’t have anything to do with the 2000 one, I arranged it business-wise, but I had nothing to do with the production or the track listing. And by the way, we as a band, when we were in Apple recording it, we never discussed the track listing. So, the track listing, the old bootleg or demo you’ll hear, it wasn’t a decision made by the band. It was just all thrown together because we were in such a rush. So yeah, I thought by changing that running order around a little bit for this release last year.

As far as anything else that was talked about – the album title and album cover …I don’t know how much input you guys had in the album covers back then.

Well, Tommy had this idea that he brought up in the studio about it being called “Head First”. I think that was toward the end of the sessions. I think we were in the studio for about two weeks, 11, 12 days, (something like that) and Tom came up with this Head First idea. It was supposed to be the analogy of the old circus thing that they used to do where the ringmaster would open the lion’s mouth and dare people to put their head in. It was really based around that, and that was like an analogy of us as a band with Stan Polley, we were dicing with death, we were dicing with a really bad situation and we were tempting fate, really. So that was all Tom’s idea. Of course, at the time of the recording. That’s all we had – a title! There was no cover art arranged. We did take some photos, but they were lost, unfortunately. I tracked the photographer down, but he had thrown them out years before.

Two things, who all was around at the time of the sessions other than you guys and the engineer and that? And did you ever actually meet Stan Polley?

No, I personally never met Stan. I don’t have any regrets about that. He was a very sort of unctuous, scheming kind of guy from everything I can gather. So no, I never met him. Who was around!? Well, Stan had sent in his kind of people. He’d sent a guy called Richard Duryea, which was his gopher-guy, who was doing his bidding. And he sent over two producers, Kerner and Wise, Kenny Kerner and Richard Wise. And Bill Collins would occasionally come to the studio. But that was kind of it, really.

What were you, your lyrics on the songs you contributed, what were you writing about? Is it just things that were going on within the band? Is that kind of what the theme was and everything written around the band stuff?

Yeah, absolutely! You’ll probably note that most Badfinger stuff, anything in the catalogue, most of it is autobiographical. It does relate to what people were going through at the time. And besides something like Mike’s things, which are a little bit lighter in their tone. Certainly stuff like Tommy’s “Mr. Manager” and “Rock and Roll Contract” and my “Turn Around” – all those lyrics are just kind of bemoaning the state we were in and what an awful situation it was. So yeah, very autobiographical.

With the 2000 release,it had the second CD of all those demos, are those from the same sessions or …

No, they weren’t from the same sessions. The story behind that is that I just wanted Head First to come out. And I couldn’t find the master tapes. So I thought, ‘well I’ll put this rough demo out that the engineer, Phil McDonald had done’. And because I realized myself that that was a little bit second rate, I arranged to have all these other demos from sort of around the period, but they were nothing to do with the recording at all. They weren’t prepared to record. But I included those as a kind of bonus to make up for the fact that the 2000 release wasn’t really the proper produced album. It wasn’t really finished. Strangely, since then, when I put out this other album, this last year, people said, ‘Can we have some more demos?’ And it’s like, ‘No guys, this is a proper album. You don’t get demos with it’. This is the proper release. I think people found that a bit confusing that we’d included demos first time round.
And then this time,- No demos, but that was just the way it was. I’ve explained that so many times to people. No, this is the proper mixed mastered album. The other one wasn’t. You got those freebies because it wasn’t completed then.

So these other tracks that made up disc two, you guys went in the studio at other times for stuff. And were these just other ideas that, I guess you just had on tape that we might not see again?

Yeah. They were all home demos from each of us that might have developed into a bigger thing, but they didn’t; they were just our own home demos, personal demos.

So there’s no finished tracks that were not included?

No.

Okay.

No. We didn’t, as I keep saying, we really didn’t have the time. We were rushed in against our better judgment. And we had to work very methodically, very workmanlike, to finish the project in time.
In those days, to go in for less than two weeks and come up with a finished album was ridiculous, especially for a band of Badfinger’s standing, you know!? But we really didn’t have any spare time.

In the 70s, it must have been for bands like Badfinger, probably with Ross (because those albums were done close together), Uriah Heep, Black Sabbath, a lot of the bands, you had to record albums, two within a year, within six or eight months apart, correct?

Yeah, sometimes. It depends on the situation and the contract. Normally, about nine months was a comfortable break, because in between then, you’d want to gig and tour, and then you’d probably want a bit of time off. So, yeah, about once every nine months would be normal, I suppose.

You guys all had a couple of songs on this album (each). Do you have anything that you really enjoyed as far as things that you played on, or were Pete’s or Tom’s songs or that?

I enjoyed it all. I don’t think I’ve got a particular favorite. I really enjoyed the whole process of recording, and I’m very proud now to look back and think what we were able to accomplish, considering that our heads were all over the place. We were depressed and worried about this and that, so I’m just proud of what we did.

Has this whole project kind of been, for you, if you can explain sort of the sense of achievement or whatever the term is for yourself, to finally have it out and have your name as part of the band, a finished product out, if you know what I mean?

Well, in a sense, that had happened in 2000, and people saw that I actually was with the band. I think I’ve been a bit invisible.
People didn’t know my name, and I wasn’t a particularly good self-promoter. I didn’t get involved in lots of forums, you know. I think from 2000, it was pretty clear that I was in the band. Then Dan Matovina brought a book out, which explained a bit more about how I’d been in the band. But as far as this release goes, yeah, I’m immensely fulfilled. I suppose that’s the word. Proud to have, after all this time, 50 years, man(!); after all this time to have found the tapes, got over the legal hurdles of getting the tapes out, and then kind of mixed and mastered them with my partner, Andy Nixon. We mixed and mastered them. So, yeah, it’s a great sense of achievement, you know. It’s probably hard to imagine, but I’ve literally been chasing it for 50 years. It isn’t one of those things where I’ve forgotten about it for 10 years. I’ve always been looking for these tapes, and ‘how can we get the proper thing out?’ I’d almost lost hope, really.

Well, I gotta say (I have the vinyl), the whole package, like I said in my review, it’s like a first-class package as far as what you would expect and what you’d hope for from something from that time.

Well, thank you for that. There was a lot of effort that went behind it all. So, yeah, I’m delighted you like it.

As far as the UK tour, did you guys save anything to tape during that tour, any shows or anything?

No, there’s never been any live recording found. That’s another Holy Grail. I’ve never come across anything, put it like that. And, again, I’ve been looking for it and asking fans over many years. No, nothing, as far as I know. Which is extraordinary, really, when you think about it. You think over the time of a tour, someone, a fan or someone would have taped something(!) But, no, apparently not. That would be something.

I listened to an interview with Joey not too long ago, and he talked about how the band tended to play album tracks because sometimes the hits were a little complicated to play because you had more tracks within the song than, you could reproduce.

Well, there’s a kind of truth in that. I think what he was probably getting at was that, particularly if there was keyboards like “Day After Day”, or “Come And Get It”, and those sort of things. Pete had played that in the past, but he rarely got off guitar to just play the piano. It wasn’t worth bringing a piano along just for a few songs. Which was why, when I joined, it was a really happy kind of amalgamation, I thought. And so did the guys seem to think that as well, because at last, there was me – an extra voice, and an extra keyboard, and potentially extra guitar. So, eventually, of course, we were able to kind of add those things. But, of course, by this time Joey had left. But yeah, there’s an element of truth in what he says there.

Was there anything in the live set while you were there that you particularly liked?

I can’t think of anything. It is 50 years ago! (lol)

I understand.

I’ve played a lot of songs since then. No, I can’t really think of anything. I thoroughly just, I remember really enjoying the tour. I know we had a good kind of buzz on stage. It felt good. We worked well as a unit. But I can’t pick anything out as a particular favourite.

In the aftermath of when the band broke up and Pete was gone, what did you kind of do, what was your next move?

Well, we were all in shock. So I don’t think we were making rational decisions. We just all stopped playing. We completely stopped. There was talk of me and Mike getting together. I went down and visited him, in Swansea, where he was living at that point. And we talked about getting a band together, it didn’t happen. Tommy and I talked about it, but it didn’t happen. So yeah, for a long time, at least six or nine months, I just didn’t do anything. I felt like I was having a bit of a nervous breakdown, to be honest. I think we all were, to some degree. It was a very dark time.

Yeah. Just for clarification, are you still in touch with Pete’s estate? His family?

Oh yeah. I’m in touch with all the estates; the Badfinger family, if you want.

So has the family had an input or an okay in everything that’s been done as far as the album release and that, and any other projects?

Yeah, they okayed it. I went to them just like I had in 2000 about the Snapper release. I went and said, ‘look, I think this would be a great idea. Will you give me permission to go forward with it?’ So yeah, they’re kept in touch, of course.

