GLEN BURTNIK - Slaves Of New Brunswick (1991)

Requested in "REQUEST & FILL CORNER" section...

Born in North Brunswick, New Jersey, GLEN BURTNIK's musical journey began as session musician during the seventies recording for well known acts, but he become highly requested as songwriter amassing credits that have seen his songs performed by artists from the most diverse genres.
Signed to A&M Records in the mid-eighties, Burtnik (also known as 'the hitmaker') released two lovable AORish discs but failed to make much of an impact. Then in 1989 he was called by Dennis DeYoung to replace Tommy Shaw in the reconstituted Styx, recording and contributing half of the songs on the Edge Of The Century album.

While recording the album with Styx, Burtnik started to plan a side project focused on his first love: the New Jersey sounding Rock 'N Roll.
With a multicolor bunch of colleagues from diverse genres including the likes of Dave LaRue of Dixie Dregs, Jim Babjak from The Smithereens, David Prater on drums (yes, the talented producer of FireHouse, Night Ranger, etc.), Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith Band), and many more, Glen formed the 'Slaves Of New Brunswick', to record his own penned compositions about the New Jersey city / music history.
So this is not strictly a Glen Burtnik solo album, but for memorabilia it is mentioned as such.
"Slaves Of New Brunswick" was released in 1991 in limited quantities, only marketed in the New York / New Jersey area.



The project / record was named as a homage to New Brunswick, New Jersey's music scene which has been the home to many notable rock bands. New Brunswick is a center for underground music, a scene that thrives on semi-legal live shows in residential basements.
These shows are host to not only local bands, but indie / major bands side-projects from across the country and the world. Numerous self-managed (DIY) bands from New Brunswick have gone on to receive broader acclaim.

Requested by a reader, I was in doubt to post this album here because it isn't exactly musically related to the motto of this blog (AOR / Hard Rock); what we have here is seventies styled Rock 'n Roll with the typical New Jersey area sound, yet really melodious with a strong American Classic Rock vibe and not far from the Dixie Dregs' manner.
Anyway, it's a cool rockin' collection of very good tunes, quite enjoyable and melodic.
Straight from my archives (not my rip), "Slaves Of New Brunswick" is the hardest to find Glen Burtnik album, out of print and fetching $199.99 at Amazon.
Includes detailed info inside.


01 - Exit Number 9
02 - The Girls I Grew Up With
03 - Rock N' Roll Queen
04 - Riding The Avenue
05 - Kinky
06 - Shout Out At The Indian Queen
07 - Seven Minutes In Heaven
08 - Losing Your Hair
09 - Easton Avenue Fever Dream
10 - When Kathy Spoke
11 - Slaves Of New Brunswick

Glen Burtnik: vocals, guitar
Lenny Kaye, Bernie Brausewetter, Steve Jones: guitar, vocals
Jack Shepherd, Gary Ambrosy, Jim Babjak, Ken Dubman, Terry Hughes, Sid Gottleib, Norm Roberts: guitar
Donna Dior, Matty Hahn: keyboards, vocals
Bill Lenk, Bobby Gordon, Ernie Scott: keyboards
Greg Kozak, Jed Downhill: fiddle
Gordon Wells: pedal steel guitar
Nancy Wertheim: harmonica
Tony Shanahan, Dave LaRue, Bill Cherensky: bass
Bob "Rock" Bianco, David Prater, Mark Sacco: drums
David DeLuca: percussion
Judy Wilson, Steven Conte, Patti Maloney,The Gripweeds, Bob Levy, Donna Rachel, Terri Paul: vocals
... and more




GLEN BURTNIK Slaves Of New Brunswick
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GEORGE HILLS (Canada) - Dancing With A Stranger (1991)

Requested in "REQUEST & FILL CORNER" section...

Few things I know about Canadian singer GEORGE HILLS and his sole (?) album "Dancing With A Stranger" released in 1991. Nothing on the net, then I searched in my magazine collection: zero results.
Then let's talk a little about the music included on this rare CD.

Hills' songs are firmly planted on the American / Canadian commercial Rock&pop, light AOR sound typical of the era. The melodies, vocal harmonies and ear-friendly instrumentation are quite well arranged in the mould of the likes of Jimmy Harnen & The Synch (George's vocal register reminds me Harnen a lot), Beau Coup, Stan Meissner, Worrall, etc.
There's some nice guitar work on the uptempo tracks, keyboards (including pianos) on the calmer numbers, and as said, fine harmonies, although Hill leads aren't the most distinctive in the world.

GEORGE HILLS' "Dancing With A Stranger" is a cool one, requested many times in the Request & Fill Corner and finally it's here.
Uber-Rare.


