SILVER CONDOR – Silver Condor – (CBS) – 1981

A band I had never heard of and, without being condescending, no doubt you haven’t either.

I love musical archaeology – looking at the links between bands, members, scenes and genres. Too much rock music is consumed with the here and now and that’s how labels make their money – promoting the next big thing. There is no back catalogue or historical interest which means you are missing out on something which may be worthwhile whilst spending money on something that has already been done.

But I digress.

Surprisingly, there is a substantial amount of information on Silver Condor and as it turns out there is some interesting historical detail.

Born 1951 in West Virginia lead singer Joe Cerisano (with young Mickey Rourke type movie star looks) had been around for a long time in popular regional bands (Elderberry Jak, Kaboose, R Band etc). After Silver Condor he became a session singer for TV and radio ads as well as doing a lot of session work as a backup singer for people like Michael Bolton (groan) and Korn (groan). In the 90s he joined the prog rock orchestra, Trans Siberian Orchestra, as one of their vocalists. OK, none of that is impressive but it is interesting.

Guitarist Earl Slick (born: Frank Madeloni, New York) played with David Bowie on record (and live on various tours) in the mid 70s, 80s and 2000s. He also worked, as session guitarist, with Leo Sayer, Ian Hunter, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Robert Smith and others. In the 80s he became the “Slick” in rockabilly revival glam rock band “Phantom, Rocker & Slick”. Then in 2011 he became the newest New York Doll when they reformed for their tours. Now, that is impressive and interesting.

Unfortunately that doesn’t improve this album.

So often when doing the archaeological research you find all sorts of links between musicians, singers and great rock acts. Unfortunately, especially with musicians who are proficient on their instrument rather than performers themselves (writers or singers), those great links to great rock acts are not necessarily indicative of what they like or prefer. Hey, it’s a job.

Quantum leap coming up.

Why do we assume that musicians have to be musically consistent in their stylistic approach?

Likewise, you can fall into the trap of looking at a musician through what he is wearing and assume the music flows on from the clothes. Not everyone with long hair, nasty sideburns, a tattered leather jacket and boots or gym boots sounds like The Stooges or The Ramones, if you know what I mean. It’s fashion and styles change. I recall, thinking, in the conservative early 80s, that the long hair of the late 60s and 70s meant that those musicians must have been somehow “different” or “up against the status quo”. Of course I was looking at them from the vantage point of the early 80s when indeed if you had long hair you probably were a little marginalised. The reality is though that those 60s and 70s long hairs weren’t all necessarily different …they were just following fashion. And most of them got their hair cut and changed clothes when the fashion changed. And then got their hair cut again and changed wardrobes again when fashion changed again. (yes, I know long hair made a indie comeback in the mid 80s).

Why do we assume that musicians have to be clothing consistent in their fashion via music approach?

Of course, some are, but many, many more are not. Hey, it’s a job.

I have digressed again ….I tend to do that when the music I’m listening to isn’t particularly inspiring.

Anyway there may be some stylistic consistency here but maybe they (Cerisano and Slick – the nucleus of the band)  are playing music they don’t necessarily prefer because that is the current dominant sound and playing that may bring them chart success and money.

Whatever the reason is, I don’t know, but Slicks work before this, with Bowie, and his later work certainly don’t sound like Silver Condor.

And that is important because, apparently, it was Slick who sought out Cerisano and told him to come to LA to put together this band.

This music is a mix of mainstream bar band heartland rock and mainstream arena hard rock both which were dominant sounds at the time.

The heartland rock here is a little more urban and not quite as Americana oriented as some of it’s fellow travellers but the sounds are big, the vocals dramatic, the emotion overwrought and it would fit in with other similar heartland rock acts (some better than the others) like Bob Seger, John Cafferty, Huey Lewis and the News, The Iron City Houserockers, J. Geils Band, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, John Cougar Mellencamp etc.

Ultimately, to my ears, a little (very little) of this music goes a long way. That which is best are the indie punk versions (Beat Farmers etc), those that are political (Iron City Houserockers) or those that combine lyric with some nice pop hooks (Bob Seger)….and even then a little of that goes a long way.

So perhaps Slick was looking for some chart success. I haven’t heard any of Cerisano’s earlier work to figure out what his pedigree or motivation is.

Most of the tracks are written by Cerisano, with Slick providing co-writing on some. But the big problem is the lack of substance. Heartland rock had a fair dose of Americana in it and looked at social and (mild) political themes.  There is nothing like that here – all the songs are relationship songs.

And those themes are prevalent in the other sound in Silver Condor … arena rock (or mild hard rock – if that makes any sense). There are elements of Journey, Styx, Survivor, Toto, REO Speedwagon, and Foreigner here … clean sound, squealy guitar solos, anthemic choruses all wrapped up in a bit of bombast. 

