YEARS GO BY. . .
SEASONS TURN . . .
PART ONE---The Early Years
COREY HART is a man whose musical career has spanned a decade and a half. He is--and always has been--a man for ALL SEASONS...
His music has always reflected the changes and challenges in his own life--and so we have a musical picture of the man inside.
And oh, what a roller coaster ride his career has been!!
Personally, I will never be able to understand how ANY of Corey's albums did anything but outstanding. But in terms of being commercial successes--many of his albums did not fare as well as they should have. I think there were many factors that contributed to this--it certainly was not the quality of the songs. The songs--as always--were superb!!! But the music business can be very hard--sometimes just being the best isn't always enough.
But Corey!!!! We love you, anyway...
And you will always be the BEST!!!
And now, a little journey down the road to stardom...
IN THE SPRINGTIME OF HIS CAREER...
In the beginning, there was a young man who wanted more than anything else to write music...
FIRST OFFENSE
the first album released 1983 (Aquarius Records Ltd.)
Album cover from original Canadian release first pressing(above)
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Album cover from revised U.S. release--third edition(below)
Picture from inside cover sleeve from Canadian release of album "First Offense"
(above right)
DID YOU KNOW????
There were three different versions of the album "FIRST OFFENSE". The first Canadian pressing with a limited number of 1500 copies only, featured the
songs "Don't Keep Your Heart" and "Araby(She's Just a Girl). The second version had dropped the song "Don't Keep Your Heart", and instead included a new song "Lamp At Midnite". The third release of this album included "Lamp At Midnight" but dropped "Araby". This version was commercially released in the US, and also featured a reworked version of the song "It Ain't Enough".
COREY TRIVIA FACT...
The title of Corey's first album was influenced by the fact that the picture showing Corey standing up against a brick wall made him look like a "first offender". The album was recorded in London, England--and it featured Eric Clapton on dobro guitar as one of the musicians.
Corey was suitably impressed, and also was thrilled when Eric complimented him on his songwriting...
That only goes to show that not only does Eric Clapton possess great talent--he also has great taste in music. Way to go , Eric!!
Corey Hart knew from the time he entered his teens, that he wanted to write songs--and to sing them. He started writing while he was in high school, and many of his early songs reflect this fact. These early songs represent how a young man saw the world. Corey's songwriting has matured greatly since his first efforts--but they are still wonderful songs to listen to. There is a lot of energy and passion in his early work, and that alone makes this album worth listening to!!
"Sunglasses At Night" was a song that was written as an afterthought to this album being recorded. It parodied one of the producers Corey worked with who often wore sunglasses at night to dim the reflections from bright lighting. Corey wrote this as a "FUN" song. Although he does not feel that this song is lyrically important--it still became his first "breakthrough hit" and remains to this day one of Corey's signature songs.
The song "Jenny Fey" is one which Corey Hart truly likes. He has said that he feels that he did not give this song the proper vocal depth at the time. But I am not sure that I agree with him--I think he sang this song beautifully, and that it was a very moving piece both musically and lyrically.
One of my personal favorites of Corey's is the song "ARABY(SHE'S JUST A GIRL). This song was excluded from the US album/CD release, and I think that it is a shame that Aquarius did not include it. If you haven't heard this song--it is worth obtaining a copy of the Canadian release of FIRST OFFENSE!!! If you happen to be lucky enough to come across a "first pressing" which includes the song "Dont Keep Your Heart"--hold on to it. It was a limited edition pressing and is a collector's item...
FIRST OFFENSE(original Canadian release
1983 first pressing)
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<Side One>
Sunglasses At Night
Peruvian Lady
She Got the Radio
It Ain't Enough
Araby(she's just a girl)
<Side Two>
Does She Love You
Cheatin' In School
Don't Keep Your Heart(only on original pressing)
The World Is Fire
At the Dance
Jenny Fey
FIRST OFFENSE(Song listing from US
release version)
_________________________________
<Side One>
Sunglasses At Night
Peruvian Lady
Lamp At Midnite*
She Got the Radio
It Aint Enough
<Side Two>
Does She Love You
Cheatin' In School
The World Is Fire
At the Dance
Jenny Fey
~~THE BILLY JOEL CONNECTION~~
When Corey Hart was just starting out he had a bit of luck. His sister Donna introduced him to Paul Anka in Las Vegas. Paul took a liking to Corey and taught him a few things about writing songs.
When Corey was laying down some preliminary tracks, he ran into musician Richie Cannata. Richie was the saxophone player for Billy Joel's band, and Corey had actually sent him some tracks prior.
But Richie was impressed with Corey's studio work and introduced him to Billy Joel--who was also in the studio at the time. Billy also was impressed with Corey's work and Corey was invited to spend some time down in New York with Billy Joel and his crew.
This proved to be another wonderful experience which helped Corey to grow musically.
Corey wanted to be totally prepared when he approached a record company. He had a full album of songs already written and demo tracks layed down.
Corey was still down in New York when he saw an ad for a record company operating out of Montreal--his Canadian hometown. That company was Aquarius Records Ltd.
The rest is history...
Please check back for "SEASONS TURN(part 2)" which chronicles the rise to stardom which Corey's second album "BOY IN THE BOX" brought to him.
In two short years Corey went from being a kid with big dreams to an 80's pop ICON.
How did he deal with sudden stardom??
<<PART 2 OF THIS FEATURE SERIES IS NOW COMPLETED>>
FEB 10/2000--HEY!!! 5 WHOLE DAYS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE!!!
CLICK BELOW FOR LINK TO "Seasons Turn(PartII)"
CLICK HERE to go to
"SEASONS TURN...."(part II)
Spotlight on the "BOY IN THE BOX" Years...