There was later formations of Badfinger that you weren’t involved in. Was there any kind of mention to you about that at the time? Or was it just kind of, I get the impression it was almost like a record company sticking the name to the guys.

At that particular point…I was doing something else anyway. And the way Tommy told it to me later was that Joey had rung him up and said that a couple of American guys had come around to his house and said, ‘we want to be your band and we can reform Badfinger’. So, they then called Tommy up, who kind of went over for a few months and decided to shop some new material around. So, yeah, he didn’t involve me and he didn’t involve Mike, the drummer either. But you’re kind of right, it really was at the behest of like a record thing more than anything else. They did do some live work, but it was more of a record thing.

Now, the next album I know that you did as far as anything was The Dodgers album. And that was kind of still in that pop-rock vein as far as Badfinger was… Can you tell me a bit about the making of that album? It didn’t last long other than one album and a single (before the album), right!?

Yeah, that’s right. Tom and I got together with a couple of guys. Island Records had a couple of people that they were promoting. And it was suggested, Island reached out to me and Tommy and said, ‘would you like to get together with these guys and see if it works?’ Because they kind of need someone else and they haven’t got a full band. So we got together and called it ‘The Dodgers’.
It was a little bit poppier than… Well, quite a lot poppier really than Badfinger had been. Badfinger was more of a rock-based thing. But nevertheless, we tried to do a good job with it. And I think when we first got together in the early days when Muck Winwood was producing, those were the best times. But then we then kind of got a deal. We left Island and got a deal with Polydor.
Then we did the album. So at that point, Tommy had gone, and I mean, the album was okay, I just didn’t think it reflected what we were as a live band. Because we were rockier live, but the production of that album is quite sort of poppy really. But we made it as good as we could.

Did you do much live shows with the Dodgers?

Oh yeah, we did quite a lot of live work,

The first thing that I have of you on vinyl is the Indian Summer album. Was that your first, the first band as far as recording while you do that? Or had you recorded anything previously?

No, that was my first recording, my first kind of pro band. And we got picked up by the same management as Black Sabbath. In fact, they weren’t even called Black Sabbath. That’s how long ago it was, they were called ‘Earth’. And we were signed up as Indians, some of them were signed up as Earth and then they changed their names. But yeah, that was my first kind of pro band. And very kind of reflecting the times, it was very progressive music, rock and lots of improvisation. Yeah, so that was my first thing.

And you guys had fairly good local success in that?

Yeah, we had a good following. And again, we always went down great. But it didn’t translate into record sales. The album didn’t sell really. And we were left really not being able to live off the band. We just couldn’t make it work.

Did you guys share the bill at all with Earth on any shows or cross paths much?

Yeah, we shared it with Earth and when they were called Black Sabbath, which was, there wasn’t that long a difference, one minute they were Earth, the next minute they were Black Sabbath. We did several shows with the guys, in the very early stages, before they even released their first album.

Wow.

Yeah, so we got to know them pretty well, knew Ozzy pretty well.

Do you recall any other bands you crossed paths with and shared bills with?

Yeah, loads! Fleetwood Mac we played with, when Peter Green was still alive. A guy called Arthur Brown, Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

I love Arthur Brown!

We were on the same bill as him. I think we played with Yes at one point. Yeah, we played with loads of bands, because the scene back then was completely different, it wasn’t big, massive venues. Often they’d be fairly small-ish venues. Either 200 people up to about 300 or 400 people, there wasn’t big places and stadiums or anything like that you were playing. It was very rootsy. And there was so much music going on as well, it was a great time for innovation in music.

The next thing you played with Alan Ross and the band was called ‘Ross’.

That’s right.

Was that your next move?

I think it was, after Indian Summer. Yeah, because when it didn’t work, that kind of left me out of work. Yeah. And I didn’t have anything specific to go to. I got a recommendation, I was based in Coventry, my hometown, and they were based in London. But there was a guy, like an intermediary, a guy who knew them, and said to me, they’re looking for a keyboard player. So, I went down to do the audition, and it seemed to fit, it seemed to gel pretty well.

The first (Ross) album I think is a great album. They’re both good albums, but I prefer the first one.

Yeah, me too.

So obviously the band was built around Alan!? You had an interesting line up, you had the drummer as well as the percussion player, that kind of gave it kind of a unique feel to the band. I watched the live clip of you guys playing from the USA (or whatever), on YouTube, and that’s great, wow!

Oh yeah, I saw that, I only caught that about a year ago, someone told me that that was there. It cooked on stage, you know what I mean!? There was a real feeling of togetherness. When we got together, it wasn’t particularly supposed to be based around Alan. It wasn’t called Ross when I joined, because they’d been backing John Entwistle. And so Ross, the name ‘Ross’ wasn’t even in it. It was only after we got the record deal that Alan said, ‘Look, we ought to change the name’ and basically said ‘I’d like it to be Ross’. So we all went, ‘okay’. So that was how that worked out.

That live show, compared to the albums, it’s…I think some bands are just better live, right!? Like you said, with the Dodgers, it comes alive more.

Yeah.

What did you think of those albums? Was it kind of a tough going with those two? They didn’t really do much, did they?

The first one fell into place okay, the first album that we did. And I thought that was the better album, really. The second album, that was something that the manager, Robert Stigwood, he was a big impresario at the time, managed Clapton and Cream, the Bee Gees and all kinds of people. It was his idea to do this ‘Pit and the Pendulum‘ thing. It wasn’t our idea. And in those days, it was kind of like, I’m trying to find the right word, a bit overwhelming, really, when your manager said ‘I want you to do this’, you kind of did it. Nowadays you wouldn’t, you know what I mean!? People have found their feet a bit more and realzed their worth. In those days, if the manager said ‘do this’, it threw you a bit. So, we didn’t like the concept, but we were told to do it, so we did. That’s the gist of what happened there. It’s okay, I think there’s some good playing on it, but I just didn’t like that theme at all. I didn’t think it really worked.

Yeah, I actually, it took me a long time to figure out where the title came from, and then I stumbled across that movie there a couple of months ago.

Yeah, it’s a classic British film called, Pit and the Pendulum. Edgar Allan Poe, I think was the author. But as I said, the whole direction of that came from Stigwood and others.

Stigwood was involved in some other bands – Toe Fat, which was Cliff Bennett and Ken Hensley. Were you familiar with those guys at all?

Yeah, I knew the names. In fact, I’d seen the guys on tour, like at gigs and stuff before. Certainly I saw those bands, but not directly to do with Stigwood, no. He probably handled them as well.

I know the Gods, which was Ken’s band, and then he hooked up with Cliff Bennett for that band Toe Fat.

Yeah, I saw the Gods several times. They were good, really good.

It’s kind of another oddity. They just kind of did the two albums and kind of disappeared for a while.

Yeah, they did a lot of live work in small clubs in Britain.
I thought they were really good.

Did you ever see any of the guys from Ross after you left? Did you keep in touch with any of those guys?

They came along… I kept in touch with the drummer, Tony. I’ve always kept in touch with him, really. He went on to play for Rick Wakeman. So I’ve kept in touch with him. But the other guys, no, it kind of all fell by the wayside. And as you probably know, Alan’s passed away now anyway. So no, I never did keep in touch with them. The last time I saw them all together was they came to the first gig that I did with Badfinger. We did a theatre gig in London, and they all kind of suddenly showed up backstage, which was a surprise to me; to kind of support me, which was really nice. But no, we didn’t keep in touch socially after that.

What were the circumstances that you left? Because from what I read, you left kind of during the tour or while things were going on? How did that work out?

I just decided that I had enough, really. I thought we’d done some good work together. We’d worked well together. But part of the thing was that it wasn’t an equal band. Alan tended to kind of… well, he was the main guy. He was called Ross. It was his band.

Did you ever have any aspirations of doing your own thing as far as a solo album?

Yeah, I’ve been threatening that for years. I’ve got a backlog of loads of songs. I’ve always written. And that is a possibility in this coming year, this year now, but I’ll try and get some personal stuff out there. So keep your fingers crossed,it might happen.

Was there anything else you did beyond the Dodgers before the Byron Band stuff, or was that kind of your next move?

I’m trying to think which order it all came in at. I did the Dodgers thing first…Then before 83, I got back together with Tommy and Mike, and we’d started touring again. We did two or three tours like that in America. I think what happened after that I did some teaching for a while, I kind of left live playing. Because it was, it was so much time away all the while, you’re never at home. And by this time I had a family and so on. So I did do some teaching. Then I joined a band that had a bit of a reputation in England called ‘The Fortunes’, and I was with that for a years. In terms of convenience, it was great for me because the guys lived locally. So, I then left the teaching and kind of went and joined them.

