Foreigner was one of those archetypal 1970s guitar-rock bands; we caught their tunes on the radio, and we bought their albums. They didn’t have the historical staying power of the Beatles or the head-smashing power of Led Zeppelin, nor did they have quite the on-stage charisma of a Mick Jagger or a David Lee Roth. But they did some great work.
The band formed in New York City in 1976, with a combination of British and American members. Those included Lou Gramm on vocals, Mick Jones on lead guitar, Es Gagliardi and Rick Wills on bass, Dennis Elliott on drums, Al Greenwood on keyboards, and Ian McDonald on, well, almost everything else. The band name was obvious: Mick Jones came up with it, noting that he, Dennis Elliott, and Ian McDonald were British, but formed up in an American band.
Their style was mainstream but solid, and they grew better over time, as most bands do. They ended up as one of the best-selling bands in American history, with over 80 million records sold, 38 million of those in the United States. This is one band I somehow never saw in concert, but that didn’t mean I didn’t buy a few of those 38 million albums.
I couldn’t quite get it down to six songs this time. Here are the seven I chose. Enjoy.
Feels Like The First Time (1977): This was the band’s debut single on their debut album, Foreigner. It was first released in Britain, where it didn’t blow up many skirts, so they released it in the United States, and it went on to more success here. Mick Jones, who penned the tune, later said:
"Feels Like The First Time” was written about a bit of a change in my life. I was coming out of a previous marriage with somebody I'd met in France. I'd gone back to England and then finally made the journey to America while I was in the band Spooky Tooth. And to me it was this challenge of really going for a new start in my life. And that just came naturally out of the blue. People probably thought, Well, this is a song that he's written specifically for this album. In hindsight I guess that's a natural feeling, but to me it was signifying a new start. I'd met somebody, I got re-married and moved with her to America, and that was the song that described that experience."
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Hot Blooded (1978): This one was pretty spicy for the late 1970s. The phrase “hot-blooded” is usually taken to imply, well, a state of arousal. I had some friends who tried to get that song proscribed from local radio play, but good old KWWL-1330 AM radio in Waterloo wasn’t having it, so we got to hear the song on our car radios, and that was good enough for us.
Double Vision (1978): Funny trivia on this song. It was written by Mick Jones and Lou Gramm after watching a hockey game, in which a player got knocked out. Jones later said:
That's where the title came from. We were at a hockey game. I was an avid Rangers fan in those days, and Lou and I went to a game, and the goaltender for the Rangers got a concussion, and it was announced over the PA that he was taken off and was suffering from double vision. I'd never heard that term before, and we picked up on it. And then that led to the title for that song.
Back in the day, we thought the phrase referred to being high on drugs. What did we know?
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Head Games (1979): This isn’t exactly a cheerful tune, describing a guy in a relationship he just can’t deal with any longer. (Hey, lots of us have been there.) This one was again written by Jones and Gramm, who repeatedly denied that it was about any particular woman or relationship.
Dirty White Boy (1979): This song was, believe it or not, a tribute to Elvis Presley, who had died two years earlier. The King was credited as the guy who changed rock & roll forever. Mick Jones described his reasoning thusly:
Juke Box Hero (1981): Another song, another piece written by Jones and Gramm, and another funny back story:It was Elvis Presley. To me, he always was that dirty white boy who changed the shape of music completely. It was talking about the kind of heritage that he left, and I think that had an effect on all the musicians that came after, like Mick Jagger - he was also a dirty white boy. Elvis paved the way for all that.
That stemmed from an experience that we had, I think it was in Cincinnati. We'd gone to the arena for a sound check, and it was pouring down rain, and there were a bunch of fans waiting at the door when we went in. When we came back for the show later on, all that was left was one lonely fan, a young guy waiting out there in the rain, soaked to the skin. I thought, well, he's waiting like five hours here, maybe we'll take him in and give him a glimpse of what happens backstage at a show. And this kid was just mesmerized with everything. I saw this look in his eyes, and I thought, he's seeing this for the first time, he's having this experience. And I just imagined what was going through his mind. And I'd been toying with this title, 'Juke Box Hero,' I thought it was almost a satire on what we did and how it was perceived from an audience level, and public. That's how it originated.
I Want To Know What Love Is (1984): This last one lacks the hammering, guitar-heavy slam of a lot of Foreigner’s work, but it is a more thoughtful tune, and besides, what band hasn’t done a love song or two? Mick Jones said that while writing this song, he went back through every relationship he had ever had, and realized that what he had produced was an almost spiritual tune.If you’re an old Boomer like me, you probably have a Foreigner favorite or two of your own, or a memory to share. Let’s see them! The comments, once more, are all yours.
