Jack Blades

At age 9, Jack Blades knew he wanted to make music for living. His parents, however, were hoping he would become a doctor. To please them, Jack went to pre-med school and completed 4 years. He was having problems concentrating though because he could not forget about the music. Even if he feels that he would have been a wonderful doctor, he probably would have always regretted not having followed his dream.

He started to play the guitar to eventually choose the bass.  Toward the end of the 70’s, he formed the band RUBICON with whom he recorded two albums: Rubicon and American Dreams. With Brad Gillis and Kelly Keagy, he formed the band STUDIO in 1979. Soon after, they joined Jeff Watson and Alan Fitzgerald and Night Ranger was born.

The group released a total of 5 albums and Jack became a major contributor within the group. He sang and wrote most of the songs. NIGHT RANGERS was doing quite well but really found success with ballads such as Sister Christian, which took them to the top of the hit parade.

At the beginning of 1989, their record company wanted them to release more ballads, which did not please the band very much. Instead of working under stressful conditions, the band decided to separate.

Three days after the separation, Jack Blades went to New York City and knocked on Tommy Shaw’s door. In 1990, Damn Yankees released its very first album entitled Damn Yankees and a second one, Don’t Tread in 1991. Damn Yankees enjoyed great success in the United States. They gave two shows in Canada: in Vancouver and in Ottawa. Their hit High Enough did get a lot of airplay in Montreal, but it was not as big a success as in the U.S.

Afterwards, Jack worked a lot with Tommy. Together they wrote a song for Vince Neil of Motley Crue called You’re Invited But Your Friends Can’t Come. They also worked with Steven Tylor of Aerosmith on the song Shut Up And Dance.

In 1995, to the great pleasure of their fans, Tommy and Jack offered a superb album emphasizing the perfect harmony of those two wonderful voices. Even though it did not get the recognition it deserved, Hallucination by Shaw/Blades remains one of the best albums ever released by these two great artists.

After Tommy Shaw rejoined Styx for a summer tour in 1996, Jack joined his partners in NIGHT RANGER for a tour.  Two new albums then followed:  Neverland (1997) and Seven (1998) on which Tommy Shaw co-wrote one of the songs entitled Kong.

As for Damn Yankees, it still exists so there is no doubt that Jack’s fans will welcome his next musical project.  For now, you can enjoy Jack's first solo album by ordering right here.  And be on the look out next year, in 2005 when Tommy and Jack release another Shaw/Blades CD with the interpretation of their favorite songs.

Visit Jack's official web site
The picture of Jack Blades was provided by Angie Jeffreys.