So are you a keeper of stuff? Have you kept mementos and tapes and kind of everything you’ve been involved with over the years?

I am a bit of a hoarder, so yes, I’ve got a lot of bits and bobs, certainly a lot of contracts and paperwork, I know that for sure.

I find myself going back and digging more into the 70s and 80s stuff than I do with the new stuff. Like, the Indian Summer album, that was kind of an eye-opener, and stuff like that.

Well, I think the music business was genuinely more creative then. There was more diverse stuff happening, you know what I mean!? When you analyze in the late 60s, 70s, the diversity of material and styles. There was all kinds of things. That kind of has disappeared to a large extent now. That diversity isn’t really there anymore. Of course the whole scene went over to kind of dance music and stuff, which is a whole different thing. So, yeah, there’s a rich vein of talent to dig into in the late 60s, 70s. A lot of great stuff.

LINKS:

https://badfingeruk.com/home

https://badfingeruk.bandcamp.com/album/head-first

https://m.facebook.com/BadfingerOfficial/

URIAH HEEP – The Best of Uriah Heep (1974)

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URIAH HEEP switched record labels in North America in 1973. Following the release of Live… January 1973, the band left Mercury Records and were signed to the bigger Warner Brothers label, who had Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, and various other hard rock acts.
In 1974, Mercury Canada issued a ‘Best of Uriah Heep‘ in time for the spring, followed by a ‘Best of Volume 2′ in December. Both featuring kinda cheap black covers, but with liner notes on the back. All tracks from both albums (obviously) come from the first 5 Heep records. The first ‘Best of’ is very easily found here, as it’s been reissued a number of times, but ‘Volume 2’ is a bit more rare (especially in good condition) as it was only issued once (on LP & 8-track).

In 1976 Mercury US released the ‘Best of Uriah Heep‘ there. It featured a totally different cover And tracklisting. It also featured a timeline of band members, and lengthy liner notes on the back cover.

STRAWBS – Hero and Heroine (1974)

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Many years ago I heard the title track to this album at someone’s house. I had no idea who the STRAWBS were, but that dramatic intro/riff that repeats throughout the song was unforgettable. Years later, in the 2000s I had the opportunity to see Strawbs frontman Dave Cousins in Toronto, at a small venue, doing a ‘songs and stories’ show. Met Dave after the show, got his latest CDs…. After that my buddy and I stopped at a shop or 2, still open and not far from the venue, and I picked up a bunch of Strawbs on vinyl. Though I never got into all of them right away, I’ve found myself coming back to this album every so often for multiple listens, and it gets better each time.

Besides the standout title track, there’s a lot of variation here, a lot of atmosphere, a lot of acoustics, as the band – then sort of changing from a bluegrass/folk band to a more folk-progressive band, with more rock, and the use of various keyboards, mellotrons, etc… adding to the band’s sound. There was also lots of changes in the songs, such as with the album’s epic opener “Autumn: Heroine’s Theme; Deep Summer’s Sleep (Hold On To Me) The Winter Long”. Hero And Heroine featured 10 tracks, all of which are enjoyable, and there’s a smooth flow from song to song. Standouts for me, aside from the opener and the title track, would be the single “Shine On Silver Sun”, “Midnight Sun” (as it eases in right at the end of “Hero And Heroine”), and “Round And Round”, which after a lengthy intro, kicks in to a good rock tune.

I’m not sure, but I think Hero And Heroine was one of (if not – The) biggest Strawbs albums. It came at a time after the band had gone through a few personnel changes, and despite not charting high in the US or Canada, it was certified Gold in Canada, as the band seemed to build up quite a following here. I’ve seen a couple of CD versions with a couple of bonus tracks, but a proper deluxe version of this classic album is overdue, I think.

Ten Favorite CANADIAN Live albums

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A collection of favorite Canadian ‘live’ albums (ok, initially I meant to stop at 10…). I do realize there’s a lot more out there (and I have), so maybe a part 2 in the future (?). Feel free to drop omissions in the comments.

SAGA – In Transit

Released in August of 1982. My first and favorite SAGA album. I have a clear memory of buying this at the Eaton’s in the Rexdale Mall, not long after it came out. The mall was a few blocks from my grandmother’s house, so I’d go there when visiting. I bought it based on the 2 songs I’d heard on the radio – “On The Loose” and “Wind Him Up”. Loved this album – “Don’t Be Late”, “Humble Stance”, “Careful Where You Step”,… In Transit marked the end of the band’s best era (IMO). Still my favorite Canadian live album. Wish there was more from the shows tho’ to make an expanded reissue.

APRIL WINE – One For The Road

One of my first concerts was APRIL WINE at the Kingswood Music Theatre, at Canada’s Wonderland, just north of Toronto. What an amazing show! Too bad this was the band’s final tour, and more so a shame that this originally came out as a single LP. The 1985 release included 11 tracks, and really the band’s best-known songs, mainly from the 1978 onward era, though it only features 1 from the band’s final studio album Animal Grace (a shame they never played more from it). But “Anything You Want” was a killer opener, followed by classics like “I Like To Rock”, “All Over Town”, “Sign Of The Gypsy Queen”, and so on, plus a medley of ballads… But, there are a few glaring omissions with the original track listing, which was largely corrected years later with 4 songs added to CD and 2 LP reissues. All classic tunes and loads of energy capping off the band’s most successful era!

TEAZE – Live At Liege

In their day TEAZE only lasted about 5-6 years, 4 studio albums and their classic Live in Japan. But the band has reformed since 2019 to play a number of shows. This recent show (just released) captures the band, now pushing into their 70s, but you’d never know it from the energy and the lead vocals (Brian Danter). A dozen great rockers and anthems here, with favorites like “Back In Action”, “Touch The Wind”, “Heartless World” and “On The Loose” (which closes the set). If you don’t know anything about this band, this live disc is the place to start.

RUSH – Different Stages

There’s lots of RUSH live albums, but this is the one I play the most (from 1998)….and then maybe Rush In Rio (released 5 years later)…. But I like the sound of this one, and the set list, which features tracks from the band’s comeback pair of 90s albums – Counterparts and Test For Echo, as well as more from the band’s 80s (despite the glaring omission of “Subdivisions”). Love the inclusion of “Analog Kid” and “Big Money”, and newer favorites like “Driven” and “Animate”, plus the full 2112. Much prefer this to A Show Of Hands. it also came with a 3rd disc (bonus), of the band at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in 1978. Originally released on CD, but I see a 4-LP version was issued last year.

GODDO – Lighve: Best Seat In The House

Those first few GODDO albums were packed full of punchy, energetic rock tracks, and this 2 LP set was a bold move after just 3 albums, but it is a ‘must hear’, featuring all the band’s favorites (which, most of remained in the set forever). With what became their standard opening of “Anacana Panacana” (intro tape) and “So Walk On” and highlighted with best known favorites like “Sweet Thing”, “O Carole (Kiss My Whip)”, “Under My Hat”, and a 7+ minute performance of “Let That Lizard loose”. Years later the band repeated with 2nd Best Seat In The House, as well as an archived live release and a 35th Anniversary live set. I saw Goddo years ago in St Catharines, it was actually the first sit-down interview I ever did. Greg Godovitz recently put together a new version of the band to play shows to celebrate the band’s 50th Anniversary.

MOXY – Live In Toronto

Released in 2014 as Live In Toronto and also included as part of the band’s 40th Anniversary 2CD/DVD 40 Years And Still Riding High) release a year later (which I have). One of those ‘better late than never’ things, and with a new line up led by guitarist Earl Johnson and featuring lead vocals from Nick Walsh (Slik Toxic). 11 tracks (including the drum solo), taken from the band’s first 3 classic albums. Walsh was a great fit for the band as they went through favorites like “Out Of The Darkness”, “Nothing Comes Easy”, “Moon Rider”, “Sail On Sail Away”, and “Ridin’ High”. Johnson has a new version of the band currently playing shows, I believe.

LOVERBOY – Live In ’82

I was a fan, mainly of those first 3 LOVERBOY albums (and then someone brought In Mutt Lange (sigh). But Live In’82, (released last summer on CD & vinyl!) captures the band at their peak, playing songs from the first 2 albums (arguably their best). So you get high energy performances of their biggest hits like “Turn Me Loose”, “The Kid Is Hot Tonight”, and “Working For The Weekend”, as well as favorites from Get Lucky – “Jump”, “Lucky Ones” and “Take Me To The Top”.

