"Stranger in My Home Town" by Foghat

Song#:  0280
Date:  08/02/1980
Debut:  85
Peak:  81
Weeks:  3
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  This British blues-rock band had a string of successful albums in the 70s with their highest charting single being "Slow Ride" (#20, 1975). They spent a good part of the decade on tour which eventually caused a couple of members to drop out. In 1979, they had their second biggest single with "Third Time Lucky" (#23) and set out to record a new album. They shifted their sound a bit to hook into the then-current new wave movement but it was not well-received. This first single from the album "Tight Shoes" barely saw chart action and the album itself was the group's first to peak outside of the Top 40 since their second album in 1973. The stumble would be one they would not recover from and this song would prove to be their last chart entry.

ReduxReview:  The sound may be updated to new-wave-ish, but it still has cowbell! Being familiar with "Slow Ride" and a couple of other songs, I wasn't expecting the sound of this song. It is good for artists to change it up and experiment, but sometimes it doesn't really work well. In Foghat's case, I think they might have lost their identity with this and it ended up sounding everyone else doing new wave at the time.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  The name Foghat stems from a word lead singer/guitarist Dave Peverett made up one day when playing Scrabble with his brother.

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