The historical past of Foreigner is nearing the 50 12 months mark. But as authentic members, vocalist Lou Gramm and keyboardist Al Greenwood, detailed within the under dialog, their whole trip may need ended in the event that they hadn’t encountered legendary A&R man John Kalodner.

Every label had handed on the longer term AOR superstars, together with their eventual residence, Atlantic Records. It was Kalodner who helped to show the tide.

Long earlier than the ink was dry on the contract and earlier than there even was such a doc, the band’s founder, guitarist Mick Jones, had introduced in a music thought that might flip into “Feels Like the First Time.” Before lengthy, that they had songs, however nonetheless no file label. Thankfully, the group persevered, at the same time as lineup shuffles continued and when their self-titled debut was launched in 1977, the music inside — and the file gross sales that adopted — proved that it had been definitely worth the exhausting work and resilient spirit.

Here in 2024, Foreigner is being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and although Jones will miss the ceremonies this weekend as a consequence of his ongoing points with Parkinson’s illness, Gramm and Greenwood, joined by bassist Rick Wills, will probably be in Cleveland to simply accept the honour on behalf of the band. 

In separate conversations previous to the induction weekend, Gramm and Greenwood shared some tales from the band’s early days. They had been additionally each enthused concerning the launch of “Turning Back the Time,” a newly accomplished music from the ’90s that options Gramm on vocals alongside Jones and serves because the anchor monitor on a brand new compilation of the identical title. It’s a pleasant full circle second and the newest reminder that the music they’ve created over time will stay as a everlasting soundtrack lengthy after they’ve left the stage.

Lou, what is the second the place you actually discovered your self as a singer?
Lou Gramm: I feel it was about two or three years into Black Sheep. I began out as a drummer with different bands in highschool. When Black Sheep began, I used to be the band and the singer. But we had been doing cuts from Traffic, Free, Humble Pie and stuff like that. We had one or two originals, however because the band progressed, we put extra originals [in the set]. It was troublesome for me to place the music throughout from behind an enormous set of drums. So we determined to audition singers. We auditioned about six or seven singers and none of them match the invoice for the fashion that we would have liked.

How did Foreigner ultimately begin to come collectively?
Al Greenwood: I had a band of my very own that was I getting collectively and I used to be doing session work and stuff like that. I bought a cellphone name from Mick Jones. I did not know who he was on the time, however he defined that he was in Spooky Tooth [and had worked with] Leslie West and all of that stuff. He was placing a venture collectively, would I be interested by becoming a member of? I advised him that I had my very own band for the time being, however I assumed to myself, “Well, he’s probably in a beter place than I am, so I might as well check this out.” We bought collectively within the workplace of Bud Prager, who [later] turned our supervisor. He had an workplace on Broadway in Manhattan and in the midst of his workplace, he had a storage space. We’d push the entire file cupboards apart, arrange our devices and begin jamming.

The first rehearsal of Foreigner was Mick Jones, myself, Stan Williams on drums and Jay Davis on bass, simply the 4 of us. We’d are available and jam day by day and this might go on for some time. After about two weeks, I stated, “I don’t know if this is for me.” There’s no songs, we’re simply jamming. It’s enjoyable to jam, however I assumed we might have some songs put collectively [by that point]. I went in [the next day] and I’m about to go to Mick [to give him the news]. He turns to me and says, “I have this song” and he began enjoying “Feels Like the First Time” on guitar. So I assumed, “Okay, now I think we’ve got something here.” The relaxation is historical past — I stayed with it and that is how I met Mick.

Watch Foreigner’s ‘Feels Like the First Time’ Video

Lou, how did you get the decision to audition?
Gramm: My dad known as me and stated, “This guy named Mick Jones just called. Do you know him?” I stated, “I’ve met him.” He says, “Well, he’s left his number, he wants you to call him back.” I talked to Mick and he requested me to return down and audition for his new, unnamed band.” I said, “Thanks for the chance, I’m going by way of some robust occasions with my band. I’ve to determined whether or not we need to proceed or put it to relaxation.” So I asked if I could call him in a couple of weeks and he said that was fine. I told the guys in Black Sheep that Mick had called and they said, “Lou, we’re finished. We’ve bought the worst stroke of luck that would ever occur. We cannot meet our obligation, the file firm dropped us. Go to New York and audition and see if you can also make one thing occur for your self”. They acquiesced and more or less gave me the chance to do something else and I’ll never forget them for that. I went to New York and auditioned. My tape ended up being the one that Foreigner’s manager sent out to all of the record companies as a demo to get them interested. One at a time, they’d come to hear us rehearse. Atlantic Records was interested and eventually gave us a contract.

