Thursday, August 7, 2014


It seemed like every time I ever sat in the orthodontist's chair in the early 80s (not exactly the place a middle schooler wants to be as her braces get tightened to the max) Foreigner always played on the radio piped in over the office stereo speakers.

Despite all that, I love them. Foreigner's greatest hits offer lots: the irresistibly kinetic onslaught of "Urgent," the better than it should be "Cold As Ice" (it's kind of dispassionate for a song about someone accused of being dispassionate), the hazy longing found in "Waiting for a Girl Like You" (aren't we all?) and the truly glorious and moving sounds of "I Want to Know What Love is" (I won't even joke about this one, it's too sacred.)

 
According to Wikipedia:
 
The song has received positive retrospective reviews from critics, with Bret Adams of AllMusic writing: "It's not hard to see why it became Foreigner's first #1 single. Its dreamy, hypnotic feel is due in part to Lou Gramm's soulful lead vocals and the New Jersey Mass Choir's background vocals."[1]
 
 The vulnerability of the lyrics (just as moving to me now as they were when I was in high school in 1984) and the beauty of the choir just really, really (really) get to me...every time. Plus, of course, there's Lou Gramm's voice.
 
The New Jersey Mass Choir has recorded their own version, which isn't quite as no-holds-barred as Foreigner's but is still quite lovely with that chorus:
 


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