A song I got into early on when I started listening to a lot of music is "So You Ran" by Orion the Hunter. The band was sold as a continuation of Boston (which at that point I hadn't consciously heard them) and I was hooked on this jam of big harmony vocals and slick guitar playing. I ran out to the Mall and bought the record so I can enjoy 40 minutes of this stuff. It led to me eventually buying Boston tapes and becoming a huge fan.
A side note about my early fandom of Boston, before buying the record I saw one of the song titles was "Foreplay / Long Time". I was convinced that it would be a song about sex and that I would be busted by my parents for buying a tape with this song. That didn't stop me from getting the record though it was with a bit of relief and disappointment that I found out the songs had absolutely nothing to do with sex after I played it. Just seemed more Rock & Roll if it had been. At least the song "Smokin" was prominently featured in an anti drug movie I had to watch in high school. That's dangerous. Right?
Another aside, if curent statistics are to be believed the popularity of the Mall is declining. Growing up, the Mall was a central place for teenage life. The ultimate expression of consumerism and hanging out plus they usually had an arcade so it was the happening place to be. I wonder where the kids go now?
Looking back, Orion the Hunter was an interesting mix of people. Barry Goudreau was definitely the selling point as the former guitarist from Boston doing a cut rate version of Tom Scholz sound. On drums was Michael Derosier the former drummer of Heart. And on vocals was Fran Cosmo, a guy with a pimped out name and higher voice than Boston's Brad Delp. Cosmo would eventually join Boston for that band's fourth album, Walk On.
"So You Ran" was not a large hit and I couldn't explain to a lot of people who this band was back then. For my part of the world, it was a song that didn't seem to exist except for my record player. I was OK with that though, at least it meant I couldn't get sick of hearing it.
I would play the record often and think "What a great record, what a lame band name". Orion the Hunter? I'd say Goudreau couldn't come up with a lamer name, but then he named a later band RTZ (it stands for Return To Zero). Goudreau can do a lot of things, but please keep him away from naming bands in the future. Anyway, here's Goudreau and Co. performing their lone minor hit, "So You Ran".
Orion the Hunter "So You Ran"
2 comments:
Actually, it is my understanding that the band was named "Orion" and the album was "Orion the Hunter" or just "The Hunter"
You may be right! The story I thought I remembered was that they were called Orion and found out another band was already named it so they added The Hunter. Wikipedia supports what you said about The Hunter being the record name so I assume Orion The Hunter became the group name just by everyone remembering it as that. Thanks for the info!
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