"Angel With A Dirty Face" by Lou Gramm

Born Lou Grammatico in Rochester, New York, Lou Gramm was the powerhouse vocalist behind Foreigner. He racked up plenty of top 40 smash hits through the 70s and 80s with the band, but also tried his hand at a solo career and as the vocalist for lesser known groups called Shadow King in the early 90s and Black Sheep in the early 70s.

Gramm always wanted Foreigner to rock more, which often put him at odds with his co-founding bandmate Mick Jones. Gramm got to flex those muscles a bit more on his two solo records from the 80s, but also stayed true to melody and kept more than enough power ballads in the mix.

Gramm's first solo outing arrived in 1987 with a big hit out of the gate in "Midnight Blue," which went to #5. Surprisingly, the only other charting single from this effort was the scorching rocker "Ready Or Not," which only got to #54. Gramm reunited with Foreigner to put out their successful 1987 record "Inside Information," then jumped back into solo mode.

He completed his second solo record in 1989, "Long Hard Look," which kicked off with another top 10 hit, "Just Between You And Me" (#6). Confirming his love of the word "blue," the second single, "True Blue Love," stalled at #40 and became his last chart appearance. The excellent "Angel With A Dirty Face" rocks a bit more and fooled me into thinking he'd hit the top 10 again.