SAVANNAH NIX – Long Time Ago Does Not Mean F**k All (Album Review)

The Story:

The story of English glamsters Savannah Nix started in a very surprising part of the world namely the northern Italian city of Bergamo. The Italian guitarist Massimo “Max” Numa had been playing the local club circuit for more than 7 years with the metal band Hallowed. It also resulted in an album with them in 1986 and this album caught the attention of Venom‘s Abaddon (a.k.a. Tony Bray). He liked what he heard and made it his mission to try and get the guys a record deal. The classic label NEAT Records was involved but for the deal to materialize the band would have to relocate to the UK which the rest of the band was not prepared to do. Numa decided to leave the band and try to put together a new band in London, UK as his new home base. First he managed to pick up Italian drummer Fabio del Rio then he was introduced to guitarist Colin Bowles and bass player Mark Goodchild. Together the first steps of Savannah Nix were taken in October of 1987. Rehearsals started and Bowles/Goodchild had a lot of songs written already which were fine-tuned during these sessions but they still lacked a singer. Almost a year later after countless sessions trying out different singers, they found Spanish/Swiss-born shouter David Rubio. Savannah Nix played their first gig at London’s legendary Stick of Rock club in August of 1988.

In November of that year, the first demo called “Ready for the Cruise”  was recorded at the Off Beat Studios in London. Shortly after Del Rio left the band and had short stints with both UFO and Jagged Edge. Kelv Hellrazer of the magazine Metal Forces, who had heard the demo, compared them to bands like Ratt, Dokken and Stryper. The Savannah Nix sound was tailored for the American market but still with a British flavour. Soon Ramsay Bisharah was recruited for the vacant drummer position and Savannah Nix started gigging relentlessly all over the UK with a few gigs on mainland Europe building a reputation as a formidable live act. In late 1989 the guys entered the studio once again to record a demo but it was shelved when they changed management and was never used to promote the band. Despite record deal proposals from a German label and MCA America, nothing materialized due to different demands on the label’s part. Anyway, something was not right and lead vocalist David Rubio left the band in 1990. In came Marc Huckle to fill the vacant frontman position.

With Huckle at the microphone, Savannah Nix entered the Off Beat Studios once again in London in May of 1990 to cut the Obscene Obsession demo. Autumn of that very same year saw them embark on a UK tour with Cheap n’ Nasty featuring Nasty Suicide of Hanoi Rocks fame but the band was faced with great challenges as both Bowles and Bisharah decided to call it quits in early 1991 leaving the band without a large chunk of its core part. Numa put together what was to be the Mark IV version of Savannah Nix bringing in Karl Chappell on bass and the drum stool was rotated towards Jules Fayle -Parr.

Savannah Nix soldiered on. No record deal was in sight, but they got to submit two tracks for a Japanese Metal for Muthas compilation (“Love Last Shot”, 2nd version and “Free My State of Mind”) released on Pony Canyon in 1992. The band entered the studio in 1991 to record their fourth demo and these tracks were chosen for the compilation album. By 1992 Max Numa had set up a mobile recording studio in his living room and that’s where the band recorded their last six tracks. Then came the grunge onslaught and the club scene just disappeared. Savannah Nix bowed out in early 1993 having given their all.

Long Time Ago Does Not Mean F**k All – The Album

So what do we get on this Lost UK Jewels vol 19 series? Frontiers Records‘ Primo Bonali and Rob Evans of AOR Underground continue their quest to unearth all those great recordings which is the Steelheart Memories Collection series. Their quest; to dig up talent that didn’t really get their fifteen minutes of fame in the spotlight. Savannah Nix were a great outfit and played a hard rock that was “right” for the latter part of the 1980s. Big hooks and guitar licks to die for is what you get and it is a testament to a time when rock n’ roll was fun and the rock stars were larger than life. Their biggest problem was that they were based in London, UK and not along the Sunset Strip in L.A.

