IF LOOKS COULD KILL - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1991)

Presented here some years ago, I am reposting "If Looks Could Kill" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack because it was requested so many times, it's out of print and features songs not available elsewhere.
Loved the movie, love the OST, where most the artists involved are Melodic Rock related.
Get it while it's hot...



01 - Glenn Medeiros
If Looks Could Kill (No Turning Back)
02 - The Outfield
One Hot Country
03 - Contraband
Loud Guitars, Fast Cars & Wild, Wild Livin'
04 - Trixter
One Mo' Time
05 - Kylie Minogue
Better The Devil You Know
06 - Robin McAuley
Teach Me How To Dream
07 - The Fixx
All Is Fair
08 - The Stabilizers
Maybe This Time
09 - Bang Tango
My Saltine
10 - David Foster
Michael Corben's Adventure




IF LOOKS COULD KILL : OST
.

P.M. HEAT - P.M. Heat EP (1989)

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

Today we have here an obscure, private vinyl-only EP released by Texan rockers P.M. HEAT. Founded by Mark Hybner who is a well known band-manger 'til today, there are several players listed on the back cover but not specifying which instrument.
Anyway, this is a short but meaty slice of American Melodic Hard Rock in the rocking and polished style of the late '80s, akin Autograph, King Kobra or Babe Blue (presented HERE six years ago).

"Power" is a winner; plenty of guitar / keyboard interplay, a killer chorus and slightly raspy lead vocals.
"Could It Be You" is a little harder with a Dokken-esque atmosphere, "I Wanna Rock" has driving sharp guitars and anthemic-like drumming, while closer "Never Break My Heart" is the more AOR oriented tune of the bunch, melodic and catchy.

One and only release by P.M. HEAT, a truly professional recording wrapped by a crisp production & mix. As requested in the REQUEST & FILL CORNER section, vinyl-rip cleaned and restored by me.

Rare and Good!

01 - Power
02 - Could It Be You
03 - I Wanna Rock
04 - Never Break My Heart

Personnel: Paul Hybner, Mark Hybner, David Hybner,Steve Carson, Dan Stone, Lee Anthony, Rob Wright & David Da Luna




P.M. HEAT : restored audio

.

LOVELINES Soundtrack [unreleased] (1984)

More than four years ago I posted here some tracks from "Lovelines", which, despite of being a musical movie (a battle of High School bands), the soundtrack never was released.
The promotional posters and even the credits of the film state 'Soundtrack album available on MCA/Curb records and tapes', but the release was pulled off at the eleventh hour.
A reader requested an updated link, but I will do something better; to the previously presented 4 tracks, I am adding 6 more.

Got countless VHS-rips (remember those?) from '80s movies containing lovable songs from the era never released on any format. Some of them were featured in my 'AOR Treasures - The Soundtracks' series, but process these tapes becomes very time-consuming, and lots still remain untouched.
Well, "Lovelines" songs deserve to be listened; cheesy, commercial, but adorable typical radio-friendly tunes with all the '80s magic. Included as bonus is Tyson Moses' single recorded later as solo artist.
The result are pretty good soundfiles, stereo, and cleaned (discarded & edited the dialogue parts) by myself.
Enjoy!


01 - Racer: For You
02 - Souvenir: Lovelines
03 - The Firecats: Totally Gone
04 - Racer And The Firecats: Defyin' Gravity
05 - Joe Esposito: A Time Like This Again
06 - Tyson Moses & Ben Sharel: Hearts On Fire
07 - Brittany: Reflex
08 - Souvenir: Hold Me Tonight
09 - The Flying Phlegm: Ba-Ba-Baby
10 - Tyson Moses: My Heart's On Fire (Soul Desire)




LOVELINES Soundtrack [unreleased]
.

ORPHAN - Lonely At Night & Salute (1983-1985)

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

Born from the ashes of the Winnipeg, Canada based band The Pumps, ORPHAN was founded by keyboardist Brent Diamond and singer / bass player Chris Burke-Gaffney. The group secured a deal with Columbia Records and soon recorded their debut "Lonely At Night" in 1983, regarded as a classic Canuck AOR album.

This pompy, keyboard filled radio-friendly beauty was recorded at the famous Power Station studios in New York and produced by the afamed Lance Quinn (Arc Angel, Bon Jovi) and Bon's second cousin Tony Bongiovi.
Catchy, plenty of harmony vocals and contagious chrouses, "Lonely At Night" is a must for fans of the genre. Title track owns that unmistakable first half of the '80s feeling akin Honeymoon Suite or Steelheart, followed by the harder and sharp "What Kind Of Love Is This" which remembers Americans Preview.
The atmospheric midtempo "Miracle" recalls the aforementioned Arc Angel, but also has a lovable new wave touch, a characteristic that made Orphan so special. Then on "She Told Me" they sound typically Canadian, ala Loverboy. Those keyboards and chunky melodic guitar riffs... Love it.
"Any Time At All" is another gem in a disc full of them: heavenly synths and vocals to die for. An AOR diamond if you ask me. On the faster "Hello" and the pompy "All Over The World" they sound more Americanized, the latter bringing to mind Giuffria's Angel or New England.



