Lou Gramm claims that it was Foreigner co-founder Mick Jones‘ greed in regard to publishing revenue that led to the pair’s eventual split. Over the years, Gramm and Jones co-wrote such signature Foreigner hits as “Hot Blooded,” “Double Vision,” “Blue Morning, Blue Day,” “Head Games,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Say You Will,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” among others.
Blabbermouth transcribed some of Gramm’s powerful chat with The Sessions, in which he explained that the credit for the band’s one-and-only Number One hit — “I Want To Know What Love Is” — led to the schism between the two band mates: “(Mick’s home) home was about 15 minutes from my home. So I would drive over to his house and we would work on that song. . . I felt we had worked our tails off to make that song what it is. And at the end of (1984’s Agent Provocateur), when it was time to decide what the percentages (for the songs) were, I wrote down what I thought it should be and he wrote down what he thought it should be. I think I wrote down 65-35 (percent) — 35 for me, 65 for him. And I opened the little piece of paper that (contained his note on) what he thought (the correct split) was, and he wrote down 95-5. I was so stunned and crushed that he’d think I contributed next to nothing to that song.”
Gramm went on to say, “Here’s another (detail) for you. (Mick) was working with a choir in one studio while we were recording that song. I was in another studio with an engineer singing the lead vocals. I did them by myself — I did all the ad-libs, I did all the emotional little nuances and stuff. . . I did the whole thing myself while he was working with the choir. And that ended up being the lead vocal. . . I thought that was a pretty serious accomplishment for me, only to be denigrated to (being) an author of five percent. That put a wedge in us that was the beginning of the end.”
Gramm still holds a grudge about how the songwriting credits played out, explaining, “I should get 25 (percent) just for the vocal performance. All I could think of was greed. It was an awesome song. We all knew it was gonna be a smash. This was his chance to step on me. And y’know what I told him after (I saw his proposed split of) 95-5? I said, ‘Five, Mick?’ I said, ‘You should just keep it all.’ And he did. . . He just kept it all. And y’know the millions and millions that that song has brought in? Over the years, it’s been covered by at least three or four artists who have gone to Number One with that song.”
SIDE NOTES
- Recently released is Foreigner‘s Double Vision: Then And Now, a CD/DVD collection featuring original band members including Lou Gramm joining forces with Mick Jones and Foreigner’s current lineup for “a once in a lifetime reunion concert for the very first time in the band’s 40-year history.”
- The show was captured during a 2017 concert in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort.
- The collection features performances by Gramm and original members Al Greenwood, Dennis Elliott, Ian McDonald, and Rick Wills — alongside Mick Jones and the current incarnation of Foreigner — Kelly Hansen, Tom Gimbel, Jeff Pilson, Michael Bluestein, Bruce Watson, and Chris Frazier. Foreigner – Double Vision: Then And Now will be available on CD/DVD, Blu-ray/CD, limited double-LP/Blu-ray, and digital platforms.
- The tracklisting to Foreigner’s Double Vision: Then And Now DVD is: “Cold As Ice,” “Head Games,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” “Headknocker,” “Say You Will,” “Urgent,” “Starrider,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Double Vision,” “Blue Morning, Blue Day,” “Long, Long Way From Home,” “Dirty White Boy,” “I Want To Know What Love Is,” “Hot Blooded,” “The Flame Still Burns,” and “Fool For You Anyway.”
CHECK IT OUT: Lou Gramm & Mick Jones reunited at the 2013 Songwriters Hall Of Fame to perform “I Want To Know What Love Is”: