AOR compilation!

20 Great AOR Moments Vol. 1

A new collection of great music from the past.
If you like any songs on this cd, you'll like'em all.
Have a try! Party tested. PLAY LOUD!
NB! Again: NOT an existing release, just for promotion & fun.

01 - Touch - Don't You Know What Love Is
02 - Michael Bolton - Fools Game
03 - Frederiksen Phillips - Shot Down
04 - Nelson - (Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection
05 - Survivor - Broken Promises
06 - Trevor Rabin - Stop Turn
07 - Triumph - Lay It On The Line
08 - Balance - Fly Through The Night
09 - City Boy - Turn on to Jesus (5705 in original version)
10 - Far Corporation - One Of Your Lovers

Part 1:
Megaupload link:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9H43FC98
Rapidshare link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/22934963/20GreatAORMomentsVolume1A.rar.html

11 - Desmond Child and Rouge - Scared to live
12 - Henry Lee Summer - I Wish I Had a Girl
13 - Blackfoot - Send Me An Angel
14 - I-Ten - Time To Say Goodbye
15 - Axe - Burn the City Down
16 - Van Stephenson - We're Doing Alright
17 - Eric Martin - Sucker For A Pretty Face
18 - John Parr - Somebody Stole My Thunder
19 - Donnie Iris - Do You Compute
20 - Tommy Shaw (Live Westwood One 85) - Girls with Guns

Part 1:
Megaupload link:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7FFSZBLY
Rapidshare link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/22939199/20GreatAORMomentsVolume1B.rar.html

Remember, PLAY LOUD!

And, if you need a cover to print, please say so.

Compilation time...

More compilations.

First out: Ladies Rock! Vol. 1
A collection of good & rockin' female fronted aor/hard rock.
Known & not very known artists. But all tracks are great!
If you like this kinda music, you won't regret.

NB! This is NOT an official release. Only promotional use & fun.

01 - Pat Benatar - Promises in the Dark
02 - Lisa Price - Can't Hold On Forever
03 - Scandal - The Warrior
04 - Shakin' Street - Solid As A Rock
05 - Robin Beck - Hide Your Heart
06 - Headpins - I Know What You're Thinking
07 - Wendy & The Rockets - Have You Been Telling Me Lies
08 - Lana Lane - Northern Lights
09 - Lita Ford - Kiss Me Deadly (Live)
10 - Fiona - Hang Your Heart On Me

Part A:
Megaupload link:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GOHV32OW
Rapidshare link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/22745478/LadiesRock-Volume1A.rar.html

11 - Toronto - It Comes From You
12 - Patty Smyth - Give It Time
13 - Mother's Finest - Movin On
14 - Sass Jordan - If You're Gonna Love Me
15 - Sue Saad And The Next - Prisoner
16 - Reckless - Child Of The Night
17 - Darby Mills - Never Look Back
18 - Juice Newton - Can't Wait All Night
19 - Precious Metal - Right Here, Right Now
20 - Teri DeSario - Caught

Part B:
Megaupload link:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=23E3VY4T
Rapidshare link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/22750974/LadiesRock-Volume1B.rar.html

The Tale of the Blog...

A quick blog again this time. Still in topic, Boston born Billy Squier's been mentioned in here earlier, and after givin' the old Piper albums a few spin lately, I had to hear Billy's first solo album again. Great album, great songs, and the great start of a solo carrere. Some of his later albums I don't listen to a lot. But this one are filled with awesome good rock.
I was lucky enough to get to see him perform live, way back in '81, at The Reading Festival. A great memory.


Track Listing
1. The Big Beat
2. Calley Oh
3. Rich Kid
4. Like I'm Lovin' You
5. Who Knows What A Love Can Do
6. You Should Be High Love
7. Who's Your Boyfriend
8. The Music's Alright
9. Young Girls

Billy Squier (vocals, guitar, percussion)
Bruce Kulick (guitar)
Bucky Ballard (bass)
Bobby Chouinard (drums)
David Sancious (keyboards)
Richard T. Bear (keyboards)
Ernest Carter (percussion)

Produced by: Billy Squier & Eddy Offord
Engineered by: Eddy Offord
Mixed by : Eddy Offord

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R8UUSUK5

Talkin' about...

I'll stick to the topic. Same years, same names. This page started with the great Sean Delaney produced Piper album Can't Wait, which led to Delaney's rare solo album. And now the band that Delaney gave their name.
I'm talkin' about rock'n'roll. I'm talkin' bout the Detroit Girls. I'm talkin' bout Starz! The cool, charming, fun & rockin' and underrated New York band that released 4 albums in the period '76 - '78. And later quite a lot of live & rare collections.

