Dan Reed Network

horse

This is worth a watch if you liked them at the time

CountryDave

Saw them a few times back then. Great band.

Philly_Q

They didn't even have colour TV in those days.

Lebarque

First proper gig I went to, as a 14-yr old kid: DRN supporting Bon Jovi on the New Jersey tour at Wembley Arena. Tiger in a dress and all that..

horse

Lebarque said:

First proper gig I went to, as a 14-yr old kid: DRN supporting Bon Jovi on the New Jersey tour at Wembley Arena. Tiger in a dress and all that..

That's the only time I saw them. At the NEC supporting bon Jovi on the 2nd pass through on the new jersey tour. The year before the support was meant to be Lita ford, but for some reason it was Shy instead.. DRN were a bit better

Kebabkid

I've seen them many times from when they first come out up until recently (year or so) when they supported Extreme and they still had it - DR is a superb frontman.

They're excellent and they did the rock-funk-pop thing so well. I remember at the time thinking this was exactly the style of music I wanted to play in a band.

One small observation, whilst I really like their guitarist, Brion James, in this footage, you can hear the thump and roar of his Marshall stack which was the perfect foil against the funk bass and electronica of the keys. Oh, and what a drummer they had back then! When I saw them last, BJ (oops) was using a Kemper, and IMHO, it just didn't sound as good as his sound in the past. It was thin, artificial and very processed. It might have been a bad sound night, dunno, but go back and listen to those first few albums. Oh, and once again, I think Nile Rodgers' producing talents appeared on at least one album.

 

thomasross20

Wow I vaguely recollect hearing about this band ... great music!

Majorscale

Lebarque said:

First proper gig I went to, as a 14-yr old kid: DRN supporting Bon Jovi on the New Jersey tour at Wembley Arena. Tiger in a dress and all that..

Wow, I was at that gig too! I think it was my second proper gig!

Vibetronic

Great band, also saw them with Extreme and late last year at the Fleece doing their own show. 

Philly_Q

Kebabkid said:

Oh, and once again, I think Nile Rodgers' producing talents appeared on at least one album.
 

You're right, he did the second album, Slam.  The first and third were produced by Bruce Fairbairn.

At the time I thought the first album had the best songs, the second had the best sound and the third was rather bland.. then I gave up on them.  Haven't listened to any of them for many, many years though.

I honestly can't remember if ever saw them live.  If they played the Marquee or the Astoria between 1988 and 1991 then I probably did, otherwise probably not.

horse

Kebabkid said:

I've seen them many times from when the first come out up until recently (year or so) when they supported Extreme and they still had it - DR is a superb frontman.

They're excellent and they did the rock-funk-pop so well. I remember at the time, this was exactly the style of music I wanted to play in a band.

One small observation, whilst I really like their guitarist, Brion James, in this footage, you can hear the thump and roar of his Marshall stack which was the perfect foil against the funk bass and electronica of the keys. Oh, and what a drummer they had back then! When I saw them last, BJ (oops) was using a Kemper, and IMHO, it just didn't sound as good as his sound in the past. It was thin, artificial and very processed. It might have been a bad sound night, dunno, but go back and listen to those first few albums. Oh, and once again, I think Nile Rodgers' producing talents appeared on at least one album.

 

Yeah, I thought the guitar had a great 'big' roar in that clip. Never realised Nile Rogers produced Slam.

horse

Philly_Q said:

Kebabkid said:

Oh, and once again, I think Nile Rodgers' producing talents appeared on at least one album.
 

You're right, he did the second album, Slam.  The first and third were produced by Bruce Fairbairn.

At the time I thought the first album had the best songs, the second had the best sound and the third was rather bland.. then I gave up on them.  Haven't listened to any of them for many, many years though.

I honestly can't remember if ever saw them live.  If they played the Marquee or the Astoria between 1988 and 1991 then I probably did, otherwise probably not.

I bought Slam first, then got the debut, then the 3rd when it came out. I found the first to be a bit too soft for my tastes. Slam had a great atmosphere to my ears, and I really liked the epic and varied 3rd one.

