Saturday, January 17, 2015

"Don't Run My Life" by Spys

Song#:  1139
Date:  08/14/1982
Debut:  88
Peak:  82
Weeks:  5
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Spys was a band created by two former (and founding) members of Foreigner, Ed Gagliardi and Al Greenwood. Gagliardi was sacked before the "Head Games" album and Greenwood's firing came after. It seems creative differences played a role in both instances, so the two got together to do their own thing. The band got signed by EMI America and issued a self-titled debut. Unfortunately the single didn't grab a Foreigner-size audience and the LP failed to do much business. The band tried once more with the follow-up LP "Behind Enemy Lines," but it fared even worse. Between the lack of sales and issues with their label, the group finally called it quits.

ReduxReview:  Being in Foreigner, Gagliardi and Greenwood knew their way around keyboard/guitar-driven arena rock and they did a good job with this song. The material may not be as strong as Foreigner's Lou Gramm/Mick Jones compositions, but it's a step above most AOR bands of the time.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  The producer of the Spys album is Neil Kernon. Although he has engineered/produced recordings for may rock acts like Dokken and Queensrÿche, possibly Kernon's most successful work came via duo Hall & Oates.  Kernon engineered their hit album "Voices," and then co-produced their next two successes, "Private Eyes" and "H2O."

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