Foreigner is without question one of the classic bands of rock’n'roll. They have ruled the airwaves for decades, from their initial debut in the ’70s to the classic rock stations of today. Songs like “I Want To Know What Love Is,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” “Cold As Ice,” “Feels Like The First Time,” and “Juke Box Hero,” are just some of the ones that any person who has spent time within reach of a radio will know.
The group is consistently in the Top 15 at classic rock radio stations, and as a result of the numerous songs that get airplay, Foreigner gets more airplay than current and future Rock’n'roll Hall Of Famers like Tom Petty, Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Def Leppard, and U2. And their latest release, Feels Like The First Time, which came out this past fall, entered the Top 50 on the charts at the same time their previous release, Extended Versions II, re-entered the chart, so they became the first classic rock act to have two albums on the chart at the same time in over 20 years.
Additionally, Foreigner songs have attacked the consciousness of the music world with songs in pictures and TV shows ranging from Happy Feet two, The Chipmunks, and Sex And The City two, to Dancing With The Stars, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the Ellen DeGeneres Show. They have also been in radio and TV commercials for Coors Light, Bosch, Stouffers, Motorola and Volkswagen, and computer console games like DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 6 and Rock And Roll Band 3.
Feels Like The First Time is basically a three-disc set, and includes a CD of acoustic versions of their biggest hits, a CD of recently recorded versions of the tracks along with one new one, and a live CD.
“What it is, is a treble disk set, one live from Chicago, one disk of the existing line-up re-doing the classic tunes, and one disc doing acoustic versions of the songs,” explains Kelly Hansen, the lead vocalist. “We had some live acoustic broadcasts in Germany, and we just got this reply that was surprising, and we realized this is terrifically popular, everyone likes the idea. We did one or two experimental shows in Canada all acoustic, and we claimed, ‘we really need record these shows this way.’”
The prevailing line-up is a power house, with Mick Jones, the guitarist and composer, leading the way. Bass player Jeff Pilson was in Dokken, while drummer Mark Schulman has performed with Sheryl Crow, Velvet Revolver, Stevie Nicks, Billy Idol, and Cher, among others . He also was a member of Foreigner back in the ’90s. Keyboard player Michael Bluestein was previously with Boz Scaggs and Enrique Iglesias, and was in the house band on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Tom Gimbel plays sax and keys, and was with the band across the ’90s.
“Lou left in 2002,” Kelly recalls, about original lead vocalist Lou Gramm. “Mick took some time off to reacquaint himself with his other half and family. Doing this takes 24 / seven of your life, so it was significant for him to take that time. Then he thought, ‘What am I doing?’ He actually wished to go out and play, and everyone told him he wished to do that, including Jason Bonham. Jason said, ‘you have to get out and play, the tunes are timeless.’ They actually did a charity show out in California. I was in my very own career crisis, and they were given in touch with me, sort of referring to a new Mick Jones project. It sounded interesting. They had been asleep for a few years, and they were just getting back on track. They’d been looking all over for folk, and they were coming to L.A. To rehearse. What I found out later , they had a round table meeting and called some chums. And then they called and expounded, ‘can you start rehearsing tomorrow?’ It began right out of the gate, like out of a rocket.”
It is often a hard task to become the frontman for a legendary group, particularly when it’s one that you used to hear. “I was a fan,” announces Kelly. “I was very well informed of their releases, and I always anticipated their new releases . I liked the quality of the tunes and the production.”
Kelly’s influences lean toward great RB vocalists like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, as well as a lot ’60s and ’70s pop radio. He principally heard whatever his mummy had on the vehicle radio, or the one stereo they had in the house. “We’re chatting 100 years ago,” he chortles. “I remember one time when I was younger I called a radio station and requested a song, and they announced, ‘that’s not the type of song we play.’ I reckon That I was influenced by TV commercials as well in those days, because I can remember all those jingles.”
Hansen originally came to importance in the highly praised but commercially unsuccessful band Hurricane. But he has more than found his voice in bringing the classic Foreigner songs to the masses. “There’s never been a point in time when anybody has dictated how I sing,” he is saying. “To go out and do a bunch of riffing on these songs would be like, ‘look how great I am,’ and that’s not what the tracks are about. I always stick to the tune. A lot of vocalists go out and don’t do the tune, but I love to go out and hear the tracks that I heard on the radio. When you start to make the song unrecognizable, that’s not what I like. I am sufficiently fortunate to get be in a band that has great songs, and that is what I am about. Mick and I had a lot of dialogues right at the start ; I told him I wanted to sing the tunes the way I hear them on the radio.”
And he is more than up to task, as I saw at the PNC Bank Humanities Center this past summer when the band came thru with Journey and Night Ranger. Not only will he nail the tunes vocally, but he is also a very dynamic frontman, getting the gang involved and even venturing out into the audience during the show. If you’ve a opportunity to catch Foreigner at the impending area dates, I guarantee you, you will not be disenchanted writes tagza.