01 - Dancing With A Stranger
02 - Doesn't Have To Be That Way
03 - Mystical Lady
04 - Spark Me Your Love
05 - Road To Your Door
06 - How Will I Know
07 - Soft Sweet Town
08 - Center Stage
09 - Leanne
10 - Images

Personnel: unknown




GEORGE HILLS Dancing With A Stranger
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DAVID BROWN - Believe (1995)

Today I bring to you a Christmas present...
Singer / songwriter DAVID BROWN started his musical career in the mid-eighties fronting several bands in the US South East area, touring the club circuit and supporting major names such as Starship, Eddie Money or Van Zant. Brown wrote as well many songs for Nashville artists and in the middle recorded some of his own tunes for a future solo release.
"Believe" was his debut CD, recorded & co-produced by himself and released through a small private label in 1995.

But most of the wonderful 8 tracks on this criminally unknown album were composed during the '80s, so what we found here is a pure AOR / Melodic Rock set of songs with all the magic of the aureate decade.
If you are a sucker (like me) for classy Stan Bush, Jimmy Harnen, Nelson or Jimi Jamison melodies then you'll adore DAVID BROWN's "Believe".
Some of this material also reminds me of Mark Free's 'hired vocalist' eighties works for other artists.



Plenty of terrific harmony vocals, lovable choruses and highly melodic instrumentation, "Believe" sports a very good production for an independent release, only available years ago via mail order from David Brown in person.
A true rarity and a little gem for any AOR / Melodic Rock fan, DAVID BROWN's "Believe" is a must have in your collection.
Merry Christmas to all!


01 - Believe
02 - Come Back To Me
03 - Hold On To Your Heart
04 - On A Wing And A Prayer
05 - Just Not Enough
06 - For You Girl
07 - Say Anything
08 - Unconditional Love

David Brown: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Joe Logan: Keyboards
Cecil West: Bass
Daril Smith: Drums, Percussion
Randy Johnston: Guitar (track 2)
Rick Byler: Guitar (tracks 4, 8)
Kenny Johnson: Guitar (track 3)




DAVID BROWN - Believe (1995)
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GUNHILL (John Lawton) - One Over The Eight (1995) restored audio

Requested in "REQUEST & FILL CORNER" section...

Founded by English singer John Lawton (Lucifer's Friend, Uriah Heep, Zar) in January of 1994, GUNHILL was a project initially put together to tour Europe playing covers including classic songs from Whitesnake and Paul Rogers to Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, but progressively they also introduced some of their own original material to the live set.
Including into the original line-up keyboardist Mike Raxworthy, great guitarist Riki Robyns, drummer Lloyd Coates, and bassist Neil Kavanagh (who also contributed with strong backing / lead vocals), after extensive rehearsals the group performed their first Gig in April '94.
Playing just three times a month as originally planned, things accelerated very quickly to between 12 and 14 gigs, due to GunHill increasing popularity. Then they decided to record some of the covers they performed regularly as 'demonstration' for tour promoters - and for the fans.

Only manufactured on cassette (remember those?) and entitled "One Over The Eight", the tracks were recorded, produced, and mixed by Kavanagh in his own home studio and sold through the Uriah Heep Appreciation Society fanclub, and at the band's gigs.
In 1997 GunHill issued their first (and only) official CD 'Nightheat', featuring new songs from the band and other covers as well.
But fans - at gigs and over the net - still requested the original "One Over The Eight" tape to be reissued on CD. The tracks were remastered by Lawton's long time friend Dave White, and the album put on sale in 1999 on CDr via Heepster Records, the fansclub 'label'.



And what about the music?
Anyone who's a fan of classic rock / bluesy hard rock will enjoy this album, particularly if you like early David Coverdale / Whitesnake and Paul Rodgers / Bad Company material. John Lawton is top form here, and the guitar work of Riki Robyns is raw & rockin'.
Amongst the highlights we have "Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues", that if you ask me, I think is superior to the original Whitesnake version. The Lennon / MacCartney classic "Eleanor Rigby" it's done with a killer raw edge, and Rainbow's "Stone Cold" rocks.
There's some really good originals as well written by GunHill, being the Uriah Heep-ish "Angel" my favorite.
For the CDr reissue, the band recorded "River Of Dreams", a song composed by Dave White in appreciation for his work behind the remastering desk.



Unfortunately, there was not master tapes of "One Over The Eight", as these tracks were recorded in two and a half days purely as promotion and because fans were asking if GunHill had some recorded stuff to sell at the initial gigs.
So, "One Over The Eight CDr" it's transferred from a regular cassette, and the sound isn't the eighth wonder.
But, requested by a reader, I did my own 'remaster' and cleaned the whole thing, especially the hiss, resulting in a quite good sounding file.
Enjoy.


