New Wave Outpost Forum

Here's a little band you might not have heard of (or perhaps you have)

Fire Inc. was a band crated by Jim Steinman for the 1984 film 'Streets of Fire'

<img src="http://image.com.com/mp3/images/cover/200/drf300/f351/f35101dz5c6.jpg">

In the film, the band consisted of members from the band Face to Face (Remember their 1984 hit '10-9-8') and Face to Face lead singer Laurie Sargent provided the vocals for a lip synching Diane Lane

Their only hit 'Tonight is What it Means to Be Young' made it to #80 on the Billboard charts, but it is IMO an amazing song, a near 7 minute track. The sound clip I had didn't do the song justice, so I posted two soundclips to showcase this excellent track! The second clip showcases the instrumental break in the song, which is what made this song one of my favourites! [:)]

Click one to hear it:

<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/fitinight/fitinight.WMA">Tonight is What it Means to Be Young - Clip 1</A>

<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/fireinctonight2/fireinctonight2.WMA">Tonight is What it Means to Be Young - Clip 2</A>

Also in the film, is another Fire Inc. track called 'Nowhere Fast'. It wasn't a hit, but it is a great one also. Meatloaf had a hit with it in late '84

<A HREF="http://dw.com.com/redir?ltype=sclip&siteid=31&edid=3&asId=341975&astId=12&ptId=&ontid=49&ttag=&lop=&orderId=&destURL=http%3A%2F%2Fsg1.allmusic.com%2Fcg%2Fsmp.dll%3Flink%3Dnq7y6owzelbvtjrpxcuz5i5%26z%3DMP3%26r%3D20.asx">Fire Inc - Nowhere Fast - Sound Clip</A>

that is a cool song, if ya like Jim Steinman... which I do. I did NOT realize however that Fire Inc. was basically Face to Face. I have their album with 10-9-8 on vinyl.

Wasn't there also a project under the name Pandora's Box?

[quote][i]Originally posted by zalasta[/i]
<br>that is a cool song, if ya like Jim Steinman... which I do. I did NOT realize however that Fire Inc. was basically Face to Face. I have their album with 10-9-8 on vinyl.

Wasn't there also a project under the name Pandora's Box?

[/quote]

In the film, Fire Inc is Face to Face and the band members themselves portray fictional band 'The Attackers'. Laurie Sargent also provides the voice for every song in the film as lip synched by Diane Lane. On the soundtrack, Laurie only appears on the song 'Nowhere Fast'. Two singers by the names of Holly Sherwood and Rory Dodd provide the vocals for 'Tonight is what it Means to Be Young'

Pandoras Box was made up of members from the Soundtrack version of Fire Inc (Holly Sherwood) and also featured Ellen Foley, whom sang with Meatloaf in the 70's and also appeared on the sitcom Night Court [:)]

cool, cool. And Rory Dodd also sang on Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart", I believe. The "turn around, bright eyes" parts.

[quote][i]Originally posted by zalasta[/i]
<br>cool, cool. And Rory Dodd also sang on Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart", I believe. The "turn around, bright eyes" parts.


[/quote]

He sure did. One Jim Steinman song leads to another [:)]

[quote][i]Originally posted by whistledog[/i]
Ellen Foley, whom sang with Meatloaf in the 70's and also appeared on the sitcom Night Court [:)]
[/quote]

Ellen Foley also had a good solo career with 3 fairly good albums - Night Out produced by Mick Ronson & Ian Hunter, and her last lp Spirt if St. Louis which was produced by her boyfriend Mick Jones of the Clash. She appears on the Clash's Sandanista album & sings lead on the track Hitsville UK.

She is also one of the big haired mafia wives in Married to the Mob.

Was Ellen the original singer on Paradise by the Dashboard Lights or was Karla DeVito? I know one did the album and one went on tour with him.

Glad some else digs this tune. The utter theatrics of the Jim Steinman lyrics coupled with the Meatloafesque production ambiance really hooked me on this tune. But it is sooo not NW IMO. Funny it garnered a thread in this forum. Kudos for mustering the courage to post it here.[:0][;)]

P.S. The movie soundtrack does have a great NW track 'Deeper And Deeper' by The Fixx

[quote][i]Originally posted by 2Nu[/i]
<br>Glad some else digs this tune. The utter theatrics of the Jim Steinman lyrics coupled with the Meatloafesque production ambiance really hooked me on this tune. But it is sooo not NW IMO. Funny it garnered a thread in this forum. Kudos for mustering the courage to post it here.[:0][;)]

P.S. The movie soundtrack does have a great NW track 'Deeper And Deeper' by The Fixx
[/quote]

What makes it not new wave? I wouldn't call it pop or rock music [:)]

[quote][i]Originally posted by whistledog[/i]
What makes it not new wave? I wouldn't call it pop or rock music [:)]
[/quote]Its NW only if you wish to broaden the definition of the genre to include any choice track from 'Bat Out Of Hell' [:0]

[quote][i]Originally posted by 2Nu[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by whistledog[/i]
What makes it not new wave? I wouldn't call it pop or rock music [:)]
[/quote]Its NW only if you wish to broaden the definition of the genre to include any choice track from 'Bat Out Of Hell' [:0]
[/quote]

are you kidding.. Bat Out of Hell is sooo NW [:p]

[quote][i]Originally posted by WolverineSyr[/i]
Ellen Foley also had a good solo career with 3 fairly good albums - Night Out produced by Mick Ronson & Ian Hunter, and her last lp Spirt if St. Louis which was produced by her boyfriend Mick Jones of the Clash.[/quote]

"Another Breath" was her last one in '83 ("St. Louis" came in between). It wasn't especially memorable. In fact, other than the single, "Boys in the Attic," I don't really remember anything off it.

I met Stu Kimball, Face to Face's guitarist, back around '83 or '84. They were a lot more popular in Boston than they were in the rest of the country, and more or less remained that way even when they were without a record label. They had a terrible identity crisis, though. Could never decide what they wanted to be, and Epic Records and Arthur Baker were obviously taking them in directions they didn't want to go. (The "Rapture" rip-off, "Under the Gun," was a low point.) Too bad Bands Reunited never got to reunite them -- even if they never really broke up.

Another Breath was pretty unmemorable except for Boys in the Attic and a cover of Robert Palmert's Johnny & Mary. I thought that was her second album - but I'm always wrong about these things![:)]

I lived in Boston when Face to Face were big - I liked them, thought Under the Gun was a great song. I never paid much attention to their other songs though - I will need to check them out!

Count me among those who LOVE "Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young". I also bought the Pandora's Box CD since I'm a huge fan of Jim Steinman. It actually has a good version of "It's All Coming Back To Me Now", one of the few Celine Dion songs I really like (mostly because I like the songwriter so much). I guess I just really get into Steinman's bombastic shoot-a-cannon-off-every-five-seconds style. "Bat Out Of Hell", NW or not, is one of my all-time favorite albums, and I'd say the last track "For Crying Out Loud" may be my all-time favorite song (despite the unfortunately lyric "Can't you see my faded Levis busting apart") [8D]

You know it's funny, I always though Fire Inc. sounded a lot like Meat Loaf, but I never knew there was a connection.

That was the problem with Arthur Baker - I liked him, but most of his stuff sounded very similar regardless of the act he was producing.