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08 Jul 2017, 02:0668
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Artist: Shadow
Release: Shadow 10" single
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: USA (Seattle, WA)
Bitrate: 320 kbps
►►Dead Link
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https://www.discogs.com/artist/1245135-Shadow-30
SHADOW - Shadow 10" (1983) USA
Hockey Talkter Records MWR1486
Rob "Berko" Webber - Lead Vocals
Danny "Dan" Newcomb - Guitar (WARRIOR, THE ROCKFORDS, GOODNESS, DANNY NEWCOMB & THE SUGARMAKERS)
Michael "Mike" McCready - Guitar (WARRIOR, MOOKIE BLAYLOCK, TEMPLE OF THE DOG, PEARL JAM, MAD SEASON, $10,000 GOLD CHAIN, M.A.C.C., THE ROCKFORDS, WALKING PAPERS, THE TECTONICS, LEVEE WALKERS)
Rick Friel - Bass (WARRIOR, JANGLE TOWN, EASY, THE ROCKFORDS, JODIE WATT, DANNY NEWCOMB & THE SUGARMAKERS)
Christopher "Chris" Friel - Drums & Backing Vocals (WARRIOR, JANGLE TOWN, KRISTIN BARRY, EASY, JOEY KLEIN'S WILD WEST SHOW, THE ROCKFORDS, KIM VIRANT)
From Jo-Ann Greene's 1993 article "Intrigue and Incest: Pearl Jam and the Secret History of Seattle" as published in the August 20, 1993 issue of Goldmine:
Enter Mike McCready
There was no question in Jeff Ament's and Stone Gossard's mind that they would continue playing together following Andrew Wood's death; it was just a matter of when and with whom. While waiting for the answer, Gossard spent the summer playing guitar with an old friend, Mike McCready.
Like Gossard, McCready was a big KISS fan; Chris Friel remembers that the day he met McCready, they watched Kiss take off their make-up live on MTV, Friel was a big Kiss fan too.
McCready's first band was WARRIOR, which formed somewhere around 1978-79. Originally a four-piece, the band also included Chris Friel and his brother Rick, and vocalist Danny Newcomb.
Chris, a few years younger than the rest, was eight or nine at the time. Inevitably, the band played lots of Kiss covers: "Black Diamond," "Come On And Love Me" and "Cocaine," to name but three. "We tried to write originals, but how do you write lyrics that young?" Chris asks.
Sometime around 1982-83, Warrior became SHADOW, and the foursome was augmented by Rob Weber. "We were a good band, I was really proud of it," says Chris. "We were hard rock, but we had pop chords. We hated hardcore!
Our look was somewhere between braces and spandex. To us, Kiss was everything. Mike was the tongue (as in Kiss's Gene Simmons); at rehearsals he would stick out his tongue and run around naked."
Mark Arm compares Shadow to early DEF LEPPARD in that "they were really, really young. (The Rocket called them "Seattle's Menudo.")
Their big thing was hoping to get signed, like Def Leppard were, at an early age. Stoney used to hang out with that scene as well; it wasn't really metal, it was like '80s pop-psychedelic-metal. not trying to be like VAN HALEN, trying to be like QUIET RIOT."
Dave Krusen's only recollection of Shadow was their old promo picture. What struck him was the band's make-up and outfits. "Elvis Costello meets Menudo in slick, new wave outfits!"
Although Stone Gossard was indeed hanging out with the band during the early 1980s, Chris points out, "It was as a friend, not necessarily as a fan. At that point, he was learning how to play guitar. He was learning 'Dr. Love' by Kiss; that was the first song I ever heard him play!"
Early on, Shadow mostly played roller rinks, aiming for the all-ages crowd. That changed in October 1984, when the Moore Theatre hosted a Headbanger's Ball, with a bill that included CULPRIT, OVERLORD and Shadow. Suddenly, Shadow found themselves opening in front of a packed house,
and received an amazing response.