FM- Retroactive: FM Archives Volume 1

Released in 1995, and I don’t ‘get’ the stupid title (as there was no further volumes), this was taken from the band’s 1994 short reunion tour to promote the CD release of their classic Black Noise album. I saw 2 of the 5 shows in small venues. The shows were awesome and captured well here. Don’t recall how many songs they played, but this includes 10 songs, notably their hit “Phasors On Stun”, and Black Noise favorite “Journey”, as well as best known songs like “This Lonely World” and “City Of Fear”, and their versions of “Shapes Of Things” and “Baba O’Riley”. A CD release only (included a retroactive CD-ROM track, don’t think I ever watched it), but would be nice if their was more from this little tour or the FM archives to hear some more.

CONEY HATCH – Live At The El Mocambo

The first of 2 live albums from CONEY HATCH, back-to-back. This one was recorded & video’d during CoVid, with a limited number of guests allowed in to see the show at Toronto’s legendary El Mocambo. A great mix, representing the band’s 4 studio albums, and long overdue. Not too long after came Postcard From Germany, which had been recorded in 2018. Hoping there’ll be more, as there’s a few good shows from the 80s (Cleveland 1982).

STREETHEART – Live After Dark

This 2 LP set was recorded following 6 albums from Winnipeg’s STREETHEART. Although I don’t think Streetheart’s albums were heavy, but more pop produced, Live After Dark showed the band rocked harder live. This features the band’s hits like “Action”, “What Kind Of Love Is This”, “Hollywood”, plus their excellent covers of “Tin Soldier”, and 12 & a half minute closing classic take of “Under My Thumb”! The band’s original line up would reunite and record 2014’s One Night One Take, but I’ve yet to hear that one. but Live After Dark is a pretty essential Canadian album.

THE GUESS WHO – Live At The Paramount

Another essential Canadian release, and better than simply picking up a ‘best of’ IMO. Live At the Paramount, from 1972, captured THE GUESS WHO in their prime; they had a ton of hits and some pretty cool album cuts, so this isn’t just a play through of the usual numbers. Only 7 tracks though on the original single LP (why!?), but there is favorites “Running Back To Saskatoon”, “Pain Train”, and the 16+ minute performance of “American Woman”! The CD version would thankfully add 6 more tracks and fix the running order.

Canadian Live Albums I’d Still Like to see…

A Foot In Coldwater – anything, be it from the early 70s or from one of the band’s reunion gigs over the years.

Santers – there is video of the band from Toronto, around 1982 or 83(?) Would be cool to master it for release.

Headpins – Saw the Headpins open for Loverboy in ’83, surely their must be a good live recording from that period(!?)

Harlequin – something from the band’s early 80s heyday, before they brought the guy from The Fixx in to produce!

Moxy – OK, something from the late 70s w/ Buzz Shearman.

Any other suggestions?

MARK HUFF – Dark Mile (interview)

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American singer Mark Huff became known to hard-rock/metal fans in 2010 when he took on the frontman’s role in a reformed Quiet Riot, following the passing of Kevin Dubrow. A difficult task, no doubt. His tenure with the band ended in 2012 with health issues, and Huff would return once healthier and sing in various projects. Last year he joined DARK MILE, a new band put together by Paul Alfery (guitar/keyboards) and former Dio guitarist Tracy G., and along with bass player Randy Oviedo put out their excellent self-titled debut album. I recently spoke with Mark about his past, his various other bands, Quiet Riot, and the Dark Mile CD, as well as what else is on the go. If you haven’t checked out this album yet, I highly recommend it!

Who were some of your favorite singers you grew up on?

Don Henley, Phil Collins, Paul Rodgers, Robert Plant, Steve Walsh.., and the list goes on. 

Did you buy a lot of albums growing up? Do you still keep an album collection?

I keep a few albums, tapes etc. I still have – Eagles Hotel California, Steve Miller’s Book of Dreams, Nazareth Hair of the Dog, Kansas Point of No Return, Kiss Alive signed by Paul and Gene, and a bunch of well-worn Led Zepplin, Steppenwolf, Deep Purple Machine Head… 

What other bands did you grew up on?

Beatles, Golden Earring, Bad Company, Eagles, Aerosmith, Kansas, Cheap Trick, Cars, Ted Nugent.   

So when you landed in California, what were some of the first bands you got involved in?

That was OU812. That was a good friend of mine named Angel Llanos. He’s still there in San Diego. He does a tribute to Carlos Santana, and he stays real busy doing that.

0U812, 5150/ Atomic Punks, Lead Foot Overdrive,             

What were some of your favorites from that Van Halen era of Sammy? Do you have any song preferences from that era?

5150, We played all the hits from the Van Hagar era and a few obscure deep cuts – “Right Now”, “Dreams”, “When It’s Love”, “Black n Blue”. With 0U812, we did ANYTHING SAMMY – Montrose, solo songs, Chicken Foot, The Wabo’s….             

That’s good. I love all those albums. 5150 was a favorite of mine.

I think that my covering of the vocals of the Sammy era, live and on video, are what got me recognized and a call from Frankie Banali.

Cool, and the Deep Purple stuff you did as well?

‘Deeper Purple’, we covered songs from, I think, all three singers. That was fun to me and that was always a challenge too.

During this time prior to Quiet Riot, had you done any recording stuff or any kind of original stuff?

Prior to Quiet Riot, I did a project with a band called ‘Leadfoot Overdrive’ in San Diego and Jeff Poremba, Steve Bernstein, Greg rupp and Mikey Panone. No releases but a great project. I still have recordings. 

So that stuff you did prior to Quiet Riot, some of that was original stuff?

Yes, all original songs.

And the Quiet Riot thing, you were there with Frankie and the guys had been there for a while!?

Yes. Frankie ,Chuck Wright, Alex Grossi (he’s still playing).

With Quiet Riot, I know you were there for a couple of years, did about 40 shows. I know it didn’t end well, but what were kind of the highlights while you were there?

All a learning experience through a time I wasn’t physically well. But biggest crowd was in Germany ‘Bang Your Head Festival’, maybe 30,000 + the travel and locations I will never forget.  I was fortunate to be included in many shows alongside people I had to pinch myself to question the reality. It was all an honor and a privilege. Doing a show in the mountains, snowing outside, stage is outside and at that elevation, they offered oxygen tanks if you needed to take a pull on stage. Shout out to all the kind people along the way!   

Was there any opportunity or talk of doing anything original while you were there?

The possibility was discussed, but I wasn’t there long enough to see it happen 

Post-Quiet Riot, you’ve done some other things as well, at least one or two albums?

‘Steel Imagination’ doing covers, and ‘Endangered Species’ – all original; I have recordings of that as well

I did some music with Craig Goldy. After I was well enough and anybody locally thought that I was ready to start getting involved in music again, he was one of the people that approached me too; that was probably from seeing me play in a ‘Deeper Purple’ show at Brick by Brick.

Greg and I worked on some stuff, and he was the first initial one to kind of … ‘baptize me’ with trying to record from home. We did everything from my house, and he mastered everything at home. And that was a learning experience, and he was the one that kind of helped me feel like I could still do this. We aspired it to do other things with it, but… it was more about the politics of who I sang with…and maybe politics for him personally too, I don’t know. I did that with Craig and those things were called ’13th Floor” (live, this was Endangered Species).

And then I hadn’t done anything for a while and I went to Florida, did a show with a band called Trixie Lee Taylor (with Taylor Murphy). I was blessed that people cared about me, wanted to be involved with me and for anything that was positive that way. I got to bounce around a little bit. And then after that I got approached, by someone on the phone, from up your way there in New York. And (he) approached me about doing some music. He already had songs written. And again, he kept me active in music and stuff and that didn’t work out. So, we’re at where we are right now.

You did an album in 2017!?

It was called ‘Steel Mountain Crossing’.

What was that about?

I was contacted by someone who wanted to make some music with me. We made some recordings, originals and a few covers. None of my songs. We are on opposite coasts so it was too hard to do long distance at the time. Creative differences but we gave it a go.   

You eventually met Paul Alfery and Tracy G, and they’ve started this Dark Mile project. What did you think about that when they approached you with it? I think they had a lot of the songs written before you joined, correct?

Paul Alfery contacted me via a musicians’ app called ‘Band Mix’. My profile only states that I am a professional singer looking to stay active. Paul said a project he is working on needs a vocalist to finish a song, possibly more. We get through the song as we come to know who is in this project…. Tracy G, Paul Alfery, Randy Oviedo. So out of respect to these gentlemen, I had to reluctantly let them know that I was that guy from QR. When anything on the internet about you is not very positive, the last thing you would want to do is brag about any of it. I wanted a job where I didnt have to act, look, or sound like any one or thing except me.   You can always be compared to someone else, the look, the sound. I appreciate this opportunity. My vocal spot here is…,I sing.,I have not written any of these songs. I give input. We collaborate. And these guys make it super simple for me.  We tweak the melody, words here and there. Come up with another verse, float it around to each member until it works. 

