🎵 AotW Tommy Shaw - GIRLS WITH GUNS (SP-5020)

[LPJim]

Tommy Shaw
GIRLS WITH GUNS
A&M SP-5020

SIDE ONE

Girls with Guns 3:11
Come in and Explain 4:20
Lonely School 5:03
Heads Up (Tommy Shaw & Kenny Loggins) 4:42
Kiss Me Hello 5:37

SIDE TWO

Fading Away 4:03
Little Girl World 3:32
Outside in the Rain 4:32
Free to Love You 4:49
The Race is On 5:27

• 
  
  
  • Produced For – Mike Stone Enterprises, Ltd.
  • Phonographic Copyright (p) – A&M Records, Inc.
  • Copyright (c) – A&M Records, Inc.
  • Pressed By – Electrosound Group Midwest, Inc.
  • Published By – Trnquility Base Songs
  • Published By – Milk Money Music
  • Published By – Tee Base Songs
  • Recorded At – Chicago Recording Company
  • Mixed At – The Town House
  • Mastered At – Masterdisk

Credits

• 
  
  
  • Art Direction – Norman Moore
  • Art Direction, Design – Richard Frankel
  • Backing Vocals – Carol Kenyon, Eddie Wohlford, Jimbo Jones (4)
  • Bass Guitar – Brian Stanley (2)
  • Design – Tracy Veal
  • Drums, Percussion – Steve Holley (2)
  • Engineer [Second Chicago] – Tom Hanson
  • Engineer [Second London] – Ben Kape
  • Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
  • Music By – Eddie Wohlford (tracks: B4, B5), Kenny Loggins (tracks: A4)
  • Photography By [Cover Photo], Photography By [Inner Sleeve Photo] – Larry Williams (9)
  • Photography By [Inner Sleeve Photo] – Paul Cox (5)
  • Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer – Peter Wood (2)
  • Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Mike Stone
  • Strings [Arranged] – Kevin Townend
  • Twelve-String Guitar, Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Tommy Shaw
  • Words By – Eddie Wohlford (tracks: A4, B4, B5)
  • Words By, Music By – Tommy Shaw

Issued with Custom Printed Inner Sleeve with Lyrics and Credits.

A5 and B3 are slightly edited compared to CD and Cassette releases, due to limitations of a single vinyl record.

Tranquility Base Songs (ASCAP): Tracks A1 to B5
Milk Money Music (ASCAP): Track A4
Tee Base Songs (BMI): A4, B4, B5

Entered the Billboard Top 200 on October 20, 1984
Peaked at # 50 and charted for 25 weeks
Released as CD 5020

JB

 

[Rudy]

I played this album a couple of months ago, back when I was comparing it to DDY's solo album Desert Moon. Interesting collection of tunes although at this late date, all I remember from it are the Top 40 title track, and "Fading Away." One thing that struck me was the production. If it sounds a little like Journey with its cavernous reverb, that was a trademark of Mike Stone's work back then; it is most similar in sound to Frontiers, in fact. A fairly decent start to Shaw's solo career IMHO. Very much an album of its time, it veers off from Styx's arena rock and launches head first into the synth pop MTV stylings of the day.

With later recordings, he would find more acclaim, such as his work with Damn Yankees and Jack Blades (on Shaw Blades). His most recent album, released in 2011, makes a total change--he returns to his roots and has recorded a fine bluegrass album, The Great Divide, with a lot of heavyweight talent including guest artists Dwight Yoakam, Alison Krauss, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, etc.

 

[jfiedler17]

I agree that this was a pretty decent solo debut for Shaw. There's no bad cuts on this record, though there's also admittedly very little on here that's quite as unforgettable and effortlessly catchy as Shaw's contributions to Styx albums had tended to be (even to the extent that the non-singles he penned for the band were still mighty darn catchy in their own right, i.e. "She Cares," "Crystal Ball," "Cold War," "Lights," etc.). The one obvious exception is "Girls with Guns," which is as catchy as anything Shaw had ever written (that chorus is really addictive) and really should have charted higher than it did. "Fading Away" and "Lonely School" are fairly good, too, if not quite as addictive. Just like DeYoung, Shaw's sophomore solo album (What If) would be a noticeable improvement in terms of the songwriting ("Remo's Theme (What If)," "This Is Not a Test," "True Confessions" and "Bad Times" all rank among his most fun solo sides), even if the sales weren't as strong.

 

[Rudy]

Some of his interesting tracks were on the Crystal Ball album--the title track, "Mademoiselle," etc., and "Boat on the River" was way out of left field, becoming a hit overseas. Styx was originally a prog rock band out of Chicago with IMHO a Midwest workingman vibe to it, and Shaw's contributions enriched the group due to his different musical background. (Not that Curlewski was bad, but he was more like-minded with his Styx-mates back then.)

I need to find that second solo album of Tommy's and give it a spin.

 

[LPJim]

Tommy's a native of Montgomery, AL, and a true southern gentleman when it comes to meeting the fans. This photo was made after a Styx show on June 1, 2012.
JB

 

[toeknee4bz]

To Rudy's comment, "I need to find that second solo album of Tommy's and give it a spin."

Uh, trust me when I say, no ya don't. It's called WHAT IF. And despite the decent title track, the rest of the album is nowhere near as good as GIRLS WITH GUNS. It was pretty bad. The lowest moment on the album was a tune called "Count On You". The vocal was absolutely terrible, and sounded like he was drunk when he sang it. I'd wager that Tommy would probably agree, looking back.

Now all of this being said... Tommy's third album, entitled AMBITION, was a great follow-up in 1987. It was released on Atlantic Records, and was co-produced by Terry Thomas.

​

 

[jfiedler17]

What If is admittedly a bit of an odd album - I do quite like most of it, if only because I like how immediately catchy most of the songs are on first listen (the title track especially, but also "This Is Not a Test" and "True Confessions"), but it also admittedly is much less rock-driven than its predecessor and far more pop-oriented, both in terms of the songwriting and the production, the big stadium-rock-style production having been replaced with a considerably more muted and watered-down sound that kinda dampens the impact of a lot of the more upbeat songs, so it certainly lacks the edge of Shaw's more raucous side that you get on records like "Renegade" or "Blue Collar Man." I'd also have to concede that the album has also got the worst song Shaw ever wrote ("Friendly Advice," which Shaw is personally so embarrassed of having put out that he's had it separated from the rest of the record on subsequent reissues.) I think "Count on You" had the potential to be a decent record, but I'd agree that his vocal performance on that one sounds like it was captured on an awfully bad night.

Ambition, I'd agree, is very good and stylistically would have made the much more logical follow-up album to Girls with Guns. Tommy's cover of "Ever Since the World Began" on that record absolutely blows away the original Survivor version in my book, and I'm still surprised that Tommy's version didn't get him back into the Top 40. Very underrated single.