A Very Special Artist Spotlight: Foreigner

More intensity than a headband could hold

It's hard to look at the "F" section of our CD collection where I've been picking up the Foo Fighters CDs and not see one of my all time favorite bands, Foreigner. Foreigner was one of the first bands I ever liked, I even liked their music before I bought records or tapes thanks to "Hot Blooded". So, in a very special episode, like when Carol Seaver's boyfriend died on Growing Pains, or when Mike Seaver went to the party where everyone did drugs in the bathroom on Growing Pains, or when the Seavers went to Italy and Mike Seaver met the girl from the Nightmare On Elm Street Movies who was later on Just The Ten Of Us (Heather Langenkamp)...I watched a lot of Growing Pains...its time to learn a life lesson amid the laughter and love. Not really, but it's time to shine the spotlight on the mighty Foreigner!

Foreigner (1977)

One of Foreigner's best album covers. That's not saying much.

The debut album shattered expectations and along with The Cars bucked the trend that it took three or four albums for a rock band to become successful. Guitarist Mick Jones sought to create a band that could encapsulate all of the popular musical styles of the day, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, R&B, even a little disco (original bassist Ed Gagliardi acknowledged the bass part to "Feels Like The First Time" was discoish). Teaming up with fellow Brits Dennis Elliot (drums), Ian McDonald (ex King Crimson multi-instrumentalist) and Americans Lou Gramm (vocals), Ed Gagliardi (bass) and Al Greenwood (keyboards), Jones formed Foreigner. Named for the split nationality of the original band lineup.

I got the record from Columbia House because I wanted to hear the original long versions of the hits. "Cold As Ice" still kills with it's pensive piano and overlapping vocals. "Feels Like The First Time" with that brief guitar intro and swirling synthesizers is still a good time anthem. "Long Long Way From Home" was a great song about being homesick for New York but I always thought it was about being held hostage by Aliens in space (does that sound geeky? Yes, it does).
The record had additional treats like the Pink Floydy "Starrider" where Mick Jones supplies the David Gilmourish vocal. Best of all, the band pours on the Hard Rock with the Bad Companyesque "Head Knocker" where Gramm's gravelly voice shines (After Beavis & Butthead, I can't help but sing "Fart Knocker" when this song comes on). The debut album set the stage for the band's continued dominance of the rock world for years to come.

Double Vision (1978)

Wow, it's like there's two images to mean double vision or something. I always found it facinating that Mick Jones had like an ugly fur coat on. It's just wrong in so many ways.

There are bands who believe major success of an album means creative license to do something entirely different the next album. Foreigner is not one of those bands. They figured, you like the first record well here's more of it! Double Vision added to the band's string of hits including their first #1 single, "Hot Blooded". I can still remember hearing this song on the car radio and trying to remember the lyrics because it was so catchy. The title track was also a Top 10 hit as Foreigner continued to be the only band in Rock to have significant saxomaphone parts (sax-a-mo-phhooone).

I just found out tonight that Double Vision is one of the group's most successful records. I was surprised because even though I liked it, it was pretty far from my favorite album. Even with great moments like the brittle "Blue Morning, Blue Day" or the ballad "You're All I Am" I found the album a little boring overall. Maybe I just missed the moment on this album, after all I bought it in the 80's because in 1978 my main thing was baseball.

Head Games (1979)

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Oh, she's sitting in the head. HEAD GAMES. Oohhh, I get it now.

The first personnel change brought in bassist Rick Wills in place of Ed Gagliardi for the band's second hardest rocking effort, Head Games. For some reason I can't figure out, Foreigner decided they weren't tough enough so they puffed up their chests and blew out their most misogynistic record.

Foreigner aims for a bluesier sound to rough up their polished arena rock sound and does succeed in rocking hard and rocking well. The lead single, the hard charging "Dirty White Boy" caused a stir as it sought to cast their audience as, uh, dirty white boys (I always found it a little funny how uncomfortable the song title made people when discussing the song with me. Though it's understandable, I wouldn't want to hear a song called "Dirty Asian Boy").

