In the latest episode of the 80's Glam Metalcast, hots Metal Mike talks with Winger keyboardist / guitarist Paul Taylor. He reveals what Winger has been up to recently, and looks back at their classic debut and the follow up, In The Heart Of The Young.
On the new Winger album and writing with Mick Mars
Taylor: "There’s a new record that’s basically in the can. We’ve all recorded our parts. Right now, it’s all falling on Kip to put it all together. He’s got a symphony he’s going to be releasing, he’s got solo gigs, and we’ve got Winger gigs. There’s a lot of logistics. John’s had Starship gigs, Reb has some gigs coming up with Whitesnake....we’ve had our hands full. Kip is working really hard on it though. He’s doing some final vocal things and all the mixing. It shouldn’t be too much longer, maybe a couple months.
I don’t actually have any songwriting credits on this one. I was writing for some other records. One I can mention is Mick Mars. I wrote a lot of songs with him. It was me, Mick, and Jacob Bunton (who was singing with Steven Adler) writing together. Those are all mixed. I don’t know if and when he is going to release them. We had a good time working on this stuff. They are for his solo album. He’s switched gears a few times in who he wants to work with and what he wants to do. We’re hoping the songs we did with him get released.
Mick is a monster. He comes up with some cool, creative stuff. I can’t say too much more about it. I can it’s very musical and very heavy. I think people will be really surprised by it. So I was busy with these other projects, and Kip and Reb are so damn prolific....by the time I was ready to jump in, they had the whole thing written already."
On Winger's debut album
Taylor: "The debut is probably my favorite out of all the ones we’ve done. The angst, you’re young, and you’ve got your fingers crossed. At the time we were getting to release it, Kip, Reb, and me all moved into an apartment in Hoboken, NJ. I was still playing with Alice Cooper, so I was flying in and out. Rod they had met last minute. So Rod had cut the drums and was part of the band. I never actually met him until the album was completely finished. We all had never played one gig together and we ended up opening for the Scorpions for a month. We had to get it together really quick."
On second album, In The Heart Of The Young
Taylor: "It was even more progressive sounding until the label got a hold of it. The label heard it and were like 'What’s this?' They said they would release it, but they weren’t going to push it as it was. They wanted some singles. We went back to the drawing board and came up with 'Can’t Get Enough' and 'Easy Come Easy Go'. In the end, they were probably right. We wanted to be all prog rock; not sure what we were thinking then.
That’s what’s cool about Winger; we can do 'Rainbow In The Rose' and then do 'Can’t Get Enough'. It’s a good blend. With 'Miles Away', I had written that in the early 80’s with Eric Martin singing on it. I think Eric’s voice is what sold it. People who heard it thought it could be a hit. When Kip heard it, he wanted it on the record. Then he turns around and writes the ballad 'Under One Condition', which I thought was amazing. I thought 'Uh oh, there goes my ballad.' Our record company president loved 'Miles Away', though, and wanted it as a single."