You did all the vocals from home?

Yes I did.

And were all the lyrics done for you? Or did you have to tweak a few here and there?

Every song comes to me differently. We tackle each song differently depending on what Paul has planned. The process gets better all the time; practice makes perfect.

Do you have a favorite, any favorite tracks on there? Or are you just all, you’re happy?

I like “The Boy” and I like, “He Said, She Said”, “Maybe On A Sunday”,…”Can’t Help You” …We are proud of the efforts, it’s all my favorite!! 

How far along are you guys with the second album?

Just a couple songs to finish, we just finished a ballad for #2.. We thought we should put one on there. 

Will it still maintain that kind of that 80s hard rock vibe?

That’s hard for me to say without hearing mastering, but it sounds great!!

Has there been any discussion about doing any live shows at some point?

We are prepared to do live shows in support of our music if warranted.  I’ve been doing my parts, I have them tattooed on my brain and I’m ready to do this live, no problem… We all are!

What else are you involved in right now?

I’m working on doing something local soon, some recording.  

What’s the live scene like where you are?

My friends Jeff Mills, Lynn Sorenson are active in the scene here. It’s about time for an open mic drop. People are getting back to entertainment!                                                  

Lynn Sorenson, he was on a couple, he was on the Stuart Smith album with Heaven and Earth.

Yes, he was. Lynn lives north of me. He stays busy doing what he loves. He’s played with Bad Company for a while, Paul Rogers and stuff. He’s a string player, he plays anything with strings, but he’s a great singer as well.

Cool. Lastly, do you listen to, you’re familiar with any Canadian bands?

Kim Mitchell, Loverboy, Honeymoon Suite, BTO, Rush, April Wine, Triumph, Mahogany Rush, The Guess Who, Steppenwolf…

I used to play the club circuit from all of Washington and Oregon, and all the way to the Canadian border. And we were playing Port Angeles. We had a guy in the audience for the whole night, and it was an off night, (early in the week), but he was very appreciative, and we got talking to him and it was Randy Bachman! He was going to catch his ferry back over to Victoria. We used to cover a lot of Loverboy, “Working For The Weekend” and “Turn Me Loose”, a few songs… April Wine was one of my favorites too, as far as the 3-guitar piece band, and the vocals and everything; we did a few April Wine songs too,

Anything else you’re listening to these days?

The works of Tracy G. The Winery Dogs, Myles Kennedy and everything that still inspires me! 

LINKS;

https://www.instagram.com/darkmileband/

http://www.prideandjoy.de

New Tracks: Harem Scarem, Russ Ballard, Envy Of None…

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Well, a quick run down of some new tracks & videos worth checking out! If you got any new classic rock/hard recommendations, drop me a note or put them in the comments! As always, for more info, check out the descriptions in the videos for more info and links.

RUSS BALLARD – New York Groove

Originally of the classic band ARGENT, Russ Ballard left the band for a solo career, and is likely better known as a songwriter who’s songs have become hits for numerous acts like Rainbow, Kiss, Santana, America, and this song – which was a hit for Kiss’ Ace Frehley in 1978. The song was previously covered by British glam band ‘Hello’. And now Ballard has made a new version of the song.

HAREM.SCAREM – Reliving History

Canadian rockers HAREM SCAREM have a new single out. I picked up the band’s first 5 or 6 albums way back, and always enjoyed them. This is good, very likeable compared to the early stuff.

HOUSE OF LORDS – Cry Of The Wicked

Fronted by singer James Christian, HOL is pretty consistent with good songs and album covers! 🙂 This is from the band’s new album Full Tilt Overdrive.

ENVY OF NONE – Under The Stars

the 2nd single from the 2nd (forthcoming) album of EON, which features Alex Lifeson (Rush), and Andy Curran (Coney Hatch). Check it out. Very atmosphere track, nothing like anything you’ve heard before.

STREETLIGHT – Captured In The Night

New single from Swedish band that is influenced by 80s AOR/melodic Hard rock like Journey, Toto, Kansas… Their new (2nd?) album is titled Night Vision, due out next month.

HELLOWEEN – Future World (live)

From German power metal legends HELLOWEEN, who have a new Live At Budokan release out now.

BADFINGER – Head First (a review)

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Admittedly I am a late BADFINGER fan. I did not grow up while the band was active, but only got in to them casually years ago with a ‘Best of Badfinger‘ CD. I was so oblivious that some 20+ years ago I contacted Bob Jackson and sent him questions pertaining to his time with the David Byron Band in the early 80, (I am a huge Uriah Heep fan), and the Badfinger connection didn’t dawn on me at the time! Years later, and after the Best of CD, I started picking up Badfinger albums; I liked them, but when I picked up Wish You Were Here, and put it on – I was hooked! The previous hits were good, but this whole album I loved. In 2019 I had tickets to see Uriah Heep in Ohio for 3 nights in a row, but instead, the day before I came down with a virus and was put in the hospital for nearly a week. So, I had my wife bring in my laptop so I could write, and for a few days I researched further and wrote a retrospective on Badfinger. After that I picked up more CDs, reissues….and the 2 CD version of Head First. The songs on that 2 CD release were not the intended properly mixed album, but I enjoyed the songs! So, back to the album….

Head First was to be the follow up to the I’ll fated Wish You Were Here. A strange time for the band. Remember, back in those days many bands were expected to come up with new albums every 8 months or so, and many classic albums were recorded remarkably in short periods of time (the first Black Sabbath album for example). So, while Badfinger’s manager was stealing the band’s money from Warners, the band were thrown into a mess, with their central figure – Pete Ham, leaving. Bob Jackson (a keyboard player) was auditioned and joined. Pete Ham returned, and briefly there was a 5-man line-up. At the end of a UK tour Joey Molland left, and Badfinger was back to being a 4 piece. During this time Warners pulled Wish You Were Here from the shelves and filed lawsuit against the band (and manager) for missing money. The band’s manager (who took the money), hurried Badfinger back to the studio to record a follow up, which the band did in less than 2 weeks. But the lawsuit brought the band to a halt. In all this Pete Ham saw no way out and hung himself. The band was effectively done. Sure, there were Badfinger albums released in 1977 and 81, with a couple of originals, but it wasn’t even close without Pete Ham. Tom Evans would also kill himself. In 2000 Head First was released as a 1 and 2 CD set, featuring the songs recorded during that brief 2-week period. Since then, reissues and Pete Ham archives tapes have been released, as well as more recently a collection of Tom Evans demos.

A few months ago came the surprise news that an official version of Head First was to be released (on vinyl and CD). And well, although I’ve had access to listen to this online (to review) I really prefer a physical copy of an album to get into, and this was one I’ve been very excited to receive since it’s announcement, as I’m sure many longtime Badfinger fans have been as well. So, first off is the packaging…Head First comes in a glorious gatefold cover featuring the shot of the lion roaring on the front and the apartment pic on the back, with the track listing. The inner gatefold includes bandmember photos along with track by track performance credits on one side, and more photos of bandmembers along with pics of various correspondence, contracts, and letters pertaining to Head First. Inside (aside from the LP), there’s a 12-page colored booklet with lyrics, more photos, and more credits pertaining to this release. So, the packaging alone is first class, and one can enjoy this album old school – while looking through the jacket, booklet and reading the lyrics.

The album itself contains the same songs, albeit not exactly in the same order, as the 2000 CD release. But here, you get a proper mix, amazing sound. Maybe it’s me, but Head First, like Wish You Were Here, sound like they were ahead of their time in many ways, and for me, well beyond the band’s previous albums, like it’s hard to believe this was all recorded over 50 years ago. But Head First is the final missing piece of the Badfinger puzzle. The songs here, recorded quickly are all impressive, varied, with all 4 members contributing to the writing and lead vocals. The lead off track “Lay Me Down” is upbeat, catchy, with great harmonies throughout, a fantastic production, written and sang by Pete Ham. This (to me) would’ve been an obvious hit single! (And lo and behold this one was issued as the first video / single from this release!). Tom Evans contributed 2 cuts to what became side 1 – the more pop driven “Hey Mr Manager” and the rocking “Rock ‘N’ Roll Contract”: both songs dealing with the band’s situation at the time – “Hey Mr Manager” taking aim at the band’s corrupt manager Stan Polley. (Then) new guy Bob Jackson contributed perhaps the heaviest and most progressive tune here with “Turn Around”, featuring his lead vocals, and a cool mix of guitar and Hammond organ (if anyone’s heard the Indian Summer album from ’71, it is a heavier album, featuring plenty of Hammond organ and Bob’s vocals, a noteworthy comparison, but “Turn Around” is one of my favorites here). The first side also includes Mike Gibbins acoustic ballad “Back Again”, another gem, highlighted by the band’s harmonies, synths, and a harmonica solo from Pete Ham.