If that wasn't enough to shake up their audience, there was a lot of sexism and attitude on this record. "Women" ran a flurry of lyrics about how dangerous beautiful women are (I remember a lyric about a woman cutting out your heart with a switchblade knife, stealing your heart away or kicking you out). "Seventeen" didn't exactly bring the band back to the PC zone either. Even with the band's storied history of bad album cover art, nothing could prepare people for the sight of a young girl sitting in a urinal trying to wash off graffiti from the bathroom stall with a long strip of toilet paper.

Still, there are winning moments like the title track and "I'll Get Even With You". As over the top as Head Games gets, it's one of my favorite Foreigner albums for that reason. You've gotta admire the risk of trying too hard to prove that you're dangerous. But as in life, anyone who has to go out of their way to tell you how dangerous they are usually aren't.

4 (1981)

You see, it's the fourth album and movies have a countdown reel that includes the number 4 and...never mind, yet another sucky album cover from Foreigner.

More churn in the lineup led to Al Greenwood and Ian McDonald getting the heave-ho. It was the 80's, prog and saxophones were out and synthesizers with drum machines were in. Calling in super producer Mutt Lange (that's Mr Shania Twain to you) assured a tight, focused sound. Bringing in All Star sidemen didn't hurt either as the band sought to break new ground.

4 showed the Jones / Gramm union to be on a roll with a slew of strong material. The Hard Rock funk of "Urgent" gave the band a presence I've not felt since...sorry, got distracted by a Star Wars reference. "Urgent" gave them a presence on the dance floor and contained one of the all time great sax solos thanks to Junior "Shotgun" Walker being called in for a session. Their first significant ballad, "Waiting For A Girl Like You" kicked off a thousand radio dedications and added many years to the band's career by making them balladeers. Thomas Dolby provided additional synths to provide more atmosphere. The pulsing "Juke Box Hero" is still a classic and was even featured in a recent phone ad. "Break It Up" pumped up the drama with Gramm's straining vocal.

Even away from the hits, the moody "Girl On The Moon" and the badass opener "Night Life" assure a good time.

Records (1982)

The best Foreigner album cover ever, it actually looks decent.

The band released their first greatest hits set, the succient Records. This was the first Foreigner tape I ever had, I recorded it off a friend of mine and was amazed at how many of the songs I knew. Records is still notable for the live version of "Hot Blooded". Back in the day, if you went to any rocker and started the speech about "We've got the amps, you've got the numbers. The strength in numbers!!!" they could usually complete the speech for you. Of all the Greatest Hits sets this band has its the skimpiest yet the most satisfying. It really rocks.

Agent Provacateur (1984)

I always imagined this was my high school GPA.

Foreigner returned with their biggest hit, the gospel power ballad "I Want To Know What Love Is". The song was such a huge hit that it changed the public's perception of the band permanently from rockers to Adult Contemporary balladiers, like a slighly ballsy Air Supply. It's become the bands signature song and overshadows everything the band accomplished, including this album. (I WANTTOKNOW what love iissss...)That's too bad as New Wave producer Alex Sadkin was brought in to modernize the sound. (Whooaaa...) Sadkin responded by using a batch of studio tricks to give each song it's own unique texture. (I WANTYOUTO show meeeeee.....)

Other highlights included the cavernous "That Was Yesterday" and the screeching rocker "Reaction To Action". (I WANTTOFEEL what love iiisss....)I used to really like the watery drama of "A Love In Vain" or the steely "Tooth And Nail". (And I know, and I know, I KNOWYOUCANSHOWMEEEE...)But what has grown over time is an appreciation for "Stranger In My Own House", a comical look at a guy obviously not wanted by his woman (or dog!) over a really heavy groove.

I remember seeing Foreigner play during this tour and they put on a great show. But it wasn't a sold out show and older fans would ask me why the kids weren't into Foreigner.


Inside Information (1987)

Okay, it's an album cover made up of a woman's eye. The album is called Inside Information. This makes no freakin' sense!

The Foreigner disc of my college years, I remember playing "Can't Wait" on a pool hall juke box until it pissed off the other players. Anyway, after a successful solo LP for frontman Lou Gramm and Mick Jones co-producing Van Halen's 5150, the band regrouped for Inside Information. Determined to leave the atmospheric work of Sadkin behind, the group returned to their streamlined sound of Foreigner 4. But you can't always go back home and a half album of strong songs wasn't enough to sustain their career.

