Canuck hard rock legends Coney Hatch are gearing up for the release party for their new album, Postcard From Germany, that will take place this Saturday at the the legendary El Mocambo in downtown Toronto, Ontario. Tickets are available here. BraveWords spoke to lead vocalist/guitarist Carl Dixon for a Streaming For Vengeance interview which airs tomorrow at 3:33 PM EST on the BraveWords Facebook page.
Coney Hatch released three pivotal albums in the early ‘80s which put them on the map and had them opening up for bands like Iron Maiden. Coney Hatch (1982), Outa Hand (1983) and Friction (1985) are three of Canada’s most treasured releases, that were all over rock radio at the time.
“Yeah, the radio then was a great launching pad,” Dixon reminisces. “The ‘80s was the turning point to when the radio industry was becoming more corporate. I remember Ray Danniels as our manager going into talk to the Slaight’s at (Toronto rock station) Q107. He talked to Gary or (his radio pioneering father) Allan about our new album Friction. He said ‘I really hope you guys get behind this new album. It’s a great album and there’s some beautiful singles. It’s been picking up some air play and we’ve got a new video being filmed.’ And then one of them turned to him and said ‘Ray I’m not in the record business, I’m in the advertising business.’ And that was a mindset and I believe it really changed in the ‘80s to be much more demographic-based. And right down to micromanaging what is our specific age group that we’re targeting for. But I think radio prior to the era of consultants and demographics was much more broad in its scope. So you could hear the Stylistics and Janice Joplin and The Beatles and Black Sabbath on the same broadcast. So that’s not something that you’ve heard in commercial radio for many years. So I really missed that because that was my training ground. How to write a catchy song, what makes a cool single length song. What do you need to have in a chorus. What do you have to have for an intro. All those things that I learned from listening to the radio host in those days. Because it’s really about capturing somebody’s attention with your piece of music. You start with a little song idea and then you have to package that song idea in the most appealing shiny wrapper that you can to get people to notice it. The big vocal and all those production tricks.
BraveWords: I think I know what Mr. Slaights’s problem was - he didn’t have a ‘girl from last night’s dream’ (jokingly referring to the lead-off video and single from Friction)!
Dixon laughs! “Who does though? Very few people get to meet their a girl from last night’s dream.”
BraveWords: But Fixion was a really radio-friendly album.
Dixon: “Do you know what it was, it was a streamlined approach. By the third album, AOR rock radio was starting to define a simpler more polished sound. That imperfect interplay that Steve (Shelski; original guitarist) and I used to do was deemed not to be the sound if you wanted to get on the radio. It really was a simplification when we went to make Friction. Like many lead guitar players, Steve had a habit of playing just ahead of the group. They are excitable. It’s hard for lead guitar players to sit in the pocket if you’re not thinking about the rhythm stuff. I play drums as well, so I really think about that pocket. In fact our producer! had me do all of the rhythm guitars so that could be that streamlined, powerful single idea going on. All the same, all the time.”
Stay tuned for more when Carl Dixon talks to BraveWords’ Streaming For Vengeance tomorrow at 3:33 PM EST.
Recorded on December 12, 2018 at HEAT Festival in Ludwigsburg, Postcard from Germany is a live recording of Coney Hatch’s 1st-ever live show in Germany.
“It was our very first time in Germany and the show was electric,” recalls Curran. “It was full on combat rock!!! We flew many hours to get there and quickly settled in with German beers and Schnitzel. The final results were more raw and in your face compared to previous live recordings. We also included more songs from our Friction record in that set list”.
Postcard From Germany features almost all of the expected Coney classics “Devil’s Deck”, “Monkey Bars” and “Stand Up” as well as two newly-recorded studio tunes ‘It’s About A Girl” and “Heaven’s on the Other Side”.
“This album has a different set list from the Live At The El Mocambo record, plus two new studio tracks we recorded over Covid. I produced those two new songs and it marks the first time guitarist Sean Kelly has been involved with recording of new Hatch songs. Sean stepped in to the lead guitar role in 2014 and we’re proud to have him.” In addition to Curran and Kelly, the group also includes original members lead vocalist/guitarist Carl Dixon and drummer Dave Ketchum.
Regarding the two new tracks, the band was willing to give background info about each. Curran: “‘Heaven's On the Other Side’ was written around the time we recorded ‘Coney Hatch Four,’ and we finally got around to finishing it during the lockdown. The message is simple…keep the faith and trudge on through the bad times because the good times are always just around the corner. I also felt I was long overdue to write another song about the devil!!”
Dixon: “I had an idea driving ‘It’s About a Girl’; women are wonderful, women got the power, women gave every one of us our life. We men will do anything to get their attention. It's Always About A Girl.”
Along with the ripping live set recording, and two new unreleased tracks, Postcard From Germany album will be bundled with a remastered edition of the band’s iconic debut record Coney Hatch, produced by Canada’s favorite vocalist/guitarist Kim Mitchell.
This special edition 2CD will only be available for purchase at the band’s live shows and on their website. Tickets and VIP M&G’s to the Toronto show are on sale now and can be purchased here.
Postcard From Germany will be available on a special limited edition CD hand-signed by the band. Order the CD here.
Tracklisting:
"It's About A Girl" (Studio Recording)
"Heaven's On The Other Side" (Studio Recording)
"We Got The Night"
"Stand Up"
"Blown Away"
"Boys Club"
"She's Gone"
"This Ain't Love"
"Wrong Side Of Town"
"Girl From Last Night's Dream"
"Fantasy"
"Fallen Angel"
"Don't Say Make Me"
"Devil's Deck"
"Monkey Bars"
"It's About A Girl":
