50SHR #20: Kix (Maryland)

50 STATES OF HARD ROCK #20: MARYLAND

 

Band: Kix
Release: Midnite Dynamite
Year: 1985
Line-up: Steve Whiteman (vocals), Brian Forsythe (guitars), Ronnie Younkins (guitars), Donnie Purnell (bass), Jimmy Chalfant (drums)

Track Listing:

1.	Midnite Dynamite	3:48
2.	Red Hot (Black and Blue)	3:22
3.	Bang Bang (Balls of Fire)	3:58
4.	Layin' Rubber	3:51
5.	Walkin' Away	4:55
6.	Scarlet Fever	4:18
7.	Cry Baby	4:16
8.	Cold Shower	5:01
9.	Lie Like a Rug	3:40
10.	Sex	3:55

Fletchanator's comment: While there are undoubtedly more obscure hard rock bands from Maryland (like Nasty Habit for instance) I'm not going to pass up any opportunity to share my love of Kix, who hailed from Hagerstown MD. As mentioned when I shared 1988's Blow My Fuse here I bought that album on cassette when it came out and instantly fell in love with Kix, who to this day are one of my favourite glam/sleaze hard rock bands.
Here we have Kix's third studio album and the first to feature guitarist Ronnie "10/10" Younkins. While I do enjoy their first two albums a great deal, it was the pairing of Younkins with Brian "Damage" Forsythe that produced the band's "classic" sound as heard on this album, Blow My Fuse and 1991's Hot Wire. The album opens with the catchy title track and doesn't let up, producing great song after great song. Special mention needs to be made of the ballad Walkin' Away, which is on par with their biggest hit, Don't Close Your Eyes, in terms of beautiful melodic sound.
Kix rocks, pure and simple!

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50SHR #19: Hessian (Maine)

50 STATES OF HARD ROCK #19: MAINE

 

Band: Hessian
Release: Bachelor of Black Arts
Year: 2014
Line-up: Angus McFarland (vocals, guitar), Salli Wason (vocals, guitar), Michael Bryant (bass), Tim Webber (drums)

Track Listing:

1.	Eyebite	05:34
2.	Old, Wild and Free	03:48
3.	Cloven Lady	05:56
4.	Alchemist's Blessing	06:47
5.	Funeral Disco	03:19
6.	Homonculator	05:51
7.	Une Charogne EN	03:09
8.	Iron Baby	05:05
9.	Witch Road	06:29

Fletchanator's comment: Take one look at the album name and cover art and you can clearly see that this isn't the kind of music that normally fits this blog. Hessian play a style of old school metal that mixes doom elements (Black Sabbath, Baroness) and more traditional metal (Pentagram), but let's just say finding metal bands from Maine is a gruelling task and finding a hair metal band from this state turned out to be a fruitless one. While Hessian's image and overall sound isn't fitting with House of Hairspray, they have enough of a melodic classic rock (think Thin Lizzy) streak to them that I feel somewhat comfortable including them here.
Hessian hail from Portland, Maine in the upper corner of New England and have duel lead singers, one male (Angus McFarland) and one female (Salli Wason). Most of their songwriting pertains to the occult and as previously mentioned their sound deviates between several different sub-genres (Old Wild & Free and Iron Baby are the most melodic hard rock-esque of them). If you like what you hear, support the band by purchasing this album from https://hessian-music.bandcamp.com/

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50SHR #18: Baton Rouge (Louisiana)

50 STATES OF HARD ROCK #18: LOUISIANA

 

Band: Baton Rouge
Release: Shake Your Soul
Year: 1990
Line-up: Kelly Keeling (vocals), Lance Bullen (guitars), Scott Bender (bass), Corky McClellan (drums), David Cremin (keyboards, guitar)

Track Listing:

1.	Doctor	3:44
2.	Walks Like a Woman	3:54
3.	Big Trouble	3:24
4.	It's About Time	3:58
5.	Bad Time Comin' Down	3:54
6.	The Midge instrumental	0:57
7.	Baby's So Cool	3:38
8.	Young Hearts	4:15
9.	Melenie	3:37
10.	There Was a Time (The Storm)	4:11
11.	Hot Blood Movin'	3:30
12.	Spread Like Fire	3:16

Fletchanator's comment: Despite their name, Baton Rouge weren't actually from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, instead hailing from the small town of Pearl River in the same state. I guess Pearl River just didn't have the same ring to it as a name. In fact they were called Cheetah when they first left the Bayou State and headed to Hollywood in 1987, but changed their name upon being signed to Atlantic Records in 1989.
Baton Rouge released one album after this - Lights out on the Playground in 1991 - before succumbing to the changing music landscape, although they reunited briefly to play Rocklahoma in 2009. Singer Kelly Keeling has had a successful career post-Baton Rouge, appearing on solo albums by such great guitarists as Michael Schenker, George Lynch (Dokken) and John Norum (Europe).
Produced under the watchful eye of Jack Ponti, who had co-written songs for bands like Bon Jovi, Bonfire, Babylon AD and Alice Cooper, Shake Your Soul has great production values and a crisp, radio-friendly sound. The music is bluesy in the style of Whitesnake or Kingdom Come, while Keeling's singing sounds uncannily like Sammy Hagar at times and like David Coverdale at others. This one is another definite recommendation from me!

