Aldo Nova is a rocker from Canada who had his biggest hit in 1982 when his single, "Fantasy," reached #23. He followed this up with "Foolin' Yourself," which peaked at a disappointing #65. Then he disappeared from the US charts forever. While he wasn't able to climb back onto the US charts as a solo artist, he managed to do so while working with other artists, most notably fellow Canadian superstar Celine Dion. Nova co-wrote, played, and produced several songs for Dion, and took home the 1996 Grammy as a producer. In 2003, Nova co-wrote the hit "This Is The Night" for American Idol star Clay Aiken. He was also in the shadow of Bon Jovi since their early days, playing on their self-titled debut. In addition, Nova was instrumental in helping Jon Bon Jovi with his first solo effort, "Blaze Of Glory." Jon Bon Jovi would repay these favors by helping write, produce, and release Nova's 1991 comeback record, "Blood On The Bricks." It was a commercial flop largely because it was a day late, dollar short in terms of timing. The big melodic choruses and guitar solos went out with the big hair that year with the Seattle band invasion. "Touch Of Madness" is one of the highlights from "Blood" that wasn't released as a single. Who knows? Maybe it would have been a better choice than the title track. By the way, there's another American Idol connection here: Randy Jackson played bass on the "Blood" record.
The legendary melodic rock band from San Francisco, Journey, began as an experimental outfit. Their first three records in the 70s contain overly long jams that sound like an entirely different band. The band didn't see chart success until the magical voice and melodic sensibilities of Steve Perry joined in 1978. With Steve Perry onboard and scoring their first chart hit, "Wheel In The Sky" (#57), Journey began their trek to superstardom. They racked up so many hits in the 80s, they became the 20th most successful artist of the decade. Despite being known all over the world, they've never had a #1 hit. "Open Arms" is the closest they've come, sitting at #2 for six weeks in 1982. Guitarist Neal Schon is the only founding member still in the band today (longtime member and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, who played in The Babys before Journey, came onboard in 1981). Schon and Cain were also involved in the side band Bad English in the late 80s. Another fun fact: American Idoljudge Randy Jackson was in the band from 1986-1987. "Stone In Love" is a well-known tune from their 1981 album, "Escape," but it never charted. "Escape" was a game changer for the band, yielding not only "Open Arms," but also "Who's Crying Now" (#4, and their first top ten hit), "Don't Stop Believin'" (#9, and saw a huge resurgence thanks to its use in the finale of The Sopranos), and "Still They Ride" (#19).
Jimmy Harnen released his one and only album in 1989 entitled, "Can't Fight The Midnight." The story of this record goes back to 1986 with a pop rock outfit from Pennsylvania called Synch. Harnen was their drummer, but decided to sing vocals on one of their ballads, a song called "Where Are You Now?" It became the band's only charting single, hitting #77 in 1986. The song resurfaced in 1989 thanks to heavy repeated airplay by a number of DJs and it shot all the way to #10. Its success scored Harnen a record deal, but as we all know, it flopped. The record, which features Randy Jackson (Journey, American Idol) on bass, Steve Lukather (Toto) on guitar, and a guest spot from Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon), remains an underground favorite in AOR circles. Harnen had more in him than just high school prom themes, and quite a few of these tracks rock a bit. Such is the way with "For All The Wrong Reasons," a song I predict could have been a hit for Twisted Sister.
