MUSIC – SOLO
The Russ Ballard solo collection has grown over the years. With a massive back catalogue of “Hits for others” many people know him or his songs. But here, you can dig a little deeper into his solo career, from his self titled debut album released in 1974 to his latest release “It’s good to be here”.
IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE
IT’S GOOD TO BE HERE | 2020 / BMG Rights Management
My Awakening | Time Machine | Kickin’ The Can | Annabel’s Place | Wasted (The Last Ride) | Colliding | Tidal Wave | The First Man That Ever Danced | The Misunderstood | Proud Man | New York Groove | Since You Been Gone | You Can Do Magic
All songs written by Russ Ballard
Singles: Kickin’ The can | Annabel’s Place
Facts:
The album was released on 21st February 2020 on BMG UK.
Originally released in 2015 (with 9 tracks) as download via UMU Music, it was reworked by Russ with added tracks for the release as hard copy. The 2020 BMG release has different arrangements and even lyric changes.
In 2018, there were 20 promotional copies made of ‘a glimpse of IT’S GOOD TO BE HERE’ as CD digifile.
Tracklist as UMU download:
Voices | Where Were U | Time Machine | Kickin’ The Can | Colliding / My Awakening | The First Man That Ever Danced | Free From Your Hold | Proud Man
BOOK OF LOVE TOUR LIVE 2007
RUSS BALLARD LIVE | 2020 / RUSSELL BALLARD LTD
Rene Didn’t Do It | It’s My Life (Stand In My Shoes) | Dream On | I Can’t Hear You No More | The Fire Still Burns | Like Father Like Son | Hold Your Head Up | Crazy World | Voices | So You Win Again | You Can Do Magic | I Know There Is Something Going on | New York Groove | On The Rebound | God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You | Since You Been Gone | It’s Too Late
All songs written by Russ Ballard, except 7 – written by Rod Argent/Chris White
Facts:
The album was mixed and mastered by Christian Ballard and released on 10th April 2020.
A long lost highly collectable item. Recorded during the Book Of Love Tour and then… forgotten. Planned to be sold on the 2020 tour, which had to be postponed due to the worldwide Corona virus problems. Only 300 copies made and only available via Russ Ballard Official channels.
In 2019, there were 25 promotional copies made as 2-CD digifile with an additional track and a special inlay.
In 2020 the first run was made, in 2022 the second and in 2024 the third (different design).
BOOK OF LOVE
BOOK OF LOVE | 2006 / Phoenix Music Group
It’s My Life (Stand in my shoes) | Crazy World | In The Dark | When You Sleep | Love Works In Strange Ways | Like Father Like Son | Is There Anybody Out There | I’m Just Not Made For This World | Just Like Me | On To The Next | This Is Not A Love Song | The Road That Has No Turning | In My Darkest Hour | Book Of Love | In To The Light | Wonderful World
All songs written by Russ Ballard
Singles: It’s My Life (Stand In My Shoes) [Album version, A.C: edit, The Swivel Heads mix]/The Road That Has No Turning
Facts:
The album was released on 20th October 2006.
Possibly the most intense and most personal album in Russ’s longstanding career.
16 tracks that make this sublime album carry the characteristics of a spiritual journey, a soul searching and a quest; starting from a state of darkness and cynicism and finishing in light and happiness.
Along the journey the many ways of looking at the concept of “Love” is reviewed to find the answer to questions such as “what, really, is Love” and “why is there so much suffering”. Or as Russ phrases it himself: “This is my journey looking for an answer, each song heading toward the Book of Love”.
This “labour of Love”, as Russ describes this album, is fully written and produced by Russ. On drums and bass he is joined by Thunder’s Harry James and Chris Childs. On the title track the voice of Jiddu Krishnamurti is dubbed in; on “In To The Light” Aldous Huxley can be heard in one crucial phrase. Russ’s dear friend from the Roulettes, John “Mod” Rogan also contributes with his sonorous voice, on “When You Sleep”, as the “wise man”.
