British melodic rockers Night By Night have been hailed as the future of this aging genre and I’m here to back that claim and push it one step further – its vitally important to the longevity of the melodic music scene that we continue to welcome, nurture and promote awesome new talent like this or we may as well all give it up right now.

Night By Night prove that you can still write catchy, energetic and fresh melodic rock in 2014 and in doing so give some old rockers a kick in the pants as to what is expected that fans want today.

Not everyone wants nostalgia 24/7. But don’t think these guys are an all-new sound, they just take the old sensibilities and make it their own. This is the best of old-school hooks and harmonies, driving guitars and anthemic catchy choruses, delivered with a fresh spunky attitude and a contemporary production sound.And if you feel let down by the latest Tesla album, then this should fire a rocket up you! Vocalist Henry Rundell has an uncanny sound not far removed from Jeff Keith in his heyday.

Guiatrists Ben Christo and Tom Daniel guides the band through some cracking riffs and solos. The production on here is simply fabulous – balanced mix and a crunchy sound. The album has been a long time coming and is well worth the wait.

If Time To Escape, Holding Onto Holding On and Can’t Walk Away don’t blow you away, the more melodic Everywhere Tonight will insert itself into your brain for days at a time. If darker and heavier is what you want, Siren delivers, a hybrid of Tesla, Def Leppard and melodic Dokken.

Then there’s the glorious AOR of A Thousand Lies – perfect melodic rock here folks.

The Moment is another fast moving gem and the band saves one of their most urgent tracks for last – Never Die Again is a pounding guitar driven masterpiece.

MelodicRock Classics is excited to announce the limited-edition reissue of four acclaimed cult classic AOR albums over the next two months. Each album has won fan and critical praise over the years and all four titles have remained on the impossible to find list for many collectors.

The campaign begins August 26 with reissues of two British classics – CHRIS IRVINE and 2AM.

On September 30, two more classics arrive – LAMARCA and YA YA ‘II’.

2AM is the brain child of vocalist Dave Lloyd (Nutz/Rage) and guitarist/songwriter Mark Thomas.

The high-tech AOR duo delivered their one and only album in 1987, before splitting in 1988 after being dropped by their label RCA, leaving behind a true classic that fans have traded audio copies over the last 30 years.

Unfortunately, there is a sad side to this reissue. Mark Thomas was only recently discovered to have passed away several years ago after dropping out of the industry many years earlier.

In 2003 Judges sitting in the High Court in London ruled that American singer Bobby Womack had stolen the 2am song ‘You’re The One’, awarding Thomas GBP57,000 in royalties.

Unable to afford to pursue Womack in US courts for payments that never came, Mark left the business with a bitter taste.

It is hoped that this official remaster, which comes on the 35th Anniversary of the album’s release, will help remind fans of what a fantastic writer and guitarist Mark Thomas was and close the 2AM story on a positive note.

There are no additional songs recorded at the time that could be used as bonus tracks, but there is one additional track ‘Right Now I Need You’ that was a B-side on the 1987 12” single ‘Somebody Someday’.

2am ‘When Every Second Counts’ has been lovingly remastered from the original CD audio by JK Northrup, giving the songs fresh new life.

MelodicRock Classics presents 2AM ‘When Every Second Counts’ August 26. Limited Edition 500 Units.

Track Listing:

01. Never Gonna Let You Escape               4:02

02. You’re The One                                          4:13

03. Somebody Someday                                3:48

04. Who Will You Run To                               4:47

05. Too Late                                                       4:53

06. Lost Souls                                                     3:52

07. Running With The Same Old Crowd  3:44

08. Never Feel This Way Again                    4:03

09. Dreams And Promises                            4:35

10. Now You’re Leaving                                 4:03

11. Right Now I Need You (B-Side)            3:33

MelodicRock Classics is proud and honoured to partner with the family of the late, great VAN STEPHENSON, plus his many co-writers and musical partners, to pay tribute to the legacy of the legendary singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist with a series of archive releases, culminating in two career spanning box sets, featuring all unreleased songs from his vast songwriting archives.

MRC Owner and A&R director Andrew McNeice has been given the responsibility of archiving Van’s songwriting demos from the 70s, right up until the last songs he wrote.

Over 12 months of work behind the scenes will come to fruition November 25, with the first two releases from the Van Stephenson Archives.

BUY NOW: https://melodicrockclassics.com/vanstephenson.html

The second title to be announced is also due for release November 25.

