AOR Underground (2025)

12/10/2025

SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
I first heard the American/European version of this album, the one with just the faces on the cover. It was remixed for those markets, complete with a different running order. This could quite possibly be one of my favourite Canadian albums, with Toronto being one of my favourite bands. In my eyes it’s a flawless debut, one that still sounds great to this very day.

TORONTO – ‘Lookin’ For Trouble’. Solid Gold/A&M. 1980.
Both Jimmy Fox (Drums) and Brian Allen (Guitar) had originally been in the Canadian band, Rose, a semi-progressive rock band that had cut two albums for Polydor records in ‘77. It was on the Ontario and Quebec club circuit that Fox and Allen first encountered singer Annie ‘Holly’ Woods, and it wasn’t long before Woods joined Rose for a brief period near the end of that band's career.

It was Jimmy Fox’s initial idea to form Toronto with Allen and Woods, with Scott Kreyer (Keys) joining next and then Sheron Alton (Guitar) and Nick Costello (Bass). They were a Canadian band that weren’t Canadian as Woods was from North Carolina, Kreyer, Costello and Fox all hailed from Rochester, New York and whilst Alton lived in Toronto, she was born in London leaving Brian Allen, who was from Chilliwack, B.C, as the only bona fide Canadian.

Originally called Sass, they spent their formative first months rehearsing and recording demos in the hope of getting a deal. But as much as their management team of Neill Dixon and Steve Propas tried, they couldn’t get them signed. So, they formed their own label, Solid Gold, and moved forward with Sass as their first signing. It was ‘Lookin’ For Trouble’s’ first producer, Sonny Limbo, that christened them Toronto, a name that the band didn’t take to initially.

With Bill Henderson (Chilliwack) and Brian MacLeod (Chilliwack, Headpins) installed as producers after Limbo didn’t work out, It proved to be a perfect match as both Henderson and MacLeod brought melody and muscle in abundance. The album’s original cover was designed by Hugh Syme (Rush) and was intended for Max Webster’s ‘High Class In Borrowed Shoes’. It came in for some severe criticism due to its provocative photo of a young girl looking like a barely pubescent pr******te and was changed for the American and European markets.

A cornucopia of styles pervades this album, all brought together by the wonderful, four-octave vocals of Holly Woods and the subtly understated guitar skills of Sheron Alton. It was akin to the new wave, power pop of The Cars meeting the fully fledged hard rock of Heart, with a soupcon of Pat Benatar thrown in for good measure. The albums opening number, ‘Even The Score’, is a prime example of the aforementioned styles, pushed along by an irresistible chorus, with Woods rivalling Ann Wilson in the vocal stakes.

With Alton flexing her muscles on ‘Get Your Hands Off Me’, ‘You Better Run’ was originally a hit for The Young Rascals, with Pat Benatar also taking it into the American top forty in 1980. Whilst the new wave pop perfection of ‘5035’ should have been a smash hit, it was the likes of ‘Even The Score’ and ‘Lookin’ For Trouble’ that became big Canadian hits, with the album racking up over a hundred thousand sales.

They remained a popular Canadian outfit throughout the early eighties, but mainstream fame eluded them. But it could have been so different as in ’83 they wrote ‘What About Love’, but decided to leave it off their album, ‘Girls Night Out’, and two years later it was a top ten smash for Heart. Hindsight, eh, it’s a wonderful thing.
ROB EVANS

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

05/10/2025

SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB

Welcome Coffee Clubbers to a rather wet and windy day in the UK, so here’s a little FM to brighten your morning. Released in ’92, ‘Aphrodisiac’ still stands tall as one of the greatest, if slightly overlooked, albums of this bands magnificent career.

FM – ‘Aphrodisiac’. Music For Nations. 1992.
After the relative highs of their first two albums, albums that saw them tour with everybody from Meatloaf, REO Speedwagon and Bon Jovi, FM’s third album, ‘Takin’ It To The Streets’, was a slight disappointment. With guitarist Chris Overland having left the band, to be replaced by Andy Barnett for that album, keyboard player Didge Digital was next and as they approached their fourth album, the odds were stacked against them.

For ‘Aphrodisiac’, FM went back to EZEE Studios in London where they had recorded their original demos pre ‘Indiscreet’ and also their last album ‘Takin’ To The Streets’. With Andy Reilly once again in the producer’s chair, FM set about working on what is arguably one of the finest albums of their career. With Tony ‘Slim’ Mitman from Romeo’s Daughter supplying keyboards, as well as Leigh Matty and Craig Joiner from the same band on backing vocals, FM pulled the proverbial rabbit from the hat on this album.