Greenwood: Lou walked into the studio, the same as all of the other singers. We were sitting in the control room and he was out in the studio with the microphone and the lyrics. He started singing “Feels Like the First Time” and within a couple of lines, we said, “This is the man.” It was just magic, a perfect fit.

Gramm: Mick asked me to stick around and come and work on a couple of song ideas with him. But after all of that time, he hadn’t told me if I was in or not in. He never said, “We need you to be the lead singer of the band, would you take into account that?” But he asked me to come over for dinner. “We’ll idiot round with some songs.” We did that for three or four nights and I told him, “You know, Mick, once I got here down right here, I assumed it was solely going to be for a day. I solely introduced two adjustments of underpants and a few t-shirts and I’ve been carrying the identical denims for 4 days. I stated, “You’ve got to tell me, am I in?” He says, “Of course you’re in!”

Greenwood: We introduced that demo tape [that Lou mentioned] to each label and so they all rejected us. Two members left — Stan Williams, the drummer and Jay Davis, the bass participant. But Bud Prager stated, “Look, I really think Atlantic Records is the [label] you should be on. They’ve got Led Zeppelin, the Stones, it’s a great label.” So he says, “I’m going to bring it back up there.” He brings the demo tape again up there and this time, it lands on John Kalodner’s desk. When he listened to it, he stated, “I think this is something.” He brings it as much as Jerry Greenberg and Jerry says, “We already passed on these guys.” But John Kalodner says, “No, this is going to be something. It’s going to be big.” That’s how we bought our deal. But [the problem was] we did not have a band, as a result of two of the members left. So now we needed to audition for a drummer and a bass participant and that is how we bought Dennis Elliott and Ed Gagliardi. That’s [how we completed] the band. We went proper into the studio for the primary file and the entire course of took a couple of 12 months.

READ MORE: How Foreigner Started a Rocket Ride to Fame

Foreigner performed a present with the Stones in 1978. That looks as if it will have been fairly an expertise.
Greenwood: It was a chilly and wet day in Philadelphia after we performed with the Stones. It was at JFK Stadium, a giant out of doors venue. That was loopy, enjoying with the Stones. [Laughs] They had been in their very own trailer and cordoned off. But that was a tremendous gig. It was actually plenty of enjoyable to do.

Lou, you later bought to sing some Led Zeppelin songs with Robert Plant. How did that come about?
Gramm: I imagine we had been in Munich. Foreigner was touring Europe and after we bought to Munich, it was an outside present with wall to wall folks. I feel was about 60,000 folks. We walked off stage after our final music, however earlier than our encore, we walked into our dressing room and Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had been in there. Mick had recognized them for years and years and so they hugged. I had met them earlier than, so I stated hello to them. Jimmy had his guitar strapped on, so he needed to return out. But they each needed to return out on the encore and play with us. It wasn’t till we had been strolling out on stage that they began speaking about, “Well, what are we going to play?” Leave it to the final minute, you understand? [Laughs] They performed a bit little bit of “Whole Lotta Love.” I sang with Robert on that music after which we did a bit little bit of “Stairway to Heaven.” We completed off with “Hot Blooded” and so they performed with us on that too. It was so nice.

There was definitely no solution to think about that one thing like this Rock Hall honor would occur again when Foreigner first started.
Greenwood: I by no means would have imagined it. There’s no manner that I might have stated that 47 years later, this might nonetheless be related, and we might nonetheless be speaking about it. Having the brand new music out, “Turning Back the Time,” with Lou’s vocal, he sounds nice and the brand new assortment, which is simply to assist rejoice the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is admittedly thrilling.

READ MORE: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2024 Inductees

What are you wanting ahead to probably the most concerning the Rock Hall induction ceremonies?
Greenwood: Well, I’m simply fully honored to be a part of this induction class and the superb artists which can be with us. I’m wanting ahead to seeing the entire artists play.

Gramm: I feel the surviving members of the band being collectively and accepting that award, I do know it means the world to all of us. It’s vital, you understand, at this level of our careers, to be acknowledged and appreciated. I feel enjoying a music goes to be enjoyable for the the unique band once more. It’s simply going to be an actual deal with. I’ve bought my my youngsters and their wives or girlfriends coming. We’re all using down collectively in a giant 18-passenger van. We’re going to make it a ton of enjoyable.

Listen to Foreigner’s ‘Turning Back the Time’