Song:I Want To Know What Love Is
Album:The Very Best...And Beyond
I Want To Know What Love Is was the only number one hit for Foreigner in 1984. They started out as what was called Arena Rock and had softened their sound for the 1984 album Agent Provocateur. The leader of Foreigner was British guitarist Mick Jones. For the most part, he was a session musician. But he got a taste of being in a band when he briefly formed Wonderwheel with Gary Wright and then as guitarist for the Leslie West Band. So in 1976, he started a band with King Crimson founding member Ian McDonald. Jones was in Rochester, NY with the reformed Spooky Tooth when Black Sheep lead singer Lou Gramm (then known as Lou Grammatico) gave him a Black Sheep album. Gramm was looking for a new gig anyway and he was hired. Other members were Al Greenwood on keyboards, Ed Gagliardi on bass and Dennis Elliott on drums. Jones named the band Foreigner because of the mix of British and American members. The key to their success was the chemistry between Jones and Gramm as they wrote most of the songs together. Foreigner had immediate success when their 1977 debut album Foreigner sold four million copies and Feels Like The First Time and Cold As Ice were top ten singles. The success continued with their next couple of albums. In 1979, Gagliardi was replaced by Roxy Music's Rick Wills. And Greenwood and McDonald were replaced by session musicians. With the 1981 album 4, keyboard player Bob Mayo and sax player Mark Rivera were permanent members. Foreigner took a break and returned with the 1984 album Agent Provocateur. The album didn't sell as well as previous albums. But I Want To Know What Love Is became Foreigner's only number one hit. The song featured Donnie Harper's New Jersey Mass Choir and Jennifer Holliday fresh off her Tony win for Dreamgirls. The choir even recorded their own version of the song. But then Foreigner faded until Gramm left to go solo in 1990. Mick Jones still leads a version of Foreigner today. You can get all their hits on this budget comp. Lou Gramm had some health problems a few years ago but he has recovered and has his own band. Here's the video for I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner.
No comments:
Post a Comment