Jeff Pilson State Of The Union 2008
Hello everyone. It is that time of the year again for my yearly chat with Jeff Pilson. In this years chat we get Jeff’s thoughts on the recent show he played with Led Zeppelin, his picks for this years NFL playoffs, and his memories of the late great Kevin Dubrow. I have been conducting this yearly State of The Union with Jeff for 9 years now and I certainly hope you all still enjoy reading this as much as I do conducting it.
Jeff Fishman: Foreigner’s tour schedule this past year has taken you from South Africa to South America, to all over Europe and the United States, aside from the Led Zeppelin show which we will get to in a minute, what was some of the highs and lows of such a busy year on the road for you?
JF: What's next for Foreigner in 2008 and beyond? A live dvd? new cd? Weren’t you re-recording some of the old hits with the new line-up to release along with a few new tracks?
JF: My wife and I set our DVR on New Years Eve to record the live Foreigner show from Universal Studios which was broadcast live on the Comcast Network, how did that come about that Foreigner would perform an entire concert live on tv?
JF: I am completely impressed with Kelly Hansen's singing in Foreigner. I know he was in the band Hurricane in the late 80’s but they disbanded at least 15 years ago, what has he done since then to keep his voice sounding so great?
JF: I am sure when you sit down on the rocking chair at the retirement home when you turn 90 you will have many amazing memories but I assume one of the tops will be the show Foreigner did last month with Led Zeppelin. Tell me about that experience. I assume you stayed and watched the show.
JF: And speaking of reunions, this year brought us the long overdue Van Halen reunion with David Lee Roth? And now they have booked more shows for 2008, so apparently they are getting along. What are your thoughts on the VH reunion tour?
JF: In late November 80's rock pioneer Kevin Dubrow was found dead of a cocaine overdose. Before I ever knew of Dokken I owned the Metal Health cassette tape and I think it is safe to say that Quiet Riot truly helped to pave the way for the 80’s rock explosion. What are your memories of Kevin and Quiet Riot?
JF: It looks like the US has finally picked up on the success that Europe has had in recent years with these massive multi day multi band festivals as Rocklahoma was reported to have had 100,000 in attendance over 3 days. What are your thoughts on this?
JF: What did you think about the "Free" Ozz Fest this year?
JF: And along the lines of the free concerts, this past year saw both Radiohead and Trent Reznor release their records for free on the internet, well fans could pay for the tracks if they wished, what are your thoughts of that?
JF: What do you make of the entire YouTube and Myspace phenomenon as a means to promote music?
JF: To me the best part about YouTube is that 48 hours after pretty much any concert I can see clips of it on YouTube.
JF: And your picks for this year's playoffs are?
JF: Sort of along those same lines what do you think of the recent steroid scandal in baseball? What is your take on it.
JF: And you recently completed work on the latest Benedictum record.
JF: Another year goes by and still no Chinese Democracy from Axl.
JF: I know you are a big fan and friend and former band mate of Ronnie James Dio, what did you think of his reunion tour with Black Sabbath this past year?
JF: In 1985 you and the other members of Dokken participated in Ronnie James Dio's Hear N Aid charity event to feed the needy children of the world. What is/was your thoughts and memories of this event it must have been a fun day?
By Jeff Fishman
Enjoy
Jeff Fishman
Jeff Pilson: Yes it sure was a busy year on the road for Foreigner. The highs were many, one that comes to mind is that I had never been to South Africa before and the shows were great, and we drew some big crowds there which was great and that was a real high for me. Playing Eastern Europe was a major high for me as well. Like South Africa I had never been there before and it is not often these days that I go somewhere that I have not been before. The only real low for me is the fact that I am away from my family so much. The band gets along really great, we are all friends, and I value that as a real gift because I know what it is like to have that not be the case. So yes it has all been great so the only real low is that I do miss my wife and little girl when I am away from home.
JP: A new record is exactly what is going to be going on next. The plan is to get together the beginning of February to begin the recording process as we are all off writing on our own right now. The goal is to come up with 3 new great songs, not good songs, but really great songs, and with Mick Jones leading the charge I am confident that we will come up with some great songs. We would really like to have a record out by the fall, but it will all depend on how the writing and recording goes. If we come up with an entire record that would be awesome, but the goal is for 3 great songs. And that is pretty much what the first half of the year will be dedicated too. We do have some weekend warrior type shows coming up later in February and March and some other pending shows later in the spring, but again the main focus is the new music right now.
JF: And I assume those 3 songs will be the songs that will be released to radio as singles.
JP: That would be the idea yes.
JF: And wasn’t there a live dvd released this past year? Only I have not seen it in the stores.
JF: Yes we did record a live DVD recorded at the 2006 Bang Your Head festival in Germany and we are selling at our shows and I believe it is available at www.ForeignerOnline.com as well, but I dot believe it was officially released in the USA.
