GREG KIHN - Greg Kihn Again

GREG KIHN Greg Kihn Again cd 1987
Love's Made A Fool Of You / Island / Last Of Me / Real Big Man / Politics / Hurt So Bad / For You / If You Be My Love / Madison Avenue / Untie My Hands.
Produced by Glen Kolotkin & Matthew King Kaufman.
 Greg Kihn: vocals, 12 string guitar / Larry Lynch: drums, percussion, backing vocals / Dave Carpenter: lead guitar, backing vocal / Steve Wright: bass, backing vocals.
Greg Kihn began his career in his hometown of Baltimore, MD, working in the singer/songwriter mold, but switched to straightforward rock & roll when he moved to San Francisco in 1974. The following year, he became one of the first artists signed to Matthew Kaufman's now-legendary Beserkley Records. Along with Jonathan Richman, Earthquake, and the Rubinoos, Kihn helped to carve the label's sound -- melodic pop with a strong '60s pop sensibility -- a refreshing alternative to the bloated prog rock of the time. In 1976, after his debut on the compilation Beserkley Chartbusters, he recorded his first album with his own band consisting of Ronnie Dunbar (guitar), Steve Wright (bass), and Larry Lynch (drums). Through the '70s, he released an album each year and built a strong cult following through constant touring, becoming Beserkley's biggest seller. In 1981, he earned his first bona fide hit with the Top 20 single, "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)," from the Rockihnroll album. He continued in a more commercial vein through the '80s with a series of pun-titled albums: Kihntinued (1982), Kihnspiracy (1983), Kihntageous (1984), and Citizen Kihn (1985). He scored his biggest hit with 1983's "Jeopardy" (number two) from the Kihnspiracy album. One more single broke the Top 40, 1985's "Lucky," but by the time Love and Rock and Roll was released in 1986, the puns had run out and so had the hits. Kihn kept a relatively low profile throughout the '90s, releasing Mutiny in 1994 and Horror Show in 1996. All the Right Reasons followed in mid-2000. Source

"Greg Kihn Again" is notable for several reasons. First of all, it was the first album recorded with the lineup that would define the Greg Kihn Band in its early days- Dave Carpender, Steve Wright, Larry Lynch, and me. It was a relief to finally have our very own full-time guitarist Dave Carpender- who was wonderful guitarist and really gave the band some fire. Up to that time, Robbie Dunbar from Earthquake had been filling-in but the arrangement was wearing thin since both bands were on the rise and gigging consistently. With Dave in the band, we finally had our own sound and direction. Also, it was a transitional phase for me as I was changing my songwriting style from singer-songwriter type material (like the first album) to rock and roll. I would never look back.
It was liberating to be writing pure rock- and that second album has some interesting songs on it including "Madison Avenue Man", "Hurt So Bad","Island", and "Real Big Man". It also featured my first Springsteen cover- "For You", which became an FM favorite and caught the ear of Bruce Springsteen who liked my arrangement so much he started performing it live with my ending. It would be the first of several Springtseen covers for the Greg Kihn Band. Ironically it was the last song Robbie Dunbar ever recorded with us right before Dave joined the band. If I remember correctly, Dave gave it a try but couldn’t capture the raw first-take vibe of Robbie’s solo. Speaking of first takes- that song is nothing but first takes- first take backing track, first take vocal, first take harmonica solo, first take everything. I had the flu that day and I thought I sounded horrible. I remember producer Mathew Kaufman telling me, “don’t worry, it’s just a work vocal, we’ll replace it later.” Famous last words.
Also, when I cut the harmonica solo I was told it was just a test run and the real solo was next, but it never happened that way. I was just making noise on the harmonica, not really playing a part, and everybody loved it and insisted it go on the album just like that.
I am so glad that this historic album is once again available because it captures a magic time in the development of the Greg Kihn Band. We became a strong, hard-working, original rock and roll band with our own identity and sound. It was during this stage that we started playing a lot of gigs and really growing as a band. Source
Buy It HERE or HERE !