It is only fitting that Mick Jones, the British ex-pat who founded Foreigner more than four decades ago, should be the last man standing of the original band two decades into the twenty-first century. With the myriad of changes in both music styles and the business itself over all that time since their 1976 debut, as well as some health challenges a few years ago, it’s a wonder that Mick Jones is still recording and touring today, but it turns out that his constitution and vision are as sturdy as his many melodies, impressively displayed on 2018’s Foreigner with the 21st Century Orchestra and Chorus.
Mind you, Mick Jones never actually said as much, but deep down I believe all that he really wanted was the respect that eluded him. Mick didn’t get it when the 1976 Foreigner debut outsold Led Zeppelin’s first on Atlantic Records, and Jones still did not get the credit when the follow up, Double Vision, released within weeks of labelmates The Rolling Stones‘ Some Girls , outsold the Glimmer Twins too! Certain rock critics then were giving countless column inches to punk rock bands pulling a hundred people to CBGBs while simultaneously railing against Foreigner for playing to 350,000 at the US Festival, somehow attempting to shame the band for making such a spectacle of itself, and admonishing the fans for wading into mainstream Mick Jones melodies “Feels Like the First Time”,”Cold as Ice”,”Blue Morning, Blue Day”,”Waiting for a Girl Like You”,”That Was Yesterday”,”I Want to Know What Love Is“, and “Say You Will“. Yeah, whatever.
The search for excellence as well as respect for Mick Jones have finally been achieved in spectacular fashion with the release of Foreigner with the 21st Century Orchestra and Chorus, and Mick Jones and Foreigner impressive singer Kelly Hansen are here In the Studio to share the fascinating story. –Redbeard
