McAuley Schenker Group: Bad Boys - The McAuley Schenker Group Story 1987-1992

After getting his start in his brother Rudolf’s band The Scorpions in his mid-teens and then playing guitar on their debut album when he was just sixteeen, Michael Schenker joined UFO, playing with them for the next five years.  Following that with another short stint with The Scorpions, he then formed The Michael Schenker Group with vocalist Gary Barden.  From 1980 to 1984, they released four studio and two live albums (Barden was replaced by Graham Bonnet for their third studio album before Barden returned for number four).  When Barden left the band again, Schenker teamed up with former Grand Prix vocalist Robin McAuley and together they released three albums, an unplugged live album and an acoustic EP, which have all been collected here on Bad Boys- The McAuley Schenker Group Story 1987-1992.

Their debut was Perfect Timing, which ended up as their most melodic album and kicks off with “Gimme Your Love,” which epitomizes that, with big choruses and hooks, and great guitar work including a strong solo.  “Here Today - Gone Tomorrow” and “Don’t Stop Me” are more great examples of their mastery of that sound.  “No Time For Losers” and “Get Out” are a couple of shredders that give the album a bit of a punch, while “Follow The Night” and “Time,” a really gorgeous tune enhanced perfectly with Steve Mann’s keys, are really strong ballads, but with a bite.  “Love Is Not A Game” walks the line between ballad and rocker and “I Don’t Wanna Lose,” in my opinion the album’s best song, mixes acoustic guitar with electric and has a slight bluesy groove (don’t miss the guitar solo on this one).  Disc one closes out with a couple of bonus tracks in the form of edited versions of albums cuts.

Their sophomore album opens with the title track “Save Yourself,” which starts off with an excellent guitar solo leading into a hard-driving rocker that explodes with Schenker’s guitar work.  “Bad Boys” is up next and is more straight-ahead rock with a touch of bluesy swagger, while “Anytime” is a great power ballad with more strong guitar and McAuley’s emotional vocals (this was the biggest single of their career).  While there are a couple of other really solid tracks like the darker “Shadow of the Night” and “This Is My Heart,” another strong ballad, a lot of the remaining songs are just a little too generic (“I Am Your Radio” is the epitome of this), making this a less consistent release.  Disc two has seven more bonus tracks that include “There Has To Be Another Way,” a strong instrumental that really showcases Schenker’s guitar work, and the straight-ahead hard rocker “Vicious,” which was released as a b-side.  Both of these tracks are actually better than some of the songs that ended up on the album.  The remaining tracks include several single and radio edits of album tracks along with a nice acoustic version of "Bad Boys."

When they got around to album number three, simply titled MSG, melodic rock and hair metal was being pushed aside by grunge and as a result the album at times had a heavier, more guitar-driven sound than its predecessors.  Songs like “Eve,” which still has that melodic rock sound but with an edge, the straight-ahead hard rock of “Invincible,” and “This Broken Heart” are good examples of this.  Having said that there are several power ballads here where they really shine and show that not many bands did them as well as them  These include “When I’m Gone” (written by McAuley and Jesse Harms, who at that time was Sammy Hagar’s keyboardist), “What Happens To Me” and “This Night Is Gonna Last Forever” with its big sweeping choruses, and the hauntingly gorgeous closing track “Never Ending Nightmare.”  Some of the other high points are “Lonely Nights” (check out Schenker’s soloing on this one) and the catchy midtempo rocker “We Believe In Love.”  Five more bonus tracks can be found on disc three consisting primarily of edits and alternative versions of album cuts, most notably a great acoustic version of “When I’m Gone.”

With grunge taking over the rock charts at this point, MSG didn't make much of a dent in America and there wasn't a full electric tour to support MSG.  The band did though see the success that bands were having with MTV's Unplugged, so after releasing Nightmare: The Acoustic EP in Japan, a mini-album of acoustic tracks (the acoustic studio versions included here appear to come from this release), they did a nine-month acoustic tour resulting in the Unplugged Live album, found here on the box set's final disc.  Stripped down to just McAuley’s vocals and Schenker's guitars, along with Shark Island’s Spencer Serombe on rhythm guitar and 12-string, the songs are given a completely different life here and honestly this is the disc that I go back to the most.  Along with songs from all three of their albums, they performed three UFO songs, “Lights Out,” “Doctor Doctor” and “Natural Light.”  The disc closes out with five more bonus tracks, including a live acoustic version of UFO’s “Only You Can Rock Me” and acoustic versions of four more songs.  This highly recommended box set is rounded out nicely with a very informative booklet detailing the band’s career with stories behind each release.  

(HNE Recordings)

Howard Jones - Live At The Marquee

On September 20, 1983, a few months after he released his debut album, just as his first single “New Song” was about to break into the UK Top 40 and a couple of days before he would make his Top Of The Pops debut (both of which he mentions during the show), Howard Jones played his first show at London’s Marquee Club.  About twenty-five years later a previously unreleased recording of that performance was found in some tapes that were being transferred for possible bonus tracks on the 2018 reissue of Human’s Lib.  Now, thanks to Cherry Red Records, that full show has been released on CD and double LP, and sound great.  Among the thirteen tracks in the set are eight of the ten that are on Human’s Lib, with the bulk of the remaining songs ending up as b-sides or future album cuts.  Jones performance is animated and full of energy, and the crowd is very enthusiastic, as evidenced by the singalong on “New Song.”  While at this point the album had been out for about six months, it’s definitely not a paint by numbers performance, with Jones expanding and extended many of the songs.  Several of the tracks like “Hunt The Self,” “Pearl In The Shell,” and “Equality” also find him kicking up the tempo a little, and the synths sometimes have a harder edge than the softer sounds on the album.  A couple of other notable moments are the fun, upbeat honky tonk piano that closes “New Song” and the extended “Ruth, David and Dennis” story that he tells at the beginning of “Human’s Lib.”  Live At The Marquee is an extremely fun listen and a great listen back to Jones’ early days.  

(Cherry Red Records)

Los Armadillos - Another Monday Morning single

The Armadillos initially got their start in Zurich in 1985 and over the years have gone through some changes including changing their name to Los Armadillos.  Two of the current members, vocalist / guitarist / organist Bernie Sprenger and drummer Dominique Muench, have been there since the beginning, now being joined by Michael Herzig on bass and vocals.  Following an EP in 2023, they are now back with the new single containing a couple of garage rockers that take inspiration from bands like The Fleshtones and mix in a little Tex-Mex and some great pop hooks.   “Another Monday Morning” has a lazy groove and stabbing organ fills that will have you singing long after the music is over.  The flipside “Do It” is again rather laid-back, but with more of a surf / garage rock sound.  

(Los Armadillos)