To this day, Foreigner has been ignored by Rock’s Hall of Fame

(No. 42 in a continuing series on artists who should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but are not)

By Phill Marder

Of the many sax players who have graced Rock & Roll since its inception, to me the recently departed Clarence Clemons was without equal.

But the man he replaced atop my list of favorites was not far behind.

Thus, a moment in the summer of 1981 always has been one of my supreme musical memories. I don’t recall where I was driving, but the car radio was playing the latest offering from one of Rock & Roll’s hottest groups. And it was a great one. And that was before the shock.

There it was, smack dab in the middle of this latest blockbuster, the difference between a good record and a great record.

I said – I was by myself, but I talk to myself a lot ’cause no one else listens – anyway, I said to myself…”That’s Junior Walker.” Actually, I more yelled it. Couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and I was correct right from the first note because this was one sound you couldn‘t mistake if you had survived the ‘60s with any memory intact. Junior Walker back on the airwaves – blowin’ that mighty sax right in the middle of “Urgent.”

But this week’s thrilling episode is not about Junior Walker. Instead, it’s a thank you to Foreigner, for one of the many outstanding moments they provided between 1977 and 1988 in a hit-filled career that should spell Hall of Fame inductee. The Rock Hall can ignore Walker. The All-Stars weren’t exactly Motown’s superstars. I’ll just chisel a Mount Rushmore of sax players and put him and Clemons on there with King Curtis and Boots Randolph. But why Foreigner has been ignored thus far is a mystery. After all, they are one of the biggest selling bands of The Rock era and they did it all on Atlantic Records, the label that already has placed almost its entire roster, deserving or not, into Rock’s Hall.

Foreigner has had No. 1 albums in five different countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway and Switzerland and nine Top 10 singles in the U.S. alone. The run began with “Feels Like The First Time,” which hit No. 4 for the six-piece band fronted by former Spooky Tooth guitarist Mick Jones of England and American Lou Gramm, who would prove to be not only a fine songwriting partner for Jones, but one of Rock’s most versatile vocalists as well.

“Feels Like The First Time” could have been recorded by most straight-ahead, hard rocking outfits of the day, but it was distinguished from the ordinary by its intricate vocal interplay, also featured on the next hit, “Cold As Ice,” which hit No. 6 after “Starrider” had bombed.

The massive success of the two singles propelled the band’s eponymous debut LP to No. 4 in the States. Though the singles were modest hits in Europe, the LP made nary a ripple in Britain, also the home base for Ian McDonald, a former King Crimson member who played guitars and keyboards, and drummer Dennis Elliott. Like Gramm, bassist Ed Gagliardi and Al Greenwood on keyboards hailed from New York.

A third single, “Long, Long Way From Home” was pulled from the debut LP and this, though not as polished as the previous two, also proved a success, hitting No. 20. It also pointed the direction the band would be heading for the 1978 LP “Double Vision,” which eclipsed the debut in worldwide sales and on the charts, peaking at No. 3 in the U.S.

The first single, “Hot Blooded,” could feel at home in AC/DC’s catalog, and it soared to No. 3 only to be bettered by the follow-up, “Double Vision,” which hit No. 2. Another heavy hitter, “Blue Morning, Blue Day,” got to No. 15, but a fourth single pulled from the LP, “Love Has Taken Its Toll,” flopped, probably because most fans already owned it on the album.

Gramm called the band’s next effort its “grainiest.” Like calling Lou Reed’s vocals bad. The first single, “Dirty White Boy,” and the title cut, “Head Games,” were as raw as anything released in the ‘70s. But both singles proved sizeable hits and the LP reached No. 5

At this time, the group began going through personnel changes which would become rampant during the ’80s, Englishman Rick Wills replacing Gagliardi for the album, with McDonald and Greenwood dismissed almost exactly a year after the album’s release.

Mutt Lange, fresh off production of AC/DC’s “Back In Black” was called in to work on the next effort. Now a streamlined, three-piece with a vocalist, Foreigner unleashed “4,” which started the ’80s by spending 10 weeks at No. 1. To put this into perspective, Hall-of-Fame inductee Solomon Burke spent seven weeks on the Billboard top 200 album chart in his entire career!! It was the group’s breakthough in Europe, too, reaching the top five in several countries, including the U.K.

