European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 30, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Fear Gal Sharkey Rock s Renaissance Man by Anita Gosch staff writer is Demeanour smacks of Success and self Assurance. His appearance stylishly baggy designer suit dark Collar length hair sleeved really Back Leada one to believe he s a Young businessman on his Way up. Yet he Only thing fear Gal Sharkey has in common with the average entrepreneur is that he s a beit made Man. Or at least that s what he wants to be. Just three Yea a ago Sharkey was a shy naive Singer with the undertones a teen Punk pop quintet that gained recognition in the United kingdom during the Irish Rock invasion of the late tvs. These Days the gaunt 27-year-old to a confident Solo a Lisl who s reached the top of the ladder in the european music scene. His serf tilled debut album climbed to the top 5 of the pop charts the singles a Good heart and you Little to Whit to. 1 and his live shows have sold out concert Halls in Britain and the continent. What Shinkay do was Lake charge of his we. Basically i decided t would like to become a Little bit of a Renaissance Man he says. Alter leaving the undertones in 1983, Sharkey set out to team the ins and outs of Rock n Roll. He Learned about engineering and producing albums and about designing record sleeves. He enrolled in the actors Centre in London to study film making directing righting and designing sets. He visited record companies to learn about their internal Workings about Public relations and contracts. It was t until about May of last year that i said i d Learned enough Sharkey says. I knew what i needed to know and i wanted to go off and make my own  still Sharkey got a Little help from his friends. Dave Stewart of the eurythmics whom Sharkey had met in a hotel elevator seven years earlier tent his production expertise and added some guitar riffs and backing vocals. Indeed the liner notes credit Stewart As being Sharkey s guru and  the pretenders cd Russio Hynde contributed the tune made to measure and Sharkey acquired a Good heart from Maria Mckee of Lone Justice. He also included a cover version of Bobby Womack s rhythm and woes classic a Owr mow Tim album we oujda largely in an Impromptu manner says Sharkey. It took just Over a month to record and several of its songs came out of Idle Jam sessions h the studio. I feel it s an getting a bit too clinical Sharkey says of recording albums you re supposed to be making music and to me music is an expression of emotions and bringing atmosphere across on  the atom s atmosphere comes out of Stewart s Slick production of the  he packs the record with an americanized Arena rack sound featuring a heavily synthesized rhythm and blues flavor. Sharkey a quavering Tenor voice though at times overshadowed by the gadgetry gives the record its underlying emotional thrust. Sharkey was bom and raised i deny a town n Northern Ireland about 65 Miles Northwest of Belfast Insko Many of his Irish contemporaries however he has chosen not to write songs about the political turmoil in his Homeland. I be found it extremely difficult to try and put 400 years of history into a 3w-minute pop song and dec Tubby do it in a concise Clear fashion he explains. Despite his Success Sharkey comes across As an amiable Chap easily accessible and talkative in Short not your stereotypical Rock alar. I tend to hate musicians anyway they re a pretentious Bunch of  he says. It s easy to gel an inflated impression of yourself but when you consider what we do in this world it s absolutely Bugg Raff. We re just Litts specks of dust floating around somewhere and we make silly Little pop  so Why does Sharkey do it it s for my own personal satisfaction he says that i feel that i be done something  me Tor bits by pm rvs com irishman  in utom War a testy. The fabulous thunderbird Are Tuff snuff Tyjohn Stemson United press International a after years of toiling in relative obscurity in bars and Honky Lonks fro coast to coast the fabulous thunderbird suddenly find themselves Riding High Wil the rebirth of the blues. The Texas blues Rock band hit it Trig this summer Wilh a top ten single album and compact disc All titled turf enuf. The group is currently Louring with Bob Seger and is slated for a soap opera one Ufa 70 live. Soundtrack work the Light of Day and an aug. 6 appearance on the David Letterman show. It s hard to believe that Only a year ago despite a solid following Strong critical support and testimonials from such famous rockers As the rolling stones the group had no record company end virtually no prospects the problem was their music such styles simply weren t considered Lashio Nabla at the time. Their record company Chrysalis had been taken Over by Columbia records. While the corporate giant picked up such acts As Billy idol the thunderbird were dropped. Nevertheless lha band went ahead and made a record with producer Dave Edmunds paying the costs from their earnings from live performances. Manager Mark prot then look the finished product to various record companies but Kepi getting turned Down. Page 16 the stars and stripes they would be very polite about it he said. They would Tea me we like the album but we Don t hear any hits on it. We Don t hear anything commercial on it i got la the Point where i just would t Tea the band what they were saying because i did t want them to get  finally Proll found sympathetic ears ironically at a different division lbs affiliates of the same corporation that had dropped them. The results exceeded Ordinary expectations. I always thought we had the potential to do it said vocalist songwriter Kim Wilson but it is surprising to Lake this stuff to a top 40  Wilson whose Rich biting Harmonica playing is a key to the band s sound admits to being estranged from most popular music. I turned off my radio in 1969 and did t turn it Back on until recently he said. There Are a lot of people out there trying to be original but what they re coming up with in t Worth listening to. The Only place where you hear the real voices is on the rhythm and blues  Wilson s biggest influence is the great bluesman Muddy Waters. He was like my pop said Wilson. I still get a Little weird when t think hat he s gone now. He made my reputation. If you have his Seal of approval you re Woidan. Wednesday july 30,1986 i was sitting there one night watching Muddy he was playing five turn no s Gonna Boas right by Little Waller and at the end he says. Speaking of Utate Walter there s a Young Man in the House that reminds me of Little Waller More than anybody else i was floored i did t think t was that heavy a  Thunder inf guitarist Jimmy Vaughan said he knew a had to play with Wilson from the first moment he heard him at a mid-1970s Jam session in Texas they joined forces and began a stint at Antone a a club in Austin. Vaughan s Crisp efficient guitar pea Yang is much in the tradition of the terse economical style employed by generations of Texas blues guitarists. Just As Wilson credits Muddy Waters Wilh taking him under his Wing Vaughan had a similar relationship with the late guitarist Freddy King. "1 played in Freddy s band said Vaughan. I used to follow him around to All the Small clubs. I d stand by the door and  both Vaughan and Wilson Are aware that their Success is a Victory for blues music itself. I think a lot of kids Are Gonna hear this Elul far the first Lime said Vaughan and they re Gonna get curious and go out and listen to some of the great stuff thai we be listened to for so Many years. It s not that i m on a blues crusade or something but i think a lot of kids will get curious after they hear