Side 2 opens with a classic Pete Ham song, “Keep Believing”, kind of a mid-tempo, almost ballad tune, with piano and slide guitar. I’ve read Ham wrote the song as a message to departed band member Joey Molland. “Moonshine” is another on the lighter side, and one of 2 that features Evans and Jackson sharing lead vocals; the other being “Passed Fast”. Both are enjoyable and memorable tunes. the latter co-written by Evans, Gibbins, and Jackson with Evans & Jackson sharing lead vocals, while the former is co-written by Evans & Jackson, and it’s another standout on here. “Rockin’ Machine” is another Mike Gibbins number that is very different, kind of a country-ish styled singalong/pub feel to it. The album ends with a re-edited mix of Pete Ham’s short instrumental “Saville Row”, which has added synths from Bob Jackson.

Overall, just a thoroughly excellent release, in so many ways. A must for any Badfinger fan (obviously), but also highly recommended to fans of classic rock. Bob Jackson deserves a lot of credit (and thanks) for his efforts to get this album done and out properly, after so many years. Well worth it!

LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/BadfingerOfficial

https://badfingeruk.com/product/1048770-head-first-cd

https://badfingeruk.bandcamp.com/album/head-first

BLUE OYSTER CULT – 50th Anniversary, Third Night Live

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BLUE OYSTER CULT sets the bar for how legacy bands celebrate anniversaries, release archived material, and put on important shows.

Third Night Live features the band (in it’s current line-up – Donald Roeser, Eric Bloom, Richie Castellano, Danny Miranda, and Jules Radino) performing the best (arguably) BOC album – Secret Treaties – in full, along with 2 other LPs’ worth of BOC deep cuts & classics. Those first 3 BOC albums sound pretty primitively recorded, so these live recordings offer a modern contrast, with most of the same voices. Albert Bouchard (original drummer, who also wrote and sang) is a special guest here, as is former member Kasim Sulton (on a few tracks), and keyboard player Andy Ascolese (The Band Geeks). Would’ve been nice if they’d included Joe Bouchard (original bass player), and co-writer of the epic “Astronomy”, but we can’t expect everything, I guess.

I like having things in ‘sets’ (I have all 3 Nights on vinyl) and Third Night Live completes a historical set of albums. Each of these albums’ cover art, brilliantly created by Stan W Decker (who’s done a number of recent BOC covers, as well as the stunning cover for Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks) pays homage to the original covers and stick to a neat pattern – same band name lettering, artwork in frame, dark covers, so they visibly look perfect together. LPs are in a simple straight sleeve, no gatefolds, and no inserts.

The extra material, beyond the album being played in full, offers up a few gems, and a few repeats night to night (the ‘must play’ hits, and a couple from the band’s last new recording – The Symbol Remains. But there plenty of welcomed inclusions for big BOC fans, with Third Night Live including favorites – “Black Blade” (from Cultosaurus Erectus), “Shooting Shark” (from Revolution By Night), “I Love The Night” (Spectres), and “Joan Crawford” (Fire Of Unknown Origin). It also includes “The Alchemist”, from The Symbol Remains, actually performed the previous night, but held over to be included here. A couple of other Symbol Remains cuts might’ve been cool, with 2 more of the same here that featured on the First Night, but oh well. This whole set is damn near perfect, from the added song choices, performances, recordings, and packaging, making these 3 releases ‘must haves’ for BOC fans.

Not sure what else (if any) the band might be doing as far as album anniversary shows go, but to me Spectres – in full would be the next obvious one (their 5th studio album, with so many classics!), and maybe Fire Of Unknown Origin (their highest charting album in the US & Canada).

http://www.blueoystercult.com

ROSS – Ross (1974)

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Formed by guitarist/singer/songwriter Alan Ross, this band released 2 albums in the mid ’70s. Alan Ross was best known for playing on a few John Entwistle albums and had recorded with the band RO RO – which also included bass player Warwick Rose. ROSS also included keyboard player Bob Jackson (ex-Indian Summer), bassist Steve Emery (ex-Legs), and percussion player Reuben White and drummer Tony Fernandez. Released in early 1974 featured cover art by Patrick Woodroffe, who would later do covers for Judas Priest, The Strawbs, Budgie and others.

Ross featured 10 cuts, all written by Alan Ross, but the lead off track (and single) “Alright By Me” was a co-write with Emery & Jackson. For the most part Ross is a good set of rock with influences of R&B and funk, with Ross’ guitar playing being the main draw, along with the band’s vocal harmonies. Ross wrote plenty of different and excellent tunes, despite not having any hits here, Ross is a more obscure 70s album worth checking out. Highlights include “You’re Looking Down A Road”, “Wherever You Go” and “Help Me Understand”, which features some cool interplay between guitar and organ, a good jam. There’s also a few acoustic tracks and ballads, notably “Caroline” (this would’ve made a fine single, but was used as the B-side), “Blackbird” (which had previously been recorded & released with ‘Ro Ro’), and “Leave it All Behind You”, which ends the record.

Ross released a 2nd album later the same year, The Pit And The Pendulum, and undertook 3 US tours, their biggest as openers to Eric Clapton. Bob Jackson left the band during the band’s last US tour, which (I think) effectively ended the band. He would join Badfinger soon after. Neither Ross album is easily available on CD, and would be an interesting package for some label to consider, especially with some of the excellent live material online (Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert, 1975, see below). Alan Ross would go on to record as a solo artist, and with the band ‘STARS’ (which also included the late Ric Parnell, on drums). Sadly Alan passed away in 2019. But both Ross albums are well worth hearing, especially the first one (IMO), and the live performance shows they were even better as a live band. Check them out. I’ve also added a few articles and links below to find more on this band, and Alan Ross.

ROSS ROSS RSO SUPER 2394 127
‘Funky’ is how composer/singer/guitarist Alan Ross describes his music and funky it is, due in no small measure to the percussion work of Tony Fernandez and Reuben White. Instrumentally this debut album has a blues -jazz influenced drive which is particularly noticeable on the up -tempo tracks such as Help Me Understand, I Need Your Love and Wherever You Go. However, the tracks do seem samey and although the guitar and keyboards complement each other the solos sound repetitive and frankly uninspired – seems I’ve heard it all before. As a lyricist Ross doesn’t seem to have a lot to say and the vocal delivery sounds thin and stereotyped. The lyrics tend to be superfluous, except perhaps as a basic framework for the backing by which they’re mostly obscured. The most striking feature of this album is the sleeve design which contains enough erotic symbolism to justify reproduction in Men House or Pent Only (or whatever it’s called). Either you love it or you hate it – unlike the disc which really doesn’t register either way. D.R (Beat Instrumental, 06-74)

LINKS:

https://lowando.blogspot.com/2010/06/british-guitarist-alan-ross.html

https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/jan/31/old-music-ross-swallow-your-dreams

http://badcatrecords.com/ROSS.htm

APRIL WINE – Marc Parent discusses his past, joining the band and their current happenings

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Back in 2014 APRIL WINE founder Myles Goodwyn expressed his desire to retire from playing live with the band, but it would be over 8 years, in December of 2022 that Marc Parent was announced, having been chosen by Myles, to take over the band’s lead vocal and guitar duties (alongside Brian Greenway). Parent debuted with the band last April. Sadly Myles Goodwyn passed away December 3 of 2023. But choosing Parent was so that the songs (mostly written by Goodwyn) would carry on to be enjoyed by fans. April Wine has had a busy year playing live, and 2025 looks to busier and very interesting, with festival shows, as well as a UK tour as openers for Uriah Heep, followed by a Canadian tour opening for Randy Bachman’s BTO. In this interview Marc discussed his past, previous bands, influences, how he came to join April Wine, how things are working in the band, highlights, and a few surprises.

*Check out the links at the bottom of the page for more info, tour dates, etc…

Can you tell me a bit about your earlier stuff, your musical influences and some of the stuff you grew up on listening to?

I’m a total classic rock guy. first album I ever got; I traded a buddy of mine for a Playboy magazine. It was the first Boston album. He wanted the Playboy and I wanted his Boston album. So, we swapped.

So, I’m pretty much a classic rock guy; grew up listening to that and a lot of progressive rock and I got into, after Kiss, Styx and Boston, I got into Genesis and Gentle Giant and Yes.

And I was also studying to be a jazz guitar player, so I was interested in Pat Metheny, Larry Carlton, Lee Rittenour and Wes Montgomery and all those guitar gods.

In your early days what was the scene up there? Did you play in a lot of cover bands or beforehand, in the 80s and 90s?

