'Stranger in Town' shows Bob Seger at his best

Ha Segah

In the mid and late 1970s, Bob Seger was on a hot streak. After years of struggling to find national success, he had hit the big time with Live Bullet and Night Moves. Both were huge commercial triumphs, and with his straightforward unflinching style, Seger was being mentioned in the same breath as Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty when it came to traditional American rock and roll.

In 1978, Seger released Stranger in Town, and it is a consistently pleasing album that has not lost any of its punch through the years. Coming sandwiched between Night Moves and Against the Wind, I have always felt it has been a little lost in the shuffle when considering his work.  However, there is not a weak track on it, and all of Seger's trademark styles are represented here.

It opens with the thunderous 'Hollywood Nights' and it is highly reminiscent of other Seger rockers such as 'Rock and Roll Never Forgets' from Night Moves and 'Even Now' from The Distance.  His masterful acoustic style is represented on 'Still the Same' and it fits nicely with other similar songs in his catalogue like 'Against the Wind.'

Still, there are other songs that make the album stand out.  For anybody who has ever felt unappreciated by their employer, there is the working man's anthem 'Feel Like a Number.'  For those who were chafing under the popularity of disco in the late 70s, 'Old Time Rock and Roll' felt like a life preserver back then, and it still holds up today.  'We've Got Tonight' and 'The Famous Final Scene' are tremendous ballads that exude warmth in a way that is rare on a mainstream rock and roll album.

Seger brings fire and fury on this album, and if it is not in your collection, it should be.

Tom Petty showed he could solo on 'Full Moon Fever'

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was one of the most important bands to emerge from the 1970s. Playing clean and simple rock and roll influenced by The Byrds, the band was the antithesis of what the genre was becoming in that decade. Rock and roll was becoming bland and corporate, and those are two adjectives that could never be applied to the band.

In 1989, Petty released his first solo album Full Moon Fever. Though it was not totally a solo album (Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell was a co-producer of it), most of the album was unlike his previous work. The two most familiar tracks 'Free Fallin' and 'I Won't Back Down' sound like they could have been done by the Heartbreakers. After that, there were surprises.

The Electric Light Orchestra's Jeff Lynne was also a co-producer of the album. He brought his patented airtight production that he had also applied to albums by George Harrison and Roy Orbison around this time. Lynne was going through a period in which he seemed to have developed a Midas touch when producing other people's work. Petty benefited from that.

'Running Down a Dream' is a beautiful rocker that contains stinging guitar so sharp that it could draw blood. 'The Apartment Song' is almost Buddy Holly-ish in its sound. 'A Mind with a Heart of its Own' has absurdist lyrics that are laugh out loud funny.

However, the best song may be 'Zombie Zoo,' which closes the album. The song has whimsical lyrics that bring back warm memories for me. The album was released while I was in college, and this song's lyrics remind me of the group of people that were referred to as 'Goths' or 'Gothic' during that period. They may still be referred to as that for all I know. They typically wore black and had chalk-like complexions. Girls often wore lipstick and makeup that were black.

That whole group of people seemed to be so pretentious and self-aggrandizing that I could not help but find them funny. I liked to refer to them as The Undead. For me, 'Zombie Zoo’' does a nice job of lampooning those folks.

It is hard to believe it has been more than 20 years since this album was released. It sounds as vibrant as it did then. If it is not part of your collection, consider getting it.

What is spinning in my CD player these days?

Here are some tasty songs I am listening to that you might want to check out (if you have not already):

'Salt of the Earth' -- The Rolling Stones
'Dead Flowers' -- The Rolling Stones
'Shine a Light' -- The Rolling Stones
'Surrender' -- Cheap Trick
'Across the Great Divide' -- The Band
'Whispering Pines' -- The Band
'Something in the Air' -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
'San Francisco Bay Blues' -- Eric Clapton
'True Love Ways' -- Buddy Holly
'Here Comes the Sun' -- The Beatles
'Take Me with U' -- Prince and the Revolution