John Lawton - Heartbeat

HEARTBEAT

A Brit by birth, John Lawton moved to Hamburg, Germany, when he was with a band called Stone Wall. He stayed there when the band moved on, feeling that this might be the place to get his break. He didn't have to wait long. Peter Hecht, Dieter Horns, Peter Hesslein, and Joachim Reitenbach were members of a band called the German Bonds. The five joined together to record an album under the band name of Asterix in 1970, then changed their name to Lucifer's Friend and continued under that name. He recorded their debut and subsequent releases With Lucifer's Friend. His next group was Les Humphries Singers. He managed to do both of these bands concurrently, as Lucifer's Friend, for the most part were only a studio group.

He continued on doing this double duty until 1976 when he became the new singer for Uriah Heep. He remained with the group for the next three years, leaving to pursue a solo career. However, his album did not light up the charts and Lawton found himself back performing both with Les Humphries Singers and Lucifer's Friend. He also formed a band called Gun Hill and kept himself busy performing with all three of those groups. ~ Gary Hill, All Music Guide

John Lawton's 1980 solo album on RCA, Heartbeat, was a Lucifer's Friend album in everything but name, with the lineup from Sneak Me In performing as backup musicians on that project. Lawton's official return, Mean Machine, found the band returning to heavy metal, this time in the vein of Rainbow. The band officially broke up in 1982 but briefly reformed in the early 1990s to release a new CD, Sumo Grip.

Track List

1. Lola
2. Heartbeat
3. Return To Sender
4. Christine
5. Breaking Out
6. Rainbow Chasing

7. Stairways

8. Daddy's In The Money

9. What A Woman

10. Darkness Over The Island

Bonus Tracks:

11. I'ts Alright With Me
12. Hold Back The Night
13. Let It Ride
14. Downhill Run

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