It’s absolutely packed full of brilliant songs and is the blueprint for FM’s bluesier style of recent years and I don’t think there’s a bad song on it. Songs like ‘Breathe Fire’, ‘Blood And Gasoline’, the superb ‘Closer To Heaven’ are sublime, but it’s ‘Ain’t Gonna Run No More’ and the epic ‘Hard Day In Hell’ that steal the show, with the former one of the best songs that Bad Company never wrote.

I’d place this album alongside ‘Indiscreet’ as one of the finest examples of this band in full flight and they deserve every accolade that’s ever come their way.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

28/09/2025

SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
Back in ’91 when Tyketto first burst onto the scene, via a three-track promotional EP, they instantly turned heads. Where the hell had these hirsute rock gods arrived from, Olympus? Well, if that’s what they were calling New York back then, then that’s where they came from. And ‘Forever Young’ is still one of my favourite rock songs of all time, with its singer, Danny Vaughn, one of my all-time favourite performers.

TYKETTO – ‘Don’t Come Easy’. Geffen Records. 1991.
As a member of the British rock band Waysted, Danny Vaughn got to taste the hedonistic lifestyle that came with the territory when you were in a band with ex UFO members Paul Chapman and Pete Way. The solitary album that he cut with the band, ‘Save Your Prayers’, was a precursor almost to what was about to unfold when Waysted imploded sometime in ’87.
With Vaughn joining fellow New Yorkers Brooke St. James (guitar), Jimi Kennedy (bass) and Michael Clayton (drums), Tyketto was born, getting their name from a piece of street graffiti from a wall in Brooklyn, New York. By 1989 they’d signed to Geffen records, a label that was run by the mighty John Kalodner, a man so good, they named him twice.
Recorded at A&M studios in Hollywood and O’Henry’s in Toluca Lake, under the production guidance of Richie Zito, who’d just worked with the likes of Bad English, Cheap Trick and Heart, ‘Don’t Come Easy’ saw the light of day in 1991. Touring alongside Nelson in the States and White Lion in the U.K, Tyketto were one of the hottest acts around. There’s no denying that the albums opening three tracks – ‘Forever Young’, ‘Wings’ and ‘Burning Down Inside’ – are arguably three of the greatest songs in succession on any debut album.
In fact, I’ll go on the record as saying that ‘Forever Young’ is one of the top five greatest melodic hard rock songs of all time. Danny Vaughn’s goal was to write anthems, something that he achieved in spades with this song. But riding parallel to all the hard rock rifferama was the likes of the beautiful ‘Seasons’ and the tour-de-force that is ‘Standing Alone’.
There’s no denying that they should have been household names. Danny Vaughn is one of the genres greatest vocalists, a man that should be huge beyond his wildest dreams. I saw them earlier this year, alongside Uriah Heep, and I can confirm that Vaughn is singing as good as he ever has and Tyketto still elicit the same kind of response as they did back in the day. This is a true hard rock classic.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

21/09/2025

SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
Back in the late seventies, bands like Legs Diamond were nestled in the import racks, or even the ‘cut out’ bins of you local record shop. Stacked amongst bands like Teaze, Moxy, Angel, The Godz and Starz, they all stood out thanks to colourful logos that drew you in. It was a great era to be buying records in. @

LEGS DIAMOND – ‘A Diamond is a Hard Rock’. Mercury Records. 1978.

Legs Diamond were certainly a band from my youth in the late 70's. When I was bored of Purple, Sabbath, Priest, AC/DC and Zeppelin and my mind demanded more musical excitement my thoughts turned stateside. There I discovered Kiss, Nugent, Aerosmith, Starz, Angel and this lot, the mighty Legs Diamond whose first two albums are monumental slices of American hard rock history.

After the brilliance of their debut album, produced by Derek Lawrence, the band hired Eddie Leonetti, who set out to do a similar job on ‘A Diamond Is A Hard Rock' as he had done for Angel on their ‘White Hot’ album. The one thing that I did find on relistening to this album is the fact that the band were heavily influenced by the likes of Purple and Zeppelin, bands that I was bored of back in the day yet these U.S upstarts captured my attention which was probably down to their youthful exuberance and image.

