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Mainstream Rock |
While quite a few arena rock acts of the '70s found the transformation into the '80s quite difficult, several acts continued to flourish and
enjoyed some of their biggest commercial success: Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, and especially Foreigner. Foreigner's leader from the
beginning has been British guitarist Mick Jones, who first broke into the music biz as a "hired gun" of sorts, appearing on recordings by
George Harrison and Peter Frampton, and as part of a later-day version of hard rockers Spooky Tooth. By the mid-'70s, Jones had relocated
to New York City, where he was a brief membe ...read more
While quite a few arena rock acts of the '70s found the transformation into the '80s quite difficult, several acts continued to flourish and
enjoyed some of their biggest commercial success: Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, and especially Foreigner. Foreigner's leader from the
beginning has been British guitarist Mick Jones, who first broke into the music biz as a "hired gun" of sorts, appearing on recordings by
George Harrison and Peter Frampton, and as part of a later-day version of hard rockers Spooky Tooth. By the mid-'70s, Jones had relocated
to New York City, where he was a brief member of the Leslie West Band and served as an A&R man for a record company. But it wasn't long
before Jones felt the urge to be part of another rock outfit as he sought to put together a band that would be able to combine elements of
rock, progressive, R&B, and pop into a single, cohesive style.
Jones soon assembled a group consisting of ex-King Crimson sax player Ian McDonald and ex-Ian Hunter drummer Dennis Elliot (both of
whom were British), along with New York musicians Al Greenwood (keyboards), Ed Gagliardi (bass), and Lou Gramm (vocals), the latter of
which was previously a member of an obscure '70s outfit called Black Sheep. Jones found immediate songwriting chemistry with Gramm (one
of the first songs they wrote together was the eventual hit "Cold As Ice"), resulting in the newly formed band taking the name Foreigner and
signing a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Foreigner's self-titled debut was issued in 1977 and became an immediate hit on the
strength of the hit singles "Feels Like the First Time," "Long, Long Way From Home," and the aforementioned "Cold As Ice," as the album
would eventually go platinum five times over.
Foreigner avoided the dreaded sophomore slump with an even stronger follow-up release, 1978's Double Vision, which spawned such further
hit singles as "Hot Blooded" and its title track, and the album stayed in the Top Ten for a solid six months. As a result, the album's success
established the sextet as an arena headliner and would go on to become Foreigner's best-selling album of their career (selling seven million
copies in the U.S. alone by 2001). The group's third release overall, Head Games, followed in 1979 and marked the first of many
subsequent lineup changes for the group, as Gagliardi was replaced by ex-Peter Frampton and Roxy Music bassist Rick Wills. While the
album was another big seller and turned out to be their most straight-ahead musically, both Gramm and Jones felt that the album failed to
break any new ground, something that they sought to correct on their next album.
The band's lineup was cut back to just a quartet consisting of Jones, Gramm, Elliot, and Wills as super-producer Mutt Lange (who was fresh
off the success of AC/DC's classic Back in Black) was enlisted to oversee the proceedings. The ploy worked and the resulting 1981
release, 4, was another massive seller, spawning such further hit singles as "Urgent" (which featured a blazing sax solo from Motown vet
Junior Walker), "Jukebox Hero," and the power ballad "Waiting for a Girl Like You." Although the latter tune was a massive hit, it confused
some of the band's following as to whether Foreigner was a hard rock band or balladeers. In 1982, a stopgap best-of set, Records, was
released and featured ten of band's biggest hit singles, remaining a steady seller to this day (becoming Foreigner's second album to achieve
sales of seven million by 2001).
It took Foreigner three years to complete a follow-up to 4 with Agent Provocateur being issued in 1984. The band made the transition to the
MTV video age without a hitch with the over-the-top, gospel-inflected ballad "I Want to Know What Love Is" (which featured the New Jersey
Mass Choir) becoming one of the biggest MTV and radio hits that year. But despite the single's success, there was a noticeable dip in sales
for Agent Provocateur when compared to their earlier albums due to the fact that the album wasn't as focused and strong overall as their
previous recordings. After a mammoth nine-month tour wrapped up a year later, both Jones and Gramm focused on non-Foreigner projects
during 1986. Jones produced Bad Company's Fame and Fortune and co-produced Van Halen's hit debut recording with Sammy Hagar, 5150,
while Gramm worked on a solo debut. The release of both Gramm's solo album, Ready or Not, as well as Foreigner's sixth studio album
overall, Inside Information, came in 1987. While both were successful and spawned Top Ten hits (Gramm with "Midnight Blue" and
Foreigner with "Say You Will"), tension between Gramm and Jones came to a head regarding the singer's desire to focus on his solo career,
which led to Gramm's split from Foreigner in 1989.
The same year as his split from Foreigner, Gramm issued his second solo album, Long Hard Look, which proved to be not as successful as
its predecessor, while Jones produced Billy Joel's Storm Front and issued a star-studded self-titled solo debut. Jones, Elliot, and Wills tried
to keep Foreigner afloat with a new singer, Johnny Edwards, issuing a largely ignored album in 1991, Unusual Heat, while Gramm fared no
better with a new outfit, Shadow King, issuing a forgotten self-titled debut the same year. Seeing the error in their split, both Jones and
Gramm listened to the advice of Atlantic Records and reunited for the recording of three all-new tracks to be included on a more extensive
"hits" collection. Issued in 1992, the 17-track The Very Best...And Beyond was Foreigner's most commercially successful release in
several years along with the band's first live release, Classic Hits Live, issued a year later.
The Gramm/Jones reunion soon turned permanent and new members Bruce Turgon (bass) and Jeff Jacobs (keyboards) were welcomed on
board. The latest version of Foreigner issued an all-new studio recording in 1995, Mr. Moonlight, which failed to return the group to the top
of the charts. Foreigner remained a popular concert attraction, but the band's future was thrust into doubt in 1997 when Gramm was
diagnosed with a brain tumor. Luckily, the tumor was non-cancerous and was removed shortly thereafter. Gramm's recovery was slow and
painful, but by 1999, the singer was well enough for Foreigner to team up with Journey for a summer tour. The early 21st century saw the
release of several archival collections courtesy of the Rhino label: a pair of additional collections, Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology
and Complete Greatest Hits, as well as reissues of the group's self-titled debut and 4, both of which included extra bonus tracks. Can't Slow
Down, a three-disc set that included a new studio album, a disc of remixed versions of the band's biggest hits, and a DVD documentary,
arrived in 2009. « hide |
Similar Bands: Journey, Boston, Def Leppard, Survivor, Heart
Contributors: iGuter, AleksiS, bigdctherock, dcc1987, AeroZeppelin1, Hep Kat, HenchmanOfSanta, TWIGtheWONDERKID, Parallels,
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