If you need any other proof as to their intended market then look at the albums’s producer Mike Flicker who produced many acts, especially arena rockers Heart

Tracks (best in italics)

• For the Sake of Survival – big anthemic ballad. I thought this was more than a little duff and it is but it’s better than the other tracks on side 1.
• Angel Eyes – groanable arena rock.
• Sayin’ Goodbye   – ditto.
• Carolina   – the dramatic “lighter in the air” big ballad.
• The One You Left Behind   – wow, right out of left field …a jingly jangle pop song. Like a more mainstream version of Tom Petty. Half way through they revert to some arena rock clichés. A pity. Still not to bad.
• We’re in Love   – a glam rock n roll type number with a Status Quo beat. Also out of left field.
• You Could Take My Heart Away – a gentle mid tempo ballad which surprisingly broke the US top 40 (#32). Again, left field.
• It’s Over   – ahhh that’s better. Paint by the numbers arena rock.
• Standin’ in the Rain   – a poppy ballad with hard rock stylings.
• Goin’ for Broke – a plodding hard rocker written by Steve Plunkett ( later of LA hard rock band Autograph)

And …

Not as bad as I thought it would be but not that great either … I’m selling this.

Chart Action

US

Singles

1981  Angel Eyes  Mainstream Rock #49

1981  For the Sake of Survivor  Mainstream Rock #26

1981  You Could Take My Heart Away  The Billboard Hot 100 #32

Album

1981  Silver Condor  The Billboard 200 #141

England

Singles

Album

—

Sounds

For the Sake of Survivor  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHnRT0fEY_Q

Angel Eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc9KXDZ2iU8

Sayin’ Goodbye  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np3DzMK2D4w

Carolina  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXD5FSmpGSE

The One You Left Behind  

Attached

Silver Condor – The One You Left Behind 

We’re in Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7JI-SkxV1o

You Could Take My Heart Away

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkSuXSSR5Bo

Live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ4VQvazX8Y

Others

Promo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuyFseP0wo

Joe Cerisano

http://www.youtube.com/user/JoeCerisano?blend=6&ob=0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BQ7_S5ud48

From an Ad ( I could see Ivan doing this if he put his mind to it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVaykvNOUE0&feature=related

Earl Slick

For you guitar nerds: On his guitar and gear (keeping your nut lubricated, Carl and Mitchell)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um0vYtaoyfo

The Framus earl Slick guitar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c8hYFHbMIA

with Bowie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or1dyvCgzMw

Review

http://www.angelfire.com/ma/strutteraor/SILVERCONDOR.html

Bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Condor_(Band)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Cerisano

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Slick

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/earl-slick-p5457/biography

http://www.cuttingedgerocks.com/e_slick.html

Website

http://www.cerisano.com/fr_cerisanocom.cfm

Trivia

• Joe Cerisano even tried out for Black Sabbath: “Then in the fall of 1984 I got a call from Bob Ezrin and asked me if I wanted to try out for Black Sabbath. I told him sure. So they flew me out. When I first mentioned it on Reddit I thought it was in 1983 then I finally realized and remembered it was during the week of the Olympics in ’84. Also one of the reasons I now remember it so well is because Mary Lou Retton won the gold medals. She and I are the only people who ever made it out of Fairmont West Virginia! In fact, she lived the next street over from my parents house and my sister used to supervise the playground where she used to play. So I know that was when I was there.  

As for the audition, as I recall it lasted about an hour. We rehearsed three songs. I can’t remember all the songs but I know we did War Pigs and then I think we did a couple of more and then we did some Rock and Roll stuff just for kicks. It was Tony for sure, Geezer and I think it was the original drummer. There was no other musicians. The guys were really nice to me. We got on real well. The rehearsal took place at SIR in Hollywood which is a major rehearsal studio. As for being a fan [of Sabbath], I was a fan of the first two albums then I lost touch. In fact I still have my albums to this day. As for the atmosphere it was really good. I didn’t really know what was happening within the band. All I knew was, I might get this wrong, was that Randy Roades, who was with Ozzie who was killed the previous summer in the plane crash. I took note of that because a few of the guys I was working with knew him real well. The guys I was working with was Steve Plunkett and the rest of the guys who became Autograph. So by the time of the Sabbath audition I was kinda disconnected. Like I said, the mood of the band was fine. They kicked ass too. When we were done I said goodbye and headed back to my motel out in the valley.

Nothing was discussed about anything. I met the guys. I sang. We had a great time making some music and that was it. Totally professional. There was no hint of what they were planning or what was happening internally…..

So I went up to the condo and met Mr.Arden. He said the boys really like my singing and said he wanted to offer me the gig. You have to realize I had known about Don Arden. He was part of rock and roll history in England. I knew he was the first person to promote Little Richard in the late fifties and Robert Stigwood had worked for him. He had a reputation of being part of the English record business mafia, a real tough guy. So I was on my best behaviour. I was very respectful. I remember exactly what I told him. told him that I really didn’t want to mess him and the boys up and had to pass on taking the gig. He thanked me and right then and there he asked me if I wanted a record deal. I was taken back by the offer. I asked him if I could think about it and let him know. It was crazy… what an experience.. After thanking him for the opportunity we shook hands and I left. As for seeing any of the band after that, we never crossed paths agai”. http://www.black-sabbath.com/vb/showthread.php?34680-Joe-Cerisano-Sabbath-Audition

• Earl Slick was the husband of Jean Millington from hard rock girl band Fanny.