Van Stephenson – ‘Van’s Versions’, a 2CD compilation of songs written or co-written by Van and previously recorded and released elsewhere.

The songs are all cultivated from Van’s unreleased archives and feature songs written by him alone plus other songs co-written with his writing partners Sam Lorber, Jeff Silbar, Dave Robbins, Jan Buckingham, Phil Brown, Tim DuBois, Bob Farrell and more.

McNeice comments: “The idea for this compilation came while I was slowly going through all of Van’s demo archives. It is already clear just what an amazing writer and vocalist Van was, but I was pleasantly surprised with just how many tracks there are of Van’s that other artists had recorded. When you have the likes of Eric Clapton, Laura Branigan, Kenny Rogers, Dan Seals, Juice Newton and Restless Heart picking your songs to record, then you must appreciate just how good those songs are and the importance of highlighting them.

Van’s vast archives included his own original demo versions of many of these songs and it was so good to hear Van’s voice driving songs you might already know.

The need for ‘Van’s Versions’ became clear. I thought a nice idea would be to put all these songs into one compilation, which turned into a 41 song, double CD set.

The set features the varied musical styles Van wrote for over the years, including Pop, AOR, Rock, Midwestern & Country.

Included among the songs are some original demo versions Van recorded himself for his two MCA albums, giving further insight into Van’s writing and recording process.

It also allows space for the upcoming box sets to feature exclusively unreleased material, which is something I know a lot of people are looking forward to hearing.”

To complete the package, artwork from French graphic artist Arnaud Leger has been specially commissioned, plus the audio for both discs has been carefully restored and remastered by acclaimed producer JK Northrup.

Pre-orders will be available from next Monday and the complete track listing for ‘Van’s Versions’ (and the artist that recorded the songs) are as follows:

Disc One:

01. Set The Night On Fire (Vocal Demo) Recorded by OAK (1980)

02. Catch The Next Dream Recorded by THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND (1980)

03. Undivided Love Recorded by EDDY ARNOLD (1980)

04. Bad Enough Recorded by KENNY ROGERS (1983)

05. Til I Loved You Recorded by GLENN SHORROCK (1983), JUICE NEWTON (1984) & RESTLESS HEART (1985)

06. If The Fall Don’t Get You Recorded by JANIE FRICKE (1982) & ANNE GRETE (1984)

07. All My Life Recorded by KENNY ROGERS (1983) & PETULA CLARK (1988)

08. Everybody’s Dream Girl Recorded by DAN SEALS (1983)

09. You’ve Got A Good Love Coming (Original Demo) Recorded by LEE GREENWOOD (1983), CONWAY TWITTY (1984) & BOB CLAYTON (1989)

10. Others Only Dream (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

11. What The Big Girls Do (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

12. The Cure Will Kill You (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

13. Modern Day Delilah (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

14. I Know Who You Are, I Saw What You Did (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

15. You’ve Been Lied To Before (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

16. Righteous Anger (Original Demo) From the Solo Album RIGHTEOUS ANGER (1984)

17. It’s Not Me, It’s Not You Recorded by KBC BAND (1986)

18. Back To The Heartbreak Kid Recorded by KATHY MATTEA (1984)

19. She Danced Her Way Into My Heart Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1985)

20. (You Don’t Hear) The One That Gets You Recorded by JUICE NEWTON (1984)

21. Restless Heart Recorded by JUICE NEWTON (1984) & RESTLESS HEART (1985)

22. Dancing With Danger (Original Demo) From the Solo Album SUSPICIOUS HEART (1986)

Disc Two:

