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OT: Foreigner All Access Tonight Breakup

Posted by: Toxic34 ()

Date: May 5, 2016 05:49

And so we come to the third and final part of my great '90s AOR comebacks cut short series. For this installment, we focus on Foreigner parting ways with Lou Gramm for the second time. As little has been written about Foreigner, much of the information here comes from Gramm's 2013 autobiography Juke Box Hero.

Following the flop of Foreigner's last album, 1991's Unusual Heat, Mick Jones and a newly clean and born-again Lou Gramm convened in L.A. around the time of the Rodney King riots. Gramm said he was willing to rejoin the band provided Jones and the current lineup stay clean and sober. Jones agreed, and they went to work recording 3 new songs for a '93 best of collection, the lead single of which, "Soul Doctor", went straight to #5 on the Mainstream Rock charts. They followed this up with a sold-out arena and amphitheater tour, which was documented on the concert video Live At Deer Creek. Gramm was in the absolute best shape of his life, and singing better than ever, as the video shows.

Afterwards, the band went to work on the full-length album Mr. Moonlight, which was released on Halloween '94 through a new record deal with Arista Records everywhere except North America. That release was handled by Rhythm Safari, a label set up by Priority Records, which came in February '95. However, the album performed to mixed reviews and results. The lead single, "Until The End Of Time" hit #8 on the Adult Contemporary charts and #42 in the Hot 100. Followup "Under The Gun" went to #28 Mainstream Rock, while the other 2 singles, "White Lie" and "Rain" failed to chart. However, the album performed like gangbusters internationally, as all 4 songs performed well, and crowds at the Mr. Moonlight tour already knew the lyrics by heart everywhere except the US. Gramm has blamed this on the fact that the company that would become Clear Channel/iHeartMedia was beginning its buying spree of radio stations into a conglomerate, and that they deliberately sabotaged the album by refusing to treat them as anything more than a heritage act. He states that "I never heard radio play for the singles at any time in America, at least never more than 45-second clips."

After touring throughout '95 and '96, the band began writing sessions for a new album with Marti Frederiksen. Gramm didn't think much of him, calling him "a professional hack named Marty (sic) something, who clearly had no idea of what he was doing." When not much progress was made, the band began to prep instead for a summer '97 tour of Japan. However, the day before the scheduled departure, Gramm went for a checkup due to sudden uncontrolled movements and hugely noticeable memory loss. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and the tour was off for him to begin treatment. The combo of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy worked completely, but his adrenal and pituitary glands were virtually destroyed in the process. All food immediately became fat on his body, and the steroids he had to take made it worse, leading to a total gain of 95 pounds, filling his frame at 280. To Gramm, this was humiliating, saying "I had to throw all my clothes away. Nothing fit anymore."

While recovering, Jones called Gramm, saying that the dates had been merely postponed and not cancelled, and that Gramm had to go on tour with them, or the band would be wiped out in lawsuits due to cancellation. Very reluctantly, Gramm sought medical clearance to tour in late '98. The doctor granted it, but emphatically told him that it was the worst idea, and that he wasn't close to fully healed yet. Nevertheless, Gramm went on tour with the band from late '98 to late 2002. The energetic movements were gone, his soulful Robert Plant-esque wails had been replaced with a James Brown shout, and he depended on an oxygen tank to get through it all. Throughout, Jones praised Gramm for his resiliency and made sure to inform everyone of his condition. Even so, some people were not kind to Gramm, with comments in reviews like 'Better lay off the cheeseburgers and pasta, huh Lou?" Also, the arena-filled days were already gone, even with Gramm still in the band. The 2003 DVD All Access Tonight shows Gramm's sad decline but valiant attempt to slog it out.

After another failed attempt to get a new album together, once again with Marti Frederiksen, they kept on touring. Per Gramm, Jones was now becoming a dictatorial taskmaster pushing him (Gramm) too hard and flagrantly violating the sobriety agreement. (Jones has steadfastly denied this, claiming he has been clean since '92). After the 2002 edition of Night Of The Proms (where Gramm claims Jones was "so juiced he didn't know what key or even what song he was in") they both mutually agreed that things weren't working out anymore, and decided to part ways.

After one gig with Chazz West in 2004, Foreigner hired singer Kelly Hansen to fill in for Gramm, and was also noted for his faithful renditions of the songs. Foreigner finally released another album, Can't Slow Down, in 2009, which was produced by Marti Frederiksen and Amy Winehouse producer Mark Ronson, who happens to be Jones' stepson. The album followed Journey's template of Walmart exclusivity, and performed well on satellite radio, iTunes and YouTube, reaching #29 on the Billboard Album charts, and its singles becoming Top 20 Adult Contemporary hits. Even so, Foreigner did not regain its former glory, only able to fill arenas and amphitheaters opening for bigger acts. While supporting Journey on the 2011 leg of the Eclipse tour, Jones suffered a heart attack, which took him out of commission for 2 years, marking Foreigner as performing onstage without any original members. Even when Jones recovered, he still only performs when health permits. As for Gramm, he released several successful Christian-themed solo albums and managed to lose most of the weight he'd gained, though he can't return to his pre-tumor weight because he can't stop using the steroids as per doctor's orders.

So, what's to blame in this condition. Was Gramm correct about Mr. Moonlight's underwhelming performance due to deliberate sabotage, or was that wishful thinking? Was Jones being too unreasonable with Gramm, considering his condition, or did he genuinely believe he could withstand the effort? Was Gramm correct about Jones being drunk and/or high throughout those years, or is this a scurrilous lie to make Gramm the victim? Was there a way for Jones and Gramm to stay together? Your thoughts below.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-05-05 05:50 by Toxic34.

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