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50SHR #17: Buster Brown (Kentucky)

 

50 STATES OF HARD ROCK #17: KENTUCKY

 

Band: Buster Brown
Release: Loud & Clear
Year: 1984
Line-up: Johnny Edwards (vocals), Allan Phelps (guitar), Kevin Downs (bass), Bob Koestel (drums)

Track Listing:

Loud And Clear Under Control Little Bit Of Love Killing Time Get It Up Bad Dreams Comin' On Strong I Don't Want Ground Zero Days Across The Nile

Fletchanator's comment: Louisville Kentucky's Buster Brown are one of those bands who are probably best known for the careers their members had afterwards. While he's not on this album, current Scorpions drummer James Kottak played on the second Buster Brown album. Singer Johnny Edwards had a brief stint in Foreigner and he and Kottak both played in Montrose and Wild Horses after this band folded.
Buster Brown's sound can best be described as glam metal - at the heavy end of the hard rock spectrum and the light end of the melodic heavy metal range. They remind me a lot of another great band, Dirty Looks, perhaps with some Kick Axe and Heavy Pettin' mixed in. Edwards has a great voice and Phelps throws in some great guitar licks. Highly recommended!

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50SHR #16: Blind Date (Kansas)

50 STATES OF HARD ROCK #16: KANSAS

 

Band: Blind Date
Release: Blind Date
Year: 1985
Line-up: Kenny Claypool (vocals, guitars), Fulton Calvery (guitars, keyboards), JD Hart (bass), Bob Sander (drums)

Track Listing:

01. Dancer 02. I Want You Back 03. There Might be a Heaven 04. In the Cards 05. Next Time 06. What Ever Happened To Heroes 07. She's Got The Fire

Fletchanator's comment: From the hard rock hotspot (/sarcasm) of Hays, Kansas comes Blind Date, a quartet who recorded this demo tape in their hometown and played clubs throughout the midwest in the mid-80s. Information beyond that is scarce - I know they headed to LA to record at least one single, but the fact that this demo tape is all that remains from Blind Date tells us that their brief foray to Hollywood obviously didn't work out.
As you would probably expect from a locally-cut demo the sound quality on this one isn't the greatest, but through the muddy recording shines a pretty decent album of material that ranges from keyboard-oriented AOR to glammy hard rock. Kind of a low budget mix of Loverboy and early Bon Jovi.

 

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50SHR #15: JRK (Iowa)

 
50 STATES OF HARD ROCK #15: IOWA

 

Band: JRK
Release: Freedom's Road
Year: 2005
Line-up: Unknown

Track Listing:

1 -    Whiskey and Water 2 -    Broken Eyes 3 -    Fame 4 -    Ladies of The Night 5 -    Angel 6 -    Where's My Bike 7 -    Freedom's Road

Fletchanator's comment: Unusually for a band that has released two albums in the 2000s, I couldn't find out much about JRK other than that they are from Iowa. I couldn't even find a listing for the band members anywhere on the internet.
Freedom's Road is the band's second album, following 2003's Live to Ride. Those two album names, the cover for this one (which you can see above) and the the song title Where's My Bike should give you all the hints you need about JRK's style. Here's a quote from the band themselves: "This album was written to let loose the energy that one feels when sittin on a big bike and goin down the road with not a care in the world. We enjoy playing oldstyle metal with a southern touch. We all ride and know what it is like to be on a sunny day and a long stretch of road ahead"
Despite the use of the word "metal" by the band, JRK aren't heavy enough to warrant it. They're straight forward hard rock with southern rock and blues influences. Check them out - if you like what you hear you can support the band by purchasing the album or individual tracks at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jrkrock

 

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50SHR #14: Marshall Law (Indiana)

 
50 STATES OF HARD ROCK #14: INDIANA

 

Band: Marshall Law
Release: Marshall Law
Year: 1984
Line-up: Craig Watson (vocals), John Doll (guitars, keyboards), Eugene Berg (bass), Glen Woods (drums)

Track Listing:

1.	Love is a Hunter Who Never Sleeps	3:10
2.	Giving Your Love Away	2:44
3.	Somewhere In The Night	3:20
4.	Lyla Run	2:59
5.	Down to the Bone	3:15
6.	Once with Passion	3:16
7.	Getting Better	2:52
8.	Crossroads at Night	2:42
9.	Bring on the Night	3:35
10.	American Dream	2:38
11.	Get Out of My Life	2:26

Fletchanator's comment: The aim of this blog has always been to shine the spotlight on those hard rock/hair metal bands that have faded into obscurity over time or who never got the initial recognition they deserved. This 50 States of Hard Rock series has been a great way to look at some of those obscure bands who plied their trade outside of the typical Sunset Strip scene, many of them in rural towns where their long hair and leather pants would have made them stick out like aliens freshly arrived from another planet. And it doesn't get much more rural than recording an album inside a barn, which is exactly what Marshall Law did in 1984!

Not be confused with the English heavy metal band of the same name, this Indiana-based quartet released their (as far as I know) only album on Heartland Records, having recorded it in a converted barn in Union Mills, a rural community in the north of the state.

In the early 80s arena rock AOR bands like Journey, REO Speedwagon and Loverboy ruled the roost, and Marshall Law definitely fit into that niche. However, they don't over-indulge in the love songs of those bands - their sound is like if you took all of the ballads out of Journey's early 80s albums and left in the rocking tunes like Keep On Runnin'. Definitely recommended!

 

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