JP: I am glad you got to see that, I actually have not yet seen a copy of that show yet. Let me start off by saying that I was actually sick as a dog during that show with a stomach bug and was kind of out of it, but I do remember feeling that show was going great and I certainly hope it came off that way on live tv, we sure had a great time doing it. Comcast actually came out last summer when we were doing the Def Leppard tour and we recorded some snippets and interviews that they were using to promote the show and it was really great to be involved with their New Years special.
JP: Well after Hurricane he played with CC Deville in a band called Needle Park for a while, but no record was ever released. And then at that time as the world kind of turned its back on 80’s musicians Kelly actually did a lot of producing and studio work. And he is actually a really good producer in his own right. So that is actually what he was doing prior to coming on board with Foreigner.
JP: I will say that it was the most exciting show that I have been to in my entire life, and to have been a part of it was truly an absolute honor. Just the feeling of playing before Zeppelin was great and a memory that I will never ever forget.
JF: So you ran off stage to change quickly to run out to the crowd to watch the show.
JP: You got it. Well, we had reserved seats, but yeah that is pretty much how it went down. And I was so happy to have my wife with me for that show. And it was great to experience that show with her
JF: Was Jason on double duty that evening?
JP: No, actually no we had Brian Tichy on drums with us that night. It wouldn’t have been fair to Jason to have him play with us before Zeppelin that night. But let me just say that Jason sure did play great that night, and we were are all so proud of him, it was really amazing.
JF: Do you have any concerns of loosing Jason to a full blown Zep reunion?
JP: Well of course we do, but it is matched with hope for him that it does end up happening. He has worked for and wanted this his entire professional life. And I have to say that I have no inside knowledge of anything, but if I was to guess it probably wouldn’t happen for a while because Robert Plant is booked through August, and apparently Robert doesn’t really want to tour like that any more, so we will see. And for the world I would really like to see them reunite and tour. I would just love for the rest of the world to experience what I experienced that night. Would we be sad to see Jason go, yes of course we would, but we would be equally happy for him as well.
JP: Well my thoughts are that it is wonderful, and I have actually heard that they are getting along which is great as well. I think there are just times that you just can not deny the fans of something that is that good. But for me it would be hard for me to see the show without Michael Anthony and to say, wow, that is Van Halen. And that is because I am a bass player and I do have a friendship with Michael so it would be hard from that perspective. But I do have tremendous respect for Eddie and David Lee Roth is a tremendous entertainer, and Alex is great, so I am sure the show is great. And I am sure Eddie’s kid is good as well, I mean he would have to be in order to play with those guys you know. And I was never a big David Lee Roth fan, but we did do a show with him a little over a year ago and I was just floored with how great he was.
JF: So would you go see the show if the opportunity arose?
JP: Um, I would if it was the right opportunity, but again it would be a bit tough for me without Michael there.
JF: The show I saw in Boston was actually the day of the RedSox World Series Parade, so you want to talk about the icing on the cake of a day long party.
JP: (LOL) Primed by the time the show started huh.
JP: You got it.
JP: Well you know Kevin was always a controversial guy back in the day, but he was always very, very cool to me. I honestly can not say a bad thing about him from my personal contact with him. And I had heard that he was straight for quiet some time, but as is the case with many addicts, and this would be the same tendency for me as well which is why I am at this point too afraid to even do drugs again, is that he over did it, and there you go. It is a certainly a terrible tragedy, I mean one little mistake after spending so much time cleaning your life up is the ultimate tragedy. And you are absolutely right that Quiet Riot did help pave the way for the LA rock scene of the 80’s which ultimately led to record contracts for many bands. So I guess if you have to find some sort of silver lining it what happened to Kevin is maybe it will open the eyes of someone else who has that same problem and it will help prevent them from making that same mistake, and I am talking to myself with that one.
JP: Well, Rolling Stone did an article on it, so it certainly did make a wave in the music industry. I think the thing is that so many of the bands that played at Rocklahoma are still touring so there is certainly a market for it. I think the real problem is that the US press kind of deems who is now un-cool and the bands that are un-cool are kind of left in the dirt. That is what happened to Dokken in the 90’s. You know it is the old Rodney Dangierfield thing, “can’t get no respect”.
JF: The only 80’s rock act I would need to refute you on is Bon Jovi, although they certainly did change quiet a bit with the times.
JP: Yes well Bon Jovi has always been very, very smart with their career. When things got tough for them over here they went over to Europe and worked their asses of and became a stadium headliner.
JF: And correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t Dokken do some shows with Bon Jovi in the mid 90’s? Which is sort of weird because that is when Bon Jovi became the pop ballad band and Dokken went harder edge at that time.
