This is an old interview from my early days in radio, at WSJB. Some of the info here is obviously out of date but it is still a good read.
The Fred Coury interview, July 2000
I completed a rather brief e-mail interview with Fred Coury, the drummer of Cinderella shortly
after doing the Mick Sweda interview.
As you should know, Cinderella is on a package
tour all this summer with Slaughter, Dokken and Poison. Poison is the headliner
but Cinderella go on right before them and their
sets have gotten
great reviews so far!
Fred didn't have that much
to say but he replied only
a few hours after I sent
out the questions.
In addition to Cinderella, Fred also played drums
in another band in
the early/mid 90's known
as Arcade. Arcade's frontman was former Ratt vocalist
Stephen Pearcy and this
mini-supergroup produced three great albums (2
studio, 1 live/unreleased).
The bad news was that Fred
left Cinderella to pursue Arcade but the good news
is that after his work with Arcade was done, Fred rejoined Cinderella and
has been at the drumkit ever since.
Will Matson: There is no
need for me to ask
>about an an update, everybody knows about
>the summer package tour with Poison. How is
>it going?
>
>Fred Coury: Awesome
>
>Will: Eric Brittingham mentioned to Metal
>Sludge (metal-sludge.com) in an interview
>some problems you had with Slaughter in the
>past. Have you had any encounters, good OR
>bad, with Slaughter yet or have your paths never crossed?
>
>Fred: We're getting along better than ever.
>They're great guys
>
>Will: It's been said that you didn't
>do the drumming on some of Cinderella's
>earlier studio albums in the 80's. Who was
>the studio drummer when you weren't there?
>
>Fred: I was not yet in the band when
>the first record was recorded. Jody Cortez
>was the drummer on the record
>
>Will: What is your favorite Cinderella song
>and album?
>
>Fred: Night songs, both questions
>
>Will: Out of the Cinderella songs that you have never done live, which one
>would you most like to take a stab at?
>
>Fred: Silly question, sorry (Note: OUCH!)
>
>Will: I hear Cinderella is working on songs for a new album. Judging by the
>direction these songs are going in, which Cinderella album would this new
>album be most similar to?
>
>Fred: All of them
>
>Will: You were out of the band when the
>"Still Climbing" cd came out. Even though
>you didn't do the drums on that one, which
>was your favorite song from there?
>(besides "Hot and Bothered")
>
>Fred: Bad attitude shuffle
>
>Will: How does it feel knowing that Cinderella
>is one of the few bands of your genre that
>still has the classic lineup intact?
>
>Fred: Great
>
>Will: A lot of greatest hits collections are
>put together and the band have nothing to do
>with it. Did Cinderella have anything to do
>with the "Once upon a" collection?
>
>Fred: Of course we did
>
>Will: Your most recent studio track is
>'War Stories' and it appeared on the "Once
>upon a" cd. Was this something recorded
>and written for the cd or was it
>an idea that had been around for awhile?
>
>Fred: It was from Tom's solo stuff.
>We re-recorded it for that record
>
>Will: Does Cinderella have any unreleased
>b-sides, demos or bonus tracks kicking around?
>
>Fred: Sure we do
>
>Will: Who are some of your drumming influences?
>How long have you been playing drums? And
>what brand of drums do you endorse?
>
>Fred: All people that I hear influence me.
>I play DW drums
>
>Will: When you played in Arcade with
>Stephen Pearcy, how did you end up in
>the band? Did he come to you or you go to
>him? And how was the Arcade experience?
>
>Fred: I started the band, selected all
>of the musicians and wrote the 1st
>record with Johnny Angel. It was a blast.
>
>Will: In 1998, Cinderella was on the
>Unfinished Business tour. That's one of the
>best tour names I've heard, who thought of
>the name?
>
>Fred: A friend of mine
>
>Will: Finally, is there anything you'd like
>to say to the Cinderella fans?
>
>Fred: Thanks for still being there. That's
>why we're still here.
>
>To hear Fred Coury at his best, check out these
>albums.
>
>Cinderella: Heartbreak Station
>Cinderella: Live at the Key Club
Arcade: A/1 (Arcade)
Arcade: A/2