To make the link to the previous posts even more obvious, a quote from rockdetector.com:

'Sweval, having contributed a co-write and backing vocals to Aucoin Management employee Sean Delaney's1978 debut album 'Highway' was to appear the following year with his hair cropped and sporting a moustache as a member of Delaney's sub Disco band Skatt Bros. ' 'Strange Spirits' album.'

Michael Lee Smith - Vocals
Richie Ranno - Guitars
Brendan Harkin - Guitars
Pete Sweval - Bass
Joe X Dube - Drums

Here's a live recording. Sorry, got no additional info or cover on this one. But it's GOOD!

Starz - Live 1978.

Tracklisting:
01. Fallen Angel
02. Hold On To The Night
03. Cool One
04. Detroit Girls
05. Rock 6 Times
06. Subway Terror
07. Night Crawler
08. X Ray Spex
09. Cherry baby
10. Johnny All Alone
11. Waitin' On You(inc. Coliseum Rock)
12. Pull The Plug
13. Route 66
14. Piss Party

Link:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=E8ESROY8

So, keeping to my 'connection theme' here... my next upload might be the Starz singer, Michael Lee Smith's younger brother, Rex Smith. And his albums 'Rex' from (76) and 'Where Do We Go From Here' (77). Not exactly classics in any way, but good rare pop rock for the connoisseurs & collector of obscurities...

American Tears

A quick and not very informative post now, just had to put these out while the links lasts.

Anyone remember TOUCH? The band that opened the first ever Monsters Of Rock at Donington in 1980.


Before there was TOUCH, and their amazing & criminally good classic AOR/Hard Rock debut album, there was American Tears, in the mid-seventies. Although more of a progressive symphonic keyboard oriented rock cult band than their later to come masterwork.

Originally a trio, but the late line-up was:

Craig Evan Brooks (vocals, guitars)
Mark Mangold keyboards, vocals)
Glenn Kithcart (drums, percussion)
Kirk Powers (bass, backing vocals)

Anyway, if you're interested, it's worth having a listen.

Their first album:

American Tears - Branded Bad

Sweet Changes

Doctor Abreaction

Low Down

Need You Badly

Crooked is Quicker

Pauline

Lock and Chain

Take Me LordLouie (I've Been Arrested)

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=I6WEG3HM

Their third album:

American Tears - Powerhouse

Slow Train

Promise To Be Free

Listen

Lookin' For Love

Can't Keep From Cryin'

Don't Give It Away

Say You'll Stay

Last Chance For Love (Later recorded for the TOUCH awesome debut album!)

Born To Love

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AQQ7SF7S


Mangold's later activities includes, Drive She Said & a blues project called Flesh And Blood with ex-Waysted and Tyketto vocalist Danny Vaughn.

Sean Delaney

There are few people in KISS history that were as important to the success of the band as Sean Delaney. Sean served from the very beginning as roadie, tour manager, producer, choreographer, hair stylist, sound and light man, co-writer, a lot. Enough to be confirmed as 'The Fifth Member' of Kiss those early years, by Bill Aucoin. Delaney's previous jobs as beautician and hairdresser and theatrical background came in handy while helping KISS with their make up and blue/black/silver hair.
As I said in here earlier, this is an album I had been looking for for quite some years. Turned out to be the most hard to get vinyl LP I ever got my hands on. It took 25 years to be able to hold it in my own hands, and to hear it. And when I did, it was a gift from a good friend, knowing my wish to hear & have it. Thanks a lot, Stig! To say I was curious is a huge understatement. Although I didn't know what to expect, I had not heard a single second of it through all these years, Sean Delaney already had earned my respect for his involvement in some music & bands I appreciated a lot, years ago. Well, Kiss ofcourse. But maybe even more as a producer of Billy Squiers Piper - 'Can't Wait'. And Starz, the band he 'found', and brought to Aucoin Management (Kiss) as well as gave the band it's name.

Bill Aucoin managed Sean Delaney once, as an artist, and said years ago in an interview:
Yeah, Sean Delaney put out an album ("Highway") which is really kind of the story of our life together. And then he did The Skatt Bros who were a great band who did a fantastic album. That dance market was kind of ending and Neil Bogart of Casablanca (who released it) was getting sick and someone else took over the label. Sean had always had a troubled life when I first met him. He had a band called Trust that was about to be signed to Elektra Records and the band broke up just as they were about to be signed. Sean always had that unfortunate side.
He was quite a character, as much or more of a character than any of the members of Kiss. Sean was very flamboyant, embellished everything and a great story teller and he had a lot of heartbreak with Kiss. He didn’t get paid for a lot of the stuff he did. He really felt awkward. It was a really bad separation for a while. He did an awful lot for them, including writing and producing and everything. So it was a bittersweet ending unfortunately for Sean. He never really got that altogether again with them.

