Mayday - Mayday (1981) (Rock Candy Remastered 2016)

hudební novinky 2016 / music news 2016
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Mayday - Mayday (1981) (Rock Candy Remastered 2016)

Príspevokod užívateľa Horex » 09 Feb 2023, 09:38

Mayday - Mayday (1981) (Rock Candy Remastered 2016)

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Year : 1981 (Rock Candy Remastered 2016)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 100 mb


Bio:

Mayday is an AOR/hard rock band from New York, New York, USA, that was formed under the name of Sun in Chicago, Illinois.In 1976 the band moved to New York, then changed its name to Son around 1977/1978 and finally to Mayday in 1980.The band released two albums in the early 80s.Steve Johnstad say: In the fall of 1976, after the breakup of SNOBLIND, I flew to NY to sing with a friend’s band called BLOODY MARY. I arrived at the airport and was met by Keyboard Player David Beck.On the way down town, David informed me that we’d be living in a loft with a few actresses in SOHO, but failed to tell me they were all - female porn stars. “Sharon Mitchell” most notably.I was totally blown away as I walked in and met several naked girls standing around as a filmcrew was packing up! Talk about REAL WORLD!! From that day on, it was like living in a perpetual Caligula!! I eventually ended up sleeping on the 4th floor fire escape for need of myown privacy!! Imagine that!! Ever faithful, I knew my buddies back home would have died to trade places with me, if only for a day, but that’s a book in itself!! Bottom line, we all became great friends.On one of our many night outings with the girls, we’d stopped by CBGB’s to see this band SUN! I was completely blown away. They were like a new wave Zeppelin, extremely raw andpowerful. The drummer played a see through double base set, and the guitar player looked likeZORO. The bass player just stood there with the coolest look, while his fingers ran effortlesslyabout the neck. The singer had a giant Afro, and hit notes that made glass crack. Over time, the singer Niki Buzz and I had become good friends. I never imagined that in the months that followed, I’d be asked to replace him.Then in April of 1977, things had finally run its course with Bloody Mary when the guitar player decided to call it quits. So, I decided it best to fly back to Wisconsin, were I made it back just in time for the birth of my only child Angela.Once things settled down a bit, I decided to reform my old band “SNOBLIND”. This time, I concentrated mainly on writing originals. We eventually returning to N.Y.City in early Aug,and performed several live shows at various rock clubs in the village.Unknown to me at the time, Randy from SUN, had come to see SNOBLIND perform at CBGB’s, and shortly after I left to go back to Wisconsin, he’d decided to travel back to the Chicago Ill. and drive north to Sheboygan, WI. to personally ask me to join the band. I was extremelyimpressed with his determination and soon after, I returned to NY.Our Manager Charley Martin did sound at CBGB’s and that provide a place to play gigs and hang out as often as we wanted. Charley had also made it possible for us to record late at night after the club closed it’s door’s to the public. Back then, to have a 16 track recorder at ones disposal was great, especially since most bands had little to no recording gear at all.Over the next several years, we played all over town. The largest crowd we performed infront of was in central park while filming the movie “HAIR”! Thousands showed up as theyfilmed off the corner of our stage. The producers had originally set up a two day shoot with several other bands scheduled to play, but after one set, the rest of the shows were canceledas they now had all the crowd footage they were ever going to need. Then when Bill Lazwell, and Rob Gottfried decided to leave the band to do other musical projects, it seemed once again, to be the end of another great band. But then I’d remembered this bass player I’d met at a blues club awhile back, and soon after, Charley Torres joined theband. Now — Just for the record, Charles Mass and Charley Torres are one in the same, andthough I never understood why he change it for the LP’s, I can only imagine it had somethingto do with honoring his Mother since Mass was her maiden name.Not long after charley joined us, he introduced us to Greg Gerson, a drummer friend living in the village who he’d long been wanting to work with. He was one hell of a drummer who alsoplayed just about every instrument on the planet, including a coffee cup.After changing the name of the band from SUN, to SON, we immediately started rehearsals on the sound stage in the old ANDERSON THEATER on 3rd Ave. and 4th St. It was the site of several great concerts back in the 60’s and early 70’s and was under construction at the timeto become the new CBGB’s Theater. “THE JAM” played their first American show in that