Foreigner has launched the primary new tune with Lou Gramm in three a long time – and nobody is extra happy than the singer.

“Turning Back the Time” was a part of demo classes held with Mick Jones for a possible follow-up to 1994’s Mr. Moonlight that by no means occurred. “I had given up on those songs that were unfinished. I’d given up because we didn’t talk anymore after that,” Gramm tells UCR. “I thought we were in our golden era – almost.”

Then Gramm was identified with a benign mind tumor as Foreigner was getting ready to tour Japan, not lengthy after the 1996 writing and recording classes that produced “Turning Back the Time.”

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“Just before that, Mick and I started working on new songs,” Gramm says. “We felt it was more than long enough for us to be working on a new album. So we started working on new songs and we had about, I think, eight ideas that he and I worked on. He put the chords down; we both arranged it. I sang some lyrics and some gibberish just to get comfortable with the body of the songs – and it was at that point that I went in for my 19-hour brain surgery.”

Gramm went again on the highway with Foreigner, however they by no means returned to the album mission. He cut up with the group in 2003, whereas “Turning Back the Time” continued to languish within the vault.

“We kind of hit an impasse about the direction of the new album, and we never worked on it again. I didn’t hear from him about about trying to finish the album,” Gramm says. “So it took 22 years to unearth these demos and finish them. Now, one song at a time, they’re going to be released and the one that’s out now is the first one.”

“Turning Back the Time” will function the title observe for a pending 18-track compilation launched along with Foreigner’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The LP is due on Oct. 4; Foreigner will probably be honored on Oct. 19 in Cleveland.

Listen to Lou Gramm and Foreigner’s ‘Turning Back the Time’

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Gramm describes the unique demo classes as “a little bit reminiscent of the Beatles around the Rubber Soul days – and, you know, some of the songs a little bit of that flavor in it. Not that we were copying the Beatles; we were being Foreigner but there was just a little something in there that reminded us of the Beatles.” The lyrics for “Turning Back the Time” replicate this affect, as Gramm makes a direct reference to the Beatles’ legendary look on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Marti Frederiksen was initially concerned in co-writing “Turning Back the Time” and he in the end returned to finish the observe round Gramm’s demo vocal. Jones and Frederiksen co-produced the brand new session earlier this 12 months, with each taking part in guitar. Jones added keyboards, whereas Frederiksen and his son Evan dealt with bass and drums, respectively.

Meanwhile, Gramm was again to obtain a particular honor on Thursday in his native Rochester, New York, the place he is already a member of the native corridor of fame.

“Yeah, it was terrific – they gave me a key to the city and a key to the county,” Gramm mentioned. “I’ve always felt support from my friends and peers in Rochester, and it’s always been pretty positive with the local government and upper echelon in Rochester: ‘Thank you, Lou, you’ve done us right,’ you know?”

The different 17 tracks on Turning Back the Time have been chosen from Foreigner’s 9 studio albums, together with “When It Comes to Love” with Gramm’s alternative, Kelly Hansen. The band simply wrapped up a summer season tour with Styx dubbed Renegades & Juke Box Heroes that was paired with a particular eight-song dwell album of the identical identify.

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