“For those Fans/Friends that heard ‘Book of Love’ and wondered what it was about – this is what I was thinking….
Since I was young I’ve been interested in why Humans can be so intelligent and so crazy…..When I started to write songs – one moment I was writing a Rock love song, then a ballad, but in between I was also writing songs that were trying to say something…..along with ”Since you’ve Been Gone” and ”So You Win Again”, I was writing, ”Chained”. ”Where Are We Going Wrong”, ”Cast The Spirit”, ”God Gave Rock and Roll To You” – ”Voices” – and so many more that were trying to say something about the mess of human thought…..With the ‘Book of Love’ I developed that train of songwriting further. I put in every song things I’d learned over the years of living, searching and reading books on Spiritual and emotional growth.” (RB)
ANTHOLOGY
ANTHOLOGY | 2001 / Burning Airlines
Two Silhouettes | Hey Bernadette | Winning | On The Rebound | Treat Her Right | Expressway To Your Heart | Since You Been Gone | She’s A Hurricane | I Don’t Believe In Miracles | Rock & Roll Lover | Voices | Living Without You | Hold On | The Ghost Inside | Here Comes The Hurt | I Can’t Hear You No More | The Fire Still Burns | Rene Didn’t Do It
All songs written by Russ Ballard
Facts:
Also released on Renaissance Records.
“Living Without You”, “Hold On” and “The Ghost Inside” were available for the first time on CD on this album.
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE | 1999 / Sony/ATV Music (UK)
CD 1 PAST:
So You Win Again – Hot Chocolate | I Surrender – Rainbow | Winning – Santana | The Fire Still Burns – Russ Ballard | I Know There’s Something Going On – Frida | Liar – Three Dog Night | No More The Fool – Elkie Brooks | Since You Been Gone – Rainbow | Voices – Russ Ballard | New York Groove – Hello | You Can Do Magic – America | God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You – Argent
CD 2 PRESENT AND FUTURE:
He Don’t Love You | How Can I Tell My Heart | If I Knew Then | If You’d Only Love Me | I’m The One | Lost To Love | My Journey’s End | Please Don’t Go | Still Be Loving You | When Tomorrow Comes | Street Dreams
All songs on CD 1 written by Russ Ballard.
CD 2: 1/2/4/5/8/9/11: Russ Ballard/Andrew Murray/Christian Ballard | 3/6: Russ Ballard/Chris Winter | 7/10: Russ Ballard
Facts:
Promotional album
“The Past, Present, Future CD….I didn’t realise it was available to the general public….only because, it was put out by Complete Music Publishers, when I signed with them [Ten years ago]. I think it was originally conceived as a vehicle for TV advertising…The second list of songs, they were some things I wrote with my son, Christian and his original writing partner Andrew Murray. If I remember rightly, there were various singers on the songs. I can’t recall who was who, although, my great friends, Chris Winter and Robert Hart sang on a few….Chris sang ‘If I Knew Then’ and ‘Lost To Love’ – Robert sang on ”If You’d Only Love Me” and ”Street Dreams” I wrote and produced Robert’s album*….he’s a fabulous singer and was for a while singer for Bad Company and The Jones Gang.” (Russ Ballard, 2014)
*Russ produced the album Robert Hart back in 1992 and wrote 6 songs with Robert Hart and 1 song with his friend Chris Winter and Robert Hart.
