Foreigner: Hot Blooded or Cold As Ice?

Part of the meaninglessness movement of early eighties. The "we have no idea what we're on about" school typified by Survivor-Asia-Journey- Kansas-Toto-Styx-Foreigner that would eventually spawn the socially relevent backlash of artists like Bruce Hornsby, Huey Lewis and Neneh.

(early eighties one-word name bands = AOR; early nineties one-word name bands = grunge. connect the dots.)

At any rate, their hits URGENT, HOTBLOODED and JUKEBOX HEROES convincingly argued that they were in fact urgent, hotblooded jukebox heroes.

The "we have no idea what we're on about" school typified by Survivor-Asia-Journey- Kansas-Toto-Styx-Foreigner...

All of these bands you list hold some sort of weird fascination for me, and I think it's *because* they don't know what they're about. No well-carved niche to lord over, no specialized area of "sonic exploration," no pretense of "making art," no claim to wicked chops... Maybe they *are* clueless dinosaurs, but to me that's refreshing and interesting. Their music is humble in a way that a lot of current bands' isn't, and, I think, couldn't be.

Bad Company: "Feel Like Makin' Love" rules. (Power ballad version of "Fire and Rain," basically.)

Free: "All Right Now" of course.

Cock rock lives, people!

You sure about that? "Eye of the Tiger" and "The Grand Illusion," to name two, don't really convey humility to my ears!

http://www.foreigneronline.com/band95.jpg

Thanks, Ned - got any pics of Paul Rodgers wearing one of those tie- it-above-the-belly-button silk shirt things? (a la Robert Plant)

http://www.allrightnow.com/fws/gall1/pgpr1.jpg

C'mon, Ned, "Eye of the Tiger" was by Survivor! Don't you know anything about rock 'n' roll? Anyhow "Urgent", "Midnight Blue", and "I Want to Know What Love Is" are only tolerable records Lou Gramm sings on. Interesting to note that when Rolling Stone did their 100 Greatest Singles list 10+ years ago Foreigner had as many singles on it as James Brown.

Possibly related to Clarke's point -- are there any current equivilants to these bands? I don't think so. Every big rock band working now tries to project at least a litte alt-ness. Maybe alternative rock really did kill corporate rock.

Could that be what you're talking about, Clarke? None of these bands had a hint of "alt," so they seemed more innocent somehow?

Mark: Your point fascinates me. Can you elaborate on what "alt"- ness is? Like, is "all we are is dust in the wind" an "alt" sentiment? Would Supertramp fall at all into this category? Would "School" or "The Logical Song" be "alt"-ish statements? How about Heart?

I will ponder for the next while what it is that I like about AOR.

And what does alternative mean now anyway? Having flaming dice tattoos and blue hair and a satan-hot-rod bowling shirt? Wearing a black cape and a blouse and black lipstick? Wearing a ball cap and saving up for Reason 2? Yeah those guys are free-wheeling rebels who play by their own rules. They work in the stereo shop down at the mall.

QUITE RIGHT. So lemme 'lone. ;-)

Having never answered the original question -- grew up hearing a fair amount of all this stuff (Foreigner and all those other bands as well) and can summon it easily to memory enough. Gives me a smile, to be sure! But I can't imagine ever specifically going out to pick some up.

Now remember that you could always be the current version of REO Speedwagon:

http://www.speedwagon.com/images/reo.jpg

I once read that the charts only include recent releases, and if they really covered sales levels of all LPs you'd see stuff like Foreigner, Eagles, etc. greatest hits packages, and perennial sellers like Pink Floyd's DSOTM and Carol King's Tapestry in the top 20.

But hell, what do I know, I wasn't even born when half of that shit was going down.

Sundar -- re the "alt" comment, I really just meant bands trying to define themselves as anti-mainstream. All the bands do that now, even Creed. Kansas may have been anti-disco, but they were not anti- mainstream.

Which raises a good point, in that theoretically sorta halfway maybe the idea was that said generation in punker eyes had heard all this and ended up creating something that was not that, Mick Ralphs was not Scotty Moore, Lou Gramm was not Little Richard, etc. Meaning that this new generation was going to do it right plus combine it with the stuff that the 'older' ones hadn't heard/absorbed properly/understood/ cared about/etc. -- again, maybe possibly perhaps.

Too bad for them they are first and foremost remembered for the unforgivable "I Want To Know What Love Is".

Opening act was Giuffria. Remember Giuffria!?

But it really boils down to Lou Gramm having a fantastic voice, regardless of anything else. Some of their music was a bit melodramatic, but Lou can rescue it with his pipes just about everytime.

I'd say the same for "Waiting for a Girl Like You" too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiQJBDNOco4

so urgent (urgent urgent urgent)

i can picture the scene

god help you

em ER gen CYYYYY

Cold as Ice every damn time.

some days it’s like you hate my whole record collection lol

<3

Blue Morning, Blue Day rocking my world today....I have always known and loved the hits, all this classical shit trying to sound tuff. But why are the album cuts so wimpy, and are any of them any good?

I’ve been waiting

if I could travel back in time to murder any one band with impunity, it would be a tossup between these guys and Toto

the absolute fucking worst, just skincrawlingly creepy

so help me god sleeve if you touch one hair on Lou Gramm’s head there will be trouble

It feels like the first time and I’m cold as ice. Stuck out here a long lone way from home, I tell you it’s a real headknocker. These drugs got me hot blooded seeing double vision as this blue morning, blue day opens for a dirty white boy.

Head games, women and that girl on the moon have me urgent, waiting for a girl like you. Just a juke box hero, I want to know what love is, but that was yesterday. My heart turns to stone, I don’t want to live without you; say you will soul doctor.

I remember liking 4 when I was a kid. Have barely thought about them since. Very mired with * in my memory, to the point where I'd probably have to check which songs are from which bands before truly committing an opinion. Jukebox Hero

* = Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Journey, Styx and Toto, plus a dash of Bad Company, Triumph, and maybe Opus. Is there a name for this genre? Late 70s/early 80s Louche Arena Rock.

Different from Butt Rock (Skynyrd/Alabama/Allmans). Differenter still from Hair/Glam. And very different from 90s Louche Rock (which is like yr Goo Goo Smashmouth Barenaked Blossoms Crows Traveler kind of thing).

O wait Boston is also in Late 70s/early 80s Louche Arena Rock zone

"Blue Morning, Blue Day" is one of their top five best, and, yeah, no overplay has a lot to do with its continued power.

AOR is the term you're after

http://bigaor.altervista.org/alterpages/medium/bigaor-1456411531178.jpg

Why won't images post here any more?
Anyway: http://bigaor.altervista.org/

Madness's "Embarrassment" sounds a lot like "Cold As Ice" imo

jesus the Johnny Edwards uh ..era?…is a real bad time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiPkqX8SYgE