Foreigner – Head Games

A band at a turning point

When “Head Games” appeared in September 1979, Foreigner were still a six-piece group. Their third studio album was the first with Rick Wills on bass and the last with founding members Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood. It consequently preserves a lineup that would soon undergo a substantial change, giving the record a particular place within the band’s development rather than simply a position between two other albums.

Recording took place in New York and Hollywood during June and July. Roy Thomas Baker, known for his work with Queen, produced alongside Mick Jones and Ian McDonald. Lou Gramm sings and Dennis Elliott plays drums, while Jones’s guitar sits alongside McDonald’s guitar and keyboard contributions and Greenwood’s keyboards. Those six musicians provide the personnel framework for the songs and the different instrumental combinations within them.

Familiar singles and a different voice

“Dirty White Boy” opens the programme, and the title track begins the original LP’s second half. Both were released as singles and offer immediate points of recognition. “Love on the Telephone”, “Women” and “Seventeen” appear between them. Across ten songs, the album largely works with compact forms, allowing instrumental passages to develop inside individual tracks rather than expanding the programme into extended pieces.

“The Modern Day” has a particular distinction: Mick Jones takes the lead vocal. For that song, the voice at the front of the group changes. The writing credits also reveal several contributors. “Do What You Like” was written by McDonald and Gramm, while “Rev on the Red Line” came from Greenwood and Gramm. The final two tracks thus give the subsequently departing musicians a direct place in the album’s composition as well as its performance.

Listen behind the chorus

After beginning with the title track or “Dirty White Boy”, try following the instruments behind the vocal on another pass. Where does a guitar figure lead into the chorus, and what role do the keyboards take? In a six-piece group, every instrument need not occupy the foreground continuously. The transitions can be revealing too, as one part recedes and another carries the movement onward.

Then compare Gramm’s vocals with Jones’s appearance on “The Modern Day”. How does that different voice affect your impression of the same band? As the closing track, “Rev on the Red Line” offers a further view of Greenwood and Gramm’s collaboration. These routes allow “Head Games” to be heard as an album made by this particular lineup, alongside its identity through the two best-known singles.

About this edition

Analogue Productions’ Atlantic 75 release, AAPA 068-45, presents the ten original tracks on two 180-gram LPs at 45 RPM. Their order remains unchanged, while the side breaks differ from the original single LP. “Head Games” opens side three; “Do What You Like” and “Rev on the Red Line” occupy side four. The publisher specifies Quality Record Pressings and a Stoughton tip-on double-pocket gatefold jacket. The original programme is therefore retained within this edition’s four-sided layout.

Michael 45 holds the set in Germany and ships it from Hilden, so buyers in Germany and the EU need not arrange a private US import or wait for customs clearance.

Also on SACD: Head Games

More by Foreigner: “Foreigner” · 4

Customer questions: Atlantic 75: which titles are worth buying? · Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Series: Atlantic 75 Series – all 75 albums, time journey and the people behind Atlantic

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.