John Kay & Steppenwolf - Live in London

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 1981
Time: 45:06 
Size: 103,9 MB 
Label: Rainman Records (2006)
Styles: Classic Rock/Blues Rock
Art: Front 

Tracks Listing:
 1. Sookie Sookie - 3:38
 2. Give Me News - 4:01
 3. You - 3:41
 4. Hot Night In A Cold Town - 3:23
 5. Ain't Nothing Like It Used To Be - 3:50
 6. Magic Carpet Ride - 3:47
 7. Five Finger Discount - 4:39
 8. Hey Lawdy Mamma - 3:38
 9. Business Is Business - 3:31
10. Born To Be Wild - 4:59
11. The Pusher - 5:53

Musicians:
John Kay (guitar, harmonica, vocals);
Michael Palmer (guitar, background vocals);
Steve Palmer (drums, percussion, vocals);
Chad Peery (bass, vocals);
Brett Tuggle (keyboards).

From 1977 until 1980, a variety of Steppenwolf bands were put out on the road by concert promoter Steve Green. Another promoter, David Pesnell, reportedly acted as manager for an incarnation featuring former members Nick St. Nicholas, Goldy McJohn and Kent Henry, and new lead singer, Tom Pagan. Plans for a new album circulated. A new studio album, produced by Phil Spector, with Larry Green on lead vocals, was attempted in 1978, but abandoned due to Pesnell and Spector’s hateful relationship. The relationship ended with a well-documented fist fight between the two at the Whisky a Go Go in which Pesnell sent Spector to the hospital, where he stayed for three nights. Assault charges were dropped against Pesnell after the Los Angeles Police Department determined Spector had instigated the fight. Another Steppenwolf band, launched in the summer of 1978, featured lead vocalist Bob Simpson, and original members Goldy McJohn and Rushton Moreve, with Kent Henry. This version recorded new tracks for a proposed album which was never released. A splinter Steppenwolf band (which featured no members from any Steppenwolf band fronted by John Kay) appeared around the same time with lead vocalist Don Coenen. That line-up included keyboardist Geoff Emery and guitarist Tony Flynn. Another album, The Night Of The Wolf, was said to have been recorded and produced by Pesnell in 1979 with lead vocalist Bob Simpson, featuring such songs as “Night of the Wolf” and “I Don’t Want To Lose You,” and “Randy’s Rodeo.” A concert tour in the U.S., Canada and Europe was promoted by Pesnell with the opening acts including Iron Butterfly. The St. Nicholas/McJohn grouping eventually disbanded due to exhaustion and heavy drug use by St. Nicholas, Goldy McJohn and drummer Frankie Banali. St. Nicholas formed yet another version of a band named Steppenwolf and went back out on the road. This grouping included lead singer Tommy Holland, lead guitarist Ruben DeFuentes, Emery, and future Keel/W.A.S.P./L.A. Guns drummer Steve Riley. The retooled band returned to the studio to revamp tracks for the new album, but it was never released. McJohn also eventually headed back out himself with another lineup that first featured Peter Graw on lead vocals, then another line-up that featured lead vocalist Nick Graham and sometimes included Kent Henry, who had just departed a touring Wolf band that featured Tim West on vocals. The Graham/McJohn/Henry version pitched an entire new Steppenwolf album to record labels, which was actually a project recorded by Graham’s High Intensity band adding McJohn and Henry to the existing tracks. The album was blocked from release. Frankie Banali later went on to join Quiet Riot. After hearing of these multiple other Steppenwolf incarnations, John Kay became furious. An original agreement among the band members in the early 1970s stated that anyone leaving forfeited any rights on the group’s name, while the last original members standing when the group disbanded (Kay and Jerry Edmonton) would have exclusive claims on the name hereafter. At their lawyers’ advice, Kay and Edmonton agreed to license the name to the others. This licensing agreement stated that McJohn and St. Nicholas would have to give up their Steppenwolf royalties forever to go forward. They both agreed. Eventually, this agreement was terminated after promised fees were not paid to Kay and Edmonton. After the compact optical digital disc (CD) became the new form of presenting old music by 1987, McJohn and St. Nicholas lost large amounts in additional royalties from their time in the authentic Steppenwolf band. Kay took to the road in 1980 with a new line-up as John Kay and Steppenwolf.
Kay had a couple of meetings with David Pesnell (after his release from rehabilitation for his drinking and drug problems), about management, concert promotions and producing a new album for the band. Pesnell wanted to produce an album featuring new songs on Side A, by the reformed band Three Dog Night and with Side B of the album featuring songs by Steppenwolf. The album’s working name was “Back to Back”, a play on each band having a side of the album and the fact the bands were back together again. Pesnell’s concept was simple: each band would record four new songs, with a fifth song on each side featuring a medley of the band’s past songs. This would give the Pesnell-produced album a double release of singles to support a concert tour featuring the two bands. Even though both bands liked the concept of the album and tour, the arguments included who would be Side A and Side B and which of the two would headline the upcoming concert tour. The reformed John Kay and Steppenwolf line-up featured John Kay, Michael Palmer (guitars, backing vocals), Steve Palmer (drums, backing vocals), Danny Ironstone (keyboards, backing vocals) and Kurtis Teel on bass. The Palmer brothers had played in a group called Tall Water and had also been involved with Kay in his solo career playing live gigs in the late 1970s. Teel was replaced by Chad Peery and Ironstone by Brett Tuggle by 1981, and the new grouping released Live in London overseas. (by wikipedia) So, “Live in London” is the first album by John Kay & Steppenwolf, originally released in 1981 on Mercury/PolyGram in Australia only ! “Recorded at the Lyceum in London, England during our first tour of Europe in eight years. We were pleasantly surprised by the warmth of our reception. Our fans in the UK had not forgotten us despite our absence and we truly enjoyed playing both new and familiar music that night.” (John Kay)

 Live in London