TMV Lou Gramm Section

[Jes Johnson]

For a favorite, I gotta go with Jukebox Hero. That song is epic.

[ronws]

I finished the Lou Gramm book a week or so, ago. Since then, I have read the bio on Annie Lennox and am currently reading the tour notes of Henry Rollins from his Black Flag days.

Anyway, so by his own words, he was pushing for too much rasp to match other singers of the day, back when he was with his previous band. And he took lessons from a retired opera singer, cleaned up his tone, a little. He knew he was good, but he was never a phallus about it. Getting with Foreigner was something of a fortuitous event which he was initially declining because he wanted his first band to make it. They almost physically pushed him out the door and said "go, do this ..."

But, some years ago, Foreigner became "Mick and some guys," rather than legit Foreigner. In fact, there have been nights were even Mick could not appear for medical and substance abuse reasons and a stand-in was brought, making the show a study in irony that not one original member of Foreigner was on stage, from singer to lead guitarist to drummer. What do you have then, a tribute band?

Anyway, he's having a lot of fun nowadays and plans to keep on singing. The last part is most important to me.

And my favorite is still "Dirty White Boy."

[VideoHere]

i love the part where he said he purposely undersang "i don't want to live without you" only to find out it became a hit.

then the part where a woman walked in that he thought was gorgeous when he was recording "waiting for a girl like you" and it influenced the take so much by her presence.

[ronws]

i love the part where he said he purposely undersang "i don't want to live without you" only to find out it became a hit.

then the part where a woman walked in that he thought was gorgeous when he was recording "waiting for a girl like you" and it influenced the take so much by her presence.

Yes, that was neat, too. Especially the latter. As I might paraphrase you, you've got to get in the mood of the song you are going to sing.

And, of course, to sound like you, a bit, for him to "undersing" "I Don't Want to Live Without You," when it is so above others' best efforts .... ay, carumba.

I also like how he honors his father by retaining his heritage. Lou Gramm is a stage name but he is still legally Louis Grammatico.

[VideoHere]

rare early foreigner audio with lou in those deep sounding vocal years...non existent passaggio, one voice.

probably promoting the first album....belting his ass off......

[VideoHere]

somebody just made a (basically) acapella audio of lou doing "i'm gonna win."

this is beyond incredible where he takes his voice on this. the intensity, the tone

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

here's more...sick vocals

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px-5_ok_2co

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQq3i88HZdw

[VideoHere]

this guy i befriended on youtube covered this really well.

[VideoHere]

fellow lou gramm fans......latest interview....

a little talk on vocals, and the desire to get with mick, but mick not in good health.

[Validar]

Pick a favorite, eh? Wow, that's tough. But off the top of my head is "Jukebox Hero". Such an intense song. That ominous, pulsating groove during the verse. You can just feel that build up to an explosive chorus, and boy, does it deliver. Anyone who doesn't get an adrenaline rush from this song, I'd have to question if they have blood running through their veins.

"Waiting For a Girl Like You" I fell completely in love with the first time I heard it. I rushed out and bought the 45 single after I heard it on the radio, and eventually the entire "4" album.

"Starrider" is another great (and underrated) one that features mostly Mick on vocals. I was pleasantly surprised when they played it on the televised concert from the Ryman a few years ago.

[ronws]

I know I have mentioned it before. Even after all this time, I am still partial to "Dirty White Boy." Ultimate rock song and one that I can identify with.

Behold, the magic, the power, the passion. Chorus right in the passagio. Deceptive.

[VideoHere]

it was great to hear lou say "they're all challenging" ....now i know i'm not alone....lol!!!!

jukebox hero?.....not anytime soon.........

i still write to him with the hope of sitting down with him....one day...

[Danielformica]

all songs are challenging.. isn't that what i have been saying bob :)

[VideoHere]

yes, but in different ways....you can have a challenge with range, a challenge with flexibility, a challenge with intensity...a challenge with..etc., etc.

but when there all in one song....yeech.... i was doing that 38 special song "rockin' into the night" this weekend and had to guard myself from oversinging it....it's so easy to oversing....you get all caught up with the intensity...then you are getting sloppy with it.....fun, fun, fun....

