FOREIGNER
The band circa 1977: From left to right: Lou Gramm, Ed Gagliardi, Ian
McDonald, Al Greenwood, Mick Jones and Dennis Elliot
The band is led by British journeyman
rocker Mick Jones, who played in the
Sixties with Nero and the Gladiators,
a Shadows-like group that had several
hits in England, including "Hall of the
Mountain King." He worked with
French rock singer Johnny Hallyday,
then with a latter-day version of
Spooky Tooth. Jones had worked as
an A & R man in New York before
joining the Leslie West Band. A year
later he decided to form his own band.
In early 1976 he met ex-King Crimson
multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald
at recording sessions for Ian Lloyd,
former lead singer of Stories. A few
months later Jones and McDonald formed Foreigner with four unknown musicians,
including lead vocalist Lou Gramm, founder and lead singer of Black Sheep, a Free and
Bad Company cover band in upstate New York.
The group's 1977 debut sold more than
four million copies in the U.S. and stayed in
the Top Twenty for a year, on the strength
of "Feels Like the First Time" (#4, 1977),
"Cold As Ice" (#6, 1977) and "Long, Long
Way From Home" (#20, 1978). Double
Vision (#3, 1978), which sold five million
records, spawned "Hot Blooded" (#3,
1978) and a #2 hit with the title track.
Late in the year Foreigner headlined the Reading,
England, music festival. "Dirty White Boy" (#12) and
"Head Games" (#14) hit in 1979. Several personnel
changes occurred, so that by late 1980 the group was
a quartet, with Rick Wills (formerly of Frampton's
Camel, Small Faces, and Roxy Music) on bass.
Gagliardi and Greenwood went on to form the group
Spys.
The band circa 1981: From left to right, Mick Jones, Dennis Elliott,
Lou Gramm, and Rick Wills
Foreigner's next album, 4 (#1, 1981), was its
biggest ever, racking up six million in sales. It
provided two Top Ten singles: a rare ballad,
"Waiting For A Girl Like You" (#2), and
"Urgent" (#4), which featured Junior Walker on
sax. Agent Provocateur (#4, 1984) went platinum,
yielding the #1 pop hit "I Want To Know What
Love Is", an epic piece of AOR-gospel on which
Gramm was backed by the New Jersey Mass
Choir. The album spawned another hit in "That
Was Yesterday" (#12, 1984). Inside Information
(#15, 1987) also went platinum, featuring the hit
"Say You Will" (#6, 1987).
In 1991, Johnny Edwards was
selected as the new singer
following Gramm's departure
from the band in 1988.
Unusual Heat was released
under this new lineup. After a
lukewarm sales response to
this album, and a tour, Dennis
Elliott retired from the band
and Rick Wills left to join Bad
Company. Jones and Gramm
eventually had a meeting upon
which they agreed to team
back up. This lead to the
writing and recording of 3 new
songs to appear on a greatest
hits release in 1992, The Very
Best and Beyond.
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Foreigner Lyrics
Rock Room
Front Door
Email: J3019@hotmail.com