Whether you call it hard rock, heavy metal, cock rock, hair metal, melodic rock, pop-metal, AOR, glam or sleaze, this is the place to find out what became of your favorite 80's rock bands.
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Whether you call it hard rock, heavy metal, cock rock, hair metal, melodic rock, pop-metal, AOR, glam or sleaze, this is the place to find out what became of your favorite 80's rock bands. |
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TORA TORA: BASTARDS OF BEALE STREET: RIP Magazine, July 1992 By Shari Sloane Monday should not exist on a calendar belonging to anyone involved in rock and roll. The weekend strips the artistic persona of so much of its vitality that, if the hard-rockin' vocal majority had its druthers, the sun would rise or set on the same day that, at one time, was "In the beginning...." So it's no surprise that the guys in Tora Tora are a little wild, a little restless, when I show up on a Monday afternoon to interview them at Memphis' Ardent Studios. It is a day of hangovers, foosball tournaments and Monday Night Football/Margarita Monday at Molly's, the quaint Mexican restaurant next door to the studio where the young Tora's are completing basic tracks for their second A&M release, Wild America. The band has had over two years of down time since the release of their debut, Surprise Attack, in the early part of 1989. Why? "We know people are thinking, 'Did they break up? What happened?' But after seeing how touring and rock music went through so many transitions over the past couple of years, we felt like it was kind of a blessing in disguise that we didn't come out with any new material," explains Tora Tora's frontman Anthony Corder. "I think there were only three major tours in 1991." "Basically, we're really glad we didn't come out, because it was a shitty year for rock and roll, and that's it," states bassist Patrick Francis. "We watched a lot of people that came out the same time we did put out records that didn't do much, and half of those groups have been dropped. It's been a long time, and it's been stressful for us, but I think that when the record does come out, it will have a lot of impact." Watching Anthony lay down a vocal track with producer "Sir" Arthur Payson at the board, it's not hard to see how this band has matured as a unit since Surprise Attack. The song currently being worked on, "Amnesia," is unique--melodic, yet not contrived; commercial, but not generic--and representative of the more daring material on the new LP. Taking a half hour break to get himself into "the Zen of the moment" (as Sir Arthur puts it), Anthony talks a little about the writing for the new record and the growth that's occurred. "I guess I stopped counting at 40 songs [although bassist Pat swears it's more like 60]," Anthony laughs. "When we started trying to figure out what to put on the record, we first cut it down to 18 songs, and then down from 18 to 12. That really got sticky, because by that time you're gettin' into everyone's babies and trying to keep your place in the band. We cut 12 songs, getting ready for the September release we were shooting for at that time. Before we did our final mix, though, our record company flew us out to tell us they would be more focused if we would wait until the first of the year, when they really felt they could get behind it. We asked them how they would feel about us writing and recording some more stuff, and they thought it was a great idea. We wound up writing about seven or eight new songs in about a month and a half, 'Amnesia' being one of the last, along with 'Cold Fever' and 'Faith Healer.' "We worked with several outside writers on this record," Anthony continues. "And had the opportunity to work with Taylor Rhodes, who had produced some Kix stuff that we really got into. We always wanted to write with him, because we really liked his writing style. He helped us out on not only 'Amnesia,' but also 'Faith Healer.' We also worked with Stan Lynch, from Tom Petty's band, who we hooked up with in Christmas of 1990 through Stan's publishing company and our A&R person, Bryan Huttenhower. We hung out with him for like a week, writing three songs our first trip out. Two of them, 'Nowhere to Go but Down' and 'Dead Man's Hand,' are on the record. I'm real proud of some of the songs we've got on here. We've got the really hard stuff, like 'Wild America,' 'City of Kings,' 'Shattered' and 'Amnesia,' that show more of our heavy side, and then we have a couple of cool, medium-groove songs and a cool ballad. "We all grew up a lot since the last record, and it freaked us out at first, when we cut those new songs, because it kinda turned our record around," Anthony reflects. "Back when they played us the rough mixes of the songs we were going to use initially on this album, it kind of seemed like we had mellowed out since the first record. Before the new stuff it seemed like it was real medium-paced--not that I had anything against the songs, but it just feels like we're in the right groove now." Anthony's feeling is shared by the band, who want to come out kickin' and feel that most other bands depend far too much on the success of their power ballads. The four members of Tora Tora draw their influences from quite a diverse cross section of artists, and from their hometown, a city that has given birth to many legends. Anthony gravitates toward the more mellow, acoustic side of rock, which differs greatly from his classic-rock influences, such as Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and Bad Company. He loves how he writes with guitarist Keith Douglas, who, Anthony insists, is the "King of Crunch." Anthony compares his own