Foreigner unlikely to hang around town to reunite with ex-singer

By Jerry Fink

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Foreigner founder Mick Jones and former lead singer Lou Gramm barely speak.

So, they probably don’t even know their bands will soon pass through Las Vegas within days of each other.

Foreigner performs Friday at Texas Station’s Dallas Events Center. The Lou Gramm Band plays on a bill of ’80s rockers at the Thomas & Mack Center on April 25.

“Lou and I don’t see each other much, almost never,” Jones says from his home in Manhattan. “There was a rift that caused the breakup and that hasn’t been addressed. Who knows, time will tell.”

Jones formed Foreigner in 1976 with fellow Brits Ian McDonald and Dennis Elliott and Americans Gramm, Alan Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi.

Jones and Gramm had a tumultuous — though productive — partnership for 26 years. They wrote many of the band’s hits together, and Gramm was the lead vocalist for “Feels Like the First Time,” “Cold as Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Urgent,” “Double Vision,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Head Games,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Say You Will” and “Waiting for a Girl Like You.”

Tension between Gramm and Jones finally came to a head. Gramm split from Foreigner in 1989 to pursue a solo career but rejoined the band in 1992. He had a brain tumor removed in 1997 and spent two years recovering before rejoining the band. He left for good in 2003 and eventually formed the Lou Gramm Band.

Jones has remained the one constant in Foreigner. It was his baby from the start. He wrote or co-wrote every song and produced or co-produced every album.

“My initial musical vision for Foreigner was to combine blues and R&B with British rock and make it sound soulful and authentic,” he says. “I’d grown up in England and had the English influence but I was also inspired by many elements of American music, from Mississippi blues to country and western. Foreigner was the vehicle to get that musical blend across.”

Jones began playing guitar in his early teens in his native London and formed a blues-rock group that opened for the Rolling Stones in pubs. In 1964 he moved to Paris, where he played with French singer Sylvie Vartan and was musical director for French rock icon Johnny Hallyday. Jones returned to England in the early ’70s, re-forming Spooky Tooth with Gary Wright and recording with George Harrison and Peter Frampton.

Outside of Foreigner, Jones has written songs with artists as diverse as Ozzy Osbourne and Eric Clapton (the Grammy-winning “Bad Love”). He also produced best-selling albums for Billy Joel (“Storm Front”) and Van Halen (“5150”).

After 33 years Foreigner continues a heavy tour schedule, though not as heavy as it was in the band’s heyday, and not with the same musicians, except for Jones.

Jones says Foreigner has had ups and downs during its long history.

Jones says he’s especially happy with the band’s latest lineup, which includes lead singer Kelly Hansen (formerly of Hurricane), bassist Jeff Pilson (Dokken), multi-instrumentalist Thom Gimbel (Aerosmith) and keyboardist Michael Bluestein (the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” house band).

“My aim with the new band is to reestablish it and to get some of the prestige back we had in the earlier years and to remind people that Foreigner is still there and pretty vital,” he says.

Jones says Foreigner grew up in the public eye.

“The band evolved over the first five albums, I think,” he says. “We were going from starting at ground zero and through those first five albums kind of did our growing up in public, in a way. If you listen to the first five or six albums you can hear the evolution in the sound and in the approach to the music. The records were so incredibly successful. There was a lot of pressure.

“Somehow we’ve managed to keep it alive. Our popularity took a dive in the ’90s, as anything non-grunge did.”

Foreigner is working on a new album, a three-disc set that includes a new album, another with remixes of 10 old songs and a live DVD.

The Las Vegas gig is part of a short “pre-tour” through May. The band is set to tour Europe this summer.

“When you go out on the road a whole bunch of stuff needs to be taken care of when you get back,” he says. “But mainly, I’m with my family. Time with the kids is very important.”