Single flashback
Brighton Rock - One More Try [1989]
Hailing from the Niagara region in Ontario that gives us wineries and Honeymoon Suite, let me introduce Brighton Rock.
Originally called Heart Attack, the band found it’s secret weapon in Scottish vocalist Gerry McGhee. The rebrand and record deal came shortly after placing well in a well-known battle of the bands.
One single charted from their debut - Can’t Wait For The Night - which peaked at #57 in 1987. Legendary Canadian producer Jack Richardson was brought in for the follow-up, the gold-selling Take A Deep Breath.
A change of direction in 1991 [losing keyboards and adding another guitar] did not help commercially, and like many hair bands of the era grunge didn’t help, either. A decade-long hiatus started in 1992.
We got three singles from CWFTN, so here they are in order of chart success:
Hangin’ High ‘N’ Dry - peaked #77, 1989
This is fine, I guess. The production seems really flat to me, and it’s not really guitar-forward enough for a band with this much hair. This is Exhibit ‘A’ in the ‘we should rock out a little more’ debate that took place after this album.
Can’t Stop The Earth From Shaking - peaked #65, 1989
Oh yeah, now we’re talking. Our album opener sets the tone for a more sensible formula. The guitar is right up front from the jump and McGhee gets to strut his frontman stuff. There’s a pseudo-classical guitar solo and even a bombastic, stuttery finish. Woo! 🤘🏻
One More Try - peaked #15, 1989
Yet one more finger up to the record label that blocks videos. 🖕🏻
Seek this out on YT for an early appearance of Canadian supermodel Monika Schnarre.
The vocals are solid all around, and the guitar solo stretched out a bit, making this track a decent late 80s power ballad. I could have used maybe one more hook. And please forgive me, but I hear Scorpions…
The boys didn’t make any headway on the third and final LP for WEA, but they did leave a parting gift - their interpretation of J.J. Cale’s Cocaine.
Cocaine - did not chart
Not sure if the group are still active in any combination, but I can sadly report that we lost Gerry McGhee to cancer in 2020.
The guys still occasionally play together but without Gerry McGhee, it’s not the same. I was working with the label. Monika was delightful and remains a friend today. Thank you for this! By the way, we serviced it to rock radio with gas masks.
Interesting. Neither Tina nor I had ever heard of this band. Very much of a time and place but Gerry McGhee certainly had a voice!