STRAIGHT LINES – Run For Cover [Remastered / AOR CITY Series 2017]

Now this is a very special post here from a band not much known by AOR fans, but a personal ’80s favorite to me: STRAIGHT LINES. From the great Sony Music Japan campaign AOR CITY Series Vol.2, a low-priced remastered reissue on 100 classic AOR / AC albums from their back catalog (many of them out of print or hard to find) here’s STRAIGHT LINES second and final album “Run For Cover“.

This Canadian outfit was founded by seasoned studio musicians David Sinclair and Bob Buckley, whom recorded for many well known artists.
The band originally gained popularity under the name Dogstar and attracted the attention of CBS Records in Toronto. The label loved the act (and the songs) but not the name so it was effectively changed to STRAIGHT LINES.

After a succession of songwriting episodes with Chilliwack’s Howie Vickers, the band went into the studio with producers Martin Shaer (Sweeney Todd) and Jack Richardson (Guess Who) to lay down tracks for their self-titled debut which featured two singles – “Heads Are Gonna Roll” and “Roanne” (both made the Top 100 in the Canadian Rock chart).
To present the album, STRAIGHT LINES hit the road in 1981 with another Canadian awesome AOR act, Prism.

For the second album, this “Run For Cover”, with new producer Jeffrey Lesser (Pat Travers, Head East) and engineered by a young Bob Rock (Motley Crue, Aerosmith), STRAIGHT LINES returned to Little Mountain with the intention of making a more radio-ready, catchy accessible record.
The band played here a combination of Melodic Rock / AOR very much of its era (first half of the 80s) with a pristine sound and refined arrangements.

Since the start with title track, you are taken back to an era where melodic guitar riffs, splashes of keyboards / synths, vital harmonies and smooth vocals were the rule.
To give you an idea, think Bob Kulick’s BALANCE (album In For The Count), PREVIEW, Peter Beckett / PLAYER’s more AOR side circa the album Spies Of Life, i-TEN… you get the picture.

Things looked promising for STRAIGHT LINES. First single, the catchy ‘Letting Go’ broke the Top 10 on Billboard’s Canadian chart, and synth-filled ‘There Are No Secrets made RPM Chart’s Top 40, and earned them a Juno Award nomination for Composers Of The Year, eventually losing out to Loverboy’s duo of Mike Reno and Paul Dean for “Turn Me Loose.”

But when the third single ‘Illusions’, featuring Sinclair on lead vocals failed to follow suit in the spring of ’82, label executives lost interest, and before the end of the year the band had called it quits.
Buckley and Sinclair went on to form another great Canadian act; Body Electric.

I love STRAIGHT LINES “Run For Cover”, a true early ’80s albums plenty of elegant melodies and that unique Canadian touch.
Finally we have a superb remaster on this beloved album. The sound quality and manufacturing from this Japanese AOR CITY Series Vol.2 is excellent.
Hurry up, it’s available for a limited period of time until the end of 2018, sold at a really affordable price.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

You’ve seen it first here, at 0dayrox

Sony Music Japan ～ 【SICP-5488－ＣＤ】
Ａ Ｏ Ｒ   Ｃ Ｉ Ｔ Ｙ  １０００   ＶＯＬ 2

01 – Run For Cover
02 – There Are No Secrets
03 – It’s Gotta Be Tonight
04 – Letting Go
05 – Illusions
06 – Lighten Up
07 – I’ve Heard It All Before
08 – I’m Talking To You
09 – I’ve Got News For You
10 – Easy To Run

Bass, Lead Vocals – Peter Clarke
Guitar, Vocals – David Sinclair
Keyboards, Saxophone, Vocals – Bob Buckley
Drums, Vocals – Geoff Eyre

BUY IT !
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/SICP-5488
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