No wonder. With “Urgent” issued as the initial single, a whole new generation was introduced to the wailing sax of Walker. Also featured was the keyboard work of Thomas Dolby before he was blinded by science. But “Urgent,” which reached No. 4, was just the first of five classic hits pulled from this long player.

The next single, “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” was Foreigner’s first successful ballad, and what a success it was, setting a record for spending 10 weeks at No. 2. Incredibly, it was blocked from No. 1 for nine weeks by Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical.”

The next three hits, “Juke Box Hero,” “Break It Up” and “Luanne” returned the band to its normal, heavy mode. Over three years later, “Agent Provocateur,” became the group’s initial No. 1 effort in Britain and several other nations, producing the arena anthem “I Want To Know What Love Is” that became the group’s first No. 1 single in the U.S. and U.K.

Though the band had more big hits on the uptempo side, “That Was Yesterday” (No. 12) and “Say You Will” (No. 6), the last major blast was, again, a big ballad, “I Don’t Want To Live Without You” climbing to No. 5 in 1988.

By this time, Jones and Gramm were beginning to wear thin as a duo and Gramm proceeded to issue a pair of solo albums, which yielded several hit singles, while Jones worked on production with the likes of Van Halen, Bad Company and Billy Joel. Eventually, they split and Foreigner continued on with several replacement vocalists as they do today.

It was never the same though. Most groups find difficulty maintaining a huge fan base when the lead singer changes, and Foreigner was no exception. However, the 11-year period in which they dominated record and concert ticket sales is an impressive run for any artist.

Rolling Stone’s Paul Evans, who we’ve met in previous episodes of this blog, called Jones “…master of the hook” and “…a guitarist of unerring efficiency.” He refers to Gramm as “…one of the finest singers in all of pop metal.” Evans, not the easiest critic to please, added, “Foreigner’s catalogue of car-stereo hits is nearly unrivaled.”

As happens with so many bands, it becomes difficult to pinpoint key members, or in this case which members should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Certainly Jones and Gramm and the rest of the original six merit induction plus Willis. Add Mark Rivera, who served two terms with the band as a multi-instrumentalist and Bob Mayo, keyboardist during most the ‘80s, and you account for those who were present for most of the group’s period of world dominance.

Foreigner was a heavy band that happened to have hit singles. Foreigner was a heavy band that happened to have a couple huge selling ballads. These successes should not be held against the group. A behemoth of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s music scene, Foreigner earned its spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

By Gillian Gaar

Fans who attended the “Last Man Standing” show at the Peabody Hotel during 2007’s Elvis Week in Memphis were the first to get the opportunity to purchase The Mighty Handful Volume 1.

The collection features classics like “I’ve Got My Mojo Working,” “You Can’t Judge A Book,” and “I Put A Spell On You,” performed by an equally classic lineup: Billy Swan (vocals), Bucky Barrett (guitar), Bob Moore (bass), Steve Shepherd (keyboards), Boots Randolph (sax), Buddy Spicher (fiddle), and Fred Satterfield (drums). All of it was produced by Elvis’ first guitarist and a legend in his own right: Scotty Moore.

Moore is typically modest about his hand in the proceedings.

“I guess you could call me the producer — I’d say ‘Rolling!’” he chuckles. “That’d be about it. I just put the guys in there and turned ’em loose! Billy picked a song, and then everybody would do their own thing.”

The sessions came about when Pete Pritchard, a British bass player who’s played in Scotty’s band when he’s toured England, happened to be visiting, and the two friends got the idea to do a little recording. Billy and Boots were asked to join in. Two tracks from the session appear on The Mighty Handful as bonus cuts: “There’s Always Me,” an instrumental with a strong sax solo by Boots, and “Reconsider Baby,” which features Scotty on guitar (though the album credits mistakenly say Scotty appears on “There’s Always Me”).

“It wasn’t intended for release or anything,” says Moore. “It was just a get-together thing while Pete was over here. But everything went off so good, we got to talking about it, and I said, ‘Let’s just call the other guys and do an album!’”

So other friends were duly rounded up.

“These are all guys that, I won’t say retired musicians, but everybody’s over 50!” says Moore. “They’re no spring chickens! Ain’t nobody hired for money or anything; they just enjoy playing. That’s the whole idea to begin with.”

