Pages (1981)

Japanese Import

Note: this release was originally purchased as a iTunes download, later replaced by a CD.

This album is partially produced (7 of the 9 tracks) by Jay Graydon. As I remember it, my first exposure to Graydon was his iconic guitar solo in Steely Dan's Peg. Then I noticed his name popping up as producer in some of the records I was digging as a teen, Manhattan Transfer and Al Jarreau in particular. Fast forward 25-30 years and I'm bored at work so I begin to search for other albums that Graydon produced in the '80s. I never could locate a definitive discography, but the wonderful Danish website Blue Desert directed me to some possibilities and prompted me to seek out not only this Pages album, but also Steve Kipner, Airplay, and Marc Jordan. And down a Westcoast/AOR^† rabbit hole I happily dove.

Pages was a collaboration between singer/songwriter/keyboardist Richard Page, keyboardist Steve George, and lyricist John Lang. In addition to Graydon and his production/writing/guitar talents, we're treated to appearances from the usual studio stars of the time: Jeff Porcaro, Neil Stubenhaus, Tom Scott, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Abraham Laboriel. Heck, even Jarreau shows up to help out on a tune.

The two reviews below compare the group to Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers (Michael McDonald edition), and Billy Joel. I'm not hearing much Joel, but throw in some Toto and David Foster-produced versions of Chicago & The Tubes, and baby, you got a stew goin'.

According to this interview, Page was asked to replace Bobby Kimball in Toto and Peter Cetera in Chicago and he would have been fantastic in either job. Instead, he and George formed Mr. Mister.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "seamless and accessible, but not terribly distinctive"
• CashBox: "mellow pop cum jazz fusion"

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: From what I gather, the singles released were track 1, the Ambrosia-flavored You Need A Hero, and track 4, Come On Home, which features a tasty contribution from Tom Scott. Neither saw any chart action, not even the adult contemporary chart. I like them both - heck, I like all the tracks, even those with silly lyrics (O.C.O.E.) or when the band tries to rock the 7/4 (the Tubes-ish Automatic). The album ends with a lovely piano ballad, Midnight Angel.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Once I discovered the band, I couldn't readily locate this CD, so I bought this 1981 self-titled album from Apple's iTunes store and downloaded the files so I could have a new soundtrack for my daily walks around the creeks and azaleas of deep East Texas. I figure that would have been 2012 or 2013. In typical Apple fashion, there's now no evidence that I ever purchased those files on my account, but they'd be happy to resell them to me for $5.99 or maybe I'd like to subscribe to Apple Music instead? I'm surprised they didn't try to sell me a trendy NFT. Well, I've got two words and fingers for them, but this is a family blog.

^†what the young hipsters now refer to as 'Yacht Rock.'  Web series here, dormant podcast here, 'Yacht Or Nyacht?' ratings here. All recommended.