FROON - Froon (1988)

Requested in "Request & Fill Corner" section...

Formed in the first half of the '80s, most the musicians involved into German band FROON had previously played for the Nina Hagen Band, and later formed SPLIFF, a successful rock&pop group that recorded several albums and sold more than 1 million LP's in Europe.

FROON's style can be compared with their comrades CHANNEL 5 (already posted in this blog), PANDANCE or VELVET PARKING: Hi-Tech AOR with high doses of adult stylized European pop/rock.
All these guys are competent players, this debut album "Froon" sports a really good production, and packs some good, ear candy songs.



"Froon" isn't my favorite album from this musical genre, but it was requested by a reader and posted here because it's mega-rare and almost impossible to find.
This is the CD edition, featuring extra tracks originally released only as single b-sides.


01. Missing pieces
02. Mountains
03. 200 Guitars
04. Love like law
05. Overboards again
06. Bobby Mugabe (beatbox mix)
07. Time machine
08. Lie
09. Happy doomsday
10. Black and white and blue
11. Then *
12. The spirit is willing *
13. Booby froons the fan *
* only on the CD edition

Lyndon Connah - Vocals
Reinhold Heil, Lyn Pocker - Keyboards
Bernhard Potschka, Maria Wang - Guitar
Manne Praeker, Marvin Speisebecher - Bass
Gavin Harrison - Drums
Mark Pound III - Percussion
Herwig Mitteregger - Quad cymbals
Randy Rym - Synths


FROON 1988 - HERE
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PIONEERS - In A State Of Rock (1984) restored audio

Signed by major label Mercury, Norwegians PIONEERS released this debut LP "In A State Of Rock" in 1984. The album has become a piece of interest because PIONEERS feature into the line up guitarist Torstein Flanke, future founder / member of STAGE DOLLS.
Their musical style was the incipient Scandinavian Melodic Rock / AOR sound of the mid-Eighties; anthemic poppy choruses ready for the arenas, something that catapulted Europe to stardom two years after.
You can say these guys were 'Pioneers' indeed.

There's songs like the mid-paced 'Walk In The Moonlight' or the commercial melodic rocker 'With A Girl Like You' which are straight pop-rock tunes destined to radio airplay. However "In A State Of Rock" delivers much more than your typical Scandy fluff.
Tracks like 'Pioneers' and 'Number One' offer more rocking guitars, on 'Pictures Of You' experiments with melodic new wave, and 'Pictures Of You' is an atmospheric ballad.

As far I know "In A State Of Rock' made it pretty well in Norway, but the group disbanded pursuing different interests. Flanke founded STAGE DOLLS and got success worldwide. You can hear some of his skills as songwriter / guitarist here.
Never pressed on CD or reissued, this is a clear LP vinyl-rip, cleaned and audio restored by myself.
A rarity.


1. Hi-Energy
2. Annie
3. Walk In The Moonlight
4. Pioneers
5. With A Girl Like You
6. Today
7. Pictures Of You
8. Number One
9. Pictures Of You

Knut J. Dahle - Vocals
Torstein Flanke - Guitars
Bard Svendsen - Keyboards
Morten Skaget - Bass
Steinar Krokstad - Drums




PIONEERS - In A State Of Rock (1984) restored audio
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PARTLAND BROTHERS - Electric Honey (1986)

Call 'em Rock&pop, Lite AOR, mainstream FM Rock, whatever you want; but to sum up, PARTLAND BROTHERS debut LP "Electric Honey" is a true definition of the mid-Eighties sound. To be more specific, the 'Canadian Sound'.

Founded by, indeed, brothers G.P. & Chris Partland, the main characteristic of this band / duo is their twin melodius harmony vocals (both sing lead), and of course, the pristine production design. Handled by Vini Poncia (Kiss, Tycoon, Adrenalin) and Jim Vallance (Bryan Adams), the album's sound is crystal clear.

Among the musicians involved into the recording, there's Ken "Spider" Sinnaeve (Loverboy) on bass, Richard Evans (Rik Emmett Band) and Gerald O'Brien (Zappacosta) on keys, Anton Fig (Kiss, John Waite) on drums, and many other seasoned cats.



Musically, songs like 'Outside The City' (my favorite including awesome synths), midtempo 'Best Love', the elegant ballad 'Reason', or the Vallance-produced 'One Chance' were written with FM Radio play in mind.
'Soul City' become an unexpected hit single in Canada and reached the Top 30 on Billboard Hot 100 Chart in the U.S. This earned the Partland Brothers an extensive tour all over North America.
The band continued all over these years, still active today.
Cool, nice '80s music.


01 - Electric Honey
02 - Best Love
03 - Soul City
04 - Heat Up The Feel
05 - Outside The City
06 - That's The Way It Will Be
07 - Walk With Me
08 - Reason
09 - This One's For You
10 - One Chance

G.P. Partland - Lead & Backing Vocals, Percussion
Chris Partland - Guitar, Lead & Backing Vocals
John Bride, Simon Brierley, Domenic Troiano - Guitar
Ken "Spider" Sinnaeve - Bass
Anton Fig, Greg Critchley. Matt Frenette - Drums
Richard Evans, Gerald O'Brien - Keyboards
John Johnson, Jimmy Romeo, Earl Seymour - Horns
Kelly Partland, Colina Phillips, Shawne Jackson, Sharon Williams - Backing Vocals
Produced by Vini Poncia & Jim Vallance




PARTLAND BROTHERS - Electric Honey
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