DEAD BEAT HONEYMOONERS (ex Orphan) - ST (1992)

After the recent Orphan post, as promised, here it is the sole album from the short-lived band DEAD BEAT HONEYMOONERS formed by singer Chris Burke-Gaffney and drummer Terry Norman Taylor.
With Toronto guitarist Barry G. Player and Blair Depape on bass, they began playing the clubs throughout mid-western Canada at the beginning of the nineties. Rush's label Anthem Records soon signed the Deadbeat Honeymooners for a self-titled debut, released in 1992.

Time's changed since the Orphan years, and Burke-Gaffney & co. not only let their hair grow, also the musical approach for Deadbeat Honeymooners was obviously the melodic hard rock in vogue in North America.
With a polished production by Tom Treumuth (Honeymoon Suite, Helix), "Deadbeat Honeymooners" is a typical recording of the era; melodic riffs, soaring choruses / harmony vocals and big drums. The disc sounds quite American, still retaining the Canuck touch.
Burke-Gaffney vocals are the driving force, but I need to remark Barry Player's toneful, dazzling guitar work, unleashing some awesome solos as well.

There's very effective, motorin' melodic hard rockers where Damn Yankees, Night Ranger, Hardline and alikes come to mind, like my favorite "Dial L.O.V.E" (also single and video), the kickin' "Mystery", "Temptation", the tongue-in-cheek "Hard To Be Humble", "Blind Faith" and the very fun vocal/guitar interplay in "Money, Money, Money".
We have bluesy midtempos on "Queen of the Renaissance" and "When The Rain Comes", acoustics in "King Of The World" and of course a very good power ballad; "Can't Live With - Can't Live Without".
Deadbeat Honeymooners toured with Kim Mitchell and Robin Trower, shared stages with Bryan Adams, Steve Miller, Extreme, etc, but the musical climate changed soon and the group broke-up. Everyone continued working in the music world in one way or another, Burke-Gaffney as producer and manager, while Barry G. Player became a highly sought-after studio musician - his is truly great on the six-strings.



"Deadbeat Honeymooners" is a quite unknown release but a really, really good album in the style of the aforementioned bands, plenty of scintillating melodious rockers perfectly executed and produced.
Very Recommended.


01 - Hard To Be Humble
02 - When The Rain Comes
03 - King Of The World
04 - Queen Of The Renaissance
05 - Foreign Legion
06 - Dial L.O.V.E.
07 - Temptation
08 - Money, Money, Money
09 - Blind Faith
10 - Can't Live With - Can't Live Without
11 - Yo Mama
12 - Mystery

Christopher Burke-Gaffney – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Strings
Terry Norman Taylor – Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals
Barry G. Player – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Blair Depape – Bass, Backing Vocals


DEAD BEAT HONEYMOONERS 1992
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