01. Suspicious Heart (Original Demo) From the Solo Album SUSPICIOUS HEART (1986)

02. South December Road Recorded by GARY MORRIS (1985)

03. Grand Illusion Recorded by ERIC CLAPTON (1986) & DONNY OSMOND (1988)

04. Jenny Come Back Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

05. Never In A Million Years Recorded by LAURA BRANIGAN (1990) & VICKI SHEPARD (1991)

06. It Happens All The Time Recorded by ANNE MURRAY (1987)

07. Calm Before The Storm Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

08. House Of Fire Recorded by LITTLE BOB (1989)

09. Big Dreams In A Small Town Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

10. Bluest Eyes In Texas Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1988)

11. When Pink Turns To Blue Recorded by FIONA (1989)

12. Nature Of Love Recorded by POCO (1989)

13. I’ve Never Been So Sure Recorded by RESTLESS HEART (1990)

14. Get Used To It Recorded by GIANT (1992)

15. It Ain’t About Love Anymore (Vocal Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (1997)

16. If That Was A Lie (Acoustic Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (1997)

17. All The Time In The World (Vocal Demo) Recorded by BOYZONE (1998)

18. Think Again (Vocal Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (1998)

19. Ships Of Heaven (Acoustic Demo) Recorded by BLACKHAWK (2000) & VAN STEPHENSON (2000)

It’s my great pleasure to deliver one advance track from the compilation for your enjoyment today. Please enjoy ‘Back To The Heartbreak Kid’, as previously recorded by Kathy Mattea.

Finally, the answer to the question – Who Is TIM?

TIM were an ‘almost super-group’, at least with the benefit on hindsight they sure are. Not so much at the time of writing and recording this album in 1983. Regrettably, TIM members were so busy individually with sessions, and family commitments, that the band never made any more music together.

TIM is:

Thom Griffin – Vocals, Guitar

Bruce Gaitsch – Guitars

Bob Lizik – Bass

Terry Tossing Esq – Keyboards

Tom Radtke and Jim Hines – Drums

BUY NOW: https://melodicrockclassics.com/tim.html

The individual recording credits of these guys are incredible:

Thom Griffin – Trillion, Ambition, Brian Wilson, Mecca, Pride Of Lions, Jimi Jamsion, Dennis DeYoung

Bruce Gaitsch – Richard Marx, Fergie Frederiksen, Chicago, Peter Cetera, Michael W. Smith, Madonna, Jim Peterik, Kelly Keagy

Bob Lizik – Brian Wilson, Pride Of Lions, Dennis DeYoung, Soleil Moon, Peterik/Scherer, World Stage

Tom Radtke – John Prine, Dennis DeYoung, Barbra Streisand

Jim Hines – Brian Wilson, Cyndi Lauper

Together they made an unreleased masterpiece. An album so good it would have challenged the other rock albums of 1983 for their dominance.

Thom Griffin comments: “TIM was comprised entirely of session players from Chicago. We were consciously trying to be commercially viable. Bruce had a condo in downtown Chicago where we would meet between sessions to write.  I believe we flushed out our ideas on a Fostex 4 track porta-studio.”

Bruce Gaitsch claiming: “We were trying so hard to be Chicago’s Toto!”

All the songs were recorded using analog recording with no auto-tune or quantization or sequencers and were intended as demos with very few overdubs (with the exception of an occasional instrumental overdub, and vocals). The fact they still sound so amazing today is tantamount to the talent behind the writing and recording.

Bruce continues: “I do recall doing sessions all day and going into Universals big room at night, 8:00 and working all night then going right to a session the next day! We used to write when we had time between sessions at my downtown apartment. It was fun, a nice release from doing commercials 6 times a day.”

Bob Lizik recalls calling the band’s sessions as ‘dust rehearsals’ as the low-rent hired rehearsal space still had a dirt floor.

Bruce: “We helped the first rehearsal studio get started by booking lots of hours even when they still had a dirt floor! Rehearsals would be cancelled at the last minute because of work all the time, then we’d see each other at the sessions.”

And the name? There’s been plenty of guesses where it came from. I’ll leave it to Thom Griffin to reveal the truth: “Yes, the name TIM was a reference to ‘Tim, the Enchanter’ in Monty Python’s “Holy Grail!” movie.”

29 years in the making, the debut TIM album will finally and rightfully see the light of day on July 16 via reissue label MelodicRock Classics on Limited Edition CD (1000 units) and Digital.

01. Somethings Coming 3:25

02. Never Let You Get Away 3:52

03. Maybe It’s Better 3:37

04. Astral Games 3:27

05. Think Back   5:09

06. Whatcha Gonna Do 4:18

07. One Dark Night 3:12

08. Victim Of Love 3:43

09. Lovers Never Cry 4:24

10. Kiss And Tell 3:20

11. Mary Anna  5:47

All songs written and produced by TIM

Additional lyrics provided by Keithen Carter for Somethings Coming, Never Let You Get Away and Maybe it’s Better

Recorded at: Universal Recording (Bob Bennett engineer in the A Room on a Neve 8048 console over the course of 3 evenings); Tanglewood Studio in Brookfield (Larry Millas engineer on a Neotek console over the course a few days)