VIDEO
VIDEO
Hungry Eyes
Fits Ya Good
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Without a USA release, Zero One hit an impasse and in 1982 I opted to write a heavier collection of songs in hopes of graduating to a larger audience.
These songs attracted the attention of producer Stacy Heydon (Teenage Head, Sherriff) and over the next 2 years I developed the Hanover Fist project.
The song “Metal of the Night” was selected by Music Director, Eddie Van Halen as the feature song for the Universal movie “The Wild Life”. My new band Hanover Fist was immediately signed to MCA Records in Los Angeles and the Metal of the Night album was released in 1985.
The Metal of the Night album was the number one import in the UK for several weeks immediately after release however USA confidence was not strong. The 1985/86 Tipper Gore “Washington Wives” scourge against heavy metal created a sensitive and unprogressive environment for the Metal of the Night album.
Thus MCA marketing reconfigured the album with the addition of the Bryan Adams / Jim Vallance song “Fits ya good” as the new spearhead. The band name was shortened to Hanover in order to fly under the Tipper Gore radar and the album was also re-titled “Hungry Eyes”.
Hanover toured the USA extensively with high radio profile in primary markets such as Chicago, St Louis, Kansas City, Philadelphia, New York City, and Detroit.
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Metal of the Night Video
This song is one of my most successful ventures, but I would never have guessed that it would be successful when I wrote it.
After the demise of Zero One, I found work as a studio engineer at Track One Studio in Scarborough and I worked there in trade for studio time to record my own demos during off -hours. I wrote MOTH after a laboriously long session with a couple of abusive songsters. When they left the studio, I mounted my own blank reel on the recorder and started to jam on that persistent intro riff. This was one of those songs that came completely together from a writing standpoint in under an hour… it did however take almost 2 years, and the production skills of Stacy Heydon, to complete it to the form you hear on this video and on the album.
MOTN was the song that secured my recording contract with MCA Universal. The Hanover Fist album had been on the MCA desks for a couple of weeks, and we were just about ready to sign with Capital when the phone call came in from the MCA Los Angeles office. By a sequence of fortuitous events (events which I will relate in detail in a future story - keep in touch with my blog page!) Eddie Van Halen (in his role as Music Director) selected this song for a Universal movie called The Wild Life. Rightfully the Hanover Fist album was titled Metal of the Night.
This video was shot and edited in the winter of 1984, (just prior to any record deals) by Shultz Productions, a commercial film house in Toronto. It was directed by Freddie Stenger (deceased) and shot on 35 mm film with a full crew, a team of trailers, lighting trucks, and a lovely cast. The entire shoot took two full days….round the clock…The first day in Toronto took place at Fillmore’s Strip Club, and a couple of back alley locations in the downtown. The second day we shot at a steel mill in Hamilton.
The band performing on the stage in this video is made
up of Kim Hunt on drums, George Bernhardt on lead guitar, Bert Bartoletti on rhythm guitar, Gary Lalonde on bass and yours truly.
I had many memorable moments associated with this video, including a close call with hyperthermia from the outdoor back alley shooting, new understandings regarding professional dancers, and the complete thrill of being the focus of a full film cast and crew.
I have to apologize for the resolution of the video you see here. It is in fact made from a VHS recording of a television broadcast of the video. Shultz Productions went under and all ties to the original master of the video are long lost to me. I also extend many thanks to Kim Hunt for posting the video a few years back and keeping the memory of Hanover Fist alive.
Rest In Peace Freddie. Your memory will always be alive with me.
Hanover Releases
The original Hanover Fist Album
The Maze
Metal of the Night
Hungry Eyes
Don't Let it Stop
Standing Six
Fear No Evil
Rock Bottom
High Speed Roller
Lookin' for Love
Should be Rockin'
The Hungry Eyes Album
Fits Ya Good
Hungry Eyes
The Maze
Looking for Love
Standing Six
Fear No Evil
Metal of the Night
Rock Bottom
High Speed Roller
The Hanover Fist-Hanover CD
A special edition Hanover Fist - Hanover reunion show CD was made to coincide with the 2012 reunion show. A limited number of these CD's are available to fans. Please click the contact button to be in touch with me for details.
The Maze
Metal of the Night
Don't Let it Stop
Fits Ya Good
Standing Six
Fear No Evil
Rock Bottom
Looking for Love
High Speed Roller
Should be Rockin'