Meanwhile on the other side of the pond...

Greetings distinguished readers. It's a tall order to come in here and suprise anyone. It's pretty clear to me that there's always someone out there in cyberspace, who owns the most bizarre stuff - or even recorded it! So I'll throw myself into this blog with some more local music. Alocaloc has been concentrated on music on the other side of the pond, I'll try to share with you some of the music from Europe. I'll start the journey in my native Scandinavia.

BISCAYA

First out is Swedish act Biscaya. From Gothenburg, south in Sweden, their selftitled album from 1982 is a gem that should be in anyone's collection. It was re-released on CD a few years back (with four bonus tracks) and isn't really hard to find, but you will have to know what look for. (Speaking as someone who has spent a considerable amount of time in the bargain bin over the years)
Prominent on this album is the guitarwork of Pär Edwardsson, in pair with the keyboards of Magnus Strömberg.

The band lineup on the album is:
Mads Clausen - Vocals
Pär Edwardsson - Guitars
Martin Hedström - Guitars
Magnus Strömberg - Keyboards
Birger Löfman - Drums
Hans Johansson - Bass

Produced by Peter "PJ" Jägerhult & Biscaya

A theme on this album is not easy to find. There are so many different styles and influences on it. Not many bands put an anthem on their album. But Biscaya put one as the opening track of side B on the album. Nothing short of cheeky! Magnus Strömberg did, not suprisingly, move on to score music for film and TV.

Biscaya - Biscaya. 1983.

Produced by Peter "PJ" Jägerhult & Biscaya

1.Howl in the Sky
2.Fools
3.Summerlove
4.Weekend
5.Biscaya
6.Singing in Harmony
7.Sunrise
8.Walls
9.Divine Lady of Warmth
10.Rockin' Vehicles
Bonus tracks on the CD:
11. Hit it Hard
12. Space Bop
13. Swinging To a Melody
14. Greg's Song (Japan release only)

I remember this causing quite a stir when we started to play songs from it. The opening track features a guitar-keyboard duel in the style of Rainbow. It was usually enough to play just that one song to get people hooked on the album. ;) In 1982 this was huge coming from Scandinavia. Shame they never took off. A fate they unfortunately shared with far too many bands. They split up, and moved on in different directions. Some to play in other Swedish bands, others has not been heard from since. Pär Edwardsson has released a few soloalbums recently worth listening to. He has also produced a number of albums the past 15-20 years.

As a side note, I can mention that the singer, Mads Clausen, was considered as one of the candidates when Norwegian rockers TNT were looking for a new singer to replace Dag Ingebrigtsen. He fell short in comparison to an American singer they introduced as Tony Hansen. This was of course Tony Harnell.

Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/49998573/Biscaya-Biscaya.rar

ZERO NINE

From Sweden we move on to Finland, and Zero Nine. Band started in Kuusamo in 1980 (they later moved to Oulu - for those of you interested in geography), and steadily released both singles and albums throughout the 80s gathering a huge group of followers. Zero Nine is still considered as the grandfather of hard rock in Finland. (Hanoi Rocks is more known, but this is better!) Zero Nine's second album, Blank Verse from 1982, was produced none other than Ian Gillan. Singer Kepa recalled in an interview with Rockunited that they were playing on a festival with Gillan, and that he introduced them onto the stage.
Zero Nine had a reputation for being a hard working band, who were touring extensively in the 80s. They played Monsters of Rock in Stockholm 1989, and toured with Iron Maiden, AC/DC and several other big league bands.

Band lineup:
Kepa Salmirinne, vocals
Mara Mäntyniemi, guitars, acoustic guitars and backing Vocals
Tim Käsmä, lead guitar and backing vocals
Elmo Harju, bass and backing vocals
Iro Murtola, keyboards
Borno Korpela - drums and backing vocals

Their 1986 release Intrigue, featured powerballad with the same name, and was a door-opener into Europe and USA. The album was remastered and re-released on CD in 2003.

Uncompromising hard rock, this release showcases the musical tightness that only years on the road can give you. We all know of them - hardworking bands with meager success to show for their effort. This is one such band, and it's worth checking out. Enjoy!

Zero Nine - Intrigue. 1986.

Produced by

1. Banging On Drums
2. Drag Me To The Moon
3. Angel Of Mercy
4. Dump Me
5. No Man´s Land
6. Cut
7. Intrigue
8. To The Crux
9. Na Na Naa
10. To The Mountain
11. Under The Freeway

Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/49968437/Zero_Nine_-_Intrigue.rar

PIONEERS

What is this? For a start, it's from Norway, then it's rare as heck! And to top it off, it has some interesting names on the cover! A project by Knut Dahle, former member of some local old pop & rock bands (Rocky) in Trondheim - Norway (hometown of TNT & Stage Dolls), in the 70's & 80's.This album was released in '84, and produced by semi legendary Bjoern Nessjoe, who produced the classic TNT albums, here together with Erik Wangberg. And engineered by Rune Nordal (Nessjoe's partner at the then called Nidaros Studio, a place where some great classic music was made back in those good days). A good album though, but I guess what's most interesting here is the band line-up. An album filled with pop/rock/prog/beatles/Steely Dan inspired stuff, well played, well-produced, and the band do their stuff well. It never sold much. Now you got the chance to hear this long lost album. Enjoy :)

Knut J. Dahle - Vocals

Steinar Krokstad - Drums (Stage Dolls)

Morten Skaget - Bass (TNT)

Torstein Flakne - Guitars (Stage Dolls)

Bård Svendsen - Keyboards

Pioneers - In A State Of Rock. 1984.

