 |
|
Honeymoon Suite - 1984 Honeymoon Suite
Background From the Niagara Falls area, also known as the 'Honeymoon Zone', comes the aptly named five-piece Honeymoon Suite. The band was (and has always been) centered around the pairing of singer Johnny Deguili (aka Johnny Dee) and guitarist Derry Grehan. The duo came together as far back as 1974, and over the ensuing years recruited other members into the mix. By 1982, the pair entered one of their tracks (the soon to be hit) 'New Girl Now' into a Toronto talent quest and consequently won it. WEA Canada soon signed them up, and the band went into the studio with Tom Treumuth (of the band True Myth) to record their debut. Joined by keyboardist Ray Coburn, drummer Dave Betts and bassist Brian Brackstone (Gary Lalonde would join the band soon after, but is not credited as playing on the album), Honeymoon Suite would soon inflict some damage on the Canadian Charts during the 1984 year. The Songs I bought this album more or less the day it was released locally, and not knowing anything about them, I was soon smitten with their brand of AOR. It does have some new wave traces, due in part to Johnny Dee's vocals, but mainly the racy guitars of Grehan and luscious keyboard textures from Coburn land this smack in the middle of AOR Central. The opening brace of tracks are well known to AORsters the world over.. the aforementioned 'New Girl Now', the scorching 'Burning In Love' (excellent vid btw!) offset by the smooth caress of 'Wave Babies'. The fourth minor hit for the band was 'Stay In The Light', a lighter more poppier tune than the others. The HS boyz take a (maple) leaf out of Canadian compadres Harlequin for the tight rockin' 'Now That You Got Me', and then precede to blow the leaves out of the yard with the fast-paced 'Funny Business'. David Tyson and Eddie Schwartz provide the songwriting goodies with 'Heart On Fire', a track Schwartz released three years earlier on his 'No Refuge' album. The band return to some punchy AOR with 'Turn My Head' followed by the hi-tech wizardry of 'It's Your Heart', a workout for Coburn and his battery of synths. Album closer 'Face To Face' is a semi-ballad, melody rich and swimming in keys. In Summary The album did wonderfully well on the Canadian charts. The first four tracks made it into the Singles Charts, while 'New Girl Now' also made a dent onto the US Billboard Charts. Their Loverboy meets Journey style of AOR was popular during that 1984-1986 period. As a result, Honeymoon Suite went out on the road with the likes of Billy Idol and an unusual pairing with British prog dinosaurs Jethro Tull. The band would reappear a year or so later with the equally fantastic 'The Big Prize'. Related Articles Honeymoon Suite - 1984 Honeymoon Suite Honeymoon Suite - 1985 The Big Prize Honeymoon Suite - 1988 Racing After Midnight Honeymoon Suite - 1991 Monsters Under The Bed Honeymoon Suite - 2001 Lemon Tongue Honeymoon Suite - 2001 Interview with Derry Grehan Copying of material without permission is not permitted. Posted by gdazegod
on February 03, 2007 ·
6 Comments ·
1482 Reads ·
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Login