VOICES - THE BEST OF
Voices | A Woman Like You | Hey Bernadette | Hold Your Head Up | Liar | You Can Do Voodoo | Winning | God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You | I Can’t Hear You No More | Two Silhouettes | Tragedy | Since You Been Gone | On The Rebound | Your Time Is Gonna Come | Dream On | The Fire Still Burns
All songs written by Russ Ballard, except 4 – written by Rod Argent/Chris White
Singles: Voices/Living Without You/Hold On/Voices (full length version)
THE SEER
THE SEER | 1993 / Intercord
Only Love Can Save Me | Stay With Me Tonight | Vibrate | Barenaked | House Of Fools | The Healer | Hold On To Love | It Takes A Man To Walk Away | Blue For You | Possession | King For A Day | Love Comes Tumblin | These Are The Times
All songs written by Russ Ballard, except 4/6/7/8/11/13 – written by Russ Ballard/Chris Winter
Singles: Blue For You/Possession/It Takes A Man To Walk Away
Facts:
13 tracks in a wider variety of styles than ever before, from heavy “These Are The Times” to funky “Only Love Can Save Me”, danceable “Vibrate” and R&B “It Takes A Man To Walk Away”, “King For A Day” combined with beautiful ballads such as “Barenaked” and “The Healer”.
Intensive collaboration of Russ with Chris Winter, in songwriting , playing virtually all instruments and production. Chris Childs plays bass on several tracks. John Rogan (of Roulettes) contributed backing vocals on “Love Comes Tumblin’ Down” & “Vibrate”.
THE FIRE STILL BURNS
THE FIRE STILL BURNS | 1985 / EMI America
Once A Rebel | The Omen | Hey Bernadette | Searching | Time | Your Time Is Gonna Come | Dream On | The Fire Still Burns
All songs written by Russ Ballard
Singles: The Fire Still Burns/Hold On | Dream On /The Omen
Facts:
On the limited (only 1000 pressed) double promotional LP issued by EMI America you’ll find the super extended fan favourite “The Making Of The Fire Still Burns”. The song “Your Time Is Gonna Come” was also used in Miami Vice (see the other two mentioned from the Russ Ballard 1984 album)
On the Japanese Mini-LP-edition CD 3 more tracks were added: Hold On, The Fire Still Burns (Edit version), The Ghost Inside.
RUSS BALLARD (1984)
RUSS BALLARD (THE VOICES ALBUM) | 1984 / EMI America
I Can’t Hear You No More | In The Night | Two Silhouettes | Voices | A Woman Like You | Day to Day | Playing With Fire | The Last Time
All songs written by Russ Ballard
Singles: Two Silhouettes/Living Without You | I Can’t Hear You No More (extended version)/I Can’t Hear You No More/The Last Time
Facts:
“Voices” and “In The Night” were featured in the highly popular 80s TV series Miami Vice (Calderone’s Return Part 1&2).
In South-Africa the LP was released as Two Silhouettes with the same songs.
On the Japanese Mini-LP-edition CD 4 more tracks were added: Living Without You, Voices (Edit version), I Can’t Hear You No More (Edit version) and I Can’t Hear You No More (Extended version).
The big sax solo on Living Without You was played by Raf Ravenscroft who played that great theme on ‘Baker Street’.
INTO THE FIRE
INTO THE FIRE | 1981 / Epic Records
Rock’n’Roll Lover | Breakdown | Where Do We Go From Here | Guilty | Don’t Go To Soho | Tonight | Madman | Strangers | Here Comes The hurt | I Will Be There
All songs written by Russ Ballard
Singles: I Will Be There/Madman | Here Comes The Hurt/Breakdown
Facts:
“I Will Be There” was recorded and released by a band called Gogmagog in 1985. Gogmagog were a Britsh supergroup put together by Britsh record producer Jonathan King that featured former Iron Maiden members Paul Di’Anno and Clive Burr, former White Spirit and Gillan guitarist Janick Gers (who would later join Iron Maiden in 1990), original Def Leppard guitarist Pete Willis, and bassist Neil Murray, who has played in over 30 bands, including Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, and John Sloman’s Badlands. All they ever released was the three-song I Will Be There EP in 1985. The artists rehearsed for some days before the sessions and it was all recorded in just three hours one afternoon. The name of the group comes from the legendary giant Gogmagog.
“Where Do We Go From Here” was covered by The Sweet.
