KEVIN WELLS - Little Acts Of Treason (1985)

American KEVIN WELLS is a pedigreed musician who plays everything from drums to guitar, and it's an accomplished vocalist & songwriter as well. Versatile at everything from jazz to hard rock, he has played on the road or in the studio since the age of 15 with dozens of major acts.
Member of cult act Pablo Cruise or Laura Branigan's live band musical director, perhaps Wells is better known as Huey Lewis & The News' drummer & backing vocalist, having recorded on their 'Sports' album and co-written with Andre Pessis (Mr. Big) their hit 'Walking On A Thin Line'.

By '85 Kevin Wells had the opportunity to release his own material as solo artist, handling the lead vocals, drums, keys, and thanks to his business connections, getting into the studio real heavy weight session musicians.
Just take a look; master Dann Huff on guitar, keyboardist Bill Cuomo, terrific drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, West Coast / AOR icon Jim Photoglo doing backing vocals... impressive.

Kevin Wells' debut "Little Acts Of Treason" is a short, beautiful, typically mid-Eighties plenty of catchy numbers. A melodic mix of Rock&Pop & AOR, radio friendly tunes, with excellent production and musicianship all over.
"I'm still Waiting" is a glossy, synth based track with a contagious chorus that remembers Tony Carey's 80s material. The lite-AOR rhythm of "Stronger than the City" is a pure melodic bliss, a really catchy track with a lovely chorus.

"Agony and Ecstasy" is a super commercial ballad with some kind of Aldo Nova on it and a great guitar work by John McFee. Why this song never become a hit? Excellent.
The meaty funky groove of "Never too Late" raise the pace again (with class), and then "Night Life" is one of the highlights of the disc, a magical mid-tempo light AOR track.

"Out of my Hands" has a great chorus, very nice harmonies (Jim Photoglo on backing vocals) and a great Huff guitar solo. "Time Heals" is my favorite song on the LP, an AORish and captivating tune with a terrific rhythm guitar and very good climax. This track reminds me Tommy Shaw solo work.
"Love is on the Line" is another beauty, cool and ethereal, in the best Van Stephenson style. "Talk to Me" has a lot of keyboards and guitars, a track again in the vein of Tommy Shaw but his first solo album 'Girls With Guns' era.



Kevin Wells has a warm sweet voice, while his songwriting is catchy, intelligent (very clever commercial arrangements too). In fact, most of the tracks are co-penned by the aforementioned Andre Pessis, a talented cat in this matter.
"Little Acts Of Treason" was released by small private label, but surprisingly, Victor Japan (a big one these days) pick up the record and released it in Asia with considerable success. However, the album never was reissued on CD.
This a rip at maximum quality from a bootleg CD which sounds really well, including artwork scans.
Rare and delicious.


01 - I'm still waiting
02 - Stronger than the city
03 - Agony and ecstasy
04 - Never too late
05 - Night life
06 - Out of my hands
07 - Time heals
08 - Love is on the line
09 - Talk to me

Kevin Wells: Vocals, Keyboards, Drums
Dann Huff: Guitar
John McFee: Guitar, Bass
Rick Chudacoff: Bass
Bill Cuomo, Bill Elliott: Keyboards
Vinnie Colaiuta, Peter Bunetta: Drums
Jim Photoglo, Matthew Wilder, Leslie Smith, Joe Turano, Harmish Stewart, Larry Hoppen: Backing Vocals




KEVIN WELLS - Little Acts Of Treason (1985)
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