Every once in a while, I will be reviewing a release from my childhood or musical past that made an influence on me. Some of these will be well known, and others may have been passed by under the radar. Most will not be in the hard rock/metal genre. You can see reviews in that genre written by me in the Retro Review section on the webpage Sleazeroxx.com  

I first discovered the band Bad Company with this release. My brother got me the cassette as a gift (not sure if it was a birthday or Christmas). We liked mostly the same music acts in rock music, like Van Halen and Sammy Hagar’s solo work. Although I still listened to acts like Rick Springfield, Duran Duran, and some country acts, I guess my brother wanted me to find a band that I liked , as opposed to the ones he liked.

I was not aware at the time of the history of the band before this record, especially from the 1970s releases. However, I thought this release had great pop songs, and was impressed by the band immediately. I bought the follow up works Holy Water and Here Comes Trouble. I was also impressed that one of the girls that I was friends with at school used to wear a Bad Company T-shirt, where I thought I was the only one that listened to the band.

The famous lead singer Paul Rodgers was busy with his band The Firm when this release came out, and members Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke was starting a project, when the record company wanted them to use the Bad Company name. They got former Ted Nugent singer Brian Howe to take over, which started this lineup of the band.

This album has the feel of a style that the band Foreigner was known for (although I only knew a few of Foreigner songs at the time, mainly the hits), and the reason was simple; Mick Jones and producer Keith Olsen worked on this record. Olsen also worked on one of my all time favorite records, Working Class Dog, by Rick Springfield.

The first side of this record has some good songs on it, but it is mainly the second side that I have the most memories of this record. Staring with “Long Walk, ” a mid tempo song that I played constantly while walking through my hometown of Columbiana, Ohio’s park with my walkman playing, and even during my college years at Kent State.

“Hold On My Heart” and “Valerie” were also my favorites on this side as well, and they all three were placed right after each other. “Hold On My Heart” has the Mick Jones touch to the song, with a saxophone playing throughout. Howe’s voice really sparked my interest on these songs on the second side. It just had a unique style on the songs. I also loved the lyrics on the song “If only love would go the way you want it too.” This was a phrase many of us high school kids lived by, not being able to see past graduation. “Hold On My Heart” should have been on my local radio station because it fit the format of anything that was playing at the time. This should have been a hit.

“Valerie” has strong keyboards and the pop feel that the radio was playing, with the topic of looking back on a past relationship. This reminded me of one of the hits that Night Ranger would have had years earlier. The song has an underlining guitar driving the song, with the vocal production added during the song. Many critics of this record thought the record was too polished , but to me it fits with everything else that was playing at the time.

The album, starting with “Burning Up” to the Foreigner sounding ballad “When We Made Love” to the songs I mentioned earlier as my favorites, set the tone for the next release 1988’s Dangerous Age, which had many great songs that kept me following this version of the band during my youth, up until Here Comes Trouble in 1992. I think the Brian Howe era of the band is overlooked, and was the lineup that got me introduced to the band. I personally enjoy this version the best-I get tired of hearing the same old Paul Rodgers hits that got played all over classic rock radio in my area (with the exception of “Silver, Blue, and Gold” which I never get tired of listening to). Howe had a unique sound to his voice, and their releases combined a pop feel with some rockers as well.

If it wasn’t for the Fame and Fortune album, I would not have been exposed to some of my other favorite songs from the band, such as “If You Needed Somebody” “How About That,” “Shake It Up,” “Bad Man,” and more from the Brian Howe led releases.

 

Track Listing:

1. Burning Up 2. This Love 3. Fame and Fortune 4. That Girl 5. Tell It Like It Is
2. Long Walk 7. Hold On My Heart 8. Valerie 9. When We Made Love 10. If I’m Sleeping