Last and certainly not least we have Manchester’s Strutz (Vol.1), a band who stayed together longer than the rest and even got around to recording a nine track LP, even if it was on their own label and was limited to five hundred copies, most of which were destroyed in a fire! Formed in the mid-80s and featuring guitarists Graeme Wood and Dave Hellon, bassist Alan Harter, keyboardist Geoff Potts and drummer Andy Davies, the band recorded singles with different singers before finding the excellent Noel Fraser, who appears on their album. Their sound was a little more original than some of their ilk, mixing Fraser’s Jaime St James/Jack Blades tones with big guitars, some staccato arrangements and the huge virtuoso synths of Geoff Potts. ‘Late Nights’ is a brilliant upbeat opener complete with a Gregg Giuffria-style intro and riffy guitars, whilst ‘Heartache’ and ‘Alright Mama’ are also cut from the same cloth, but there’s plenty of variety with the moody ‘Danger’, the old-school pomp of ‘Sweet Dreamer’ and the infectious ‘What You Gonna Do’ – watch out for that Aldo Nova steal during the instrumental bit!
01 – Late Nights
02 – Danger
03 – Breakaway
04 – Never Surrender
05 – What You Gonna Do
06 – Blame It On You
07 – Sweet Dreamer
08 – Alright Mama
09 – Heartache
10 – Mixed Emotions (Bonus)
11 – Come Back (Bonus)
12 – I Still Love You (Bonus)
13 – Won’t Cry (Bonus)
Noel Fraser (vocals)
Graeme Wood (guitar)
Dave Hellon (guitar)
Alan Harter (bass)
Geoff Potts (keyboards)
Andy Davies (drums)
Tex Alexander (add. vocals)
Karen Sambrook (add. vocals)