Foghat’s ‘Boogie Motel’ arrived between the death of disco and the coming of new wave and sounded like a lot like the Eagles, well, that was my first impression, but it was definitely a big change for Foghat with a calculated move towards pop and even more noticeably Southern rock.
Written by: Eric
ARTIST: Foghat
ALBUM: Boogie Motel
LABEL: Bearsville
SERIAL: BHS 6990
YEAR: 1979
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England, USA
LINEUP: Dave Peverett – guitar, vocals * Rod Price – lead & slide guitar * Craig MacGregor – bass * Roger Earl – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Somebody’s Been Sleepin’ In My Bed * 02 Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was A Fool) * 03 Comin’ Down With Love * 04 Paradise Alley * 05 Boogie Motel * 06 Love In Motion * 07 Nervous Release
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
I can still remember the first time I heard Foghat’s 1977 album ‘Live’. It was in my High School’s ‘listening room’ and I liked the die-cut sleeve, noticed the band’s logo on a lot of black T-shirts and was familiar with ‘Slow Ride’ so I gave it scratchy spin. What I heard changed everything and in fifteen minutes I understood. Beneath the rumbling bass and thick wedges of blues based boogie was a bare bones hard rock outfit that wrote good time songs and understood the art of the pop hook.
From the inner sleeve photos, I found Foghat loved their mustaches, women and booze, but the inevitable back tracking through the band’s (at the time) six album deep catalog was a shocker. The energy I heard on ‘Live’ was noticeably missing and while ‘Fool For The City’ and 1974’s ‘Rock And Roll Outlaws’ had their moments, I was left severely disappointed.
The Songs
All was not lost as 1978’s ‘Stone Blue’ was a step up in my opinion and Foghat reached their peak of popularity with the album while headlining America’s biggest hockey arenas and baseball stadiums. The record’s title track made some headway on AM radio and it was inevitable Foghat would be forced into changing their beer swilling boogie into something a little more palatable for changing radio station formats.
‘Boogie Motel’ arrived between the death of disco and the coming new wave and sounded like a lot like the Eagles. Well, that was my first impression, but was definitely a big change for Foghat with a calculated move towards pop and even more noticeably Southern rock.
Opener ‘Somebody’s Been Sleepin’ In My Bed’ could almost pass for boy-howdy 38. Special while ‘Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was a Fool)’ is almost unrecognizable as Foghat although it did give the band a sizable and yes-deserved hit single.
‘Comin’ Down With Love’ hints at Foghat of old but lacks the hard English blues wallop of their early material and the same can be said of the title cut as well as the paint-by-numbers closer ‘Nervous Release’, leaving me once again like so many Foghat studio albums before it, waiting for a train that never arrives.
In Summary
From here the speed of Foghat’s decline was lightning fast and astounding. ‘Tight Shoes’, 1980’s stab at new wave was as embarrassing as it was irrelevant and further releases are hardly worth the effort to track down.
Years ago I saw Foghat from a distance unaware they were appearing at a Barbecue festival of some sort somewhere. While sampling some tasty ribs, I could hear the band in the background who I believe had only one original member. Nothing I heard made me want to put down my plate and move towards the stage.
I left before the set was over which sums up my relationship with Foghat, just a taste is more than enough.
Foghat on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