Orphan toured extensively US and Canada, and with former The Pumps bandmate Terry Norman Taylor as new drummer, the group recorded the second and final opus "Salute" in 1985, with Englishman Phil Chapman (Eric Clapton, Corey Hart) & Jon Astley behind the desk.
The style was more mid-eighties, quirky melodic rock oriented here, but still extremely melodious and radio friendly. Awesome numbers such as the ecstatic "Woman In Love" and the fighting "Stand Up" (Refugee comes to mind) are staples of the pure AOR-Rock we all love. "Old Enough To Know" is another instant favorite, just listen these quick guitars and processed drums.
The melodic rock perfection of "Lyin' To Me" combines a sultry refrain with a bombastic chorus, "Steel + Iron" is heavily guitar oriented, while the more poppy "Crazy For The Night" and "A Little Heart + Soul" adds sensibility to a very well balanced recording.

Orphan disbanded in 1986, but Burke-Gaffney and Terry Norman Taylor returned during the nineties with another band; Dead Beat Honeymooners, to be featured soon on this blog.
"Lonely At Night" & "Salute" never were officially pressed on CD until 2003 when a British label picked up both original tapes and released this great 2 in 1 gatefold digipak remastered edition. Sadly, it's out of print now, but occasionally appears on eBay at decent price.
Orphan was a unique AOR/MR act, and both records have magnificently stood the test of time still sounding fresh and vital.
A Must Have.


LONELY AT NIGHT (1983)

01 - Lonely At Night
02 - What Kind Of Love Is This
03 - Miracle
04 - She Told Me
05 - Saved By The Bell
06 - Any Time At All
07 - Hello
08 - All Over The World
09 - Night Parade


SALUTE (1985)

01 - Open Up The Skies
02 - Lyin' To Me
03 - Woman In Love
04 - Crazy For The Night
05 - Stand Up
06 - A Little Heart + Soul
07 - Old Enough To Know
08 - Uncle Sam Wants You
09 - Steel + Iron
10 - The Way It Should Be

Chris Burke-Gaffney - Bass, Lead Vocals
Steve McGovern - Guitar, Vocals
Brent Diamond - Keyboards, Vocals
Ron Boisvenue - Drums, Backing vocals on Lonely At Night
Terry Norman Taylor - Drums, Backing vocals on Salute







ORPHAN Lonely At Night & Salute 2in1
.

FS ORLONN - Books Of Beyond (1995)

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

Danish singer and guitarist FS ORLONN (real name Flemming Sørensen) recorded his first album "Books Of Beyond" in 1995 under the tutelage of producer Poul Halberg (ex AORTA and Sanne Salomonsen Band), who also plays guitar and arranged some songs.

Musicians involved in the recording sessions include Skipper Flytkjær from the Chain Gang, Georg Olesen from TV-2 , Jacob Andersen (ex- One Two, another Danish band once presented here) and Skagarack's drummer Lars Daugaard among others.

Despite his Scandinavian origin, FS Orlonn has an American heart: "Books Of Beyond" features 11 self-penned tracks strongly influenced by US acts like '80s Eagles, Eddie Money's more classic rock era and even Benny Mardones, though, Orlonn's vocal timbre is like a cross between Swiss artist Rick Laine (his solo album was posted on this blog some time ago), Walk On Fire's Alan King, and Don Henley, perhaps from where comes the Eagles comparison too.

You will be pleased by excellent melodies and arrangements, sultry & smooth vocal harmonies and the top notch musicianship on display here. Just listen the superb guitar work on the pumping bluesy rocker "Flying Colors", one of my favorites.

Guitars have an important role on this recording, even through the more slow tunes as the soulful "No Room for Euphoria" or the terrific ballad "It's About Time We Change" where producer Poul Halberg drops a sharp solo.

The moving "When Love Is Coming" reminds me King Of Hearts (the Funderburk / Gaitsch band), "You Can Do Anything" Michael Bolton circa 1987, while "Tonight She'll Run Away" and "Seven Ties" have a WestCoast parfum all over.

Released by a Sony subsidiary (Northern Star), many cuts from "Books Of Beyond" were used for Danish TV series and a couple of singles got substantial airplay on local radio stations, but FS Orlonn decided to stop as solo artist, built his own studio and dedicated to produce commercials and record other bands since then (though, he released another album last year).

"Books Of Beyond" is an unknown, but stupendous album of classic sounding songs, backed up by a stellar production. Seriously, you'll be surprised by the quality on offer here.

