Foreigner has released the first new song with Lou Gramm in three decades – and no one is more pleased than the singer.
“Turning Back the Time” was part of demo sessions held with Mick Jones for a potential follow-up to 1994’s Mr. Moonlight that never happened. “I had given up on those songs that were unfinished. I’d given up because we didn’t talk anymore after that,” Gramm tells UCR. “I thought we were in our golden era – almost.”
Then Gramm was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor as Foreigner was preparing to tour Japan, not long after the 1996 writing and recording sessions that produced “Turning Back the Time.”
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“Just before that, Mick and I started working on new songs,” Gramm says. “We felt it was more than long enough for us to be working on a new album. So we started working on new songs and we had about, I think, eight ideas that he and I worked on. He put the chords down; we both arranged it. I sang some lyrics and some gibberish just to get comfortable with the body of the songs – and it was at that point that I went in for my 19-hour brain surgery.”
Gramm went back on the road with Foreigner, but they never returned to the album project. He split with the group in 2003, while “Turning Back the Time” continued to languish in the vault.
“We kind of hit an impasse about the direction of the new album, and we never worked on it again. I didn’t hear from him about about trying to finish the album,” Gramm says. “So it took 22 years to unearth these demos and finish them. Now, one song at a time, they’re going to be released and the one that’s out now is the first one.”
“Turning Back the Time” will serve as the title track for a pending 18-track compilation released in conjunction with Foreigner’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The LP is due on Oct. 4; Foreigner will be honored on Oct. 19 in Cleveland.
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Gramm describes the original demo sessions as “a little bit reminiscent of the Beatles around the Rubber Soul days – and, you know, some of the songs a little bit of that flavor in it. Not that we were copying the Beatles; we were being Foreigner but there was just a little something in there that reminded us of the Beatles.” The lyrics for “Turning Back the Time” reflect this influence, as Gramm makes a direct reference to the Beatles’ legendary appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Marti Frederiksen was originally involved in co-writing “Turning Back the Time” and he ultimately returned to complete the track around Gramm’s demo vocal. Jones and Frederiksen co-produced the new session earlier this year, with both playing guitar. Jones added keyboards, while Frederiksen and his son Evan handled bass and drums, respectively.
Meanwhile, Gramm was back to receive a special honor on Thursday in his native Rochester, New York, where he’s already a member of the local hall of fame.
“Yeah, it was terrific – they gave me a key to the city and a key to the county,” Gramm said. “I’ve always felt support from my friends and peers in Rochester, and it’s always been pretty positive with the local government and upper echelon in Rochester: ‘Thank you, Lou, you’ve done us right,’ you know?”
The other 17 tracks on Turning Back the Time were chosen from Foreigner’s nine studio albums, including “When It Comes to Love” with Gramm’s replacement, Kelly Hansen. The band just wrapped up a summer tour with Styx dubbed Renegades & Juke Box Heroes that was paired with a special eight-song live album of the same name.
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Gallery Credit: UCR Staff
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