Some bands make it, some fade in to oblivion. Diving for Pearls had all the talent and the songs to make it, but for some reason faded in to oblivion. For me, their journey began when I was working at Sam Goody while in college. The promo for their debut album came in, I dropped it in to the CD player and was hooked from the first note of “Gimme Your Good Lovin'”. I made sure when the store was done with that promo that it went home with me. And it did!

But let’s go back in time a little. The band was started by Danny Malone (on vocals) and Jack Moran (Keyboards) back in Boston. They were in a band before that called The Trademarks. But where did they get a name like ‘Diving for Pearls’? Strange name. They actually pulled it from a line in Elvis Costello’s song ‘Shipbuilding’…

With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls

The band played around Boston for years and decided to take the show to New York. While working at Hard Rock Cafe, I believe, they somehow met Yul Vasquez (Guitar) and Peter Clemente (Drums). Yul had been in the band Urgent prior while Peter had been working with Michael Monroe in the band Secret Chiefs. Now, all they needed was a bass player and they found that in the form of David Weeks. The band was complete.

They signed a development deal with Epic Records. Now, a development deal isn’t really a record deal so much as it is just here’s some money, go make an album, if it sells maybe we will do more, if it doesn’t, good riddance. Not the most enticing deal, but a deal nonetheless. So, the boys packed their bags and went to Nashville, Tennessee to record their first album with producer David Prater.

The album came out sometime in October 1989 and had modest play on MTV and radio. Enough so that the album did sell over 250,000 albums in the U.S. Kerrang named it one of their Top 20’s of 1989. Heck, this might be the best melodic rock album you’ve never heard. But Epic wasn’t really interested anymore and they decided against a second album. And that was it for the band until around 2002, when Danny Malone ressurrected the band for a second album 15 years after the debut, called ‘Texas’, but it was only Danny as the others had moved on.

In fact, Yul Vasquez went on to a fine acting career receiving Tony nods and appearing in film and TV shows including a well known stint on Seinfeld when he played “Bob, The Intimidating Gay Guy”. David Weeks went on to be an attorney and one of his most famous cases was when he represented Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson in their lawsuit over the infamous sex tape against the company that released it. Peter Clemente went to work with a company called Cyber Dialogue. I’m not sure what happened to Jack Moran. We’ve talked enough about the band, let’s get to the music.

The sound of the band was very 80’s. It was hard rock, but more melodic and not that hard. More in the vein of Journey and Survivor with Jimi Jamison on vocals. The songs leaned more pop with vocals that were to die for as Danny’s vocals were powerful and on the higher register and he could sing the phonebook and I’d be entranced. The opening song is a perfect example of the sound as “Gimme Your Good Lovin'” had the catchy hooks, the engaging chorus, a hard driving bass line, riffs for days and vocals that would make the ladies swoon and the guys jealous. The song was the first single from the album, but only hit #84 on the Hot 100. No Top 40 hits for these guys.

“Have You Forgotten” and “I Close My Eyes” continues the silky smooth vocals of Danny and every song was pure melodic bliss. The ballads were second to none with songs like “New Moon” which to me was better than most ballads at the time. The guitar playing was perfection and the vocals would make Steve Perry stop and take notice. The sound had a Def Leppard vibe as well so no wonder I was in to it.

Songs like “Never On Monday”, full of lush keyboards and enticing drum beats would give Survivor a run for their money. While “You’re All I Know” and “Mystery to Me” both harken back to Bon Jovi style keys and guitar with all the energy and sex appeal needed. And I don’t say it enough (or maybe I do), but Danny’s vocals are simply brilliant with that high register and a smoothness that few can achieve.

Then we get to another ballad with “I Don’t Want to Cry” and it is hard not to when hearing those emotive lyrics and delivery from Danny. Wow! Then the band rocks out with “Keep Our Love Alive” with killer riffs both keys and guitar. The energy is ramped up and so is the fun. Then to finish it off they take it up another notch with “The Girl Can’t Stop It”. The slow build brings you to an explosive almost anthemic arena rock song. Slamming drums, blistering guitars and a gritty vocal give us the most 80’s glam rock song they’ve done on the album. What a way to close it out.

Track Listing:

1. Gimme Your Good Lovin’ – Keeper
2. Have You Forgotten? – Keeper
3. I Close My Eyes – Keeper
4. New Moon – Keeper
5. Never On Monday – Keeper
6. You’re All I Know – Keeper
7. Mystery To Me – Keeper
8. I Don’t Want to Cry – Keeper
9. Keep Our Love Alive – Keeper
10. The Girl Can’t Stop It – Keeper

The Track Score is 10 out of 10 Tracks or 100%. No doubt that My Overall Score is 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars as this is one the best Melodic Rock albums of the 80’s for me.  I’ve loved it since the moment I heard it back in 1989 and still love it today with the same intensity. When I started collecting music again, this was one of the first albums on vinyl I tracked down. And when I saw Rock Candy’s reissue with bonus track, uhhh, yes please!!  Danny Malone’s vocals are what it is all about for me as that silky smooth vocal is something I can’t get enough of…ever!  How these guys never caught on is beyond me. My guess is they were a few years too late to the party for their sound. If this was mid-80’s they would’ve competed with Journey and Survivor and might have come out on top, but sadly that wasn’t the case.

ROCK CANDY BONUS TRACKS:

Rock Candy does great re-issues and this one is no different. We get not 1 but 5 bonus tracks including a great studio version of The Beatles song “Dear Prudence”.  Then we get four live cuts recorded at the Toy Tiger Club in Louisville, Kentucky back in 1990. I never saw these guys live so live cuts of these songs, hell yes!!  And to make it even better, one of the live cuts is a cover of The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary”. Shut the front door!!  These guys do a killer version and the crowd goes nuts!!  A great set of bonus tracks for an already amazing album.

And there you have it, if you’ve never checked these guys out, it is a must if you are fan of 80’s Melodic Rock. If you like Journey, Survivor and Bon Jovi, then this should fit nicely in between all of those.  Thanks for staying with me on this rant of one of my favorite albums. I can’t believe it took me this long to write about it.