For American Grammy and CMA nominated singer/songwriter James House, there was life before Nashville. House is best known as a country star for his three hit Nashville records, recorded for MCA and Epic Records in the years spanning 1989-1994 and his Song Of The Year nominations for the likes of Dwight Yoakam (“Ain’t That Lonely Yet) and Martina McBride (“A Broken Wing”). But before that, James House was a rocker, making his solo debut on Atlantic Records in 1983 with an acclaimed self-titled record that featured James co-writing the album’s 9 songs, plus a young Alan Pasqua on 2 co-writes. The album featured a superstar lineup including Jimmy Haslip (Blackjack), Mike Baird (Journey, Rick Springfield, Van Stephenson), Alan Pasqua (Giant), Rick Derringer and more. For whatever reason, it was never released on CD, with fans demanding its release for years. James House’s rock roots didn’t stop there. Over the next several years, James became one of the go-to writers and singers for those classic 80s soundtracks. Working with such notable studio musicians such as Jeff Porcaro and Steve Lukather (Toto) plus yet to be discovered artist Bruce Hornsby and others, James was in the writing and recording rock songs and movie soundtrack phase of his career. Songs were included in such high-profile movies as Dream A Little Dream, Gleaming The Cube, Teen Wolf, The Wraith and Fire With Fire. MelodicRock Classics owner/A&R Andrew McNeice was obsessed with one particular ‘lost’ recording of James which got this project rolling. The closing credits for one of his favourite 80s movies, Scenes From The Goldmine featured the song “Time Enough For Love”, a heartfelt mid-tempo anthem that McNeice loved for years and was determined to see released officially. A desire to release an official soundtrack for that movie remains unfulfilled, but a relationship with James was established and a new mission created – to put together an Anthology of James’ rock work, from the 1983 Atlantic debut, plus as many of the soundtrack songs as could be found. Thus began a three year journey, trying to track down as many of the songs recorded as possible. Something that proved to be a bigger challenge than both anticipated. Masters for all the material except for one song were lost, as were the masters for the Atlantic Records album. James managed to track down a still sealed copy of his LP, which was specially transferred and remastered for this release. This compilation of his classic rock tracks is a time machine back into the 80’s music and teen movie scene in Los Angeles. House still lives in Nashville where he is still in demand as a songwriter/producer. Lately he’s been writing with Blues Rock Titan Joe Bonamassa on his last 5 #1 albums and producing Australian country-pop singer/songwriter Zoee.
Disc One: 1983
1. Cool Boy In Spain
2. Outside
3. Steal Your Love Away
4. Wait For Me
5. Hot On Your Tail
6. Jude
7. Bittersweet
8. Talk To My Machine
9. The Edge
Disc Two: The Soundtrack Cuts
1. Bad Mistake From The Movie “The Wraith” (1986)
2. Flesh On Fire From The Movie “Teen Wolf” (1985)
3. You Better Wait From The Movie “Dream A Little Dream” (1989)
4. Time Enough For Love From The Movie “Scenes From The Goldmine” (1987)
5. Listen To My Heartbeat From The Movie “Scenes From The Goldmine” (1987)
6. The Seeker From The Movie “Scenes From The Goldmine” (1987)
7. Leave My Heart Alone From The Movie “No Man’s Land” (1987)
8. I’m In It For Love From The Movie “Fire With Fire” (1986)
9. All The Money In The World From The Movie “Million Dollar Mystery” (1987)
10. Million Dollar Mystery From The Movie “Million Dollar Mystery” (1987)
11. Goin’ For Gold From The Movie “Million Dollar Mystery” (1987)
12. Born To Race From The Movie “Speed Zone” (1989)
13. Medley:
The American Dream From The TV Movie “Jay Leno and the American Dream” (1986)
Gleaming The Cube From The Movie “Gleaming The Cube” (1989)
Running Out Of Time From The Movie “Cold Steal” (1987)