Once in a while an album is released which comes along with none of the pomp and circumstance traditionally associated to quality product. I mean, sure TYKETTO, BAD ENGLISH, THE STORM, and BRYAN ADAMS all came out with excellent albums, but didn't we all know that they would from all the ballyhoo surrounding their release? For me, it's the discovery of an unexpected classic which makes my heart beat just that little faster. TALL STORIES are one such band having recently given up their debut offering on Epic, a stunning collection of melodic masterpieces.
Such is the buzz being created on the underground scene that the label has seen fit to give the album a UK release (scheduled for next February), so to serve as an introduction we'll let guitarist and resident wit Jack Morer fill us in on the origins of Tall Stories.
"We had such a tremendous start to the tour, though," inserts Steve. "Our first gig to push the single was at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. We backed up FOREIGNER, which was a thrill for me as I've always been a big fan. I think that Johnny Edwards is a brilliant choice as the replacement for Lou Gramm. He's made them sound like a rock band again. Also, Terry Thomas helped them out a lot. He's a truly phenomenal producer. Actually, he worked with us on pre-production on our album. During the early stages of Tall Stories he had a lot of input. 'Sister of Mercy; was even co-written by Terry. We came over to England to work with him and we had such a good time; it means so much to us to do well over in the UK."
Jack then proceeded to tell me of his fear of English food (?!!) which had curtailed his enjoyment of the trip, but I wanted to know why Terry Thomas hadn't done their album, especially considering the obvious interest he would have had in seeing his hard work come to fruition.
Such is the buzz being created on the underground scene that the label has seen fit to give the album a UK release (scheduled for next February), so to serve as an introduction we'll let guitarist and resident wit Jack Morer fill us in on the origins of Tall Stories.
"Four years ago I was working in Manny's famous Manhattan music store," he begins. "Steve (Augeri, vocalist) came in to buy a guitar, and we got talking about our favourite bands. We had so much in common that we just hit off straightaway. At that time he was singing in a band called MAESTRO, which consisted of mostly Brazilian guys. It turned out that they needed a lead guitarist, and, as I wasn't involved with anything at the time and we'd been getting on so well, it seemed the natural thing to do. We both grew up listening to HUMBLE PIE, CREAM, ZEP, so we knew that we could work together."Steve interjects:
"I think everyone in the band shares those common influences, but I have the glam thing in my blood also; I loved KISS, MOTT THE HOOPLE, and all that scene. We share a common core of influencers, but from there we all go off at tangents."So how did the line-up evolve as it is?
"Well, about two years ago the band went through some major changes," explains Steve. "We had just lost our bass player Tony Esposito (now with LYNCH MOB) and I was touting around for new talent to replace him. On my rounds I came across a band called PREVIEW. They were looking for a singer at the time, so I did some moonlighting for them. Tall Stories were still my priority because, with Preview, I was just singing what they were writing, whereas, with Tall Stories, I was involved in everything. We signed a management deal with ESP, and Bud Prager took me to one side in order to see where my loyalties lay. That, I feel was the turning point for us. I completely focused myself on making Tall Stories into the best band that I possibly could. The next couple of years were spent writing and demoing material. We wrote maybe 200 songs in that time. When we'd made ten songs, Bud would choose one or two, and the rest would be dead wood. Twelve months ago we signed to Epic, and we've been playing small clubs until we could get studio time for the recording to begin on our album."Considering the fact that you have major management and a huge record company behind you, there hasn't been much press so far. Jack jumps in before I have a chance to complain about the strange nature of record companies and their 'priority' labelling.
"You have to remember that there are like a million new releases every week, and the record companies resources can only stretch so far. We are trying to create our own publicity at the moment. You're the first person in Europe to have been in touch with us, so we're all really happy to hear that we've got fans over there. At the moment the record company is concentrating on radio for our first single 'Wild on the Run,' which has only been out one week but is picking up a lot of stations already. Also we've been doing some gigs to promote ourselves. Just in 100/150 mile radius of our home, y'know, the Boston-Philadelphia-Baltimore triangle circuit. That's going to keep us busy for the next month or so."
"We had such a tremendous start to the tour, though," inserts Steve. "Our first gig to push the single was at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. We backed up FOREIGNER, which was a thrill for me as I've always been a big fan. I think that Johnny Edwards is a brilliant choice as the replacement for Lou Gramm. He's made them sound like a rock band again. Also, Terry Thomas helped them out a lot. He's a truly phenomenal producer. Actually, he worked with us on pre-production on our album. During the early stages of Tall Stories he had a lot of input. 'Sister of Mercy; was even co-written by Terry. We came over to England to work with him and we had such a good time; it means so much to us to do well over in the UK."
Jack then proceeded to tell me of his fear of English food (?!!) which had curtailed his enjoyment of the trip, but I wanted to know why Terry Thomas hadn't done their album, especially considering the obvious interest he would have had in seeing his hard work come to fruition.
"Simple, really," explained Steve, "he was too busy. At the time that we were ready to go with the recording, he was finishing up the FOREIGNER album, then he was slated to go straight in with GIANT for their second album. He also had RICHIE SAMBORA and THE CULT ringing him up all the time to do their albums. In the end he didn't do either of those, but we thought that if we waited for him to become available then we might never get to make a record."
So what influenced you to choose Frank Filipetti, who is best known for his work with JOHN WAITE, Kiss, Foreigner, and his piece-de0resistance the last SURVIVOR opus Too Hot to Sleep?
Jack takes it up:
"We had a meeting with him and got along great. He shared the same vision as ourselves as to what the Tall Stories sound should be. In general, he had a tremendous vibe for the music. Almost everything was ready when we entered the studio. Nothing drastically changed; he just tidied up some of the arrangements. He seemed to be able to push us to the limit exactly when it mattered, in order to get the best possible performances from our. One of the most important things about him is that he's a really nice guy. There's no point in working with someone that you want to kill."I guess that makes sense.
"We were as conscious as possible to avoid the rock cliches and try to have an original sound," concludes Steve. "When a great idea comes to you, it's difficult to start worrying about its authenticity. That's when things become contrived. We've been compared to JOURNEY, which I disagree with, but that sort of thing always happens in the beginning. I just hope that people not only buy the record but enjoy it!"
Steve, you have nothing to worry about!
Mark Ashton
Riff Raff
January 1992
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