This is a first in a series of albums by bands that are hard to find or a side project that feature musicians that come from more well-known bands or backgrounds.
When I sold my LP collection about 5 or 6 years ago. I had serious reservations about getting rid of a collection I had spent many years compiling. Then I realized as I looked at my huge collection that this was some kind of possession and something that gave me some kind of bragging rights. But to whom? I had my music loving brethren I had worked with at Dustys Records. I had millions of vinyl junkies that I could show how cool I was that I had all this music. But, all these records were sitting in a storage garage and I had no way of listening to them. Most of the stuff that I really loved was stuff I had bought on CD or had downloaded(both legally and illegally)
It’s now 2013 and there are multiple ways to access some of those old recordings. There’s iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon MP3’s, and Spotify. You can listen to a lot of these and with services like Spotify, you can stream the music on most wireless mobile devices. I often have an urge to hear one of those old albums and I will dial up that artist and their recorded catalog on Spotify and that usually satisfies my urge to hear music from my past collections.
But, there are some bands that I followed that were maybe one-off projects from musicians who came from more established and well-known acts. That is what this series of album reviews will be about. A band comprised of musicians known for their work in BIGGER bands but made some cool music away from their so-called “day job”. This blog is about a progressive band that was essentially a “Super Group” with a rich past.
When I first started playing drums, my friends and I would spend our weekends hitting music instrument stores, record stores and the record department of the general stores of the day(Kmart, Alco, Ben Franklin etc.) Mick and I were(and still are) drummers. Mick had been playing his own drum kit for a few years before I had got my own. We would pick up all the free drum catalogs we could get our hands on. We had a 1980 Tama drum catalog and these would have pictures of all this companies endorsers. One of them I remember was Terry Bozzio. They would have a picture of him behind some kind of drum kit and (in parenthesis) the band/artist he been playing with. In 1983, I didn't know Terry Bozzio from any other drummers. I had no idea of his history with Frank Zappa. But, the band this catalog had him associated with was called U.K.
At the time, I was bagging groceries at the store where my Dad was the general manager. I would occasionally wander over to the LPs and peruse the record bins…including the the discount or “cut-out” bins. Lo and behold, one day I came across a copy of a U.K. album titled Danger Money. I flipped the 12 inch cover over to find a picture of 3 musicians. Eddie Jobson on violin and keyboards, John Wetton on Bass guitar and vocals and Terry Bozzio on drums and percussion.
Here it was in the cut-out bin for $2.99 or $3.99(maybe even cheaper). So, I bought it and took it home. I placed the album on my General Electric hand-me-down stereo from sisters and was ready to be blown away. At first, I was anything BUT “blown away”.
At that point, I loved everything with HEAVY HEAVY drums and distorted guitars(mostly heavy guitars). I’ve said for a long time that there’s something about adolescent males and the sound of distorted guitars. Once again and upon a closer look, this album had NO guitars. It was bass, drums, keyboards and VIOLIN? I dropped the needle on this album and drum beat that Terry Bozzio lays down on the first (title) track is rather basic bass drum and snare. I was waiting to be dazzled and felt let down. The keyboard sound felt wimpy and not the muscular guitar sound I loved. Then, I start listening to the vocals and start thinking “Man, this sounds like the guy from the band Asia.” Once again, if I had looked closer and known my Rock bios (like I do now) I would have known that John Wetton (in 1982-83) IS the bassist/vocalist for the band Asia. This album was released in 1979 and by 1982, Asia was probably the biggest selling band and album of that year. Which is pretty impressive for a band of progressive all-stars making a pop-rock album. I listened through the album a couple times and then kind of shelved it for awhile. I heard and read such great things about Terry Bozzio and his prowess behind the kit. But, I think the lack of distorted electric guitars just dampened any kind of excitement I felt towards this album or maybe the prog overtones and complicated odd-time signatures just went over my head at the time.
Fast forward a few years (I’m guessing around 3-4 years). The store that my Dad had managed closed up in the Spring of 1984 and he looked for other work and eventually moved to the town of Hastings Nebraska. I remember one night reading through one of my many copies of Modern Drummer magazine and there was a transcription of Bozzio’s drum part on the U.K. track Caesar’s Palace Blues. I still had the LP and so I put the album on. This track was the first track on Side two. So, I played it back and all of a sudden, I was blown away, impressed and engaged into this track. I then played the whole album again from top to bottom. “I get this now!”
As my tastes in music grew, I became more familiar with the drumming of Terry Bozzio. The early 80’s, he led the band Missing Persons which consisted of many former members of Frank Zappa’s band of exceptional musicians. I would continue to seek out many of the groups and albums featuring his playing. Among my favorites include his work with Frank Zappa, the Brecker Brothers Heavy Metal Be-bop, and Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop. I also discovered that there was another album by U.K. before the Danger Money album. The band was originally a quartet featuring the aforementioned Wetton and Jobson along with Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford and guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Holdsworth was a guitarist I had read about from reading interviews with Eddie Van Halen who claimed that Holdsworth was “the best in my book”. I also began to learn about different drummers and styles of music. From that education, I found that many of the drummers I was getting into during the 80’s and 90’s were fans of Bozzio’s drumming with the band U.K.