writing to his current, laid-back state of mind, which, his band jokes, is a hangover and best cured by a Molly's margarita! The discussion over influences ensues once again next door at Molly's, after Anthony has persuaded his producer/babysitter that what he really needs to get in the Zen is a full stomach. As Keith is absent from the meal, we have to take Patrick's word that anything kind of old and good is his cup of tea. As for himself, Patrick says, "I like Jane's Addiction, Chili Peppers, all the stuff Anthony said, and then it starts to get out there. I also listen to Joe Jackson and James Brown--I love James Brown! There's very few newer bands that I like." Ask drummer John Patterson about his musical preferences, and the redneck comes out. "What chew wanna know, boy?" he exclaims in his authentic Tennessee accent. "I like Garth Brooks, Clint Black, but also a lot of Rush, Triumph and old Iron Maiden." The top slot in their "real cool newcomer" category is shared by Skid Row and Tesla. Tora Tora started the bonding process in high school, and have had no personnel changes since their humble beginnings. If you know the guys, you know that they used to practice and put on shows for their friends in the warehouse of a glue factory where Keith's father worked and was part owner. Now they rehearse in a pink house (not unlike John Cougar Mellencamp's), from which, they proudly announce, they're about to be evicted. It's just as well, because as the band continues to mature, their needs and desires are changing, and quite possibly Tora Tora have outgrown the little pink house and the recording studio they've been with since their early days. "We've done two records. We've recorded about 60 songs and demoed them all here. We'll miss the family atmosphere, but I think we're ready to go elsewhere," Anthony says. Ardent Studios took the Tora's under their wing all those years ago, recording their first EP, To Rock, to Roll, with prize money the band had won at the Memphis Music Festival, where they competed for the purse against 60 other bands. Paul Ebersold, the piano player on the EP, was also an engineer at Ardent, and he helped the kids shop for their deal, in addition to producing the band's debut with his engineer/producer cohort Joe Hardy. The team also produced a Tora track featured on the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure soundtrack. The group hooked up with their current producer, Payson, through their manager, who met him while he was in production with another artist and slipped him a tape. "He really liked our first record," states Anthony. "And he liked the direction we were going with the second. He thought he had some really good ideas and would like to work with us. He wound up flying to Memphis one weekend. We met and hung out, and he was a really cool guy. We started working on some preproduction, and now we're in overdub mode." The sun is starting to set in western Tennessee as the group heads back to the studio for a second pass at some vocals and perhaps another foosball tourney. Anthony whips in and blows out what could be the final take of "Amnesia," and his hangover is less apparent as the kickoff for the Dolphins vs the Bengals gets closer and closer back at Margarita Monday. Producer Payson lectures his star vocalist on school-night parties while John and Patrick demolish the conference room, saying they'll blame it all on the night manager. It doesn't take too long, however, for their attention to turn back to the matters at hand, and they settle down and discuss their tour plans. "It's hard to tell what we'll do about a tour," says Patrick. "You can't really put together a tour until the record's done and you put together your game plan. When you're ready, you have to find out what's open, and then just try to get whatever there is." You can rest easy that the band will put a fine effort into getting a good tour, since they haven't played together live since the conclusion of their last jaunt, where they shared a bill with Kix, L.A. Guns and Dangerous Toys, and later moved on to even bigger arenas, supporting the Cult and Bonham. "We decided when we first came off the road that we didn't want to play right away, because we'd been out for a year," a freshly dismissed Anthony interrupts. "Everyone was burned out. Keith got married, I had a birthday--there was just a whole month of occasions, one after the other. This time we've probably gone to extremes, but we've always felt like we didn't want to be one of the bands that played every weekend at every bar where people just got sick of seein' your show. It's working out for the best, I think, because when we finally go out, we'll have the record, the stage, the backdrop, the whole nine yards. We can do all our warm-ups here, because we haven't played in so long!" As the group gets restless once again, and minds start to drift into the second quarter of Monday Night Football, one has to ask where they plan to relocate, if they ever get around to it. "We've all talked about it," states Patrick, solemnly "We love our city. It's very cool, and we used to love hangin' out in its killer vibe; but to be honest, we're kind of burned out. I can say that if we did relocate, it wouldn't be any further west or any further north. We might find a beach somewhere--but not in Florida. There's nowhere for John to kill shit down there!" The band laughs as they discuss hunting alligators, and John insists that he wouldn't mind moving to Alabama. "There's big deer down there!" he says. Wherever they may roam, one thing's for certain: Their hearts will always belong to Beale Street. Buy Tora Tora CDs: |
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