Considering this was released in 1978 and punk had taken a hold of the music scene this album is unashamedly old school and by sticking a firm two fingers to the young Punk upstarts, it saw them stick to their guns rather than follow musical trends, something that they must be commended for.

From the titular ‘A Diamond Is A Hard Rock’, that sets the bands stall out from the off, or the pure power-pop of ‘I Think I Got It’, right through to ‘Woman’ one of their greatest songs, this was an album that was powered along by Michael Prince’s superb keyboard work, and Rick Sanford’s fabulous vocal masterclass. In my opinion this is Legs Diamonds finest hour and back in 1978 this album was a beacon that attracted all the disillusioned rock fans like me who couldn't even begin to know the delights that awaited them within.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

14/09/2025

THE SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
Grown men in makeup, you can’t beat them. And in the eighties, they were everywhere. Whilst the UKs Wrathchild may have looked like the Ugly Sisters, Poison were Cinder-f**kin’-Rella! Now, hit it C.C.

POISON – ‘Look What The Cat Dragged In’. Enigma/Music For Nations Records. 1986.
Whilst the story of Poison originates in Pennsylvania, when the band went under the name of Paris, it would be Los Angeles that would embrace them with open arms. Whilst Kerrang! would get the scoop on a lot of bands in the early eighties, the legendary Metal Forces magazine and Kelv Hellrazer were the first to bring Poison to the masses via an inconspicuous two-page interview in issue 16, that was tucked right at the back of the magazine almost as an afterthought.

Under the banner headline of “Swallow This One”, Hellrazer got the skinny on how Poison had been courted by Kim Foley, how they’d struggled to get a deal and what made them stand out from a very crowded market. Having replaced guitarist Matt Smith, the core line-up of Brett Michaels (Vocalizin’ & Socializin’), Bobby Dall (Bass Rapin’ & Heartbreakin’) and Rikki Rocket (Sticks, Tricks & Lipstick Fix) were joined by C.C. DeVille (Guitar Screachin’ & Hair Bleachin’) to form a line-up that was set to bring the hitz, glitz and glamour of the Sunset Strip to the rest of the world.

Whilst the Crue were rapidly moving away from the pop-metal of their fabulous debut, Poison embraced that style with open arms. It was like Sweet and Cheap Trick running headlong into the likes of Kiss and Van Halen, with the result a heady cocktail of attitude, bravura and flair. They looked better than your girlfriend, in fact back in ’86 when I was managing a local Wrexham band, one of our roadies remarked, “Cor! They’re fit, who are they?” Don’t worry Kev, what goes on in Wrexham, stays in Wrexham.

Recorded for just $23,000, with the band part funding the recording, the album proved to be a runaway success. It was described as a “Glorified Demo” by Brett Michaels as it was recorded in just twelve days at the Music Grinder by Ric Browde. Thanks to singles like ‘Talk Dirty To Me’, ‘I Want Action’ and ‘I Won’t Forget You’, not to mention the fabulously, over the top videos, within a year of its release it made the top five of the American Billboard charts. It became the biggest selling record in Enigma’s history and this bunch of Cinderella’s most certainly went to the ball.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

07/09/2025

THE SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
In issue three of Rock Candy Magazine they ran a feature on Maple Leaf Mayhem, choosing fifty of Canada’s most epic moments. Inexplicably they didn’t include Zon’s ‘Astral Projector, preferring their ‘Back Down To Earth’ album instead. It was enough to make a grown man cry to the Gods of Pomp rock, burn his Angel albums in protest and almost knock the world off its axis. Yeah, I wasn’t happy.