theater, as did several other bands. Soon, we were again playing every club in town.In Oct. of 1978, we opened for the band POLICE at CBGB’s while doing their first gig in the US. That was a turning point for the band as we began experimenting with reggae music and combined it with hard rock. I have several recordings in my archives of songs we’d set aside for various reasons, but those were some of our most interesting compositions we’d ever recorded.Later that year we decided to add David Beck from my previous band BLOODY MARY andby early 1979 the band was well on it’s way to becoming the hardest rockin band in NYC.It was always a great time playing shows at CBGB’s. Over the years we had also opened upfor, Plasmatics, Richard Hell, Dictators, Dead Boyz, and many others. AC/DC with Bon Scott was another great show, or at least that’s what everyone tells me.Then in early 1980, Randy decided to leave the band to go solo, but later decided to come back when I informed him of a deal offered to us by EMPIRE PROJECT.This was a development deal in which we’d agree to do two cover songs, in addition to four of our own. Then Empire would shop the tapes, and then complete the record once the band got signed.It seemed fair at the time, but once we realized it was a total buy out contract giving them 100% control of the publishing, not to mention everything else, the ink was already dry.Empire then suggested we change the name of the band to provide them with a fresh sell to the labels and SON, became known about town as MAYDAY!After EMPIRE PROJECT had invested money for the first half of the record, MAYDAY then performed a live show at the popular mid town club called BONDS International. My good friend Mike McConnell was the guitar tech for “Mick Jones” of FOREIGNER and hedecided to lend us all of their on stage gear for that performance. A&M who were quite impressed with our performance, seemed equally impressed that a NYC band had acquired so much gear for touring! Unfortunately, they didn’t notice the name FOREIGNER written all over the frickin place!! That later came back to bite us in the ass, when we were asked to deliver our list for additional touring equipment. They were shocked to find out we didn’t even own a practiceamp, much less thousands worth of stage gear. Mike was never given a credit on the record for his effort, but I always felt he had a lot to do with the band getting signed thatnight!! Thank you Mike!! As planned, we signed with A&M for a two album minimum, with an option for five.It was a great feeling to finally be recording in a professional studio, knowing it wasn’t going to be just another demo like others we’d done in the past. And even though it wasn’t the top studio in Manhattan at first, eventually we did track and mix in the Electric Lady, and after thatit seemed we were finally going to have a chance to make good. We rehearsed non stop for a few weeks in preparation, so when tapes started rolling, the tracks would hopefully go down asplanned. They didn’t — but that’s life, and being in the studio for the first time with this crew, was definitely like re-discovering the band all over. Every note isolated makes ya really hearthe truth. It’s humbling at times, believe it!!Shortly after the completion of the first half of the record, and subsequent A&M contracts had finally been negotiated, Greg Gerson was replaced on drums by Mark Kaufman. Mark andI had worked together a few years ago, back in Wisconsin. Mark had also played with SON on occasion after Rob Gottfried first left the band.Mark’s big beat and incredible timing, gave us a warmer feel than the first half of the record,and with that, and a few rehearsals, we were confident he’d complete the record, no problem. We still weren’t sure how long he’d stay with us by the time we signed, so no pictures wereever taken of the band with a drummer until the second record.Suddenly, the pressure to complete the record within our new budget began to rain about the studio. With Empire pushing us in a commercial rock direction, Randy insisting on singinglead vocals on a couple of songs, the studio was starting to feel more like a battle ground for who does what, and when. It became a real struggle to keep it real.With the tracks finally complete, the first mixes turned out really great. But then, the boy’s got into production mode and before you could say (What the hell) the power and punch wasmixed and edited right out of it. A&M were expecting a well focused Hard Rock album to answer the call of that demographic,which was why they signed us in the first place.However, due to wasted time and cost over run, the second half unfortunately lacked muchof the attention that the first half received. Most of my scratch vocals were kept as keepers and that little known phrase “FIX IT IN THE MIX” never really worked out! Still, I’ll always remain proud of the effort, even though it’s clearly not a perfect world.

