Despite the group’s lack of fame and fortune, you can always find great music in the Legs Diamond discography – ‘Town Bad Girl’ is no exception.
Written by: Jeff Duran q
ARTIST: Legs Diamond
ALBUM: Town Bad Girl
LABEL: Metal Blade
SERIAL: 9 26362-2
YEAR: 1990
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Rick Sanford – lead vocals * Roger Romeo – lead guitar, backing vocals * Michael Prince – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Mike Christie – bass, backing vocals * Dusty Watson – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Town Bad Girl * 02 City Streets * 03 Stagefright * 04 World On Fire * 05 Can’t Get To You * 06 Never Enough Time * 07 Look In Her Eyes * 08 Painkiller * 09 Cry No More * 10 I Am For You * 11 She Did It For Love * 12 Nervous * 13 Heaven Or Hell
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Legs Diamond’s hits and misses are well documented here on GDM so I shall spare the background details as this bands’ legendary status is well deserved. The only element you may not be aware is most of the band’s catalog – all 11 releases – (some have been out of print for many years) are now available from iTunes, CD Baby and the group’s official website.
I had the pleasure of being reintroduced to this excellent band a couple years back by way of my comedy manager Teddy Heavens (who has been instrumental in helping the band’s catalogue get re-released). At the time Teddy happened to be working with Roger Romeo on some material for his band Rebel Rebel. Roger attended one of my comedy shows and invited me out to open for Legs Diamond when they played ‘Paladinos’ – a rock club in San Fernando Valley of California.
Unfortunately I never saw Rick Sanford live, but Johnny Levesque did a fabulous job covering the classic Legs Diamond cuts with an amazing amount of energy and conviction. As a thank you for opening the show, the band were very cool to make sure to service me with all of the releases up to that point.
Kinda surreal having an AOR legend like Michael Prince taking time after the show to get all the cd’s out of his leather bag. Over the next couple of weeks I listened to each release attentively and couldn’t believe how many great songs these cats have. My favourite releases are probably not popular choices amongst hard core fans and were not very successful at the box office either – 1984’s excellent ‘Out On Bail’ (Sorry Roger) and 1990’s attempted ‘comeback’ of sorts ‘Town Bad Girl’.
By this time in the Legs Diamond saga, the head of Metal Blade Records, Brian Slagel, was aware of their loyal fans base and acknowledged Diamond’s influence on several bands of the day – this coupled with the fact Roger Romeo was back onboard ignited a renewed enthusiasm for the ‘underworld kings’. Legs Diamond attempted a new sleazy image (album cover aside) and tried to win over a new generation of fans!
The Songs
‘Town Bad Girl’ – Things kick off on a high note as the title track is a straight ahead rocker with an infectious hook and chorus that is similar to Ted Nugent‘s forgotten ‘Bound and Gagged’ but much better musically and lyrically.
‘City Streets’ – Thumping bass lines set the tone for another decent rocker which benefits from another strong chorus and Sanford’s golden throat.
‘Stage Fright’ – A reworking of their 1977 classic probably didn’t appease die hard fans as it’s an inferior cover to say the least. Legs probably wanted younger fans to hear what they missed in the group’s glory daze, if anything it’s a firm reminder to older fans of how great those Daze were musically.
‘World On Fire’ – Finally Prince’s keys enter the picture and they are well appreciated. Another decent track but kind of meanders a bit IMHO.
‘Can’t Get You (Out Of My Mind)’ – Out of this world keyboard/guitar interplay between Romeo and Prince here. The excellent chorus pushes this beyond the cliche paint-by-numbers hard rock going on at the time.
‘Never Enough Time’ – The first ballad of the record, not sure how this missed radio in 1990 but it would have sat well alongside ballads being played at the time. Pure AOR ala 1987 era Whitesnake. Tasty stuff!
‘Look In Her Eyes’ – This should have been a big hit. Nice riff and complementing keys with Sanford’s vocal grit. Another infectious hook and standout cut.
‘Pain Killer’ – Mid-tempo rocker with a Ratt-like groove with a splash of keys. Obviously trying to compete with the hard rock of the time, but an excellent solo by Romeo here takes this above a generic hard rock track.
‘Cry No More’ – Stunning AOR which could of been lifted from ‘Out On Bail’ or ‘Land Of The Gun’ era. Extraordinary keys sweeten this album highlight.
‘I Am For You’ – Classic Legs Diamond with Sanford singing his heart out with pain and conviction. The band is on point here and to this day a fan favourite in the group’s live repertoire. The album’s single/video once again saw Diamond trying to crack into the MTV generation with little success.
‘She Did It For Love’ – Stabbing keys set the tone foe this amazing slice of AOR brilliance. Another one of Diamond’s best cuts IMHO and a personal fave that should of been a single and hit for these rock and roll survivors.
‘Nervous’ – arguably their fastest, and hardest, song on the record. Sanford’s vocal grit is offset nice but Romeo’s guitars which are blistering here. May have been a good lead-off cut IMO.
‘Heaven And Hell’ – It’s a shame the group had to include this clunker which sounds like a bad version of 80’s KISS. Weak and a shame considering some of the material found on this fairly consistent platter. We could have lived with ten good songs but considering Diamond’s track record who can really complain.
In Summary
Despite Slagel’s love for the group, Metal Blade, which had Warner Bros distribution, barely pushed this (nothing new for these ‘rock and roll gangsters’) which forced it to blow away like a dry fart. Perhaps it was a bit of bad timing too as Diamond may not have been cool enough to shake and shimmy with the likes of Axl Rose and Mark Slaughter – who were connecting with the MTV dullards at the time.
To add insult to injury (literally), a motorcycle accident prevented Sanford from joining the band on their first European tour causing further setbacks. While they may not have won over new fans here, the loyal fans have been there (especially in Texas and overseas). Despite the group’s lack of fame and fortune, you can always find great music in the Legs Diamond discography – ‘Town Bad Girl’ is no exception. Rediscover her, . she’s ‘easy’ to find once again on itunes, CD Baby and the group’s official site!
Video
I Am For You
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