ZON – ‘Astral Projector’. Epic. 1978.
The early history of Zon can be traced to a record store basement in Eglington Avenue, Toronto in the mid-seventies. Including both Denton Young and Howard Helm, Act III eventually morphed into Zon when their guitarist, a young Rik Emmett, quit to join the fledgling act, Triumph.
After a myriad of changes, the ever-present Young (Vocals) and Helm (Keyboards) were joined by Brian Miller (Guitars), Kim Hunt (Drums) and Jim Samson (Bass) to form the bands definitive line-up. It wasn’t long before the intricate progressive sounds of Zon came to the attention of Bob Gallo (CBS) who immediately signed them to label offshoot, Epic.
Released in ’78, initial quantities of ‘Astral Projector’ came in cobalt blue vinyl and were housed in a gatefold sleeve. Adorned with that wonderfully simplistic, yet menacing artwork, this was an album that just begged to be picked from the shelves in an era when you bought records on the strength of their covers.
Produced by Don V. Lorusso at Manta Sound, Toronto and mixed with the aid of the Aphex Aural Exciter - which may sound like it belonged in a Linda Lovelace film, but was a piece of studio hardware, renowned for its ability to enhance vocals and instruments alike.
On album opener, ‘Put On The Show’, a torrent of keys introduce the track before biting guitars set the scene as they duel for supremacy, in the middle you can almost imagine Denton Young as some crazed ringmaster as he leads the way through one of pomp rocks finest moments.
Elsewhere you had ‘Point Of View/Where To Spend My Dollar’, a song that mixed Russia/Force 10 type lunacy with Supertramp style songwriting to great effect. When those dancing keys at the songs opening give way to a surging Hammond organ, they only hint at the pomposity to come as Monty Python esque female voices, an almost Bossa Nova style rhythm and some of the best keyboard work in the history of pomp all go into making this song the masterpiece it is. This alone should have seen the band headlining stadiums; instead, they played support to the likes of Styx and The Tubes, oh the ignominy.
Garnering them a Juno nomination for Best New Act, ‘Astral Projector’ is arguably one of the finest moments in Pomp rock history. So, dig it out, play it loud and marvel at singer Denton Young’s quite wonderful moustache, a beauty capable of putting on a show all by itself.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

31/08/2025

THE SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday to us. Yeah, a whole year of the Coffee Club has just flown by since that cold day in hell, or Congleton to the rest of you, when I had the idea to do the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, which was inspired by my daughter’s art print of the same name. To celebrate we are giving you a true classic of the genre, a band that should have been huge.

WITNESS – ‘S/T’. ARISTA RECORDS. 1988.
The delightfully elfin faced Debbie Davis is a bit of an enigma when it comes to finding information about her past, or even her present. In the age of the technological superhighway that we call the Internet, that’s no mean feat. Having first appeared on the scene as a part of the band, Native, Davis and her fellow band members were signed to Arista in ’87. With their record label insistent on a name change, Davis and company opted for Witness and set about recording their debut album.

Blessed with a voice that was equal parts Anne Wilson and Janis Joplin, Davis could rock with the best of them and then some. It goes without saying that the end results spoke for themselves, and that the album has since become a cult classic some twenty-odd years down the line. With most of her fellow band members appearing on the album in name only, their parts were played by likes of Neal Schon, Brad Gillis, Steve Smith and Danny Chauncey, its main protagonist was Davis with her sultry, blues-soaked roar.

With ‘Show Me What You’ve Got’ roaring out of the speakers and setting the bands stall out from the very start, tracks like the Heart like ‘Am I Wrong’, ‘Desperate Lover’ and ‘Do It Till We Drop’, that sees Davis breathe new life into the old Franke Miller classic, all follow in a similar fashion that make this album a bona fide cult classic.

Having split shortly after the album was released, the fate of Witness was a familiar one for an awful lot of eighties acts. Since then, Davis has been involved with Lynyrd Skynyrd (appearing on “Endangered Species” and “Southern Knights”) and was involved with Bleu Lane, a southern blues outfit. A remastered version of the Witness album, with bonus tracks, was due from Rock Candy but was sadly dropped from the release schedule due to Arista in Germany gazumping them at the eleventh hour.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

26/08/2025

Got the following for sale...+ P&P
HELTER SKELTER - SINSATIONAL. £20
LAROCHE - DANCING AFTER MIDNIGHT. £20
UNITED NATIONS - 2014. UK VERSION. £10
STRIPPED GYPSY - TROUBADOURS OF FORTUNE. £15
ANGEL - LIVE WITHOUT A NET. J*P COPY, NO OBI. DOUBLE CD. £10
If Interested then PM me or get in touch below. Thanks.

24/08/2025

THE SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
In an alternate timeline, the hard-hitting melodic rock of Valentine would have seen them propelled to superstardom on the back of their debut album. They should have rivalled Journey, played packed out baseball stadiums and sold albums in the millions. But reality and the music industry are harsh mistresses and fickle and cruel ones at that. The story of Valentine could be attached to numerous bands, all with similar tales to tell and war stories to make your toes curl. However, unlike most Valentines, this tale isn’t all roses and chocolate.