Rare, out of print and really good, three reasons to add this baby to your collection.

01. If I Can Be A Man
02. It's About Time We Change
03. Like Falling In Love Again
04. No Room For Euphoria
05. Flying Colors
06. Tonight She'll Run Away
07. When Love Is Coming
08. Books Of Beyond
09. You Can Do Anything
10. Unpredictable
11. Seven Ties

FS Orlonn: lead vocals, guitars
Skipper Flytkjær: guitars
Georg Olesen: bass
Morten Bucholtz: keyboards, grand piano, organ
Lars Daugaard: drums
Poul Halberg: guitars, backing vocals, producer
Jacob Andersen: percussion
Annika Askmann, Gry Harrit: backing vocals

FS ORLONN Books Of Beyond
.

EMERGENCY (Dutch) - Martial Law (1989)

After the last post (Swiss band Emergency) a long-time reader of this blog and connoisseur Mr. Bohond suggested to present here as well the other EMERGENCY, a Dutch act, and their sole album "Martial Law" released in 1989.
Long time out of print, "Martial Law" is a collector's item, and thanks to him we have it here in all its glory (I never seen this CD in the blogosphere ripped at maximum quality) complete with all scans.



With an impeccable production by Erwin Musper (Danger Danger, Craaft, Zinatra), these guys recorded a lovable bunch of Melodic Hard Rock / Scandi AOR sounding tunes here.
You can't go wrong with keyboard-driven numbers like "Upside Down", "Maybe It's Love", "Hiding In The Shadow" or the midtempo "Across The Desert Sands", all rich in high quality harmonies, killer guitar/key interplay and soaring lead vocals by Pete Lovell (which is British-born btw).

But what made this band different from the rest in this profusely transited genre is the distinctive drumming of Hedwig Spijkers; his singular fills, pattern changes and use of cymbals are quite original, giving to the band's sound an extra plus. Just listen "All Runnin' Wild".
There's more straight Euro melodic hard rockers in "Reaching Out", "Dangerous", "Running Out Of Miracles" - the latter reminding me British wonders After Hours - and a couple of great ballads; "Please, Say Please Me" (akin Giuffria), and the extremely melodic "Just One Precious Moment".

"Martial Law" is one of those albums reaffirming that the eighties 'feeling' is unrepeatable.
A winner.


01 - Hiding In The Shadow
02 - All Runnin' Wild
03 - Reaching Out
04 - Please, Say Please Me
05 - Maybe It's Love
06 - Across The Desert Sands
07 - Running Out Of Miracles
08 - Upside Down
09 - Just One Precious Moment
10 - Dangerous

Vocals – Pete Lovell
Guitar, Vocals – Frans Limonard
Keyboards – Coen Van Hoof
Bass – Jos Antonissen
Drums – Hedwig Spijkers






EMERGENCY Martial Law
.

EMERGENCY - Boys Will Be Boys (1993)

EMERGENCY arrived a bit too late to the European Melodic Hard Rock scene as their rockin' "Boys Will Be Boys" CD saw the light in 1993, but well worth the wait considering the quality on offer here.
Things were delayed because the band leaded by guitarist Pierre Bordén didn't found the proper singer until they met talented Spanish-born Jose Antonio Manzano (Banzai, Niagara, Zero), a terrific shouter in the vein of David Coverdale.
Though the band come from Basilea, Switzerland, the album was developed, recorded and produced in Germany, so it's not surprise that "Boys Will Be Boys" has a strong Teutonic MHR sound with sharp guitar flurries, a punchy rhythm section, profuse keyboard injections and catchy choruses also akin some Scandinavian acts like Treat.



We have top class Melodic Hard Rock cuts here as "Give It Up", "Tell Me", "Walk In My Shadow" and "Talkin' Bout Love", the Scandi-AOR influenced "Don't Look Back" (a personal favorite), "Movin´", "Tell Me" and the synth driven "Love Shot", a semi-midtempo anthem in title track "Boys Will Be Boys", and of course a fantastic piano-ballad in the form of "Nights Are So Long". Production is excellent, shiny, crystal clear.
Long time out of print, "Boys Will Be Boys" was resurrected some years ago in a limited 1000 copies reissue -apparently remixed and remastered- but this is a rip at maximum quality from the original CD edition shared with us by a friend of mine: NitdeRock, so thank you in spades mate.
A must have in any serious MHR/AOR collection.


01 - Boys Will Be Boys
02 - Movin'
03 - Don't Look Back
04 - Nights Are So Long
05 - Give It Up
06 - Blackeyed Jennie
07 - Tell Me
08 - Talkin' Bout Love
09 - Never Stop Lovin´ You
10 - Love Shot
11 - Walk In My Shadow

Jose Antonio Manzano - lead & backing vocals
Pierre Borden - guitars
Tommy Patrick - keyboards, backing vocals
Andy C. Vale - bass
Ronny O'Riot - drums



EMERGENCY Boys Will Be Boys HQ
.