The song selection was done by Swan.

“We just had the idea of doing the old blues stuff and maybe do it a little up tempo. And they just nailed it just together so great. It was just so good I thought other people might like it. And after we’d done that one, I said, ‘Shoot, we’ll do another one!’ So we all got together and did another one. I believe the second one might be better than the first one, really!”

So a Volume 2 is awaiting release; it also happens to be the last recording featuring the work of Boots Randolph, who died July 3, 2007.

There’s a relaxed feel to the recording that has as much to do with the “lo-fi” setting as it does with the musicians’ skills; it was recorded in Moore’s home studio.

“Ohh… technology is ruining music,” he declares. “I hate to say it, but it’s true. I mean, I can set up all the recording equipment that you can buy today, the new technology, and fit it all right here on the dinner table, and stick somebody in another room singing or whatever and do the record. And that’s just not the way they do them anymore. You lose all the camaraderie between guys — they play off each other, and you don’t get that now [when everyone records separately]. I think technology has done more harm than anything else. I really do. It’s gone too fast. I mean, I’m all for improving, everything can be improved, but it’s happening so fast.”

And technological developments have affected music distribution, too, of course. Moore shopped Volume 1 around.

“One company we went to said, ‘Oh, we love it; we’d like to have it, but if you take your group and get on the road, we’ll take it and put it out,’” Moore says. “So, in other words you get paid from your personals [personal appearances] more now than any place else.”

In the end, the group put out the release themselves. You can find it at CDbaby.com and iTunes, as well as Moore’s own site, scottymoore.net. When the CD was sold at the Elvis Week shows, it came in a limited edition of 1,000 with an insert featuring autographs of all the musicians; you can order remaining copies of this edition at Moore’s Web site.

Those of you who saw Scotty during Elvis Week may have seen him at the event for the last time, in part because the old Elvis tunes don’t come out like they used to.
“I wish I could play, but I can’t,” Scotty says. “I’m doin’ pretty good, I guess, except for my age and my hands — hangin’ on with the rest of ’em.”
Then, there’s the size of the crowds.

“I couldn’t even get out of my hotel room last time down there,” Moore says of the frenzy. “That’s what I would have liked to have done, be out in the lobby or something where we could just meet and greet people. That’s part of the whole thing, as far as I’m concerned.”

But this doesn’t mean you won’t see Moore out and about. He was a non-performing guest at this year’s Ponderosa Stomp event, for example. And there’s sure to be other recording projects in the future — such as the release of The Mighty Handful Volume 2. Both Moore and the group also have their own MySpace pages: myspace.com/scotmo and myspace.com/themightyhandful.

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The latest Follow That Dream releases focus on the “That’s The Way It Is” era. The Way It Was CD was first released as part of the FTD book package of the same name, which featured detailed information about the rehearsals and shows that were filmed and recorded in July and August 1970. The book is no longer available, but if you missed it, you can at least get the CD on its own.

And the original That’s The Way It Is album gets the deluxe FTD treatment, expanded to two discs. How does it differ from RCA’s TTWII: Special Edition three-CD box released in 2000? Both do have the 12 tracks that appeared on the original vinyl album. But as the producer of both sets, Ernst Jorgensen, points out, the Special Edition box was very much a celebration of the live recordings (featuring an entire concert and rehearsal).

Conversely, the FTD release focuses on the June 1970 recording sessions, which actually provided most of the tracks for the album. So you hear Elvis working through multiple takes of songs like “Twenty Days and Twenty Nights,” “Stranger in the Crowd,” and “Patch It Up,” among others. Ernst reveals that more material recorded at the June session is being scheduled for release via FTD, with Love Letters From Elvis due in July; Elvis Country will follow at a later date. Info: 888-358-4776; shopelvis.com.

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Elvis’ three albums of sacred recordings have been reissued by RCA/Sony BMG: His Hand In Mine, How Great Thou Art and He Touched Me. All albums have bonus tracks, but none that are previously unreleased.

There’s nothing here that didn’t appear on Peace In The Valley: The Complete Gospel Recordings, a three-CD set released in 2000, though the new releases present the songs in their original running order and feature the original artwork.