Applause: Audience

There’s some men here. They are are wearing very, very tight trousers and are sporting some of the best moustaches ever seen. They have something they want to share with you and quite a few thousand yelping juice heads on 10 May 1977 at the Dome Arena, Henrietta, NY.

It’s the boogie.

Proper, blue collar double platinum boogie rock about how tough it is in the big city, sex, cars, life being a road dog and slide guitar solos. Music that was made to be enjoyed by thousands of unhealthily tight-jeaned Americans chugging brewskis and getting to second base, minimum.

Welcome to Foghat Live. Welcome to the moustaches of destiny.

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I first heard of Foghat when Live was mentioned in their 1990 100 best LPs series of supplements, crap name I thought and carried on. After their track ‘Slow Ride’ soundtracked the end of my sometimes favourite film ever I promoted them to my to-do list.

A mere couple of decades later I leaped into action and picked up an immaculate original US copy of Live in Mixed Up Records in Glasgow; £8 very well spent. The fact that it contains the credit ‘Applause: Audience’ on the back cover sealed the deal for me.

Foghat are one of those oddest of things, an English band* who were virtually unknown at home but huge North America, given how comparatively difficult it is to break the US it doesn’t happen very often – the only other example I can think of were Bush**.

Lonesome Dave Peverett and fellow Savoy Brown survivor Roger Earl, teamed up with Macgregor and Rod Price – a man so good at slide guitar that he replaced Paul Kossoff in Black Cat Bones. Foghat were born and set about boogieing their way across the new world.

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Live is set out right, each side features two chunky tracks before a side ending 8-minute boogie behemoth.

The LP opens up with ‘Fool For The City’ which may be the most obvious song I have ever heard in my life and I don’t mean that disparagingly at all. Everything about it is just so, the sort of track you can sing along with almost word perfectly the first time you ever hear it, every chord change comes in exactly where you think it will too. It’s blissfully uncomplicated.

Second track ‘Home In My Hand’ I cannot unhear as ‘Phone In My Hand’ – clearly beneath the magnificent Foghattian face foliage the guys had perfected the secrets of time travel. It sounds rather like a laid back KISS to me, at least until Rod price gets his solo on.

Then it’s time to get your swagger on to ‘I Just Want To Make Love To You’, which is a monumental, umm, monument to the monomaniacal male sex drive. Foghat sod around a bit, particularly singer Dave Peverett^ before they kick the doors down with THAT riff, which remains thrillingly primal. I only hope Lonesome Dave found someone to share his backseat with him.

I should just mention that all four Foghatians (Foghations?) were really good musicians, not many showy bits here but when the band really hit their straps this boogie absolutely smokes. Roger Earl’s drumming stands out for me.

Side two of Live sparks up with ‘Road Fever’ which is energetic and fine, although I struggle to remember a second of it after it has finished. Much better is their bolt through ‘Honey Hush’ which takes far more from the Johnny Burnette Trio than Elvis. An absolute ripper of a track.

Then after giving us all that its time for the climax of all climaxes, leaving us sweaty sore and sorry. The brontosaurus beat takes us on in for a ‘Slow Ride’. I don’t have the words, just listen to it, it makes me 16 again like some mustachioed boogie-based elixir of eternal youth.

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They don’t make ’em like this anymore.

After Live Foghat’s appeal got more, umm, selective and they succumbed to odd production choices and slanting into new wave, nobody needed that. Remember them this way instead.

Slow down, go down, got to get your lovin' one more time
Hold me, roll me, slow ridin' woman you're so fine

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I haven’t really been able to do just photographically to the cover of Foghat Live, with its cool cut out, very very shiny, front cover. Trust me this one is ace and this pressing sounds really good and loud too.

1115 Down.

PS: From my carefully hoarded stash:

*we’re adopting American bassist Craig MacGregor, because narrative and his surname is very Scottish.

**genuinely never heard a note of theirs.

^who goes full Freddie Mercury at one point, quite brilliantly.