[GrammCummingsfan]

This show has a great performance of "With Heaven On Our Side".

[jonpall]

all songs are challenging.. isn't that what i have been saying bob

All songs are challenging ... and then there's "Jukebox hero" ;)

[AboveTenor]

All songs are challenging ... and then there's "Jukebox hero"

Yeah that G5 at the end can kill you if you are doing heavy glottal compression during all those choruses up to that point. Urgent is still my favorite though.

[Validar]

I went to a Foreigner show last weekend out at Universal Studios, and let me tell you, I became an even bigger fan of Kelly Hansen. He's an absolutely amazing live singer, and I must say, the rest of the band was phenomenal with the backing vocals/harmonies. Especially with their acoustic rendition of "Say You Will". It actually got the loudest applause of the night.

Needless to say, any of us who are Foreigner fans undoubtedly love Lou, but if they happen to come to your town, they are an absolute must see. Kelly does the songs great justice, and I don't believe you'll feel short changed by the end of the night.

[VideoHere]

i agree that kelly is a great replacement, but lou had that enviable punch and soulful intensity.

kelly hansen i see as more reserved...more top 40ish sounding.....not as ballsy as lou was...i.m.h.o.

here's a vid with "rev on the redline" live!

[GrammCummingsfan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcFvU59HX9s

Great footage of early Foreigner.

[VideoHere]

the latest concerning lou

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Mick Jones revealed that the first new songs by him and co-founding FOREIGNER frontman Lou Gramm in 20 years might hit the public next year. The pair's June 2013 performance of "I Want To Know What Love Is" and "Juke Box Hero" at the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in New York City marked the first time the pair has performed together in a decade after Gramm left FOREIGNER for a second time.

Jones has rekindled a relationship with Gramm, and revealed to Classic Rock magazine, that the duo, who wrote most of FOREIGNER's classic hits together, might be teaming up one more time, explaining, "Lou told me a few weeks ago he's discovered a few songs we were writing in the '80s, but never quite finished. We might take time next year to bring a couple of those out of the vaults. . . It's a question of wading through them and finding a cassette machine to play them on."

When asked if a reunion — which would sideline current lead singer Kelly Hansen — would be unfair, Jones was quick to point out: "Kelly has dedicated everything to the band. He's phenomenal. So anything I do will be sensitive to that. If Lou and I do something, it'll be inclusive. No way will he replace Kelly.”

Jones was asked what shape a Lou Gramm / Kelly Hansen FOREIGNER show might take, and he explained, "Something special where the old members can be involved. That would be cool. But nothing in the immediate future."

Mick Jones told The Pulse Of Radio that upon forming FOREIGNER in 1976, he knew that Lou Gramm would prove to be invaluable with a signature voice — with the songwriting chops to match. "I knew he had written, he was a writer too, and always felt that, y'know, it was important that the singer in any band had something to do with, [laughs] obviously, creating the songs, 'cause they're gonna sing them," he said. "Lou came up with some great titles; I think 'Head Games', I think 'Hot Blooded', too. And he developed into a really good writer."

Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mick-jones-and-lou-gramm-eying-new-foreigner-music-for-2015/#BIVihXGgS5RMJvWH.99

[VideoHere]

lou is in buffalo ny tonight 4/25/14, playing along with a symphony orchestra of a rock nature. hope to see some youtube videos on it.

[Validar]

Jones was asked what shape a Lou Gramm / Kelly Hansen FOREIGNER show might take, and he explained, "Something special where the old members can be involved. That would be cool. But nothing in the immediate future."

Nothing in the immediate future, eh? I wonder how much quality distant future he believes he has to work with. He's no spring chicken, and has had health issues recently. When I saw them last month, he didn't even come out until the middle of the show.

If everyone is healthy, able, and getting along, jump on it, Mick. That can all change at the drop of a dime.

[GrammCummingsfan]

He did "Hot Blooded", and it sounds awesome!

[VideoHere]

he's still got the tone..yes, 63 years old

i wonder had he never had that near death experience, how he would sound now?

[GrammCummingsfan]

Here's "Juke Box Hero" from the same event. I noticed that here he's able to put more "meat" in the high notes (E flat 5s) at the end than he has in a long time (since the surgery). I think that's pretty impressive.