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OCTOBER 1984
TOMMY SHAW
Tommy Shaw. You say the name and it brings to mind the uninhibited spirit of live rock 'n roll. Tommy Shaw . . . stage left on the massive concert tours Styx trouped across the world for the better part of a decade. The music, "Crystal Ball," "Renegade," "Blue Collar Man," "Fooling Yourself" and "Too Much Time On My Hands" are the gems that stand out in the minds of millions. Tommy Shaw had a lot to say, and he said it with integrity and passion. His past, indeed noteworthy. But rock 'n roll is only interested in the future.
Tommy Shaw once again has something to say and this time he's saying it alone. His debut solo album on A&M is Girls With Guns.
A prolific writer, he began putting material together with this album in mind as long as three years ago.
"On tour, if there was a good studio within reach, I'd go in after our show or on days off and work on my demos. I'm the type of person who can't sit still for three or four days in a row and not know what's happening next. I had to create something for myself so I plunged into Girls With Guns. It became clear to me that the direction I was heading was vastly different from Styx. They were doing techno-pop, while my material tends to be more straight-ahead, basic rock 'n roll."
To help him reach his goal, Shaw recruited producer Mike Stone, whose many credits include Journey's awesome Escape and Frontiers albums and both of Asia's platinum albums. Trusting Stone to take on the production burden left him free to concentrate on his music and formation of a new band. An impressive lineup quickly fell into place. Drummer Steve Holley has been with Wings and Elton John; keyboardist Peter Wood, who co-wrote "Year of the Cat" with Al Stewart, had impressed Tommy when he checked out Pink Floyd's "The Wall" tour in L.A. in late 1981; and bassist Brian Stanley has played with The Rumour and others. In addition, saxophonist Richie Cannata, a regular member of Billy Joel's band, appears on one Girls With Guns track and will join the Shaw group on the road this fall, as will English vocalist Carol Kenyon.
"I wanted an east coast band," Shaw explains, "so I went to New York to audition east coast players and wound up with all English players who live in New York. I call them the West End Band, because the musicians I chose are all from the west end of London. Where I come from, the west end is the tough side of town. If you weren't big, streetwise, or a hell of a fast runner, you could easily get your butt kicked."
As Shaw tells it, "When you're jamming and working on unfamiliar material, you can tell right away whether the players can grab a feel, lock into it and add their own personalities to it. As soon as we started playing, I knew these were the guys I was looking for.
"I can't read music, and I didn't want to have to sit down and pick everything apart. I wanted to play for fun,and that was the feeling I got from these musicians. They seemed to enjoy the fact that this music was based on feel."
Shaw also had specific requirements for the studios where Girls With Guns would be recorded."For the past seven or eight years, I've driven 200 miles round trip each day to record," he observes. "This time, I was determined to have a studio situation that reflected the hard rock aspects of my work." So after rehearsing in New York, a city that could satisfy Shaw's need for burning the midnight oil, the crew began recording at the Chicago Recording Company, as stone's throw from where Shaw lives on Chicago's Near North Side. After extensive work there, they moved to The Town House in London, England. Says Shaw, "This way we also avoided the boredom of being in once place for a long time. After a while in one studio, you start noticing the inconsistencies in the carpet - a sure sign of cabin fever. If you don't like the carpet or ash-trays, you start thinking the equipment sounds like dirt. I also wanted to have a good time, and I have rarely had a bad time in London."
The responsibility of being the star of your own show brings with it certain freedoms, as Tommy found. "I wanted to stretch a bit. I wanted to do a rock ballad, 'Lonely School.' I wanted to do an extended piece, 'Kiss Me Hello,' and I wanted to do straight rock, 'Girls With Guns.' That's just what I did."
Three of Shaw's songs ("Heads Up," "Free To Love You" and "The Race Is On") are collaborations with Eddie Wohlford, a friend since childhood. Shaw, Wohlford and backing vocalist Jimbo Jones played together before Tommy joined Styx. "Heads Up" was also a collaborative effort with Kenny Loggins. For the most part, the songs on Girls With Guns (the title refers to "girls who can handle themselves - modern women") are at least loosely autobiographical.
When asked what he learned in more than a thousand nights on the road, Shaw didn't miss a beat . . . "How to get a girl and a cheeseburger after midnight." Girls With Guns is a refreshing break from the ordinary, but one thing will never change. When this show hits the road, Tommy Shaw will be in Room 702 having a good time.
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