If you are a fan of well-played hard rock with the “bad boy” attitude and choruses to sing along to and to remember you have come to the right place. The CD starts with the three-track Obscene Obsession demo from 1990. “Cherry Bomb” is a great opener with a heavy riff and some Skid Row vibes. Mark Huckle sounds like a crossover between Vince Neil and a young Sebastian Bach. This song has a really strong hook and is sort of contagious and one of their strongest songs. “Nineteen” (with a bullet) is another mid-tempo rocker with a cool driving riff and gritty vocals from Huckle. With “Lost Boys” the Savannah guys turn up the tempo a bit without losing that melodic edge and a gang vocal style of chorus.

We move on to the fourth demo and the Metal for Muthas tracks. “Love’s Last Shot” (2nd version) is one of the tracks that really sticks out from the crowd with a thumping bassline and an infectious melody/hook line. If this would have come out in 1988 this could very well have been on repeat on MTV. “Free My State of Mind” is a good mid-tempo rocker, nothing more and nothing less.

Ok, time to take the machine back in time. Back to 1988 and the Ready for the Cruise demo with shouter David Rubio at the helm. First, you get the first version of “Love’s Last Shot” and like I said – it’s a great song with a strong hook. The sound quality deteriorates a little bit being an older recording. I really like Rubio‘s voice too! He has a little more “polished” voice compared to Huckle. “Million Miles Away” kicks off with an amazing riff and this might be my all-time favourite tack by Savannah Nix and Rubio stretches his voice to the limit. “If You Know What You Want” has Rubio moaning at the start and you can almost see that sexy and love hungry look in his face that so many rock stars use on stage and in videos. It is another pleasant piece of melodic hard rock heaven. Up next we have another song recorded several times – “Give Me Your Love” – 1st version. It has that kind of Ratt vibe around it. The first demo rounds off with “All Over You” which has another set of nice riffing and shout-along choruses. Lyrically Savannah Nix deals with the typical, sex, girls and rock n roll themes.

We move on to Savannah Nix second unreleased demo from 1989 and the last to feature David Rubio on vocals. Sound quality drops a bit further (cassette tape may be the source?). We get the first version of “Cherry Bomb” with Rubio on vocals and it’s a real treat. This should of course be on here! We go on with the re-take of “Give Your Love” that was already on the first demo so it adds nothing in particular. Demo ends with “Italian Girls”. It’s another song about long-legged girls and it’s an ok rocker.

Ending the CD as bonus tracks are six tracks from The Living Room Takes in 1992. These tracks were recorded in Max Numa‘s livingroom on a portable studio. Goodchild was gone and somehow I think the attitude and the songs were not there anymore. They are ok rock songs but something had happened to Savannah Nix.

Summary

This is another great slab of unreleased music from the late 1980s and early 1990s. You cannot do anything less than to admire Primo and Rob‘s intense search for never before released or heard music. They keep being at it 24/7 and the collector series just get larger and larger, yet they hardly ever stumble or release an archive release that has not been worth your money getting your hands on. So hats off for them! Keep up the good work guys!

Savannah Nix is the story of the band that was in the wrong place at the right time. They had the looks, the hooks and everything except a record deal. Some songs may venture really close to that first Skid Row album but in the end, the fist is up in the air and you suddenly find yourself shouting “Sweet little Cherry Bomb” just to look around and make sure no one heard you in the process.

The CD comes with liner notes written by Rob Evans and a lot of unseen pictures from back in the day. The quality of booklets and graphical design is as always very high when it comes to Steelheart Memories releases. What makes them extra valuable is the tendency to use the original cover – even if it is a cassette tape or a 7″ vinyl single. Kudos!

So if you are a fan of Mötley Crue, Skid Row, Ratt or Dokken you should check this release out! It will be rare soon as only 500 copies produced, so get a move on. I would rate this CD to 8/10 Geeks. What they lack in originality they well make up for with writing talent and attitude!

Steelheart Records: OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

AOR Underground: FACEBOOK

Mikael Svensson

Also, find more of my CGCM reviews here: Mikael Svensson