February 14, 2022

1990 - February: Damn Yankees “Damn Yankees”

43 minutes

Damn Yankees is the debut album from the supergroup of the same name. Damn Yankees features Tommy Shaw of Styx on guitars and vocals, Jack Blades from Night Ranger is on bass and vocals, Ted Nugent is on guitars and vocals, and Michael Cartellone is on percussion and vocals. Cartellone was a relative unknown musician at the time, but he is now playing drums for the band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

A&R's John Kalodner is credited with getting the band together. At the time Shaw was in and out of Styx, Blades was available after Night Ranger dissolved, and Nugent was in a lull in his solo work. Nugent and Shaw were the first brought together, and this might seem like an unusual pairing given their previous work. However the two bonded very quickly over their appreciation for R&B, soul, and Motown music.

Blades and Shaw took the lion's share of lead vocal duties on this album, and the pair complemented each other. Both had extensive experience harmonizing with others in their previous bands, and this carried over to Damn Yankees.

Their debut album would be successful, led by the rock ballad "High Enough" which would hit number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. A second album would be released in 1992 which would be less successful than the first. After this second album Nugent would concentrate on his solo work. Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades would produce a couple of albums under the name Shaw Blades, but would soon return to their respective groups (Shaw to Styx, Blades to Night Ranger).

Guest contributor John Lynch joins us for this podcast.

Damn Yankees

This is the title song off the album, and a deeper cut. You get a lot of Ted Nugent's guitar work on this one. All songs were a collaborative effort, with Blades, Shaw, and Nugent receiving writing credits.

Coming of Age

According to Songfacts, Tommy Shaw began plunking out the opening riff on piano when the group was working at Jack Blades House. Blades came up with the opening lines of lyrics, and the group moved to guitars to jam out the rest organically. Blades takes lead vocal duties here, with Shaw providing high harmonies.

Runaway

This song is somewhat of a deeper cut, as it was the fourth single from the album. It is, as the name suggests, a song about a young runaway who lives on the streets of the city. It hit number 9 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, but did not make the Billboard Hot 100.

Come Again

Tommy Shaw takes lead vocal duties on this song, and it has a sound reminiscent of some of this work with Styx. It is about about a girl to whom the guy can't seem to leave behind..

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

Theme from the television series "Mission Impossible"

The television series reboot inspired by the Tom Cruise movies ended in February 1990.

STAFF PICKS:

Kickstart My Heart by Motley Crue

Wayne kickstarts the staff picks with The Crue off the album "Dr. Feelgood." This song was supposedly inspired by an incident when Nikki Sixx overdosed, and the paramedic injected adrenaline into his heart. This metal song made it to number 27 on the pop charts.

Dangerous by Roxette

John features Swedish duo Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle. Both Fredriksson and Gessle were successful solo artists before coming together to join Roxette. The group toured until 2016 when Fredriksson was diagnosed with brain cancer. She passed in 2019.

Black Velvet by Alannah Myles

"Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell. Jimmy Rogers on the Victrola up high." Rob's staff pick is a sultry blues number with a shuffle beat. Songwriters Christopher Ward and David Tyson wrote this in homage to Elvis Presley. Myles' single came out in December 1989, and Robin Lee's country cover appeared shortly thereafter.

I Wish It Would Rain Down by Phil Collins

Bruce's staff pick is a ballad from Collin's 1989 album "...But Seriously". Eric Clapton plays lead guitar. The song is about a lost relationship, though Collins said in an interview that it "is about a frustrated weatherman that regularly predicts rain showers but never gets it right." We'll let you be the judge on the accuracy of that interpretation.

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:

Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson

Guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson takes us out with his big instrumental hit which was on the charts at the time, and would become even more famous on the video game Guitar Hero.

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By Rob Marbury, Wayne Rowan, Bruce Fricks, John Lynch

4.9

4747 ratings