Album:

MAYDAY self-titled debut “Mayday“ was for years an almost impossible to find LP. Now, thanks to Rock Candy headquarters the album is being remastered and released on CD for the first time, a must for American AOR fans eager to own a long out of print album that appears to have obtained legend status in the genre.Initially called Sun, and formed in the late Seventies with their roots in Chicago but based in New York City, Mayday plugged themselves into Manhattan’s burgeoning club scene playing underground clubs such as CBGB’s or Great Gildersleeves.It was this live circuit that helped to toughen the band up, winning them the attention of an independent production company who bank rolled the start of their debut album and helped them to sign to industry leaders A&M records.Issued in 1981, the album was received with glowing reviews and set in motion a dedicated following amongst fans of perfectly executed melodic hard rock blessed with interesting twists and turns. The album boasts a number of superbly written and performed tracks, highlighting Steve Johnstad’s captivating voice (compared on occasion with Steve Perry) and the biting guitar work of Randy Fredrix.And indeed the Journey comparison doesn’t end there.The excellent opener ‘Chicago Nights’ is a Melodic Rock / AOR anthem where the similarities to Journey are unavoidable to ignore, both in melody and Johnstad’s vocal delivery, a match for Steve Perry at his best. Similar or not, this rivals ‘Escape’ for classic AOR.This attitude is continued with ‘Loco Love’, which again is close to Journey reminding me of ‘Dead Or Alive’, but realistically it sounds like anything recorded prior to ‘Escape’ as both albums were recorded in 1981.However, despite the solid solidly AOR spirit, Mayday had a hard rock origin as well, and some of the songs here display metallic riffs and relatively upbeat speed throughout like the fierce rockers ‘Chicago Nights’ and ‘Getaway’, with more emphasis on riffs and attitude than sleek harmonies.Mayday also surprise with an inspired and indeed rousing version of the Starz classic ‘So Young So Bad’."Love Affair’ isn’t a ballad, instead a catchy three minute rock workout that had ‘hit’ written all over it. As was so common in the period there’s some new wave keyboard work during ‘Innocent Bystander’, while ‘Once Upon A Time’ end the album with this closest to a ballad on the album, although it’s emotional and melodically burning.Kudos to Rock Candy for not only remaster / reissue major bands and albums, but also rarities and obscurities like this Mayday album. This was a truly outstanding unit that offered a refreshing and compelling alternative to the mega selling acts of the day yet, for whatever reason, were criminally overlooked at the time.There’s some great tunes here – Steve Johnstad co-wrote later House Of Lords hit ‘Wanna Be Loved’ plus songs for Joe Lynn Turner, Loudness and more – so take for sure songwriting is strong.

Line-Up:

Steve Johnstad - Vocals - see also: ex-Bloody Mary
Randy Fredrix - Guitar
Charles Mas - Bass
David Beck - Keyboards - see also: ex-Bloody Mary
Gregg Gerson, Mark Kaufman - Drums

Production:

Engineer – Ben Wisch
Executive-Producer – Don Silver, Michael Friedman
Mixed By – Ben Wisch, Harvey Goldberg
Producer – Ben Wisch, Don Silver
Producer [Assistance] – Randy Fredrix
Written-By – Randy Fredrix (tracks: 1, 3 to 9)

Tracklist:

01. Chicago Nights
02. So Young So Bad
03. New York City
04. Loco Love
05. Life In Space
06. Love Affair
07. Innocent Bystander
08. Getaway
09. Familiar Faces
10. Once Upon A Time


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Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

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Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Odkazy na stažení všech alb naleznete pouze na našem blogu zde: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

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