After the demise of Sly and the Family Stone, saxophonist Jerry Martini formed Rubicon, a funk rock band who’s 1978 single “I'm Gonna Take Care of Everything” spent 11 weeks on Bilboard’s hot 100. After the demise of that group, bassist Jack Blades, guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy moved on to perform in Northern California as Stereo. They soon changed their name to Ranger and were in the process of recording their debut album for Boardwalk Records when a country band named the Rangers claimed a trademark infringement...

“Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” was released in December of 1982 and was the first single from Dawn Patrol. It’s an energetic track that features two different guitar solos (how 80’s can you get?) and bassist Jack Blades on lead vocals. It also helped put Night Ranger on the map as one of the up and coming “Hard Rock” acts of the day.
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Night Ranger’s next album would eventually stamp them as an iconic band and 80’s trope, with the hits “(You Can Still) Rock in America,” “When You Close Your Eyes, ” and “Sister Christian,” but for me “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” was their best.

In 1994 I was playing in a group called Stillmotion. That fall, we had the opportunity to work with the indie music producer simply known as “Kramer.” He had recently moved his Noise New York studio across the river into New Jersey, and along with his assistant Steve Watson, had just finished recording - in his words - “three wonderful people from Minnesota.”

That group was Low, and those recordings became their first album, I Could Live in Hope. This album would help establish the subgenre “slowcore” and place these three musicians from Duluth Minnesota on the indie musical map.

“Words” is my favorite song from that album. It’s sparse and dark and as honest as any song you’ll ever hear.

Low’s drummer Mimi Parker passed away last week to ovarian cancer. From what I’ve been told over the years by fellow musicians who did play with her, she was indeed a wonderful and truly kind person.
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RIP Mimi Parker

In 1996, as the Big Beat craze took off around the world, this song rocketed to #15 on the UK singles and #2 on the dance charts.

It’s a lively number with rumbling bass notes (you will need a subwoofer to really appreciate them) and although not considered classic Big Beat, it lightly touches upon many of the elements from that time period.
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This track also features a sample from singer Joanna Law’s cover of Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” She recorded that song in 1990 as “First Time Ever,” and it’s also a wonderful track worth checking out.