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Family not foreign to Gramm

By Dan Craft
dcraft@pantagraph.com

For Lou Gramm, it's all in the family these days, as concertgoers will learn first-hand Sunday night in Bloomington's U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

As the opening act for Boston (interviewed in last week's GO!), the Lou Gramm Band is three parts Gramm. Or should we say Grammatico?

Well, it depends: Lou Grammatico, born 58 years ago in Rochester, N.Y., became the more marquee-friendly Lou Gramm 32 years ago, also in Rochester, N.Y. (where Lou remains a resident to this day).

The name change took place after he won the lead vocalist audition for a band being formed by English rockers Mick Jones and Ian McDonald (late of King Crimson). That band, originally christened Trigger, soon became Foreigner, a reference to the group's original three Brits/three Yanks configuration.

And Foreigner quickly became one of the most prolific hit-making American rock bands of the '70s and '80s, cranking out more Top 10 anthems than you could shake a jukebox at: "Feels Like the First Time," "Head Games," "Urgent," "Hot-Blooded," "Double Vision," "Cold As Ice," "Juke Box Hero," "Waiting For a Girl Like You," and on and on.

Foreigner may be out of his life, but Lou Gramm he remains 32 years later.

His brotherly bandmates, Ben (drums) and Richard (guitar and bass), proudly cling to the Grammatico family moniker (rounding out the quintet are family friends Andy Knoll on keyboards and Don Mancuso on guitar).

Several key events in Gramm's life and career paved the way to this all-in-the-family policy.

The process began around "the end of 2001, when Mick and I really decided to part ways," says Gramm, referring to what appears to have been the final break between the two combative musicians after decades of collaborations, partings, reunions and more partings.

"I was very excited about putting together my own band and performing with my brothers, who had helped me throughout my solo career, though the three of us had never performed together. We always thought it would happen whenever it happened."

That open-ended plan was hurried along three years ago, says Gramm, when the Grammatico family was shaken down to its very foundations.

"We lost our mom and dad in the same year," he begins. "And it really was both of their wishes before they passed that the brothers do something together before it gets too late. I decided, no more excuses, let's do something now."

Certainly, Gramm is no stranger to a sense of urgency amid life's upheavals: In 1997, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which proved to be benign and successfully removed. Around six years earlier, he became a born-again Christian, a status that will be confirmed musically in the year ahead with the Lou Gramm Band's first Christian rock album.

The Foreigner turmoil is the stuff of rock legend, of course, per well-publicized the Gramm-Jones conflict. "When I was in Foreigner, the thought of going out on tour was really, really something I dreaded -- not only for the time being away from home but because of the dances you have to do in the clash of personalities."

Summing up that 25-year dance, Gramm confesses that "it's really hard to put into words, but I think a lot of the resentment and deterioration began because, in my case, I respected Mick as a musician, but there was no communication. Everything was heavy-handed, and done without consultation."

A make-or-break moment for Gramm occurred in 1979, with the birth of Gramm and his wife's first child, a son.

"He wasn't even a week old yet, and I was given the word that I was to start a new album to be recorded in L.A.," he recalls. "So I packed up and went to L.A. to start writing songs. There was so much L.A. scene, and hanging out, and partying, and we were supposed to be in the studio to rehearse at 11 a.m. and nobody would show up until quarter to five."

Enough with these head games, he decided. "I thought to myself, I'd rather be home with my wife who depends on me and has a new child. We're not getting any closer to recording an album, this is just B.S. So I caught a plane home and didn't tell anybody."

Not that it mattered, he says. "Nobody even knew I wasn't there until three days after because they were still partying."

His born-again Christian status notwithstanding, Gramm says he and his brothers will be batting out those raucous Foreigner hits like "Dirty White Boy" and "Hot-Blooded" with no regrets Sunday night.

"As my Lord. I know he understands and forgives me, and that he knows that this is part of who I am. Although I'm not the same person now I was then, I still sing the music, and I'm sure he supports me and the music that I'm making now."

He adds, "Since a lot of voices can't tolerate this kind of rock after a certain age, I just feel lucky to even be able to sing the type of stuff I sang 25 years ago."

At a glance

What: The Lou Gramm Band, opening for Boston

When: 7 p.m. Sunday

Where: U.S. Cellular Coliseum, 101 S. Madison St., Bloomington

Tickets: $34.50-$54.50

Box office number: (866) 891-9992

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Veteran rocker Lou Gramm, possessor of one of rock's most enduring set of pipes, is the opening act for Boston Sunday night at Bloomington's U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

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