There was a time when the name Steppenwolf was synonymous
with rock ‘n’ roll rebellion. With hits and significant movie soundtrack and album
cuts such as “Born to be Wild,” “Magic Carpet Ride” and “The Pusher”
Steppenwolf led by charismatic frontman John Kay ruled the airwaves in the late
1960s and early 1970s.
Unfortunately, success could not be sustained and the group
fell apart and broke up in 1972. But through fits and starts, Steppenwolf would
regroup and disband again and again over the course of the next decade plus.
But with the proviso that the only original member of the band in each
incarnation would be gravelly voiced crooner Kay.
Rolling, or panting, into 1987, the group now booked as John
Kay & Steppenwolf entered a new
phase of their career. Perhaps inspired by the successful reunions of other
veteran rock groups such as Aerosmith, Deep Purple and others in the 1980s or
out just to re-establish his legal rights to the name Steppenwolf, John Kay
decided to give it another try. Along with noted Hollywood session guitarist
Rocket Ritchotte, keyboardist Michael Wilk and, allegedly, drummer Ron Hurst,
Kay and the group put together “Rock & Roll Rebels” in 1987.
In a curious development, Kay and Steppenwolf did not sign
with a major label for “Rock & Roll Rebels,” but instead decided out of principle
or by necessity to use Qwil Music as the label, which was distributed through
K-tel International, the infamous “As Seen on TV” purveyor of “20 Great Hits
sung by 20 Great Artists” type compilation albums. But the contradiction of a
once-ultra-cool, cutting-edge rock act on the kitschy television record label
mostly featured in commercials
during the “The
Midnight Special” and “Don Kirshner’s
Rock Concert” seemed a perfect-fit for the schizophrenic 80s, when First Lady
Nancy Reagan preached “just say no” to drugs in the midst of the crack cocaine epidemic.
In any event, the actual album “Rock & Roll Rebels” has
a decidedly upbeat, fight-the-good-fight vibe in resistance to the jaded, seen-it-all
ambiance that had taken hold by 1987. On “Give Me Life,” Kay and crew exhort us
to grab some fun and not let the good times pass us by without grabbing all you
can—you need to be bold. Ritchotte does some nice soloing and quick-fingered
fretwork on this song. Even though online sources now list Ron Hurst as the
drummer on this album, I’m pretty sure it’s actually a drum machine. This idea
is reinforced when I recall seeing advertisements in the Los Angeles Times
Calendar section showing only Kay, Ritchotte and Wilk for a local show.
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| John Kay circa 1972. Photo credit: Affendaddy / Foter / Creative Commons -NonCommercial- ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) |
An anthem for those who have a chip on their shoulders
against naysayers is “Hold on (Never Give up, Never Give in),” or what I like
to think of as the Galaxy Quest song.
While risking clichéd sentiment, Kay earnestly sings the chorus of “Hold on,
never give up, never give in | Stay young and believe in your chance to win.”
For those everywhere who have ever heard the wolf at the door at 3 a.m., these
are powerful words indeed to steel your nerve and harden your resolve to
triumph against incredible odds.
A most interesting track on the album is “Give me News I can
Use,” which seems to completely encapsulate everything that made the Crazy 80s,
with its literary device of an early evening newscast and highly improbable but
very plausible incidents: a train hijacker is shot dead by a midget G-man dressed
like Donald Duck at Disney World, the referee was crucified and tore limb from
limb at a playoff game. Kay would have shown these live but they will have film
at 5. Seems completely reminiscent of news anchor Jerry Dunphy coming on
KABC-TV L.A. Channel 7 during the 10:30 station break breathlessly pumping the
trainwreck story of the day, punctuated with the motivating “film at 11” signoff. Who could resist watching?
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In 1970, Steppenwolf was on par
with Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Photo credit: brizzle born and bred / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution- NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0) |
While you will not find any howling, leather-lunged rockers
in the spirit of “Born to be Wild” on “Rock & Roll Rebels” it is a
divergent platter that went against the hedonism-for-its-own-sake grain of the
Decade of Reagan. Speaking of platters, if you are into collector’s items or
just like the warm sound of analog records, the Steppenwolf staff recently
found some long out-of-print
vinyl copies of “Rock & Roll Rebels.” It might be a good investment as
well as good listening! Otherwise, you’d need to buy the CD reissue “Feed the
Fire” on
Amazon.
-Derek Handova
Appreciative Listener
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