BARNET DOGS
BARNET DOGS | 1980 / Epic Records
Rene Didn’t Do It | Ain’t No Turning Back | Bad Boy | On The Rebound | She Said “Yeah” | It’s Too Late | Feels Like The Real Thing | Riding With The Angels | Beware
All songs written by Russ Ballard, except ‘She Said Yeah’ (written by S. Christ and R. Jackson)
Singles: On The Rebound/Riding With The Angels
Facts:
“On The Rebound” reached No. 58 in the US Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1980. The song was covered in 1982 by Uriah Heep.
The album was recorded live, except “On The Rebound”, which was recorded in a different studio.
There were different promo versions of this album available in 1979, which makes them true collectors items: CBS America released a promo copy with the well-known tracks on the record. The cover was different to the released version. The album was titled ‘Russ Ballard And The Barnet Dogs’ and the track listing showed different tracks. These tracks are (in running order):
One More Time
C’Mon And Set Me Free
Running
(I Want You) Right Now
Nnew York
These songs were demos and should not have been included on the album. Russ said: ‘They have no continuity with the real Barnet Dogs album’. We like to give a quote here from Al Gallico (Legendary New York Music Publisher, talking about Russ’s ability in the recording studio) “Russ don’t make demos, he makes masters!” This might be the reason why CBS Australia decided to really add these tracks on their promo copy of the album in 1979 and left out others. The tracks on both promo albums were:
René Didn’t Do It
One More Time
C’Mon And Set Me Free
Running
She Said ‘Yeah’
It’s Too Late
Feels Like The Real Thing
(I Want You) Right Now
Nnew York
AT THE THIRD STROKE
AT THE THIRD STROKE |1979 / Epic Records
Dancer | Helpless | Treat Her Right | Expressway To Your Heart | Cast The Spirit | Look At Her Dance | What Does It Take | I’m A Scorpio | My Judgement Day
All songs written by Russ Ballard
Singles: I’m A Scorpio | Dancer & Cast The Spirit
Facts:
“Cast The Spirit” was covered by America in 1983. It was one of the songs on their album Your Move, produced by Russ Ballard, including 6 Russ’ penned songs and one song written by Dewey Bunnell and Russ Ballard.
In 1982 America worked for the first time with Russ, as they had a big hit with “You Can Do Magic” – of course written and produced by Russ.
Story behind the album title: “The origin of the term At The Third Stroke was from my childhood, when one wanted to set a clock or watch to the correct time, we would phone ‘The speaking Clock’ (I don’t remember the number)- where a voice told us …I.e.”AT THE THIRD STROKE THE TIME WILL BE TEN MINUTES AND FIFTEEN SECONDS PAST TEN PRECISELY“ then the words would be followed by three tones
(Strokes) it sounded quite dark and moody, all those years ago….”
WINNING
Winning | Halloween | A Song For Gail | Fakin’ Love | Since You Been Gone | Just A Dream Away | Here I Am | Free At Last | Cuckoo | Weekend
All songs written by Russ Ballard.
Singles: Since You Been Gone | Winning | Just A Dream Away | A Song For Gail | Some Kinda Hurricane
Facts:
The song “Winning” was covered by Santana in 1981 and gave Santana a No. 17 hit in the Billboard Hot 100.
“Since You Been Gone” was a top 10 hit in UK for Rainbow and was named the 82nd best hard rock song of all time by VH1.
RUSS BALLARD (1974)
RUSS BALLARD | 1974 / Epic Records
She’s A Hurricane | Loose Women | I Don’t Believe In Miracles | You Can Do Voodoo | You Can Count On Me | Fly Away | Danger Zone (Part 1) | Danger Zone (Part 2) | Kicks | Venus (Shine Your Light)
All songs written by Russ Ballard.
Singles: Fly Away | She’s A Hurricane | Loose Women | You Can Do Voodoo
Facts:
“I Don’t Believe In Miracles” was originally written for Colin Blunstones 1972 record Ennismore and was a hit for Colin and is still a live favourite for his fans.
“There’s so much I want to do… make an acoustic album, a piano album, a blues album, an album with hits I wrote for others… it never stops”