01 - Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues
02 - Eleanor Rigby
03 - Ain't No Sunshine
04 - Can't Get Enough
05 - Better By You, Better Than Me
06 - Stone Cold
07 - Every Little Bit Hurts
08 - Angel
09 - Harlem Shuffle
10 - Soldier Of Love
11 - River Of Dreams (bonus track)

John Lawton - lead vocals
Mike Raxworthy - keyboards, vocals
Riki Robyns - guitars, keyboards
Neil Kavanagh - bass, vocals
Lloyd Coates - drums




GUNHILL One Over The Eight restored audio
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FASTWAY - On Target [Reworked] (1998)

This one was requested by a friend, so here it is as it's a very hard to find disc.
"FASTWAY On Target (Reworked)" it's a strange record in Fast Eddie Clarke's discography. These actually are re-recordings of original songs from the 1988 On Target album plus fresh takes on earlier Fastway hits, all featuring the vocals of Lea Hart and with Clarke adding new guitar layers and re-mixing the whole thing.

After the first successful bluesy hard rock albums Fastway was dropped by the record company around 1987 and the group soon disbanded.
Then Clarke met singer & guitarist Lea Hart (ex- YA YA, Joan Jett) who convinced him to resurrect Fastway with a completely new line-up and a different musical approach: the melodic hard rock dominating the scene these years.
"On Target" was a very good rockin' AOR / melodic rock album plenty of keyboards and catchy choruses, co-produced by Terry Thomas (Charlie, Giant, Bad Company) and credited on all of the arrangements, resulting into a very melodic and polished recording.
As said, a great album for the genre, but Fastway's first time fans hated the move, because you barely can hear Fast Eddie's trademark heavy riffs here.

Ten years after with the original tapes at hand, Hart and Clarke decided to rework the entire album, re-recording almost all the guitars and some new vocals, but retaining the original backing tracks like bass, drums, backing vocals, etc.
But they did more: only seven tracks were rescued from the original 1988 CD, the other six are re-recordings of Fastway earlier popular cuts such as "Easy Livin", "Trick Or Treat", "Say What You Will", etc.
So "On Target (Reworked)" is a completely different album, all sounding more classic Fastway and rocking, with Fast Eddie Clarke's riffage and soloing all over. Don Airey's original keyboards are still there, but more attenuated in the background.



Recorded on an old 24-track tape machine, production is quite vintage and could have been alot better. I still prefer the original '88 version, but this is a nice opportunity to listen these songs with a different musical approach, arrangements & mix, and the classics sung by Lea Hart.
I've seen "On Target (Reworked)" posted on few forums / blogs, but with a missing track. Chances are that if you grabbed the files from there, you have an incomplete album in your archives.
"On Target (Reworked)" it's absolutely out of print, a true rarity these days. I can't believe that a guy is selling this one on Amazon for $3,735.29 !!! Check here


01 - Trick Or Treat (reworked)
02 - The Answer Is You (reworked)
03 - These Dreams (reworked)
04 - Station (reworked)
05 - Change Of Heart (reworked)
06 - Two Hearts (reworked)
07 - Make My Day (reworked)
08 - She Is Danger (reworked)
09 - Dead Or Alive (reworked)
10 - Easy Livin' (reworked)
11 - Let Him Rock (reworked)
12 - Show Some Emotion (reworked)
13 - Say What You Will (reworked)

Lea Hart (vocals, guitar)
Fast Eddie Clarke (guitars)
Don Airey, Paul Airey (keyboards)
Paul Gray, Neil Murray, Tim Carter (bass)
Terry Thomas (bass synth) [erased here]
Steve Clarke, Garry Ferguson (drums)




FASTWAY - On Target Reworked
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THE FORM - Informal (1989)

Requested in "REQUEST & FILL CORNER" section...

Austrian Hi-Tech / Light AOR / Synth Rock&Pop band THE FORM was founded by keyboard player and singer Wolfgang Marc Berry, who studied and worked in the USA. But Marc developed his musical career in his homeland, mostly as songwriter / producer.
In the second half of the eighties, Berry started a partnership with David Bronner, another Austrian musician specialized in modern recording techniques.

Both secured a deal with Viena CBS Schallplatten Cesmbll, and recruited some of Austria's best studio musicians to record their one and only album "Informal", released in 1989 over fourteen European countries.
This was one of the most expensive albums ever produced in Austria, as the aim was to conquer the international market. So expect a top notch sound, excellent mix and mastering here.

