Thursday, May 15, 2014

Lou Gramm - Midnight Blue

"Midnight Blue" may not be the rarest song on ERV, but it has become something of a forgotten classic.  The song was the first single off Lou Gramm's 1987 solo record, Ready or Not, and it became a hit, reaching #5 on the charts.  In fact, Gramm had three solo top 40 hits, including "Just Between You and Me" (not the April Wine song) which was featured on ERV in April 2012 and "True Blue Love."

The Ready or Not LP was a collaboration between Gramm and Bruce Turgon, who had worked together in the band Black Sheep.  When Gramm joined Foreigner, Black Sheep disbanded and Turgon became a working musician in LA.  However, the two artists remained in touch, and as the chemistry in Foreigner deteriorated, Gramm invited Turgon to work with him on a solo project.

The video for "Midnight Blue" is pretty standard fare, but that doesn't make it bad.  By the by, the actress in the video is Traci Lind, who left the industry long ago (there is an interview with her on Noblemania for those who are interested), while the actor is Joe Holland, who died in 1994.

While "Midnight Blue" may not have broken any new ground creatively, it is a damn fine rock song, in your author's opinion, helped by a catchy guitar line.  And Lou Gramm has a voice that sounds like it was made for rock.  It adds up to one of the better rock songs of the decade.




Cool trivia fact:  R.E.M. covered "Midnight Blue" on a bunch of their shows in the fall of 1987, and an audio version from one of these concerts has survived:

3 comments:

  1. I've always enjoyed this song.
    Had no idea REM covered this tune!
    As always, thanks for the knowledge.
    Best,
    -Sam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sam -- the R.E.M. version was pointed out to me a few years back by a knowledgeable friend, and I thought that it was worth sharing. (There's a little Furs in the cover too, if you listen). All the best.

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  2. Who's the Guitarist in the Video?

    ReplyDelete