ALAN GORRIE (feat Dann Huff) – Sleepless Nights [AOR Light Mellow 1000 series] (2020) *EXCLUSIVE*

In a similar fashion to their ‘HR/HM 1000‘ hard rock series, Universal Music Japan has started last December “AOR Light Mellow 1000 series“, a new campaign reissuing a number of hard-to-find AOR titles under the supervision of AOR Light Mellow’s specialized label leading expert, Toshikazu Kanazawa, on sale for a limited time at a special price of ¥ 1,000 = about 10 USD.
From the long out of print records from the list, we have this Hi-Tech AOR little gem: ALAN GORRIE‘s 1985 album “Sleepless Nights“.
This the only solo album released by Gorrie, bass player / vocalist of the Average White Band, also known as session man for many big acts.

Co-written and produced by JAY GRUSKA, the album mixes classic Westcoast AOR elements with the classic mid-80s Hi-Tech synthetic sounds. Gruska is a reference in these genres because he was the leader of MAXUS and worked with JOSEPH WILLIAMS, CHICAGO, MARILYN MARTIN, etc, and produced several Hi-Tech AOR albums.

Songs like ‘Electric Between Us” sounds a lot like Kenny Loggins mid-Eighties stuff, and wouldn’t be out of place into the Top Gun soundtrack ‘Diary Of Fools’ is a beautiful ballad in the Maxus style, while ‘That Kinda Girl’ brings to mind Michael McDonald’s uptempo stuff.
‘I Can Take It’ goes very Hi-Tech with its pumping rhythm, the title track is a sensual ballad ready for FM radio that reminds me Ned Doheny, and ‘The Age Of Steam’ is a classic and really good ’80s upbeat piece.

Among the ‘dudes’ playing here we find Dann Huff, Michael Landau, Nathan East, Joseph Williams, John ‘JR’ Robinson, Jeff Bova, and the impressive cast continues… the who’s who from the LA Session scene.
Are you an ’80s AOR sucker? Grab this one pronto.

Only at 0dayrox

 

ＵＮＩＶＥＲＳＡＬ ＭＵＳＩＣ ＪＡＰＡＮ ～ UICY-79286
AOR Light Mellow 1000 「ＲＥＩＳＳＵＥ ＳＥＲＩＥＳ 」

 

01 – Up
02 – Electric Between Us
03 – Diary Of A Fool
04 – That Kinda Girl
05 – I Can Take It
06 – The Girl Upstairs
07 – Sleepless Night
08 – The Age Of Steam
09 – In The Jungle

Bass, Guitar, Vocals: Alan Gorrie
Guitar: Dann Huff, Michael Landau, Michael Mugrage
Bass: Nathan East
Drums: John Robinson
Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
Keyboards: Larry Williams, Randy Kerber, Jeff Bova, Michael Boddicker
Keyboards, Producer: Jay Gruska,
Background Vocals: Marc Jordan, Joseph Williams, Alex Ligertwood, Joe Pizzulo, David Bryant, Michelle Gruska

 

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www.universal-music.co.jp/p/uicy-79286/
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/UICY-79286