White Lion was a hard rock band that arrived on the scene during the hairband craze, helping them to score two Top 10 hits in 1988: "Wait" (#7) and "When The Children Cry" (#3). Another terrific single from the same album called "Tell Me" inexplicably stalled at #58. Led by Mike Tramp, White Lion was a band that mixed socially conscious songs about war, poverty, and injustice, with stereotypical cock rock of the era. They struggled to maintain their momentum with their next release, which followed quickly in 1989. The next two singles performed poorly and were their last chart entries: "Little Fighter" stalled at #52 and their cover of "Radar Love" only reached #59. The band plotted a comeback with 1991's "Mane Attraction," which is largely a solid album that deserved better. It probably would have performed better, too, if the musical tide was not ebbing away from melodic rock to grunge. "Love Don't Come Easy" is one of their best songs and in a perfect world would have let White Lion roar once more. The ever prolific Mike Tramp has had a productive solo career and fronted other projects (Freak Of Nature), but hasn't hit the charts in the US since his days in White Lion.
Mike Tramp was the lead singer and songwriter for the successful 80s rock band White Lion. Since the band's demise in 1992, Tramp has been a prolific songwriter as a solo artist and driver of other projects, most notably Freak of Nature in the 90s. There's really no good reason why Tramp shouldn't have enjoyed another 15 minutes of fame beyond White Lion. His raspy vocals and knack for melodic choruses should still be viable, but he's never hit the US charts since the glory days of White Lion. There are many tracks I could chose to make my case, but there is something about "Straight From The Look In My Eyes" that gets me on every listen. It comes from his 2011 album, "Stand Your Ground."
