New England - Explorer Suite (Reissue) (1980/2009)

US outfit NEW ENGLAND was formed in 1977 by John Fannon (guitars, vocals), Hirsh Gardner (drums, vocals), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards, vocals) and Gary Shea (bass). They were discovered by then Kiss manager Bill Aucoin, who took them under his wings, at least in the early stages of their career.

They were signed by New York based label Infinity Records, who issued their self-titled debut album in 1978. A stint as support band for Kiss followed, but when their label was absorbed into the mother company MCA the label support dried up - probaby because Infinity Records had made substantial losses from the day it was set up. The label folded after a disastrous decision to release recordings with Pope John Paul II with a first pressing of 1 million copies, most of which were returned.

Come 1980 and New England sign with Elektra Records, and the release of their second album Explorer Suite follows suit. The album didn't make much of an impact though, and the level of label support conicided at least to some extent with the sales figures.

For their third effort Walking Wild in 1981 they hired Todd Rundgren to produce the album, and he also co-wrote one tune with the band. For this venture New England's sound changed towards songs harder and more anthemic in nature, but with sales still low and label support as good as non-existing the band found themselves going nowhere, and in 1982 they disbanded.

All the members remained in the music industry thereafter, but apart from a handful of live shows in the last few years they have chosen not to reunite. The band name New England remains well known though, and they have fans in most corners of the world to this day.