Cleveland International Records: Meat Loaf was one of their many hit acts
Written: Aug 16 '04 (Updated Apr 04 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Nice collection of diverse acts such as Meat Loaf and Southside Johnny.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: The artists: Meat Loaf, Southside Johnny, Ronnie Spector & The E Street Band, The Euclid Beach Band, Jim Steinman, Ellen Foley and many others.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Cleveland International Records 1977-1983
Cleveland, Ohio, once called "the new Liverpool" in Rock Scene magazine, is a rock 'n' roll town known for breaking both local acts (The Raspberries, The Outsiders, Joe Walsh, Eric Carmen, The James Gang, Nine Inch Nails, The Michael Stanley Band and many others) and national acts (Ian Hunter and Bruce Springsteen had huge fan bases here before breaking nationally).
When Steve Popovich, head of Epic Records A&R department, decided to return to his hometown in 1976 he put the label's main office in a house he had bought in Cleveland. His Epic partners, Stan Snyder and Sam Lederman, manned the label's New York office. The three formed Cleveland International Records.
Epic gave the threesome a production deal allowing them to find artists and make records. When Epic approved a project, Epic would finance and distribute Cleveland International's product.
Epic allowed Cleveland International to take three of its artists in the deal (Eddie Middleton, Nino and Essence). The new label also signed Ronnie Spector (formerly of The Ronettes and "Be My Baby" fame) for its first release.
Ronnie Spector, backed by The E Street Band (Bruce Springsteen's backup group) and produced by Steve Van Zandt, scored a regional hit with the single "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" (written by Billy Joel) in 1977. The single, with its Phil Spector "wall of sound" production, sold 70,000 copies.
Next, the label released "Bat Out Of Hell" by Meat Loaf, which became one of the biggest-selling albums of all-time. The little label then became a very big deal.
This album:
The CD "Cleveland International Records 1977-83" offers 13 tracks by various artists from the label to show how influential the label was for a time. It's a fun, diverse batch of recordings that should have wide appeal.
The well-illustrated, informative, 6-page CD booklet features liner notes (and photos) from the legendary Anastasia Pantsios of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
It's a nice collection for cruising around town or hanging with friends.
The 13 tracks:
"Say Goodbye To Hollywood" by Ronnie Spector and The E Street Band, "I Don't Want To Go Home" by Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, "Time Warp" (from the film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show") by Just Us Girls (who are actually Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper) and Michael Kamen,), "Have A Good Time (But Get Out Alive)" by The Iron City Houserockers and "There's No Surf In Cleveland" by The Euclid Beach Band (produced by Eric Carmen).
Also, "Too Wild To Tame" by The Boyzz, "Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through" by Jim Steinman, "We Belong To The Night" by Ellen Foley, "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" by Meat Loaf, "Sweet Fools" by Essence and "I Am A Rocker" by Mike Berry (not to be confused with "I'm A Rocker" by The Raspberries).
Also, "Wasn't That A Party" by The Rovers and "Cleveland Rocks" by Ian Hunter (the theme song of "The Drew Carey Show").
Some interesting tunes:
"There's No Surf In Cleveland":
"There's No Surf In Cleveland" by The Euclid Beach Band featured former members of Eric Carmen's solo band (produced by Carmen) doing a tribute/parody of The Beach Boys and of Cleveland, Ohio, the lads hometown.
Fun, uptempo, Beach Boy-ish pop featuring Dick Dale-inspired surf guitar work and gorgeous harmonies, this song was huge in Cleveland, but nowhere else:
"There's no surf in Cleveland, U.S.A. / if you wanna see tinsel and stars, just go to L.A. / to ride a subway car, try New York way / well you can go to Philly any time, if the Liberty Bell rings your chime / but we're all here in Cleveland, Ohio / and that ain't bad, now brother don't you know / ... / but now we can't shine down our woody, drive our boards around all day, and man we can't impress the girls on the beach the way they do in L.A., 'cause there's just no surf in Cleveland..."
"Cleveland Rocks":
Ian Hunter grabbed my attention as the lead singer of Mott The Hoople in the early 1970's and he's never failed to impress me as a solo artist. His "Cleveland Rocks" put Cleveland on the map in the early 1980's, capturing a tribute to a rock 'n' roll city in a song that was later to become the theme song of "The Drew Carey Show" (performed on the show by The Presidents Of The United States Of America band).
Opening with a tape of the late Cleveland deejay Alan Freed (the man generally credited with coining the term "rock and roll"), Hunter rocks out here:
"All this energy callin' me / back where it comes from / it's such a crude attitude / it's back where it belongs / all the kids growing up on the skids go, 'Cleveland Rocks! Cleveland Rocks!'..."
Note: This CD is dedicated to the late guitarist Mick Ronson, Hunter's long-time sideman (a veteran of the final days of Mott The Hoople who also played in David Bowie's band).
"Paradise By The Dashboard Light":
Meat Loaf, in a duet with Ellen Foley on a song written by Jim Steinman, turned a sexually-charged honky-tonk rock tune into a crazed rocker with wild harmonies and baseball innuendo (with baseball announcer Phil Rizzuto describing a guy's attempt to "score" with a girl via descriptions like "here's the play at the plate...").
Of course, Ellen Foley tells the lad to "Stop right there!" and demands to know his intentions ("...do you love me?..."). As they argue back and forth, the poor guy finally agrees to marriage and agrees to love her until the end of time:
"...I swore I would love you 'til the end of time / and now I'm praying for the end of time..."
On the web, some of my reviews of Cleveland acts:
Wally Bryson (on tour in 2004-2005 with the original Raspberries) and Jesse Bryson (Wally's son, of Rosavelt and Qwasi Qwa fame), with friends, deliver great sounds on The Bryson Group's CD "Dry": http://www.epinions.com/content_177981263492
Raspberries' "Starting Over" CD from Japan (reissue opf 1974 LP on CD), declared one of the Best Albums Of 1974 by Rolling Stone magazine: http://www.epinions.com/content_152728538756
The Raspberries, famed for the million-seller "Go All The Way," are part of an inexpensive 2003 power pop CD collection, "Back2Back Hits: The Raspberries & The Babys" (featuring lead vocals by Eric Carmen and John Waite, respectively): http://www.epinions.com/content_110347390596
Eric Carmen's solo work (including the million-seller "All By Myself") is represented on an inexpensive Collectable Records CD from 2004 entitled "All By Myself": http://www.epinions.com/content_147186945668
The Outsiders hit # 5 on the pop charts in 1966 with "Time Won't Let Me," one of their four Top 40 singles. Their "greatest hits" appear on "Capitol Collectors' Series - The Outsiders": http://www.epinions.com/content_43607166596
Dave Smalley of The Raspberries released his solo CD (with backing vocals from ex-Raspberries Wally Bryson and Scott McCarl), "Internal Monologue" in 2003: http://www.epinions.com/content_112634596996
Cleveland International put out the Various Artists album "Talkin' Baseball." The CD is a tribute to baseball and the Cleveland Indians team, featuring local acts such as Terry Cashman, but most notably featuring three tracks by The Sittin' Ducks (led by Wally Bryson of The Raspberries, the band did great covers of "Wild Thing" and "Centerfield"): http://www.epinions.com/content_21746650756
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