HOW DID YOU DISCOVER NIGHT RANGER?


Sometime around I guess sep 82 or so I was 15, but my girlfriend at the time was 16, and she drove us when we went out on dates (at the time that was a new experience too). since she drove I used to get her to call me when she got home to make sure she made it home okay, and we'd stay on the phone an hour or so. Well, MTV was new to me at that time, maybe my eyes had set irises on it for 6 months tops. This particular night she had called me after a date and I just happened to have it on and the sound turned down to where I could just barely hear it. Being in a radio family, I had heard of NR before from Billboard, and noticed when the name came up in the screen. but the thing that got me was the video sequence (with the train, you know what I mean) and then the opening acoustic 12-string type chords which I heard instantly, and then the solid crunch when the song started to kick. I was raving by the time Gillis was marching down the aisle grinding the axe during the tune, which was of course, "Don't Tell Me you Love me". I remember I was kneeling by right up next to the screen telling her, "my god, Susan, you wouldn't believe how great this band is!!!" hell it was 2 in the morning, I couldn't even turn it up that loud. The next month I saw them on American Bandstand of all places, doing DTMYLM and , for the first time I heard "Sing Me Away". When I heard Sing me away I was hooked. Here was a band that mixed keyboards with crunch, and I was pretty much gone. Susan, BTW, was hooked too. She flipped on the tube while I was talking to here, and there ya go. Then she bought Midnight Madness AND 7 wishes before I ever even knew either one was out. Chalk one up for her... she's still a fan to this day as far as I know.

- Arthur Carawan