Song:Radioactive
Album:The Firm
The Firm was a mid-80s supergroup led by former Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers and legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. After much hoopla when the band was formed, they fizzled and only recorded two albums. Radioactive was their only significant hit. Led Zeppelin split up in 1980 and Page composed the score for the 1982 film Death Wish II. Bad Company split up in 1982 and Rodgers released the 1983 solo album Cut Loose. The two worked together on the US ARMS (Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis) Tour honouring Faces bassist Ronnie Lane who suffered from MS. After the tour, Page started hanging around at Rodgers' house and they decided to form a band. Originally they wanted Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford and bassist Pino Palladino. But neither were available. Bruford was still with King Crimson and Palladino was touring with singer Paul Young. So instead they hired Uriah Heep drummer Chris Slade and bassist Tony Franklin from Roy Harper's band. The idea behind The Firm was not to play any Bad Company or Led Zeppelin songs. The 1985 album The Firm sold well and Radioactive reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100. They toured the US and England in 1985 and then released the second album Mean Business in 1986. And then the band ended. Music fans were underwhelmed. The Firm is available as a budget CD. Page has said in interviews that The Firm was never supposed to be a long term project. I'm not sure if Rodgers felt the same way. Page went back to his solo career working on various projects. Rodgers didn't do much until the 90s when he formed The Law with drummer Kenney Jones. Chris Slade joined AC/DC in 1989 and was later a member of Asia. Tony Franklin formed Blue Murder with former Whitesnake singer John Sykes. Franklin plays a lot of sessions. That's the way things go in the music business. Sometimes a big fanfare is accompanied by a dull thud. Here's the video for Radioactive by The Firm.
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