Still, a platinum album and two Top 10 hits isn't bad. The "Head Games"ish "Say You Will" was the first hit single. (I used to try to scratch on the 45 so it would go "Say-Say-Say You Will") The second hit was the utterly boring ballad "I Don't Want To Live Without You". Fortunately, the anthemic rock of "Counting Every Minute" and the Zeppified "Beat Of My Heart" provided some excitement. But it wasn't the comeback the band needed and Gramm left shortly after. Meanwhile, Mick Jones produced Billy Joel's Storm Front disc.

Unusual Heat (1991)

The Thirst Quencher

As I had mentioned elsewhere on this blog, at this point soundalike singer Johnny Edwards (the future of Foreigner!) was brought in. I once heard a rumor that Gramm left because he didn't feel Foreigner was rocking hard enough anymore among all the ballads. If that's true, it's really ironic that Gramm's next solo album Long Hard Look was soft rock while Jones re-emphasized the Rawk on Unusual Heat. Foreigner's hardest rocking album. A noticeable blues feel is established with hard rock anthems like "Lowdown and Dirty" and "Mountain Of Love".

To be fair, Edwards does a good job of digging into the hard rock with a voice a little smoother than Gramms. I really liked "Lowdown and Dirty" though I only bought the cassingle and didn't get the CD until about 15 years later. I could never get into the second single, the ballad "I'll Fight For You" although the song itself wasn't bad. Caught between Hair metal and the pending Alternative Invasion, Foreigner had no place left in the Rock world. Having an album cover that looked like a Gatorade ad didn't help either.

Very Best...and Beyond! (1992)

Who put this album cover together? It looks a fifth grade project to play with glue and magazine pictures.

The dwindling fortunes of both Gramm and Jones was enough to get the two back together following Gramm's stint in the hard rocking Shadow King with guitarist Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard, Dio). The Foreigner 4 lineup was back and recorded new songs for their second Greatest hits collection. The rocker "Soul Doctor" was great although the guest backing vocals by Cheap Trick's Robin Zander was a little distracting. They covered the usual Foreigner bases with a ballad ("With Heaven On Our Side") and a midtempo dramatic rocker ("Prisoner Of Love"). Foreigner was back! Now they just had to find someone other than me who cared.

Classic Hits Live (1993)

A particularly sweaty CD cover

To drum up more enthusiasm, Foreigner released their first official live album. To it's credit, Classic Hits Live is mixed cleanly and shows how the band would expand the arrangements of their big hits to keep things interesting. Best of all, it shows Lou Gramm's voice was no studio gimmick as he powers his way through "Juke Box Hero" and "Double Vision" like a bulldozer. Still, with recordings taken from various points in the band's history mixed together it lacks the cohesiveness of a single show.

Mr. Moonlight (1994)

It's Mac Tonite!

The last true Foreigner album showed Gramm and Jones replacing Dennis Elliot and Rick Wills with a bunch of young guns that I can't remember. For aging rockers, Unplugged was all the rage so Foreigner released their most acoustic album ever. With the exception of the opening cut "Under The Gun" and the sax heavy instrumental "Big Dog", everything was a ballad or acoustic guitar driven pop rock. It wasn't bad, but a little boring in spots. The requisite power ballad "Until The End Of Time" was pleasant and featured a guest spot by 50's icon Duane Eddy and his Twangy Guitar. I bought this CD shortly after my wife and I were married, I always associate this disc with our first apartment.

Mr. Moonlight would be the final true Foreigner album. I heard they released an even more Unplugged sort of album called Rough Diamonds but haven't seen it yet. Greatest Hits after Greatest Hits package ensued in just about every way possible short of a box set. In 1998 I saw Foreigner play on a double bill with Journey. It was a little sad in that Lou Gramm's once powerful voice was reduced to a mere croak and all of the background vocals sounded fake. I later found out Gramm had serious health problems around that time.

Eventually, Gramm and Jones parted ways again leaving Mick to form a new Foreigner. Jones has put together a lineup that includes a strong vocalist in Kelly Hanson plus bassist Jeff Pilson (Dokken) and drummer Jason Bonham (Bonham). It'll never be the same even if Gramm should ever return, but for two decades they were one of my favorite bands for creating no nonsense arena rock that was catchy and powerful. And what better way to close than a clip of "Juke Box Hero" during the peak of their career.