Both Joe Pasquale’s ‘Prey’ and ‘Ricochet’ are worth landing, though this one, is a shade lighter than its predecessor.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Joe Pasquale
ALBUM: Ricochet
LABEL: Pioneer Japan
SERIAL: PICP-1017
YEAR: 1994
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Joe Pasquale – lead and backing vocals, bass, keyboards * Les Pierce – bass, keyboards, drums * Steve Lukather, Bruce Gaitsch, Sheldon Reynolds, Peter Rafelson, Roger Sullins – guitars * Kenny Wild, Lance Morrison – bass * Rick Marotta – drums * Paulinho Da Costa – percussion * Mark Russo – sax * Maxine & Julia Waters, Bambie & Brandie Jones, Dawn Thomas – backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Time Will Never Know * 02 Tell Me.. Stay The Night * 03 Test My Love * 04 O Let It Be Written * 05 Tell Me Something Good * 06 Ricochet * 07 Nikki * 08 As Long As I Have You * 09 Sometimes * 10 Person To Person * 11 Someday We’ll Be Together
WEBLINKS: NA
Background
This musician of French origins seems to have all the connections in the right places. And they all seem to be based in Los Angeles.
People may remember his great introduction in 1991 courtesy of his album ‘Prey’. Seemingly coming from nowhere, Joe Pasquale landed with a big name ticket (MCA) and a few terrific songs to boot.
Well I say nowhere, but Joe’s immediate history prior to ‘Prey’ was with the R&B duo Boys Club, alongside Gene Hunt (aka Eugene Wolfgramm previously of the 80’s pop outfit The Jets). They were based in Minneapolis.
We weren’t quite sure what happened to Joe after that, perhaps lost in the corporate (should I say grunge) shuffle, but in any case, he managed to come up with another album ‘Ricochet’ a few years later, though it appears only on a Japanese label, though I do stand corrected if it received a domestic release elsewhere.
Many of the same partners in crime return for round two, including Bruce Gaitsch and Steve Lukather. Where would a west-coast styled album be without those two cats somewhere in the mix?
The Songs
If I was gonna throw a blanket over it, I would mention one name and hope that you would get it. Anyone remember Roscoe Martinez? A budding AOR artist with a latin flavour, who released his self-titled album back in 1995.
‘Ricochet’ has a similar vibe about it, particularly the funkier tunes. Whether its the lead-off track ‘Time Will Never Know’ all the way down to the hi-tech percussive ‘Person To Person’, you can imagine this album would be a good fit in a Miami Nightclub back in the 80’s or 90’s.
There are a number of change-up moments that colour the album up. ‘Test My Love’ has a touch of Richard Marx about it, ‘So Let It Be Written’ is a breathy atmospheric affair, while ‘Nikki’ is a balladic tale of a young girl growing up too fast.
My favourite track here is the sublime semi-acoustic ‘As Long As I Have You’, soaked in melodrama and emotion. To round things out is a cover of the Diana Ross and The Supremes hit ‘Someday We’ll Be Together’, and pretty enjoyable it is too I will admit.
In Summary
Both Joe Pasquale’s ‘Prey’ and ‘Ricochet’ are worth landing, though this one, is a shade lighter than its predecessor. Again, just like a wraith, Pasquale disappeared like a bullet without trace after this album, though someone did mention he was involved in another project called Leopold Bloom.
However, no trace of that project has surfaced across the web. He has also been sighted producing and arranging on other projects since then, such as west coast/jazz artist Mark Winkler. Joe Pasquale, wherever you are, if you are ever get to read this, then a life history of your musical career is in order.
Joe Pasquale on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
