We — meaning Fro, Karch, Brian and myself, a.k.a. the Back Street Kids — have been getting some encouraging comments on our new album, “Wicked Ways.” Even from bona fide rock stars.
Read about the album HERE. Listen to the full album HERE. Check out individual tracks on Brian’s YouTube channel Vogerland Studios HERE.
And now for a few of those comments …
“I’m listening to your song right now and I love it. It feels like a musical journey across the ’70s. I intuit influences, homage, nods to so many of my fave bands from my youth. Thank you for sharing it!”
— Beth-Ami Heavenstone, bassist for the Graham Bonnet Band, on “Airborne”
“Like a classic ’70s album track. It’s in my head.”
— Keith Roth, singer-guitarist for the Dictators, on “Wicked Ways”
“I’m so honored to be part of this — psyched to be part of the band on this one. The song is killer! Can’t wait for people to hear it!”
— Reggie Wu, guitarist for Heaven’s Edge, on “Airborne,” for which he put down some absolutely blistering guitar
“I love everything you did — the panning, bringing parts of my solo on the right to complement the left. You missed your calling. You should have been an audio editor/producer.”
— Reggie Wu on Brian Voger’s production on “Airborne”
(“Thumb’s up!”) — Bill Lordon, onetime drummer for Robin Trower.
To us, to our generation of long-haired dirtbags who went to the Philadelphia Spectrum to see Trower wail, Lordon is a rock god. He played the drums on “Daydream” from “Robin Trower Live” (1975). That’s the song! We lived it! Whenever I hear it, I’m still transported back to that cold, hard cement floor at the Spectrum in front of the stage. Trower hit that screecher, and held it for minutes. The whole stadium went absolutely silent. We were spellbound. You could hear a feather earring drop. And the security guards and the soft pretzel salesmen would think, “The world is goin’ to hell on a handbasket.” And it was Bill Lordon who played those drums — so softly, he was like a ghost.
“Big ’70s ‘no frills’ sound here. Love it!”
— Russ Wilson, drummer, the Dennis Dunaway Project
Russ drummed for Dennis Dunaway in concert and on the “Bones From the Yard” album (2006). Me ‘n’ Brinie even did a gig with those guys — long story (and Best Story Ever). In case you live under a rock, Dunaway played bass for the Alice Cooper group on “I’m 18,” “School’s Out,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Billion Dollar Babies.”
“This is authentically cool! We’re talking Rainbow, Black Sabbath, the Doors. Love the keyboard solo. Very freaking cool!”
— Steve Parry, guitarist for Heaven’s Edge, on “Wicked Ways” with Ron Tortu on the Hammond
“Love that sound. I can hear some of that ’70s sound. Nothing like it.”
— Mike Kost, bassist for Tangier, on the “Wicked Ways” album
“Nice production and pretty great lead vocals. Oh … good song!”
— Tony Mecca, guitarist for Heavy Mental Gypsies, on “The Killer”
“Nice job. Both tunes sound great.”
— Michael Brooks, drummer for Jailbreak, on “Wicked Ways” and “Paint it Black”
SNAPSHOT
POST SCRIPT: I finally found an excuse to run this photo. It’s a “small world” moment from Beth-Ami Heavenstone’s Facebook page. This is Beth-Ami and Reggie Wu backstage at the legendary West Hollywood night club, the Whisky a Go Go. The occasion was a Heaven’s Edge show earlier this year. What makes this “small world”? Beth-Ami and Reggie went to the same South Jersey high school — good old Cherry Hill High School East in Cherry Hill, NJ — at the same time. The Back Street Kids all went there too. Here’s what I love about this photo: All of us “Easters” walked the halls of East with rock ‘n’ roll dreams in our heads. Beth-Ami and Reggie made them come true. I mean, just look at them.
VIDEOS
Here’s the Graham Bonnet Band (with Beth-Ami on bass) in 2023, performing Bonnet’s 1979 hit with Rainbow, “Since You’ve Been Gone.”
Here’s Heaven’s Edge’s video for “Skin to Skin” from their 1990 debut album. (The solo by Reggie is pure whammy-bar wizardry.) The vid premiered on “MTV’s Headbangers’ Ball” introduced by, not to name-drop, Steve Vai.
Here’s the Dictators’ video for “Crazy Horses” from 2023, a wild ride.
Here’s Tangier’s “Fear Stands Behind You,” a super-catchy ’80s song with a heartfelt vocal by Bill Matson.
I’ll put up more comments (and videos) as they happen …