Song of the Day 10/3: Foreigner, “Urgent”
The new White House theme song.
Foreigner was among the most successful rock groups of its era, scoring 16 Top 40 hits between 1977 and 1988; nine of them reached the top 5. “Urgent” was the first single from the band’s 1981 LP “4,” which sold more than 6 million copies, while the single reached No. 4 on the Hot 100. The name was chosen because the original sextet had three Brits, including guitarist and group leader Mick Jones, and three Americans, most notably lead linger Lou Gramm.
By the time this album was recorded they were down to a quartet, having shed both their saxophone and keyboard players, so guest players were brought in for this song — Thomas Dolby on keys and the legendary Junior Walker on saxophone (the video features Mark Rivera, who joined the band soon after).
Despite global sales of more than 80 million records, Foreigner was never cool, and the band has never even been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which means one of them must have insulted Jann Wenner at some point.
Walker’s sax solo on that was probably the best in pop music history (Although the one I’d prefer to cover is Clemens’ solo in Jungleland).
I don’t know about the Rolling Stone hypothesis, but as someone who listened to a lot of music between 1977 and 1988, I agree – Foreigner was never cool.
It was like rock for people who don’t like rock.
Which added up to a lot of people.
I think they went on tour a few years back with their Brothers in Uncool, Styx and REO Speedwagon.