The following year, Halloween 1985, on a bill with TKO and METAL CHURCH, Shadow was booed for not being heavy metal. Still, says Chris, "It was the pinnacle for us."
It was also the end of an era. Newcomb and Weber left following the second Headbanger's Ball, and Rick Friel took over the vocals. (Newcomb would rejoin briefly, before leaving for good.) On New Year's Eve, 1985, Shadow officially became a three-piece.
By this time, Shadow had moved onto the bar circuit, and found themselves opening for GREEN RIVER at Gorilla Garden, noting good-naturedly that Gossard seemed finally to have come to grips with "Dr. Love."
Between 1983 and 1986 Shadow made four visits to the Kay Smith studio (now the HEART sisters' Bad Animals complex) to record demos. The first comprised four songs (Chris's comments are included): "Shadow" ("pretty great song"), "Don't Count The Tears" ("definitely our song"), "City Lights"
("pretty stupid") and "Gates Close On Me" ("another ridiculous song").
The second session was intended as an EP, but it was not to be. The group members were such perfectionists that they were never satisfied, and as they intended releasing the record themselves. Tracks included "Everyday," "Don't Count The Tears," "Just A Thought," "Blind Lead The Blind"
("a real heavy metal song") and the proposed title track, "The Kids."
The third session was done after Shadow became a three-piece, and featured "Don't Count The Tears," "Message Of Love," "Between 19" and "Running Straight Ahead"; the band's final studio stint produced "Love You So," "Don't Say Goodnight" ("a really awful song"), "Crash It Down" and "Life Goes On."
As a three-piece Shadow gained a harder edge, adding an infusion of energy and thrash. "Previously," Chris explains, "we'd been into being super tight. We'd practice at my mom and dad's five or six times a week, driving the neighbors crazy.
As a three-piece we were having fun, and we definitely were not as perfect."
Visually, they were exhibiting an equally precocious, side. Shadow's original glammy look had now been replaced by "T-shirts, scarves and [orthodontic] braces," according to Chris, while Mike McCready had created a new stage act, bringing baby dolls on stage and smashing them.
They were still heavily influenced by HANOI ROCKS, albeit with a heavier and funkier feel, directly attributable to local bands like Green River and U-MEN.
A classic pose was captured in a Rocket T-shirt ad, in February 1986; Chris chews his brother's bead necklace, Rick looks provocatively at the camera, while McCready shrugs off his denim jacket, his expression evoking a startled rabbit.
Shortly after the completion of their fourth demo, Shadow relocated to L.A. At the time, they thought it would help their career; they secured a manager, and it seemed they were heading for the big time.
"Our sound and attitude was so different from everything else going on down there," Chris relates, " we really thought we'd make our mark. But we'd tell people we were from Seattle, and they'd say, 'Where's that? Is that an Indian village or something?"'
It wasn't long before the band's finances started running low. And without money, they couldn't practice. The end result was they weren't writing any music, although they did keep playing shows. Shadow's biggest gig was opening for ANDY TAYLOR (ex-Duran Duran) at Fenders.
"We got a really bad review from L.A. Weekly." Chris remembers. 'These guys are from Seattle...' They had this whole angle: 'Maybe a couple more shows down here and they'll get with it."'
Still, Shadow struggled on. They continued playing around town, including the Whisky, and their audience slowly began building. The band was having fun; the only thing missing was Danny Newcomb. They finally convinced him to come down and visit, but he hated L.A. so much that he refused to stay ... even though the band begged him.
Shadow stuck it out in L.A. for 13 months. They returned to Seattle in 1988, and resumed playing the local scene. Rick Friel then decided that he'd like to switch to guitar, and bring in a new bassist, an idea that left McCready cold. In fact, McCready was left cold by everything now; L.A. had totally burned him out on music.
Less than six months after returning home, he left the band, at which point Shadow ceased to be.
The split was more than amicable, says Chris. "Mike gave Rick one of his old, custom guitars. 'I can't do it anymore, you guys still have the energy, go for it."
art & txt included
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01. Shadow
02. Tonight The Lights Go Out
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