Song:High Enough
Album:The Essentials
The shortlived supergroup Damn Yankees scored a top five hit in 1990 with High Enough. They only released two albums so it's weird that Warner Bros. has released a comp CD. It's also odd to see guitar legend Ted Nugent in a pedestrian hard rock group. But in 1988, Nugent hadn't had a hit in a decade. Tommy Shaw had left Styx and his solo career wasn't going anywhere. Bassist Jack Blades had just left Night Ranger and he hadn't decided what he wanted to do. Geffen Records A&R exec John Kalodner had dinner with Shaw and Blades and he knew Nugent wasn't doing anything. So he assembled Damn Yankees. Geffen passed on them so he signed them to Warner Bros. Drummer Michael Cartellone was in Shaw's touring band. The 1990 album Damn Yankees was produced by recording engineer Ron Nevison. The band wrote all the songs. High Enough reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified 2XPlatinum. The 1992 album Don't Tread didn't do as well. Where You Goin' Now was a top 20 hit. Damn Yankees started a third album but then they split up. It looks like there may have been some conflict between Nugent and Blades that caused the split. Nugent returned to his solo career. Shaw Blades recorded an album for Warner Bros. in 1995. But hard rock wasn't popular at the time so it was unsuccessful. This comp covers both Damn Yankees albums. Shaw returned to Styx and Blades returned to Night Ranger. Damn Yankees reformed in 1999 to record but they were unhappy with the album and it was shelved. Damn Yankees have reunited occasionally. They haven't ruled out recording again. But it doesn't seem like Nugent is interested. Here's the video for High Enough by Damn Yankees. Thanks to Ultimate Classic Rock for some of the Damn Yankees details.
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