If you’ve been lured into a bar in Hawaii by the sound of live rock-n-roll sometime in the last few decades, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the Piranha Brothers. I remember the first time I came across the band at an O’ahu bar on a cool Hawaiian night. It was clear that the band had all the chops and that there were stories galore in the wrinkled hands of these never tiring musicians. I was not wrong.
Formed in Chicago in 1977, the band worked their asses off and landed a record deal with MCA just in time for the music industry to suffer yet another identity crisis. Released in Japan as Hollywood Rain under the band name Widows, the CD remains a near-impossible find so we are cheating with this edition of Tales From the Crates. Unless someone can spare some coin, the few copies on Discogs remain out of reach.
I came of age on MTV where rock-n-roll could mean a lot of different things – usually within any twenty minute block of songs. I came to appreciate it all and I’ve come back to the consistent comforts of soulful AOR many times over the year. With bands like Mr. Mister and Men At Work selling millions and Huey Lewis & the News struggling to follow-up 1986’s Fore, MCA was setting on a pot of gold with this Piranha Brothers album. And while that gold has been gathering dust for thirty-plus years, the Piranha Brothers never slowed down.
These days, the lone Piranha working the circuit in Hawaii is Michael Piranha but his partner in crime on drums, Tom Piranha, came to the islands with him in 1992 and only recently sought dry land. They kept the flag flying for a band that never received the recognition it deserved. There are no hard feelings and anyone who has witnessed a Piranha Brothers show knows there isn’t a hint of bitterness in the wonderful music.
The Piranha Brothers know the value of a good horn section and “If I Stumble” is a masterclass in how to make contemporary rock-n-soul. The open-road beckons as soon as “Love, Never Rust” kicks into gear. It’s the sort of track you notice in a film and spend weeks trying to get it out of your head. The magnificent “Homicide Lounge” follows and the highway stretches towards a sunset full of malice.
The production work throughout holds its own with the best records from the late 80s. When it does sound dated, the songs overcome that with ease. Check out Squeeze and Cheap Trick around the same time and you’ll see what I mean. You can see why the Japanese record label titled the album Hollywood Rain as the song makes for a perfect single. However, that could be said about seven or eight of these songs.
Had this album even received a cursory release from MCA, the album would be a lost treasure for vinyl addicts to brag about uncovering at a yard sale. In that regard, I’d place it alongside the mighty Trigger who signed to Casablanca and were drowned by a wave of disco. At least there are copies of the Trigger album out there for you to find in a crate. Here’s hoping the lost MCA Album from the Piranha Brothers someday gets its due. Until then, who wants to head to Hawaii and have a few drinks listening to these songs under a palm tree?