Category: BRIAN HOWE

As requested, here’s the Music On CD reissue of the long time out of print BAD COMPANY album “Fame And Fortune“.
This is the first album released by the reformed BAD COMPANY, featuring original members Mick Ralphs (guitar) and Simon Kirke (drums), with the addition of new frontman Brian Howe (formerly of Ted Nugent’s band) substituting for original singer Paul Rodgers.
Released in 1986 say something to you? Yes, it has that ‘type of sound’. Mixed and with some tracks co-written by FOREIGNER’s Mick Jones, plus produced by the great Keith Olsen (FOREIGNER)… yep, “Fame And Fortune” sounds a lot like ’80s Foreigner, and that’s not a bad thing.
After Paul Rodgers left Bad Company the band was in a crossroad; broke up or continue with a new blood.
The band still had a lot to prove in the mid-Eighties – even though Ralphs openly admitted at the time that using the same band name was a record company decision. Replacing Rodgers was a gamble, but Brian Howe was a great choice. More of a Melodic Hard Rock singer than Paul Rodgers, Howe’s pipes was pitched somewhere between Lou Gramm and Ashley Holt (Warhorse).
So you had power and melody, and less bluesy touches. Anyway, the boy could sing, and was a useful songwriter.
Title track ‘Fame & Fortune’ mid-paced, strong piece of crunch; it’s Ralphs’ tale of the original line-up’s textbook success story, with the inevitable, if anticlimactic, fall.
‘That Girl’ is a pleasingly catchy melodic rock song, with a suggestion of blues. ‘Tell It Like It Is’ ROCKS, and rock with a certain British flavor, and Howe presses all the right buttons. Then we have the brilliant ‘Long Walk’, similar to That Girl in its bluesy feel, but even better. It has that ‘classic’ feel, and the lyrics are quite moving, accentuating the lovely guitar solos. ‘Hold on My Heart’ is more American-sounding, and pretty Foreigner-ish with Jones co-writing…

Long regarded as one of Rock’s legendary voices, BRIAN HOWE (RIP) debuted into the big leagues in 1983 as lead vocalist for Ted Nugent on the “Penetrator” album and fronting its band on the subsequent world tour. In 1984, drummer Simon Kirke and guitarist Mick Ralphs asked Brian to replace Paul Rodgers as the lead singer in Bad Company, and...

All BAD COMPANY albums featuring melodic vocalist Brian Howe were requested here in its best sound quality version possible. “Here Comes Trouble”, the band’s last studio LP with Howe at the mic never has been remastered, but this out of print Japanese edition sounds great. The style of “Here Comes Trouble” is true 1991-92, polished crystal clear with producer Terry...