ALEX LIGERTWOOD METRO - The Metro Project (1995)

Scottish Alex Ligertwood recorded twelve albums as lead vocalist in the Santana band, but the man has been involved in many groups like Average White Band, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express or Jeff Beck Group, also recording for other artists (Glenn Hughes, Jeff Lorber, Steve Morse, etc.).
However, his solo discography is quite short, and one of them is "METRO" a project assembled together with teacher & session guitar player Carl Verheyen and keyboardist Richard Baker, also ex Santana but who has recently provided ivory to hard rock bands such as Warrant, Skin or Lynch Mob.

But "Metro" does not go for the rockin' sounds, this is smooth Westcoast AOR oriented stuff with a strong soul influence. The musical style here isn't so easy to classify anyway, as these musicians blend many flavors into their delivery. Perhaps the closest description to "Metro" is the Narada Michael Walden Band (with whom Ligertwood has worked in the past).
The midtempo "Feel The Spirit" features a nice vocal line and recalling musically some '80s British acts, while in "Whenever You're Ready" the early '80s US westcoast emerges, especially through these 'classic Rhodes' keys and the soulful chorus.
"All The Way" is a good, atmospheric croon-like ballad, then "A'kwa'gala (I Love You)", as the title suggests, adds more tribal percussions to the proceedings with a hint to Ligertwood's Santana years.
Last track "One & Only Love" is another slow tune dominated by smooth vocals, nice pianos and subtle synths in the background. A good one that reminds me a soundtrack tune of the '80s featured in the movie The Falcon and the Snowman.

Alex Ligertwood's Metro was very well produced by legend Keith Olsen (Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Foreigner) and although is not essential, provides an enjoyable easy listening.
Not my favorite stuff, but it was so insistently requested here that I decided to post it for all of you. Released in limited quantities, it's impossible to find a copy of "Metro" nowadays.
Rare and out of print.

01 - Feel The Spirit
02 - Whenever You're Ready
03 - All The Way
04 - A'kwa'gala (I Love You)
05 - One & Only Love

Alex Ligertwood: Vocals, Percussion, Programming
Richard Baker: Synths, Piano
Carl Verheyen: Guitars

ALEX LIGERTWOOD METRO
pass:camelblue
.

DONNIE MILLER - One Of The Boys (1989)

DONNIE MILLER is some kind of mystery. This very good singer, guitarist & compser released "One Of The Boys" in 1989 and then disappeared without notice.
Judging the quality of the album, easily he could have been a star in the American melodic rock scene at the end of the eighties / early nineties.
Some big names appear contributing on the recording; Lance Quinn producing (Danger Danger) and playing guitar, former Shooting Star bassist Norm Dahlor, and the great Tommy Shaw co-writing and singing some backing vocals. Even pop-star Cyndi Lauper provides some harmonies.
Talking about Shaw, the overall sound, style and feeling on "One Of The Boys" strongly reminds me his superb solo album "Ambition", so expect a polished and melodic delivery here.



Catchy '80s Melodic Rock rhythms are the motto in such numbers as "Normal Guy [I Want Sex]", the chorus-heaven of "I Can't Stop Flying" and the Tommy Shaw meets John Parr "Blind Man's Bluff". More straight radio friendly / soundtrack-like rockers can be heard on title track "One Of The Boys", "The Man Said No" and the anthemic "You Can't Stop Emotion" (some Damn Yankees feel here).
On the AOR side of things, "Me And You" is a great midtempo-ballad full of '80s magic, "The Devil Wears Lingerie" has that stylized sound typical of the era with that particular beat and mysterious atmosphere, "No Time For Running" offers a steady, lovable synth line, while closer "Welcome Home" is one of the highest points on the album.
Compelling, underrated Melodic Rock / AOR album in the best American tradition.


01. One Of The Boys
02. Normal Guy [I Want Sex]
03. I Can't Stop Flying (feat. Cyndi Lauper)
04. Me And You
05. The Devil Wears Lingerie
06. The Man Said No
07. Blind Man's Bluff
08. No Time For Running
09. You Can't Stop Emotion
10. Welcome Home (feat. Tommy Shaw)

Donnie Miller - vocals, guitar
Lance Quinn (Danger Danger, ArcAngel) - guitar
Kurt Carow - keyboards
Norman Dahlor (Shooting Star) - bass
Tim Kix Kelly - drums
Lane Brock, Vince Kirk - additional guitars
S.M.K. Quinn - additional keyboards
Cyndi Lauper - guest backing vocals
Tommy Shaw - songwriting, guest backing vocals



DONNIE MILLER One Of The Boys HQ
.