No, actually, the first band I ever played in was like an original band out of high school. We were called ‘Sigma’. And, the first gig I ever did I was 17 years old and we were doing originals. We had an electric violinist, we had a girl on bass, we had a sax player, we did original tunes. At that point I had a music teacher, his name was Regean Gauvreau and he was very influential because he had a big band and he would work; every weekend he would book his big band at the Chateau Laurier Hotel, in Ottawa or at the Congress Center or he would do these corporate events, and he would hire me as the guitar player in this big band. So, I had to be able to read music and I had to wear a suit, and he really taught me a lot about the business of being a professional musician. This would be, like, early 80s.

So, then I was studying to be more like a jazz guitar player, and I ended up – my neighbor was going out with a bass player in a band called ‘Eight Seconds’ in Ottawa. And she would listen to me practice, in my bedroom and she said ‘You gotta come see my boyfriend’s band’. So I went to see Eight Seconds play and I said to myself ‘I could do better than that guitar player’. You know, just as a typical 20-year-old, watching the guy play with my arms crossed in front of the stage kind of deal. And, it’s very weird, at the same time I was working in a music store in Aylmer, Quebec, my hometown; and this guy walked in and gave me some business cards and said ‘I just opened up a local recording studio and if you know any musicians who want to do demos, I would appreciate it if you would hand them my card’. And I said ‘well, I’m a guitar player and I’ve never really recorded in the studio’; he said ‘well, come on over and you can play guitar on a couple of my songs’. I did that and at the same time, Eight Seconds were recording demos at his studio. And they, at the same time, decided they wanted to trade up, or change guitar players. So, this gentleman, Manfred Leidecker, said ‘well, listen to this kid I just recorded him’. And they gave me an audition and I got the gig with Eight Seconds. The band that my neighbor took me to go see, maybe a month before. Next thing I knew I was in that band, and I was 23 years old. And the first gig I ever did with them was opening up for ‘Luba’ at the Ottawa Congress Center. And they scored a number one hit in Canada with “Kiss You When It’s Dangerous”. We opened up for David Bowie and Wang Chung and Paul Young and we did a North American tour. The next thing I knew I was living the dream. From ’85 to ’87, it was unbelievable!

And how many albums did you guys do? Just a couple or…?

I was on Ottawa Rima, which is a self-produced first album. Then that generated the interest of Rupert Hine and Polygram Records. So, then we did Almacantar, which had the “Kiss You When It’s Dangerous” hit on it. And, and then they did a great album. I got the boot in ’87 and they decided to go without a guitar player. It was very support oriented, in those years. And they did another album, which is in my opinion, was their best album, which is called Big Houses. And they produced that one at Le Studio, in Morin Heights. I was not on that one, Bill Beaudoin played the guitar on that one. That was in 1990.

Were you a writer?

Yeah, I wrote some stuff on Almacantar. Not complete songs, but melodies and, certain choruses and stuff like that. I was just getting my feet wet, as the singer, guitar player, writer. That was basically my first attempt was with Eight Seconds.

Was there any other recording bands or did you, like, locally throughout the years before April Wine came along?

After Eight Seconds, I moved to Montreal in ’87 and did a bachelor’s degree in music at Concordia University, And realized that the scene in Montreal, there was a strong blues scene. A lot of clubs had bands that played blues. Three sets, four sets a night, four – 45-minute sets. So, I put together a band that still exists to this day. It’s called Wang Dang Doodle. I put that band together in 1989. And just learned the craft of playing live and singing and fronting a band, in the clubs in Quebec and Ontario. And I still play with that band once a month, just because it’s fun.

And playing the Quebec blues circuit, I met Richard Lanthier, who was playing bass in that same circuit. And I hired Richard a few times to play in my band. And he hired me to play with Carl Tremblay’s band. We basically knew each other. When Myles Goodwyn’s health issues got a little worse about eight years ago, Richard recommended me. And I auditioned for Myles on the phone. He liked what he heard and offered me the gig. And I, you know, I just had my first child, and I had a pretty good day job. Unfortunately, I had to refuse. So, I actually said no to April Wine eight years ago. And I couldn’t believe it. I was telling all my friends; I can’t believe I just said no to April Wine.

And they kept going. Myles hung in there for another eight years. Luckily for me, they didn’t find a replacement for Myles. And then Myles’ issue post-COVID, became worse. And then he said, ‘how about that Marc guy that we auditioned eight years ago?’ At that point my girls were more grown up. And I had returned to being a full-time musician. So, the timing was just right. I didn’t say no the second time around.

That’s interesting, because I remember that post going up years ago that he wanted to step back. And people flooded the April Wine groups with names and stuff and suggestions. And then there was nothing said for years.

I think a couple of guys, Myles was very, very picky in what he wanted. And I think he put a couple of guys through the ringer there, they auditioned for him, and I think it was pretty tough. I was just in the right place at the right time. Like, lucky for me, he didn’t find his guy. You know, and he liked, and he liked me. So, my voice naturally sounds like his. I don’t try to imitate Myles when I sing. I just respect the melody of the song as close as I can to the record. And I just put my own energy into it, my own vocal style. And I respect Myles’ vocal style. I try to be as close to the original as possible. But I don’t imitate. I’m not an impersonator. I don’t do that.

And he had a pretty recognizable, distinctive voice.

Absolutely! All the great singers do.

Do you remember what you were required to learn to audition with?

Well, I did “Roller” and “Gypsy Queen” for him, on the phone eight years ago. And then this time around, when I got the call the second time, I took out my iPhone and an acoustic guitar, and I just did a rough demo. And I sent it to him, and I said ‘listen, this is as rough as it gets’. It’s my friggin’ phone and an acoustic guitar. Nothing else. ‘And if you like the tone of the voice and you like what you hear, then maybe we’re onto something here.’

And he was listening to it in his studio and a friend of his called him on the phone and he asks his friend ‘What do you think of this?’, and his friend says ‘Well, what? That’s just you singing and playing guitar’. And Myles said ‘Okay. That’s the guy!’ And so, whoever that guy is, I have no idea who that guy is, but that guy got me the gig.

That’s funny.

The guy thought it was Myles.

I’ve watched the live clips on YouTube and obviously nobody can sound like Myles, but you’re close enough that the sound, the songs aren’t losing anything, you know?

Yeah. It’s all about the song, right!? It’s all about the memories that we, that the songs evoke in us. So, my, my job is to serve the song and make sure that when you come see the show, you hear that song the way you remember it and you get all those nice, warm, fuzzy feelings that you had when you were 16 years old. You know what I mean!? That’s my job.

I think for Canadians; I think April Wine is a special band because guys in our age group kind of grew up with them and they had so many hits, so many radio hits. We know all those songs, so just still getting to hear them is great.

I think so too. That’s my approach. When you come and hear the show, you want to hear the song, then we are, our mantra is to play the song as close as possible to the record. That’s what we said we were going to do and that’s what we’re doing and making sure you have a really good time. Yeah. So, you come out, you hear the songs as you remember them, you have tons of energy on stage – Brian Greenway is 72 years old, he’s still kicking ass. And Richard Lanthier and Roy Nichol have been there for like 12 and 14 years. They’re a powerhouse rhythm section. We’re a really tight band. And we’ve got great songs, great hits to play. It’s fun for us too!

It’s a huge catalog. I’m curious how familiar were you with the entire catalog before all this?

Oh, not that familiar. I was familiar with the same songs you were familiar with. I grew up listening to April Wine on the radio. So, I mean, at one point I’d learned maybe 30 songs, and then Brian comes up with the list, he says ‘Okay, here’s seven more songs, these are the American hits’. And I go ‘Excuse me?’ He goes ‘Yeah, these songs were big in the States.’ I go ‘Oh my God.’

I have the entire catalog, so like I’ve followed them since the early 80s, there’s so much to it, right? You have kind of have three phases of the band, the early band until the mid 70s, and then when Brian joined, and then the post reunion stuff. So, how much of that catalog do you guys play? Do you change it up a lot, or are you, is there a set list that you gotta keep to?

When we’re headlining, we have an hour and a half Canadian set, we have an American set, which has different songs, not all different, but there’s a few more American hit songs that are in there that are not in the Canadian set.

We have an opening act set, so, you know, we’re going to England and we’re going to be playing pretty much just the hits, because we have 45 minutes. And then we’re doing the Bachman Turner Overdrive tour in April, I believe that’s a 45 or a 60-minute set, so, again, and that’s a Canadian tour, so that’ll be just the hits, because that’s what people want to hear.

And even though I say just the hits, there’s a couple of deep tracks in there as well. Just so, you know, for the connoisseurs, there are some deep tracks in there as well. But when you have 45 minutes and you have as many hits as April Wine has, you got to pick and choose. It’s a good problem to have.