VALENTINE – ‘S/T’. GIANT RECORDS. 1990.
When Adam Holland (Guitar), Gerard Zappa (Bass) and Neil Christopher (Drums) first met in high school, little did they know the journey it would take them on? A journey of highs and lows, it saw them garner two record deals and this was before a single note of music had been released. Joined by Hugo Valenti (Vocals) and Craig Pullman (Keyboards), Valentine first formed in ’84, a culmination of several years’ worth of playing the Long Island music scene in the early eighties.

Based in New York in their early days, they relocated to Los Angeles for a short period which turned out to be a pivotal moment in the band’s history. Amidst the flamboyance of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, Valentine learned a lot about presentation and promotion, which changed their outlook and pushed them to hone their songs, image and style. Preferring to be on home turf, they moved back to New York to lay the foundations for what would become their debut album.

But as any connoisseur of Valentine and their rich history will tell you, that wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Whilst Jay Jay French and Mark Mendoza of Twisted Sister were some of the first people to take an active interest in the band, it was Scott Bernstein that took their demo to SBK Management which in turn led to them signing a deal with Arma Andon’s management company. With Andon and Bernstein bringing in Louis Levin, who handled the affairs of Michael Bolton, it was Levin who brought in producer Neil Kernon (Dokken, Shy, Queensryche) to oversee their initial recordings. With the help of Andon and Levin’s contacts, the demos caught the attention of the CBS affiliate, Columbia Records, who promptly signed them and put them in the studio with Kernon.

With the album recorded and mixed, executive changes at Colombia saw their album being shelved and the band out of a deal. Luckily for them, their A&R representative, John Mrvos, had moved to the fledgling Giant Records, a label put together by industry heavyweight, Irving Azoff. It was Mrvos that had signed Valentine to Columbia, so he instantly signed them to Giant and the album was eventually released in the October of 1990, garnering critical acclaim from the likes of Kerrang! and Metal Edge.

The album itself is one of the greatest debuts in the history of melodic rock, an explosive cocktail of muscle, melody and emotion all wrapped around the remarkable vocals of Hugo Valenti. With a striking resemblance to Steve Perry (Journey), both visually and vocally, Valenti cut an impressive figure and alongside Holland’s explosive guitar playing they formed an incredible partnership, the bedrock of this bands immaculate sound. From the rampaging riffs of ‘Runnin’ On Luck Again’ and ‘Too Much Is Never Enough’ through to the exquisite balladry of ‘Tears In The Night’ and ‘Never Said It Was Gonna Be Easy’, this album was packed full of sumptuous sonic vistas from beginning to end.

Whilst it did well, a video for ‘No Way’ featured a young Ally Sheedy (St Elmo’s Fire, Breakfast Club), it didn’t do as well as the label intended. A last throw of the dice saw the band recording a new song, ‘Keep The Faith’, for inclusion on the film soundtrack to ‘Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead’, which, according to Adam Holland was some of the biggest exposure they received. However, after being dropped by Giant they signed to RCA they wiped the slate clean and started afresh with a new name, Open Skyz, and a new direction under the production guidance of Richie Zito. A producer who’d worked with White Lion, Poison and Mr Big. But that’s a story for another time.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

17/08/2025

THE SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
By the time that Triumph released ‘Allied Forces’ in ’81 they’d already released four albums since their inception in ’75. Asides from being responsible for writing one of the greatest Canadian rock songs of all-time in ‘Blinding Light Show/Moonchild’, Triumph’s live shows were gaining them the notoriety that they so richly deserved.

TRIUMPH – ‘Allied Forces’. Attic/RCA. 1981.
I must admit that having seen Kiss at the Deeside Leisure Centre in the September of 1980 and then Triumph on that band’s ‘Progressions Of Power’ tour in the November of the same year, I wanted every live show to be a distillation of both bands. Big, bold and loud.
Forget Rush, this was the only three-piece Canadian rock band that mattered in my eyes, and I wasn’t going to argue when the ‘Progressions…’ tour programme proudly declared that Triumph were “Canada’s No. 1 Rock ‘n’ Roll machine.” So when ‘Allied Forces’ came into view in the September of ’81, I was more than ready for another dose of Maple Leaf Mayhem and, it would seem, I wasn’t alone as this release would prove to be one of the biggest selling albums of their career.
Buoyed by the success of the stellar ‘Magic Power’ and aided by the likes of the muscular ‘Fight The Good Fight’ and the punchy title track, ‘Allied Forces’ deserved to reap the rewards that its million plus sales were giving it. Up to this point it was arguably the finest moment in their cannon of work, an album that was diverse, taut and polished.
Whilst they would go on to release better albums in ‘Never Surrender’ or ‘Thunder Seven’ and end the decade with an AOR flourish in the shape of ‘Sport Of Kings’ and ‘Surveillance’, Triumph hit their commercial zenith on ‘Allied Forces’. Calling it quits in ’93, and aside from a few gatherings over the years, they’ve pretty much resisted the urge for a full-scale reunion and let the music do the talking instead.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