JP: Yes we did open some shows for them. And believe me we were shocked when we went on stage how foreign we were to those audiences, and I sort of knew going into it that it wouldn’t be our audience and we let things like that get to us, which was a mistake in hindsight. I mean the crowd was a lot of 10 year old little girls and Dokken was not for them.
JP: Well it was probably a stroke of genius in a lot of ways. But I was not there so I do not know if it felt gimmicky or if people just went and said hey great, a free show, and screw it let the corporate sponsors pick up the tab. And if it went down like that then great. Now you know what is good about it is that it is counter to what Clear Chanel is charging people to see concerts these days. I mean some of these shows are ridiculous these days. I remember $1 concerts when I was a kid, and that is how you learned about a lot of new bands. So anything to help promote the newer acts is ok in my book.
JP: Well, they did it because they could, and to get people to hear the product and spread their new music, and my God, the press sure did talk about it. So it was very smart on many levels. And for Radiohead they are incredible and credible artists and I think they were trying to make a statement that this should not be about bottom line dollars. I mean, that is what is going to kill the music industry. It has already almost killed of record labels, they are next to extinct today. And with the music downloading that takes place today, and cd burning, and the digital media age, it has just killed off the record industry. I think there needs to be a reshuffling in the record industry. I mean look, today you have some bands that make all the money on records and others make none. And it has really pushed the American Idols of the world to sell records and the bands that are often times very serious about what they do don’t get the breaks the American Idols get. Look at a band like Foreigner, we exist off of our live shows. No one has found out the means to put out an album from an older band like us. I do have a lot of faith in Mick Jones and if anyone is going to find the means to put out new Foreigner music to get to the masses it will be Mick.
JP: You are correct, both YouTube and Myspace have broken a lot of new bands, and that is great for them. And for the younger bands that is excellent because their fans, which are usually younger are typically more internet savvy. But an older band like Foreigner or Dokken have a lot of fans that are typically older and they are not into Youtube and hence they are typically unaware of an older artists new records. I mean, Dokken sold millions of records before so you know there are plenty of people out there who would want a new Dokken record, but again they just don’t know about it. And that is what the record company is supposed to do, promote the new album, but again they rely to much on the Myspace’s of this world and there you go, no one finds out about the new music of the older bands and record sales don’t live up to expectations, and then the tracks get downloaded for free, and there goes the industry.
JP: Yup, I know I know. Plus I love seeing all of the old clips that are no longer available.
JF: Well you know what clip I just saw on YouTube is an interview with you, Don Dokken and Freddie Crouger.
JP: (LOL)
JP: Well, I have to say, this year I think it is going to be a Patriots vs Cowboys Super Bowl and I believe the Patriots will win. And for me, I am a Green Bay fan, but I just think that Dallas will beat them. And I am actually going to the Super Bowl this year because Foreigner is playing for the NFL the night before the game and then we are going to the game. So, I would like to see Green Bay beat Dallas and go to the game. And how cool would it be if New England does go all the way to the end and 19 and 0 and make history. And who can beat them? And to be that good of a team in the free agent era is just amazing if you ask me. They deserve it. I have never actually been to a Super Bowl and I am looking forward to it and it should be very fun and cool, I am looking forward to it for sure.
JP: Well it is a double edged sword. It is hard to single out a guy like Barry Bonds and say he does not deserve the accolades if he did cheat, and he probably did. I mean, a lot of the professional athletes are doing it. So you want to discourage it, but how fair is it to discourage it when so many of them are doing it.
JP; I believe it comes out January 25th in Eupope and I believe March in the states and it is a must hear for metal fans. It is definitely one of the strongest records I have been involved with.
JF: Well, that is where Myspace comes in to play. I do not do Myspace, but I have heard two of their tracks on Myspace so that is a great way for them to help promote their new music.
JP: Yes, very true. Again, it is a great record and I really hope people get the opportunity to hear this record, it is really that great.
JP: And you are surprised why?
JF: Well I am disappointed. I think at this point the expectations are so high that he is just too afraid to put it out.
JP: Well, you know I actually have a close contact that tells me the record is actually done, and what needs to happen now is the business negotiations between him and his record label. And I also heard that the record is actually much more then just the leaked stuff. And I do hope it comes out soon, I would like to hear it.
JP: I was floored when I saw them in October. I saw them earlier in the year and they were good. But when I saw them again in October I was just floored at how great they were. It was a good of a metal show that you could ever see. Ronnie always sings great, which is a given, but when I saw them in October the band was just amazing and the show was just magical, and I get off on that.
JP: Well, I was only involved for one day during the backing vocal session and it was an absolute blast. I know that both Don and George were there for an extra day or so doing their vocals and guitar parts. And you know where the party was afterwards it was at Kevin Dubrow’s house. It was an all night blast. And as I recall after the party I ended up in Mick Brown’s hotel room at 7am with Mick and Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister strumming old Beatles songs.
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