EricTheWeary

Ooh I've got the Slam album somewhere, I should dig it out. The chap I knew who played in Christian rock bands encouraged me to buy it as I remember it. If it has any religious content it passed me by. 
Funk rock was a happening thing - Roachford, Living Colour, Power Station and others. I guess deeply uncool when grunge and Brit Pop hit. 

horse

EricTheWeary said:

Ooh I've got the Slam album somewhere, I should dig it out. The chap I knew who played in Christian rock bands encouraged me to buy it as I remember it. If it has any religious content it passed me by. 
Funk rock was a happening thing - Roachford, Living Colour, Power Station and others. I guess deeply uncool when grunge and Brit Pop hit. 

Its funny, I remember thinking the single Mix It Up off their 3rd album was disappointing at the time / too lightweight, but on the gig above there were moments on that track where the vocals and guitar reminded me of Faith No More.

Kebabkid

Some friends caught them at the 100 Club last year and said that was a great gig and superb atmosphere. It must've been nice to see them in such a small and intimate club.

Dan Reed also did a couple of duo, acoustic gigs with Danny Vaughan of Tyketto (and one of the big Eagle tribute bands) and they, too, were meant to be great.

horse

I've got a feeling Geepers who doesn't tend to come on here any more supported him at a solo London gig at some point.

Philly_Q

horse said:

EricTheWeary said:

Ooh I've got the Slam album somewhere, I should dig it out. The chap I knew who played in Christian rock bands encouraged me to buy it as I remember it. If it has any religious content it passed me by. 
Funk rock was a happening thing - Roachford, Living Colour, Power Station and others. I guess deeply uncool when grunge and Brit Pop hit. 

Its funny, I remember thinking the single Mix It Up off their 3rd album was disappointing at the time / too lightweight, but on the gig above there were moments on that track where the vocals and guitar reminded me of Faith No More.

They were always a bit of a borderline band for me - I really liked the heavier, guitar-driven tracks but some of the others were just too lightweight and sugary.  I can't stand Rainbow Child, for example.

I'm usually someone who plays whole albums but I would definitely skip tracks on DRN records.  Stevie Salas Colorcode were very similar.  Maybe it's something about funk rock...

horse

Philly_Q said:

horse said:

EricTheWeary said:

Ooh I've got the Slam album somewhere, I should dig it out. The chap I knew who played in Christian rock bands encouraged me to buy it as I remember it. If it has any religious content it passed me by. 
Funk rock was a happening thing - Roachford, Living Colour, Power Station and others. I guess deeply uncool when grunge and Brit Pop hit. 

Its funny, I remember thinking the single Mix It Up off their 3rd album was disappointing at the time / too lightweight, but on the gig above there were moments on that track where the vocals and guitar reminded me of Faith No More.

They were always a bit of a borderline band for me - I really liked the heavier, guitar-driven tracks but some of the others were just too lightweight and sugary.  I can't stand Rainbow Child, for example.

I'm usually someone who plays whole albums but I would definitely skip tracks on DRN records.  Stevie Salas Colorcode were very similar.  Maybe it's something about funk rock...

I liked that colorcode album too - quite hendrixy as I recall

Kebabkid

I know what you mean on all of those albums.

Steve Salas's solo stuff was decent and I really like this one

Philly_Q

I only had the first Colorcode album.  Stand Up, Blind, Two Bullets And A Gun, The Harder They Come and Cover Me are tremendous, but the other tracks I'm not so keen on.

Vibetronic

there's some other stuff that's worth digging out too - their first thing was an EP called 'Star Turn', and they did a new album this decade called 'Fight Another Day' which reworks some of the stuff from that EP. Last year they released another album, 'Origins', which reworks some of the stuff from DRN through to The Heat, plus a few more originals (which are great). There used to be a fan site out there somewhere which had all the B-sides, the post-Heat demos etc on which are also worth checking out. Plus Dan Reed has a load of his own solo albums, but they are more singer-songwriter/acoustic type stuff. The and Brion James (guitar) did a solo album called 'Snorkel Test' or something, and their current keyboard player Rob Daiker has a very fine solo pop album out, although I can't remember what it's called. One of my favourite bands ever.