From an interview with the band Starz:
'Sean Delaney was a huge inspiration to Starz. He was there for the band in the early years, as he had been for management stablemates Kiss. He was also responsible for coming up with the band name. Sean sadly passed away last year. But there was none more colourful than he was. Everything he did was big. He came to every rehearsal, six days a week, five to six hours a day. He was a very intense person, more so than the band. There was one day when it was snowing really badly, really impossible weather, and Sean called me to ask why I hadn’t come in. He wouldn’t take the weather as an excuse and drove over to collect me himself!!"


Sean and Donna Summer, doing backup vocals on Gene Simmons first solo album.

His involvement in Kiss co-writing & producing:
Kiss - Rock And Roll Over - Take Me (Paul Stanley, Sean Delaney)
Kiss - Rock And Roll Over - Mr. Speed (Paul Stanley, Sean Delaney)
Kiss - Rock And Roll Over - Makin' Love (Paul Stanley, Sean Delaney)
Kiss Alive II - All American Man (Paul Stanley, Sean Delaney)
Kiss Alive II - Rocket Ride (Ace Frehley, Sean Delaney)
Peter Criss - Solo (1978) - Rock Me, Baby (Sean Delaney) & produced
Peter Criss - Solo (1978) - I Can't Stop The Rain (Sean Delaney) & produced
Gene Simmons - Solo (1978) - Produced by Sean Delaney
Double Platinum (1978) - Strutter '78 - Produced by Kiss & Sean Delaney

Sean & his best friend in Kiss, Peter Criss.

Delaney started working on a book manuscript in 1995, but never finished it before he died in 2003. The book was later finished by Bill Aucoin, Sean Delaney's family, and named 'Sean Delanay's Hellbox'. I have never read it, but it's said to be a very thin book, app. 100 pages, and NO photos, and not a very 'finished' product in any way. Although full of facts & info from this rather hidden past in KISS history...

R. I. P.

Prentice 'Sean' Delaney - Songwriter and record producer credited with signing KISS to their first recording contract, who was their first road manager and was often called KISS’s "fifth member", who helped choreograph their stage shows and wrote a number of KISS songs including ''Rocket Ride'', ''All American Man'' and ''Living In Sin'', died April 13, 2003, after a stroke in Orem, UT at age 58.

And the album? Well, not a bad album, by all means, but more interesting historically than a classic one. His role in music make it anyway an interesting listen. And the year of release as well, the year after the four individual Kiss members solo albums. There's not hard to find details from both Gene Simmons solo album here, and his production of Piper - Can't wait, production- and arrangementwise.
I'm glad I found it at last. Glad I've heard it. But most of all glad the search is over.
Anyway, there's always some hard to get gems out there, so I guess the search'll never stop, just the goals...
Now you can get it in minutes. My own vinyl rip. Enjoy!

SEAN DELANEY: HIGHWAY
Casablanca NBLP-7130 (USA, Jan. 1979)

A1. Welcome To The Circus (4:00) - Delaney
A2. High On The Liquor Of Love (3:07) - Delaney
A3. Somebody Love Me (4:10) - Delaney
A4. Baton Rouge (3:47) - Delaney
A5. Old Man (4:08) - Delaney
B1. You Beat Me To The Punch (3:18) - Robinson, Smokey
B2. Spotlights (3:50) - Delaney
B3. It's Over (3:20) - Delaney
B4. Walk On The Water (5:36) - Delaney/Swevel
B5. Dreams (5:17) - Delaney

The album is dedicated to the members KISS. Produced by Sean Delaney and Mike Stone. Engineered by Mike Stone. Features an all star cast including the likes of Luther Vandross and Allen Schwarzberg. Track B2 was demoed for Peter Criss' solo album and would have appeared creditted to both Peter and Sean had it been used.

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KQHBWSR2

Billy Squier's PIPER

I bought some albums (as I often did), one day in '77, I can't remember most of them, but one was by a band named Piper. I had never heard of them before. I liked the cover, and a name on it triggered the investment. Produced by Sean Delaney. Being a big Kiss fan those days, knowing that he was heavily into the Kiss product, I thought it could not be bad. And it wasn't.

