New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Firefall's "Way Back When" music video opens with the band's original bassist Mark Andes comparing the turbulent 1960s with challenges people are going through nowadays. He ends his observation with the hope of "Maybe music will help us get through this storm together." Then we hear chiming chords, and see Firefall lead guitarist/singer/co-founder Jock Bartley singing about life and love, recalling many classic musicians of the 1960s--the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Byrds, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, the Rascals, CSN, Credence Clearwater Revival..... Jock says, "The first verse and first chorus are set in 1965. The second verse and chorus are '67, and the third verse and chorus is '69. It's a loving retrospective of how great the music was back then."
Produced by Jock's son Jamey, the "Way Back When" video shows memories of screaming fans, war and hate, Woodstock, and photos of 45 RPM singles and artists, interspersing with a band performance. Watch the video below.
Jock and his bandmates: bassist Mark Andes, multi-instrumentalist
David Muse (sax, flute, keys), drummer
Sandy Ficca, and singer/guitar player Gary Jones are heralding their latest album, COMET on Sunset Blvd. Records--out December 11, 2020. Since the release of their last new album, 1994's MESSENGER, Firefall has kept up a hectic touring schedule of 80 plus dates a year, appearing at Performing Arts Centers, festivals, fairs and casinos. Since 2012, with original members Muse and Andes returning to the Firefall family, the band has been writing and recording as time permitted around tour dates.
Over the last ten years their 70's chart-topping singles "You Are The Woman," "Just Remember I Love You," "Strange Way," and others, have continued to delight perennial fans as well as a younger audience captured by the popularity of the Yacht Rock genre. The goal with COMET, was to recreate the elan of the original records in a contemporary format.
COMET was recorded in Colorado and Nashville, in conjunction with appearances in those markets. COMET was a group effort and allowed every member to shine. Highlights include Jock's "There She Is," a positive love song, "Before I Met You," and "New Mexico" reminiscent of the group's 1976 FM radio hit "Mexico," a fan favorite. Firefall's newest member Gary Jones wrote "
Never Be The Same" about his mother passing away. "Hardest Chain" was co-penned by
Sandy Ficca and Colorado songwriter Tony Rosario. The band recorded Spirit's "Nature's Way," an environmental anthem song about the end of the hippie movement; Mark Andes (originally in Spirit) sings lead with the Eagles' Timothy B. Schmit singing along and the Doobie Brothers' John McFee playing guitars.
Nashville's Gary Burr wrote "Younger." "
Ghost Town" is a
Tony Joe White original from the 1970s. The late Virginia rocker Robbin Thompson (a member of Bruce Springsteen's first band and a longtime friend of Firefall) wrote, "A Real Fine Day."
The cover of the new album is Comet NEOWISE, which lit up the Oregon coastline's nighttime sky in July 2020. That image is reminiscent of the striking artwork on the band's 1976 debut album, Firefall, which Jock helped design!
Firefall formed in Boulder, Colorado in 1974. After their first album, the group toured with Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers, The Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Loggins and Messina, Chicago, Cheap Trick, Marshall Tucker, and many others.