10/08/2025

THE SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
“When the hands on the clock, get ready to rock!” When Paul Sabu wasn’t discovering the likes of Shania Twain, or being a Disco rock god, he also took the time to introduce Alexa to the AOR community thanks to this marvellous record. A great slice of ra**ch ‘n’ roll.

ALEXA – ‘S/T’. SAVAGE RECORDS. 1989.
Discovered by Paul Sabu and often rumoured to be an alias of his, Alexa Anastasia was a Swiss miss who has a voice that sits somewhere between Debbie Davis (Witness) and Darby Mills (Headpins). With Sabu at the production helm, and members of Only Child backing her up, it was a ferocious hard rock record that should have propelled her to a greater standing, but in ’89 the hard rock climate was changing, and Alexa didn’t have a chance.
Originally released on the English based label, Savage Records, the whole album was produced and co-written by Sabu. Who can forget Dave Reynolds coming over all unnecessary about this lady in his legendary double page feature in the pages of Kerrang! Magazine, in the eighties? It was rumoured at the time that Alexa was just a front and that the vocals were that of Paul Sabu but slowed down. I put this question to Sabu a few years back when I interviewed him around the time of his ‘Bangkok Rules’ album. “Well, I’m not sure how to take that? Either I’m being accused of cross-dressing or Alexa has a big set of balls? It’s certainly her on that record”, was an answer that certainly put paid to that myth.
I mean, let’s be serious here, there’s no way that he’d look that good in a tight mini-dress and a blonde wig, is there? I didn’t really see the Sabu comparison myself, but I must admit she could have been the twin sister of Debbie Davis, such is their vocal similarity, with the songs themselves coming across in the style of Davis’s own band, Witness. Tracks like ‘I Can’t Shake You’, ‘Let It Rock’ and ‘Heart To Heart’ are just the tip of this AOR iceberg. When an original copy of this went for over a $1,000 several years ago, I think the whole Ebay AOR community was dumbfounded. It’s since been reissued in 2006 by MTM.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

03/08/2025

THE SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE CLUB
Today’s edition of the Coffee Club is short, sharp and sweet as I’m out of the door extremely early this morning. I can remember buying this album on its release, complete with ‘Laser Etching’, how fancy, and loving its contents. I imagine that for most ardent Styx fans this comes way down the list of this band’s best albums, but I’ve always had a soft spot for it.

STYX – ‘Paradise Theatre’. A&M Records. 1981.
As Styx rolled into the eighties, they’d already secured three consecutive multi-platinum albums. The likes of ‘Cornerstone’, Pieces Of Eight’ and ‘The Grand Illusion’ were packed full of bombastic songs, songs that saw Styx build a reputation as one of America’s biggest acts.
Having just had a huge hit with ‘Babe’, a shmaltzy ballad that was at odds with Styx’s normal pomp laden offerings, they took on the eighties armed with a concept album about an imaginary theatre. This fictional account of Chicago’s Paradise Theatre was, according to Dennis DeYoung, a metaphor for America’s changing times and an album about hope and renewal.
It was also an album that saw the band pursue an almost straight-ahead AOR sound. The end results were fabulous, as songs like ‘Rockin’ The Paradise’, ‘Too Much Time On My Hands’, ‘Snowblind’ and Half-Penny, Two-Penny’ all proved. Once again it saw the band gain another double-platinum album that hit number one in the States and hit the top ten in the UK.
This was arguably their last great album before entering a tumultuous period that saw the band split up in 1984. With several reunions having taken place over the years, their split from DeYoung in 1999 has seen the band move forward with the multi-talented Larry Gowan, releasing their eighteenth studio album, ‘Circling From Above’, earlier this year.

Don’t forget to spread the word about the Sunday Morning Coffee Club, membership is free! Lol. And if you like the Art Print, then head over to my daughters Print & Pigment Etsy page in the comments below.

AOR Underground

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