In fact, the album 'Can't Wait', are still one of my favorites, ever, and if I had to make a list of my all time best 10 albums, it would be high up there. I find it impossible to make such a list anyway, so instead I often say about an extremely good album that 'it's among the 20 albums of my All Time Top 5'.

Later, I got hold of their first album too, 'Piper', released one year earlier, 1976. I liked that one too, but it never got the place in my heart&ears as 'Can't Wait'.

Then the front man, writer, singer & guitarist went solo, and got a great career on his own, Billy Squier. But that's another story.

So, I will share these gems with you, as a start on this blog. And this share leads to my next share, the album I've used most years to get hold of a copy of, Sean Delaney's solo album 'Highway' from 78/79, ofcourse released on Casablanca Records. Looking for that one more than 25 years. But, that comes later...

But first, Piper...

They were pieced together by ex-Sidewinders man Billy Squier, PIPER was managed by Bill Aucoin, the man behind KISS and Starz and were a strictly rootsy Rock band. The debut album featured a cover of the Rolling Stones 'The Last Time'.


1st press photo(L-R) Tommy Gunn (bottom left), Alan Nolan, Billy Squier, Danny McGary, Richie Fontana.Richie played drums as well as percussion and backing vocals in this five piece band which featured Billy Squier.

Moments after their performance at Boston Garden with Electric Light Orchestra(L-R) Alan Nolan, Danny McGary, Richie Fontana, Billy Squier, Tommy Gunn.

Squier split PIPER in 1979 in order to go solo, releasing 'Tale Of The Tape' in 1980 and going on to enjoy sustained chart success. Drummer Richie Fontana joined the Casablanca signed disco project SKATT BROS. fronted by Aucoin employee Sean Delaney. Fontana had previously made an appearance on KISS man Paul Stanley's solo album in 1978.

Read more about the forming of Piper at the drummer, Richie Fontanas website:
http://www.richiefontana.com/

And Billy Squier's webpage:
http://www.billysquier.com/

Piper - "Piper"

1976 A&M Records, Inc. Produced by John Anthony

Billy Squier: lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, percussion

Alan Nolan: guitars, backing vocals

Tommy Gunn: guitars, backing vocals

Danny McGary: bass, backing vocals

Richie Fontana: drums, percussion, backing vocals

Mixed by Eddie Kramer for Remarkable Productions, Inc.
Arranged by Piper
Recorded at Eastern Sound - Toronto
Engineer: Ken Friesen
Assistant Engineer: Dana Marks
Mixed at the Record Plant, N.Y.C.Additional Mixing by Corky "Stunt Man" Stasiak
Mastered at A&M Recording Studios, Hollywoodby Bernie Grundman
Design: Dennis WolochFront Cover Photo: Eric Stephen JacobsBack Cover Photo: Tony Loew
All songs written by BILLY SQUIER,except "42nd Street" (SQUIER / McGARY) and "The Last Time" (Jagger / Richard)

1. Out Of Control
2. Whatcha Gonna Do
3. The Road
4. Sail Away
5. Who's Your Boyfriend? (I Gotta Feelin')
6. Telephone Relation
7. The Last Time
8. 42nd Street
9. Can't Live With Ya... Can't Live Without Ya

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YI2EHQHX

Piper - "Can't Wait"

1977 A&M Records, Inc.Produced by Sean Delaney and Chris Kimsey

Billy Squier: lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, percussion

Alan Nolan: guitars, backing vocals

Tommy Gunn: guitars, backing vocals

Danny McGary: bass, backing vocals

Richie Fontana: drums, percussion, backing vocals

Arranged by Piper and Sean Delaney
Horn and String Arrangement on "Now Ain't The Time" by Ron Frangipane
Recorded and Mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York
Engineer: Chris KimseyAssistant Engineer: Neil DorfsmanTape Editor: Neil Teeman
Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York by George Marino
All songs written by Billy Squier, except "Can't Wait" (Squier / Isaacs), and "Drop By And Stay" (Squier / Sartori)
Design and Photography: Ed Caraeff
Direction / Management: Aucoin, 645 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022

1. Can't Wait
2. Drop By And Stay
3. See Me Through
4. Little Miss Intent
5. Now Ain't The Time
6. Bad Boy
7. Comin' Down Off Your Love
8. Anyday
9. Blues For The Common Man

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZT1DUFD2

That's all for now. Hope someone out there'll appreciate this band & it's music as much as I did, and still do.

Until next time, ROCK ON!