Guys like Deen Castronovo(Journey, Bad English, Steve Vai, Tony McAlpine) and Mike Portnoy(Dream Theater) would cite the live U.K. album Night after Night as a favorite and an influence on their playing. A few years back(and I wish I knew when) Modern Drummer wrote reviews on the CD reissues of the the 3 albums. So, when I sold my LP’s I figured there shouldn’t be any difficulty finding CD copies of these albums.
This past Fall, I picked up a copy of Drumhead Magazine with a cover story of drumming brothers Carmine and Vinny Appice. Carmine has been a longtime influence and favorite drummer of mine. I usually find multiple articles to read through in these kind of magazines. As I paged through, I came across an article about U.K.’s album Danger Money written by former Damn Yankees and current Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Michael Cartellone. In this article, Michael recounts his memory of this album much like I am recollecting now. Only his story is a bit different. He cherished the music he heard on this album and how it shaped his playing with the odd-time signatures and his love of progressive rock. But, it also was important in his life and career as a drummer. According to the article, Michael “lived, ate, slept and breathed that record for many many years.” He also tells the story of how he eventually corresponded with Eddie Jobson through Jobson’s fan club and would work with him. In fact, I had a VHS copy of a drummer video magazine called “Hot Drummer” which had an interview with Cartellone and he talked briefly about working with Eddie Jobson. When I originally watched the video I remember thinking “Hey, he talking about that U.K. violinist guy.” He also would record with John Wetton on his album Battle Lines. His article tells of how he went from being a fan of the band to becoming contemporaries and friends with all 3 of the guys.
The enthusiasm in his writing about this album made me yearn to hear it again. It had been years and I was eager to hear it again. I figured these albums had been remastered on CD and shouldn’t be hard to find on many of the online stores and streaming services with vast catalogs of music available. I went to Amazon.com and their digital downloads. I checked out the iTunes store and looked it up on Spotify. I couldn’t stream it through Spotify and Amazon and iTunes didn’t have the Danger Money for download either. The only U.K. album available was the original self-titled debut album featuring Bruford and Holdsworth. I went to Amazon.com only to find the CD of the album was not that easy(or cheap) to acquire. Amazon had the CD priced starting at $24.95 for a used copy and $185 for a new copy. As I said earlier, I originally paid $2.99 or $3.99 for my cut-out bin LP copy almost 30 years ago. I really liked the album…just not that much. So, I started searching out different online outlets to find a cheaper alternative. There’s tons of websites that say “FREE DOWNLOADS”. But, when you decide to download them, all the spyware, spamware, Anti-virus alerts start flashing and going up in front of you. So, I stop right there.
I went to YouTube and found the recordings of the 6 songs on this album. I compiled a playlist and would listen to a stream of the videos. I even downloaded a program to convert the audio from YouTube videos to MP3’s. That way I could sync the MP3’s to my smartphone and listen to the album that way. That satisfied me momentarily. I wanted the whole CD now. So, I went to eBay to find the CD and hopefully it would be at a price I was willing to pay(under $20). At the end of January(2013), I finally found a copy for about $9.65 US dollars. I specify US dollars because it would be shipped from Latvia and would take longer than a US order. I got the bid on the CD and waited for 3 weeks for it to finally arrive.
When it arrived in the mail, I was elated and excited to hear it. I have probably listened to it repeatedly for the past month and a half. All the nuances of Bozzio’s drumming, Wetton’s bass & vocals and Jobson’s arrangements have reverberated through my head on a daily basis ever since. I emailed Michael Cartellone through his website and complimented him on his article in Drumhead Magazine. He responded with a kind ‘Thank you’ and how fun it was to write the article and pay tribute to an album (and his friends) in proper way.
In Cartellone’s article, I found out that the band had reunited for a short reunion tour in 2012(and an upcoming small tour in 2013). I can only imagine how cool it would have been to see these 3 perform the songs from this album in a small intimate live setting. Thanks to the technology of the 21st Century(and YouTube), many of my fellow fans of the band have posted some live video of the performances. These are great performances with some cool close-ups. I have watched these videos repeatedly and I am energized by these performances and the music played by these exceptional musicians. I only wish I could see the band live and share the experience with more people.
As I start writing more blogs on some of these lesser known albums, I reflect on the music that has touched me in my own personal way. For years, there have been many books and lists of albums by many critics and tastemakers that state “the greatest” of all time or this or that decade etc. I want to highlight music that touched me at a certain time in my journey as a music lover, drummer, musician and human being. I may have discovered this music in my own way. I may be the only one in my circle of friends that found an album to be “great” or a favorite. But, I know one thing. I liked or loved that album for my own reasons. Hopefully, as you read this, you’ll seek out some of your own lesser known favorites from your past as well and revisit them. I’m sure there will be a memory(or more) to go with it.
