Year : 1986 (Wounded Bird Records Edition 2011)
Style : melodic Rock , Pop Rock , AOR
Country : Canada
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 96 mb
Bio:
Idle Eyes is a Canadian Pop rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia.They are best known for the Canadian hit single "Tokyo Rose", which peaked at #16 on RPM's Canadian singles chart in June 1985.The band had its genesis in 1980 while Tad Campbell (born in Trail, British Columbia) was travelling in Australia. He encountered an advertisement for a local band looking for a guitarist, and wound up spending several months as a member of the house band at a resort in the Whitsunday Islands. During this time, the band were joined by new vocalist Donna McConville, who would also become Campbell's girlfriend.They later moved to Townsville, Queensland, where they recorded early demos of several songs that would eventually end up on the band's first two albums.Campbell eventually returned to Canada with McConville, putting together a new lineup since most of the original Australian members had not moved with them.The band lineup changed frequently over the early years, including McConville eventually leaving the band when her relationship with Campbell ended.She returned to Australia, where she became a backing vocalist for John Farnham.The band was nearly dormant when Campbell made a last-ditch effort to record a demo, which he sent to Payolas manager Cliff Jones in the hopes of securing a recording contract.Jones responded favourably, so Campbell and drummer Phil Robertson recruited Glenn R. Smith (guitars), Miles "Foxx" Hill (bass), and John Webster (keyboards) to record the band's self-titled debut album.Campbell wrote all the songs on the album, occasionally with assistance from outside collaborators; Smith also co-wrote one song ("Two Rivers").The singles "Tokyo Rose" and "All Day" won awards from SOCAN as two of the top ten most played songs on Canadian radio that year.The band toured extensively as an opening act for Loverboy, Bryan Adams, Tears for Fears, Toto, The Human League, and Red Rider, as well as at a nationally televised Expo 86 gala which also featured Adams, Loverboy, Sheena Easton, Véronique Béliveau, and Kenny Rogers.Also in 1985, Campbell participated in the recording of "Actions Speak Louder Than Words", a charity single to raise money for Canadian food banks, alongside Mike Reno, Paul Dean, and Matt Frenette of Loverboy, Darby Mills of Headpins, Johnnie Dee and Derry Grehan of Honeymoon Suite, Paul Hyde, Carole Pope, and Murray McLauchlan.Idle Eyes were nominated for three Juno Awards in 1985, winning for Most Promising New Group.Other awards included six West Coast Music Awards, winning group of the year honors in 1985 and 1986.Campbell won Songwriter of the Year in 1985 for "Tokyo Rose", which was also named Song of the Year."Tokyo Rose" was inspired by the generic name "Tokyo Rose", which was used to describe female Japanese DJs who attempted to shake the morale of American soldiers and spread propaganda in the Pacific Theater during World War II.Smith and Webster left Idle Eyes in 1986, and were replaced by Scotty Hall (guitars) and Bruce Mackenzie (keyboards). The group's second album Love's Imperfection was produced by Michael Beinhorn and engineered by Bob Rock at the Little Mountain Studio.Released at Christmastime with no videos, the single "Sandra" topped out at #83 on the Canadian charts, and the album sold fewer than 20,000 units. The band was dropped from their label a few months later.The band carried on, with Hill and Robertson dropping out, leaving Campbell as the sole remaining original member of Idle Eyes. Joining Campbell, Hall and Mackenzie for Idle Eyes' independently produced third album Standing at the Edge (1988) were Tom Christianson (bass) and Dudley Welsh (drums).The album spun off a minor hit, "Blue Train".By the early nineties, the Idle Eyes line-up was subject to constant flux, with Campbell being the sole permanent member. A best-of album, Land of the Midnight Sun, was released in 1994, and was credited to "Tad Campbell & Idle Eyes". In addition to the original versions of tracks such as "Tokyo Rose", "All Day", and "Blue Train", it featured six new songs, with the newly-recorded material being played by a line up of Tad Campbell vocals, guitar), Darryl Havers (keyboards), Randy Booth (bass), Al Webster (drums), Tony Ferraro (percussion), Caley Faryon (saxophone).After the band's breakup in 1994, Campbell formed the bands Leghold Trap, Millions of Brazilians and Big Daddio before reforming Idle Eyes in the early 2000s.In February 2021, Campbell was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor on a night between September 1996 and January 1999. Campbell received a 12 month conditional sentence.
Album:
Some time ago we featured in exclusive the first, self-titled album by Canadians IDLE EYES, in its pretty rare Wounded Bird Records CD reissue. Now here’s IDLE EYES sophomore album ”Love’s Imperfection”.Evolving from their debut LP 3 years before, ”Love’s Imperfection” has all that 1986 polish and radio friendly, melodic rock&pop feeling with the classic Canadian crystalline production.This album showcases the band’s signature blend of melodic tunes and heartfelt lyrics, delivering an emotional journey through themes of love, vulnerability, and human connection.Idle Eyes rose to prominence in the 1980s with their hit single “Tokyo Rose,” which earned them significant radio play and critical acclaim across Canada. Over the years, they have built a loyal fanbase thanks to their energetic performances and timeless songwriting.Recorded at Little Mountain Sound on a $130,000 budget, and produced by Michael Beinhorn (later Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ozzy), and featuring Scotty Hall as the new guitarist and Bruce Mackenzie as their full-time keyboards player, ”Love’s Imperfection” was released 1986’s Christmas.But WEA Records unwillingness to support it included no videos to accompany the three singles, “Sandra,” “Burning,” or the title track. A shame, as all the album’s songs easily could have been part of any soundtrack or TV-ad from the era.Thus, with no label promotion the album stalled after only selling 20,000 copies. Still, Idle Eyes were nominated for another pair of West Coast Music Awards – for Song of the Year for “Sandra,” and Group of the Year, which they won.The band also did their first American tour opening for Human League, as well as a solo four-night stand at The Ritz in New York City, which happened to have several record label executives in attendance.However frontman Tad Campbell was thinking to try an indie, small label for the next album, also firing their manager. Campbell decided to do things himself, and the result was the self-financed and self-produced ‘Standing At The Edge’ in 1988 on Black Rose Records, another strong album from Idle Eyes.
Line Up:
Tad Campbell - Lead Vocals
Scotty Hall - Guitar
Miles “Foxx” Hill - Bass
Phil Robertson - Drums
Bruce Mackenzie - Keyboards
+ guests:
Claire Lawrence - Saxophone
Joanie Bye, Mark LaFrance - Vocals
Production:
Art Direction, Design, Photography By [Back Cover] – James O'Mara
Artwork [Front Cover] – Total Graphics
Management, Executive-Producer, Design [Cover Concept] – Cliff Jones
Mixed By [Assistant] – Tim Crich
Photography By [Front Cover] – Penny Patton
Producer – Michael Beinhorn
Programmed By [Fairlight] – M. Beinhorn
Programmed By [Rhythm] – Chris Taylor
Recorded By – Howard Rissin
Recorded By [Assistant] – Mike Goslin
Recorded By [Drums - Assistant] – Mike Fraser
Recorded By [Drums], Mixed By – Bob Rock
Tracklist:
01. Love’s Imperfection
02. Power Game
03. Sandra
04. Arms Of Love
05. Lonely House
06. Falling
07. In Your Room
08. Wind It Up
09. Burning
10. Silent Lies
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
