A&E Private Sessions Foreigner yesterday

[Heartfelt]

another thought is to ask what you guys think of their sound when they came out. They seemed to a very "dry" sound/act compared to the reverbaholics of the day.

What do you think about that? groundbreaking?

[dbbubba]

They were talking about them doing something today on TV up here in Dallas.

Who in that line up (other that Mick Ralphs) is an original member?

The weird part is that it reminds me of the cover band days when we played that stuff because it was NEW!
For some crazy reason I think of being on stage in Amarillo Texas at a club called Fuzzies (yeah, really!) playing that song.
The smell of piss and beer comes to mind.

[Heartfelt]

Well, Mick Jones seems to have run the show through the years and brought people in and run people off, LOL. Typical guitar player A-Type (that's me too).

The thing that shocked me was how much like Lou Gramm the new singer, Kelly Hansen, sounded. They did a SLAMMIN version of Urgent.

[dbbubba]

Yeah, yeah... Mick JONES... to many years of rock-n-roll.

Ever see Lou Gramm live?
This guy is better.
Well, maybe he parties less....

Still, he is singing Lou Gramm's parts.

[Heartfelt]

Lou had some hard knocks that took him off of his game, vocally. However, he was one of the creative forces behind some great music... nothing but props for him.

Kelly is indeed singing Lou's parts and sadly, Kelly sounds more like Lou than Lou does, today.

[Knox]

seems silly to call it Foreigner these days w/ only one member of the band left.

[brill bedroom]

Well, I don't know about silly, but some would say that people who spend their entire adult lives building a brand name have a right to use it. He could call it Mick Jones Band and get paid a lot less and play for much smaller audiences, I suppose ( plus, he'd get people expecting to hear Clash songs.). He did write most of the songs, and Lou has had medical issues that make him unable to do the gig.

[Knox]

aw come on man, it's "silly". It may be a good band but if someone wants to see Foreigner (the band that made the hits) it isn't them. . . . Also, don't forget, Lou co-wrote many of the songs WITH Mick. It's a 'plug in' Foreigner. It's really the Mick Jones band. Yea, he CAN call it 'Foreigner' but is it really? I like Mick Jones, but it's no more the real Foreigner anymore then if Roger and a group of young musicians went on tour calling themselves Pink Floyd. And he sang a lot of the songs! I did Beatlemania on Broadway . . . we were called "an incredible simulation" (which is debatable). I would say this 'Foreigner' is an "incredible simulation". *smile*

[Dean Roddey]

So what percentage would you require by law before a band had to change its name, and how many bands that were still in good form and still even in their initial run wouldn't pass that muster? Is The Who without Moon still The Who? You can't argue that he wasn't an incredibly signficant part of their sound. Was Zepplin Zepplin, and did the fact that the new drummer sometimes was of the bloodline of the original make any difference?

[wesarvin]

Saw them last year when they were the opening act for Bryan Adams. (Incidentally a friend of mine was their opening act...)

Foreigner (same tour as the A&E performance) didn't impress me much. Quite boring. I noticed that FOH used their own console for the show, and switched when Bryan Adams came on. It looked like a Venue, but I might be mistaken.

Bryan Adams however, kicked butt. Much more energy, more engaging show, and the sound was much clearer and present.

I wanted to see Foreigner in their glory days!

[ToddF]

The new singer does have the Lou Gramm sound thats for sure. I noticed on the new song he sounded even more like Lou than on Cold as Ice. Not sure how that worked out?

I love Foreigner self titled and Double Vision. They still put out more great records with great songs but the vibe of the first two are my favs.

I think the production and sound was great. Yes they were dryer than most bands of the era. I think it helps them to not sound dated when listening to them now.

I always enjoyed the use of horns on their albums. Not many bands make it work. Rock and horns.

I actually mentioned Foreigner to the band I was recording today. We were cutting trumpet and sax. The parts and sound reminded me of them.

Peace Todd

[dbbubba]

Foreigner everywhere!

Mick Jones will be on a local AM talk show tomorrow here in Dallas/Ft. Worth (he was slated for today, but there was some delay.)
The station is WBAP and you can probably easily find the show on webcast.
WBAP website with "Listen Live" button in upper right corner: WBAP News/Talk 820 - The News & Talk of Texas
It is the Mark Davis Show that runs 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, CST, M-F except Mark won't be there tomorrow as he's having a colonostophy (sp?) Lovely info!

You can see what Mick has to say.

They are playing the opening of the Texas Motor Speedway this weekend as well.
Kickin' off the local redneck NASCAR season.
It's a gig!

No, they might as well be called Foreigner.
Whyt not?
There have been a jillion other bands that used the name with one member.
It was HIS band and I bet HE had the record deal along with Lou Gramm.
If it was just them, then Lou must have signed off.
A pretty decent way to make some money.

[Knox]

"require by law" and "pass the muster" a bit dramatic eh? Mick Jones obviously has a right to call his band whatever he wants and certainly doesn't need my opinion, but obviously it just seems a bit cheesy in my book to call this Foreigner. CALLING a band the original name certainly does not make it that band. And no . . to me, The Who was pretty much no longer 'THE' Who w/o Moon and is certainly not 'THE' Who now w/o John AND Moon (my opinion). But let's say Pete went out on the road and got a singer to emulate Daltrey on all the hits . . . would you REALLY consider that the Who? It's a money making proposition (just like this Foreigner) but it would be "silly" to call it the original name. I saw The Who at their peak with Moon . . . the people that would see an 'old' Pete on tour with a fake singer would walk away saying they saw The Who? Seems a shame doesn't it?

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

So what percentage would you require by law before a band had to change its name, and how many bands that were still in good form and still even in their initial run wouldn't pass that muster? Is The Who without Moon still The Who? You can't argue that he wasn't an incredibly signficant part of their sound. Was Zepplin Zepplin, and did the fact that the new drummer sometimes was of the bloodline of the original make any difference?