Now that you’ve been in the band for a while, have you had a chance to go back through the catalog, and listen to everything and kind of put in ideas that may be things you want to try or things that aren’t in the setlist?

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Brian came up with a bunch of songs the other day and sometimes he brings out tunes and I go ‘Man, I haven’t heard that one yet!’ It’s such a huge catalog. I’ll go back and listen to the albums, listen to a bunch of stuff and I’ll come up with a suggestion, and he might say ‘That one didn’t really stick with the public…’, and he knows; he’s been there since ’77, so he knows what was popular, and what wasn’t.

When Myles was still with you guys, you guys had gone into the studio at one point. Was there anything finished or kind of any plans to finish any of that stuff?

I had the honor of writing a song with Myles. He had this song lying around and he and I worked on it and then when he did his last show in Nova Scotia, he brought the guys in and they recorded it and I put some vocals on it, played some guitar. So, there’s a song out there. It’ll probably end up on a live album.

There’s a live recording of Myles’ last show. So that’s in the works right now. I can’t say more because I don’t know where we’re at in that process. Where the powers that be are at in the process. But I’m pretty sure that we’re going to have a bonus track on that album and it’ll be, you know, Myles’ last song.

And you’re on it!?

Yeah.

Have you done any recordings with you in the band? Taped any live shows or anything or any live video professionally that can be used for promotion or for release?

If you go on the website, there’s a video that hits you as soon as you open the website. That’s a promo video that was professionally done. They just took a clip of “Roller” and put it on there as an audio track. So that video, we’re really proud of it. It gives you an idea of the energy of the show live. But there’s no audio yet. There’s no audio that I know of anyways, no professional live recording.

I think that would be a cool idea kind of to reintroduce the band that this is what we sound like now.

Totally agree. I think that even when Myles’ last live show, you could have a package in there where there’s some live songs of us now, so you get a bit of everything. I think that’s what they’re working on. Maybe that’s why it’s not out yet.

Has there been any discussion of eventually recording some new material?

Well, that’s a tricky situation because I think Myles was the main songwriter and Kim, who is Myles’ widow, her job is to really preserve Myles’ legacy.

So, to bring out new songs, they would have to be things that Myles has had a hand in. And he’s got a bunch of snippets on his phone. So, I think one of these days we’re going to have to go through all those snippets and see if there’s good ideas in there, which I’m sure there are, that we could potentially turn into songs.

The other option is, I know when the Thin Lizzy guys wanted to record without Phil Lynott, they ended up finding a new name. Not that you guys need to find a new name, but even… alter the name a bit or ‘featuring’…. But it’d be cool to hear the band, something live and in the studio, as is.

I totally agree.

We’ll have to see. Right now, there’s a lot happening right now just for us, playing live. So, it’d be nice. We’re going to be touring a lot, so it’d be nice to set something up where we could record the shows. We always want to be better musicians. We always want to get better and make the show better. So, there’s nothing like recording video and audio to listen to yourself and to watch yourself. That’s the best way to critique and get better.

It’s interesting because Myles, for years, was very dead set against people recording at shows and taking pictures. So there was a scarcity of stuff out there for a long time.

I think he was a little… I didn’t know the man as well as the other guys. I didn’t get to spend much time with him, unfortunately. But I think he was a little resistant of the new technology until he wrapped his head around it, then he really embraced it. You know!? Even just GPS. I mean, he still liked using maps until he understood it more and then he loved it. Maybe that’s why he didn’t like people taking pictures and shooting video because he was afraid, they would use it in a context that he didn’t approve of.

Do you have any favorite albums in the catalog now that you’ve gone through it all?

Harder, Faster – for sure. Live stuff is always great. There’s great energy. I love the ’81 show in London, they’re really firing on all cylinders. There’s so much out there. Now that I get to sing it, it’s like I like them all. I like them all and I hear them in a different way now.

Do you have any other plans to do anything… Recording-wise – outside of the band?

I had to keep busy during COVID. So, I did like 50 videos of other people’s material. It’s started out as just an I-Phone and a guitar and ended up being productions that would take 3-4 months. it was really fun. So, I’m always interested in recording and getting back to that. I’m always coming up with ideas and putting them on my phone. I just have to take the time to elaborate on them, writing songs. Now that I’m going to be touring a bit more, I have 2 young daughters, so me to take time off, I have to spend as much time with them as I can, so right now I’m more in to ‘papa’ mode because I know I’m going to be leaving soon. So, I’m taking care of my daughters, and spending as much as time as I can with them before I take off.

To answer your question, there’s always songs in my head, and I’m always interested in recording and putting ideas down. I can’t wait to get back to that. I was really into it during COVID when I had more time on my hands. But now, it’s really fun to concentrate on making the April Wine show as good as possible and making it the best people have ever seen. April Wine were a powerhouse in the 70s when there were 5 people in it, and a lot of people were blown away by that show, and our idea is to bring it in to today and still give it that great energy, playing those great songs.

Has there been any talk over time about adding a 3rd guitarist back?

At first, Myles’ idea was to do exactly that. And what happened was, logistically, nowadays it costs so much to be on the road, so expensive to fly to a gig, and fly equipment around, stuff like that. So, it just turned out that was easier logistically for 4 guys (instead of 5) in terms of transportation, in terms of everybody flying out of Montreal. Gary Borden, who is Sass Jordan’s guitar player, had the gig, and at the last minute we had to pull the plug on Gary, unfortunately. And it had nothing to do with him or his playing, anything like that – he’s great! It’s just that it didn’t make sense to bring in a guy from Niagara Falls compared to guys flying out of Montreal. So that’s why it’s a 4 piece, because it’s just too damn expensive to be on the road today, and bring a show to people, and keep shows at a reasonable price. So, maybe one day we’ll get back to that idea of the 5 piece like the early 80s.

That’d be cool! have you had a chance to meet any of the band alumni, like Gary Moffett, Jerry Mercer, and some of those guys?

Well not Gary Moffett, not yet – but I can’t wait! But Jerry Mercer came and kicked our ass in Montreal. He’s 84 years old. Have you seen the video of him playing with us? (Yes). And he said ‘I want to play “Roller”‘, and I thought ‘oh boy it’s going to be like geriatric Roller tempo or something. and Holy Shit (!), man, he came out and kicked our ass! Wow! i want to be like Jerry Mercer at 84, I want to have that energy. He was just amazing!

I saw them in ’84 on the farewell tour, and then a number times in the ’90s when they came back. And Jerry’s solo was always a highlight of the show. It wasn’t like any other drum solo (where you might run to the bathroom), it was pretty intense, and you stuck around and watched it.

Well, if you’re a drum solo fan, you’re going to love Roy Nichols’ solo, it’s really cool; it’s very original. It’s one of the highlights of the show. There might not be time for it when we’re the opening act, but when we’re the headliner we have a drum solo and a bass solo, and we stretch out a little more, which is fun.

Roy sings as well!?

Oh, Roy’s a great singer, a great producer. He’s got his own studio. He’s a super-talented guy!

I’ve seen clips of him online doing Journey.

Yeah, he’s got a Journey tribute band. And Richard Lanthier has a Harmonium tribute band, and a Deep Purple tribute band. I had a Steely Dan tribute band before getting this gig. As musicians we have to have a lot of projects on the go to stay busy; and that’s the nature of the beast (haha).

Do you listen to a lot of music, whether on Spotify or buy anything?

I tend to listen to a lot of blues-oriented stuff, a lot of new stuff – Spotify’s throwing stuff at me all the time. I have all kinds of different tastes – Kasey Musgraves, and I like Blackberry Smoke, and Joe Bonamassa’s band with Glenn Hughes (Black Country Communion). I like Slash’s stuff. I like all kinds of new stuff too. Kasey Musgraves is a great singer-songwriter, who I listen to all the time with my daughters. And my daughters like all kinds of new stuff, so they’re keeping me hip to newer stuff. (lol) And every so often I’ll get sick of it and say ‘OK, sit down, these are The Beatles, these are the Stones, and this is Led Zeppelin.’

Did you have a big record collection, growing up?

Yeah. I had a good vinyl collection, and then it turned into cassettes, because we would do these cassette recording blitzes because we could listen to cassettes in our cars. We would get together on Sundays and spend the whole day just recording albums on to cassettes.

LINKS:

*live photos from August 31, 2024 @ CNE, Toronto. Courtesy of HAIMSTARR PHOTOGRAPHY

http://www.aprilwine.ca

http://www.marcparent.ca

https://m.facebook.com/groups/aprilwine/

https://youtube.com/@marcparent9106

https://youtube.com/@metalsoundguy

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