Ah, the 80's. Where the men were so into their long hair, high heels, slinky clothes, and makeup, that Steven Tyler himself would be duped by one from behind, prompting him to write, Dude (Looks Like A Lady). You couldn't swing a stick without hitting a hair band. For the girls, it was bad boys singing ballads to them. For the guys, it was hard rock energy and rebellion.
Britny Fox emerged in the mid 80's, securing a recording contract thanks to their ties with Tony Destra, and Michael Kelly Smith, of Cinderella, who were both part of the original lineup. Prior to Destra's death in 1986, the band recorded the demo, In America. This was followed by Rock Is Gonna Fight, with new drummer, Adam West, in 1987. This would lead to their 1988 self-titled debut, which would be considered one of the best of the year, being certified gold. This allowed them the opportunity to tour extensively, opening for acts such as Poison, Warrant, and Ratt. They would also win Metal Edge magazine's Readers Choice Award for Best New Band.
MTV would help push their success with the steady rotation of videos for Girlschool, Long Way To Love, and the power ballad, Save The Weak. Despite this, only Long Way would see any chart success, and just barely by making number one hundred on the Billboard Hot 100. Chart success was far better for the album as a whole, peaking at thirty-nine on the Billboard 200.
All of this, and would you believe I never heard of them until recently? It's true. I came across them while doing a general search of Google for 80's hair bands. Though I went back and forth a few times, I eventually pulled the trigger, grabbing both of their albums from the decade.
Firing it up, I was immediately greeted by Girlschool. Seeing the album cover, I was expecting a Bon Jovi type album. What I instead got was beaten over the head by the raspy powerful vocals of "Dizzy" Dean Davidson. I honestly had to stop after track three, and take a break to regroup myself, and start over.
I'm glad I did because my original impression was, "I didn't sign on for this." Whereas coming back a few days later, mentally prepared for what I was instore for, things resonated better.
The back to back openers, Girlschool, and Longway To Lover were pretty solid entries. Nothing amazing by any means, but definitely rocking that 80's hairband sound.
When ballad, Save The Weak started up, I didn't even need to read the song title to know what it was. Not because I knew it, or had heard it previously. Rather, it just had that cheesy ballad sound to it right from the start. It definitely wasn't for me. It's the kind of track you'd easily find on those compilation albums that you ordered off a television ad from Time Life in the 90's. It's terrible in all the right ways.
As for the rest of the album, it was relatively forgettable, and quickly fell into background noise territory. There was nothing bad about it by any means. But in the world of your Mötley Crüe's, Bon Jovi's, Def Leppard's, and everyone else in the hair metal scene, they just don't stand out as much.
Britny Fox would return to the studio to release 1989's Boys In Heat, an album title which really doesn't excite me to listen to next. However, shortly after it dropped, so to did lead singer Davidson. He dropped right out of the band, and went on to form another group. We'll pick up there tomorrow.
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