The style of The Form is not far from their countryman Andy Baum, yet more stylized and ascetic: all, every note was arranged and played with attention to minimum detail. At places they even sound kinda sinister, reminding me the great group Shriekback (Manhunter soundtrack).
Anyway, the overall approach by The Form is easy to the ears as heard on the breezy "Save Me", the elegant "Land Of Mystery" or the jumping "Talk To Me" where they recall Opus and '80s Germans Lake.



There's a sumptuous midtempo in "Ocean Of Love" with some Red 7 (underrated band) atmosphere written over it, a more energetic delivery and very nice guitars on "Falling Back On You", while "Far Away" is a light AOR affair quite Canadian-sounding in the Boulevard mould.
"Love In A Dark Room" goes pure hi-tech with a lot of synths, same the with fun cover of The Police's "Walking On The Moon".
We find some kind of a buried gem on "Jaimie", one of my favourites. It sounds completely different to the rest of the material: it's a sweet, lullaby ballad and tells a nice story with superb lyrics.

Apart from the great production and musicianship, "Informal" features excellent songcraft as well. It's strange that being charted reasonably well in Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, this record is not better known outside of central Europe.
Out of print and very hard to find, "Informal" represents in great form the clean, pristine Hi-Tech / Light AOR / Synth Rock&Pop sound of the '80s in the old continent.
As requested, it's presented here ripped at maximum quality from the original CD.
A very recommended listen.


01 - Colours Of Ever
02 - Save Me
03 - Land Of Mystery
04 - Talk To Me
05 - Jaimie
06 - Ocean Of Love
07 - Walking On The Moon
08 - Love In A Dark Room
09 - Far Away
10 - Falling Back On You

Marc Berry - vocals, keyboards
David Bronner - keyboards, programming
Bernhard Locker - guitar
Andreas Tieber - bass
Heribert Metzker - drums
Leo Bei - acoustic guitar on 3
Frankie Mitschitczek - percussion on 3
Kathi Gabler, Susanne Kreuzberger, Karin Raab, Ina Sieber - backing vocals




THE FORM Informal - CDrip
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REQUEST & FILL CORNER 13

From now, all request & fills goes in this post Comments.
If you need an album or a single track, request it here, if you have it, be kind with other readers, upload the file and post the link here as well.
Access to this page will be placed at the right column ------>
(the "CLICK HERE" neon sign, or clicking here in Comments)-
It will be opened in a new window.

Check this section regularly.
You'll find many albums uploaded by readers, not present on the main blog...

Help each other people!


and don't forget to check out ARCHIVES:


ARCHIVES PART 8

ARCHIVES PART 9

ARCHIVES PART 10

ARCHIVES PART 11

ARCHIVES PART 12

take a deep look at the end of each part...
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BULLSEYE - On Target (1979)

Requested in "REQUEST & FILL CORNER" section...

Despite the fact that New York based BULLSEYE only album "On Target" was launched through a big label (Columbia / CBS), this only-vinyl record is an obscure rarity, as the band split soon after its release.
Combining a late seventies AOR feeling with radio friendly rock&pop typical of the era, this quintet's music is quite varied and entertaining.

To give you an idea about Bullseye's versatility, opener "Treat Me Right" (later covered by Pat Benatar) attacks from the start with stabbing pianos and clean melodic guitar riffs reminding the very early TOTO, followed by "Seventh Heaven" which wouldn't be out of place in Loverboy's debut.
The melodic nuances of "I've Changed (Never Want To See You Again)" has some Survivor touches, then "Moonwalk" adds a southern flavor in the vein of Moxy, and "My Old Car" goes poppy ala The Kinks.



The keyboards / guitar lines on "Don't Lose A Day" brings to mind some Giuffria's Angel, while "In The Heat Of Summer" and the highly harmonic "March On, Time" offer lots of lovable AOR melodies.

With a track featured on the legendary Munich City Nights compilation series, Bullseye received some airplay on European radio years later, but "On Target" remains as a true rarity as a whole.
Very well recorded, played and produced, this is a quite enjoyable record - as mentioned above, only released on vinyl.
Requested by a reader, I have restored & cleaned this good sounding LP rip including artwork.




01 - Treat Me Right
02 - Seventh Heaven
03 - I've Changed (Never Want To See You Again)
04 - Moonwalk
05 - In The Heat Of Summer
06 - My Old Car
07 - Don't Let Him Know
08 - What Can I Say
09 - Don't Lose A Day
10 - March On, Time

Manny De Magistris - vocals, guitar
Tom Ferrara - guitars
Tom Graves - keyboards
Kevin Clougherty - bass
Alan Childs - drums, percussion




BULLSEYE On Target
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