"Ready or Not" by Lou Gramm

Song#:  3116
Date:  05/09/1987
Debut:  90
Peak:  54
Weeks:  12
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  The Foreigner lead singer grabbed a hit when "Midnight Blue," a single from his debut solo album Ready or Not got to #1 at Rock and #5 Pop. The hit helped the album reach #27. To keep things rolling, this second title-track single was issued out. The track would do well at Rock getting to #7, but it fell short of the top half of the Pop chart. Although it would be the last single officially released from the album, the track "Heartache" would get enough airplay to reach #47 on the Rock chart. Gramm would then get back to business with Foreigner and by the time the calendar would change to 1988, their new album was ready to go.

ReduxReview:  Following the catchy pop of "Midnight Blue," this track put Gramm back into arena rock territory. Its meaty, growling chorus attracted a crowd at rock radio, but it may have been a bit too much for the more mainstream audience who had flocked to "Midnight Blue." I liked the tune fine. It was a chunky rock track with a good chorus. I just think it may not have been the best follow-up. However, there wasn't any other track on the album that was as radio-ready as "Midnight Blue," so it was probably Gramm's best shot at a second hit.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Back in the early 70s prior to Gramm joining Black Sheep, his band before Foreigner, Gramm worked with a band/project called Poor Heart, which was headed up by Jim Alaimo and Paul Curcio. Alaimo and Curcio had some modest success in the mid-60s with their group The Mojo Men. That band would land three singles on the Pop chart with 1967's "Sit Down, I Think I Love You" doing the best reaching #36. The pair hired on Gramm to supply the vocals for their Poor Heart project. Gramm sang lead vocals on all the songs, which were written (save for two cover tunes) and produced by Alaimo and Curcio. The recording didn't get released and Gramm moved on to Black Sheep. Years later after the massive success of Foreigner and Gramm's solo work, a bootleg version of the recordings suddenly appeared. It was issued in the US at Poor Heart featuring Lou Grammatico (Grammatico being Gramm's given last name, which he used prior to joining Foreigner). The bootleg got picked up in other countries and went by other titles listing Lou Gramm as the artist. Gramm disavowed the recordings and would have preferred for them to not be distributed, but since he was really just the hired vocalist, there wasn't too much he could do legally without spending a ton of money.

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