1 - Hi' Energy

2 - Annie

3 - Walk In The Moonlight

4 - Pioneers *

5 - With A Girl Like You **

6 - Today **

7 - Pictures Of You **

8 - Number One **

9 - Good Night *

All melodies and lyrics by Knut J. Dahle.

Produced by Bjoern "Spector" Nessjoe

* Produced by Eirik Wangberg, remixed by Bjoern "Spector" Nessjoe

** Produced by Eirik Wangberg

Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/52629314/Pioneers-InAStateOfRock.rar

SOLLI

Our musical journey around Scandinavia ends in Norway, with Solli. The singer of Sons Of Angels (2 albums, 'Sons Of Angels' & 'Slumber With Lions'), Psycho Motel ('State Of Mind' '96), 21 Guns, Greenhouze and even once Bad Habitz (TNT's Ronni Le Tekrø's Thin Lizzy tribute band) released a solo single in '98. From a coming album that never saw the light of day. A poppy funky feelgood song, not far from his previous band Sons of Angels hit single 'Cowgirl'. Stretching it way too far for the dancefloor in the mc² mix version, but surely a rare release not easy to find.

Solli - The Fool

01 - The Fool (remix)

02 - The Fool (the mc² remix)

03 - The Fool (album version)

04 - The Fool (demo version)

Link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/49979343/Solli-TheFool.rar

And how 'bout a bonus. The never released solo album, here in what's called a 'rough mix'.

Solli - Under The Bluehearted Moon. 1998.
Rough Mixes, produced by Kee Marcello.

01 - The Fool
02 - Hard To Handle
03 - Slime
04 - Touch
05 - Bluehearted Moon
06 - Back In Track
07 - Fill Me In
08 - Here Comes The Rain
09 - Ain't Your Man
10 - You Kidnapped My Soul
11 - Under The Bluehearted Moon (Vers. II)
12 - Fool In You # 4 (Vers. II)
13 - Here Comes The Rain (Vers. II)

Link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/49989115/Solli-UnderTheBlueheartedMoon.rar

Took a while to prepare this blog, so we'll add a few more well known and requested albums. And how can we do a blog without any canadian pearls? And why should we? There's absolutely no good reason to.

MOXY

Awesome classic stuff that needs no introduction. Love them!

Buzz Sherman - Vocals

Earl Johnson - Guitar

Terry Juric - Bass

Bill Wade - Drums

Moxy - Moxy. 1976.
Produced by Moxy & M. Smith.

1. Fantasy
2. Sail On Sail Away
3. Can't You See I'm A Star
4. Moon Rider
5. Time To Move On
6. Still I Wonder
7. Train
8. Out Of The Darkness

Link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/52647384/Moxy-Moxy.rar

Moxy - II. 1977.

Produced by: Jack Douglas & Ed Leonetti

1. Cause There's Another
2. Take It Or Leave It
3. Through The Storm
4. One More Heartbreak
5. Slippin' Out
6. Midnight Flight
7. Change In My Life
8. Tryin' Just For You
9. Wet Suit

Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/52670664/Moxy-MoxyII.rar

CONEY HATCH

Carl Dixon - Vocals / guitar

Andy Curran - Vocals / bass

Steve Shelski - Guitar

Dave Ketchum - Drums

Coney Hatch - Coney Hatch. 1982.

Produced by Kim Mitchell.

1. Devil's Deck
2. You Ain't Got Me
3. Stand Up
4. No Sleep Tonight
5. Love Poison
6. We Got The Night
7. Hey Operator
8. I'll Do The Talkin'
9. Victim Of Rock
10. Monkey Bars

Link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/52673903/ConeyHatch-ConeyHatch.rar

Coney Hatch - Outa Hand. 1983.

Produced by Max Norman.

1. Don't Say Make Me
2. Shake It
3. First Time For Everything
4. Some Like It Hot
5. To Feel The Feeling Again
6. Too Far Gone
7. Love Games
8. Fallen Angel
9. Music Of The Night

Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/52677253/ConeyHatch-OuttaHand.rar

SCREAMS

Another band I don't have much info about. I bought the album back then, in fact I bought most album released on the newly started Infinity records, and liked it quite well. Good enough to now own the cd released in Japan. They only released this one, and played support to Van Halen and Aerosmith. It's produced by Terry Luttrell, singer of Starcastle, and once in REO Speedwagon (1968!). I agree with wikipedias mentioning of Cheap Trick here, but this album is somehow darker. I love the track 'I Play For You'.

David Adams - Vocals

John Siegle - Guitar

Steven Jones - Bass

Brad Steakley - Drums

wikipedia.com:

'Screams was a late 70s Power Pop band who produced one album titled Screams. Screams has been compared to Cheap Trick. The pop music album, Screams, was released in 1979 on the Infinity Records label.'

Screams - Screams. 1979.
Produced by Terry Luttrell, co-produced by Tom Flye.

1. Paper Dolls
2. Angeline's Toys
3. I Play For You
4. It's Just A Matter Of Time
5. Imagine Me Without You
6. Your Girl, My Girl
7. Pen Pal
8. Financial Disaster (It's Only Money)
9. Pop Art

Link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/53229772/Screams-Screams.rar


Lots of hooks here to continue our blogging. Keep on making suggestions and requests. Skål!