A holy trinity of rock and roll royalty united to help oversee the recording, as Mick Ronson (David Bowie), Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) and Steven Van Zandt (Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny) combined with co-producers the Slimmer Twins (Steve Popovich Sr. & Marty Mooney) and the Iron City Houserockers to create one of rock’s great lost classics. Their cohesive efforts − as producers, arrangers and players − will finally be rediscovered as an entirely new listening experience on CD and vinyl when Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive) is released by fabled indie label, Cleveland International Records. The remastered two-CD set includes a bonus disc with 16 previously unreleased tracks of demos and other rarities. The new vinyl edition will include a download card of those same 16 tracks to go with a vinyl replica of the original album. The digital package is on sale NOW and streaming here. Order the vinyl and physical CD here. Order the exclusive Iron City Houserockers Bundle Pack at www.clevelandinternational.com.
The presence of Hunter, Ronson and Van Zandt, says the Houston Press, sets “this project apart,” and “gives the whole record a sort of Pittsburgh/New Jersey/London amalgamation vibe.” MediaNews Group called this chapter in Grushecky’s four-decade career “one of his shining moments.”
Little Steven’s Underground Garage celebrated Digital Release Day with a “Coolest Conversations” album spotlight, as Grushecky spoke with the Mighty Manfred on Sirius XM. Ultimate Classic Rock hosted an exclusive Track Premiere of the bonus disc demo version of “Hypnotized (A Work in Progress),” featuring Hunter and Ronson, and called the new release “cool stuff.”
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| Iron City Houserockers |
American Songwriter, in an interview with Grushecky, hails Have A Good Time (But Get Out Alive) as “a forgotten gem of a record, a time capsule of frenetic ‘80s energy and lyrics about home that hit home, performed by the toughest, tightest band from the ‘work hard, play hard’ working-class streets of Pittsburgh." The magazine adds that the bonus disc not only “documents each song's evolution,” but “showcases how Grushecky and the band took it up a notch when the 'record' button was pressed."
Goldmine, in a new five-star review, proclaims the album an “epic musical milestone,” and placed it in the context of the current world pandemic, noting the how “few bands offered up material as gritty, rich, and poignant as Pittsburgh’s own The Iron City Houserockers” and the “modern-day relevance to the message of the title track and the album itself. Get Out Alive! has always been a record of hope, home, solidarity, community, strength, and love - themes that are as important today as they were 40 years ago.”
Adds Midwest Record: “Anyone that wants to rock will salute this. Amazingly heady still after 40 years of sitting in limbo, waiting for the sky to fall.”
Forty years since The Iron City Houserockers’ willingness to let Ronson, Hunter and Van Zandt reshape their initial ideas in the studio proved prophetic, and the songs they recorded for the 1980 release put down roots that stretched far outside of Pittsburgh. Greil Marcus, in The Village Voice, said Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive) was “the strongest album an American band has made this year” and “proves the Iron City Houserockers are the best hard rock band in the country.” All Music Guide marveled at the new album’s power surge, saying the band “landed with the impact of a Louisville slugger connecting with a fastball” and crediting Grushecky for songwriting and lead vocals that “seethe with a furious passion that's never less than convincing. … The total commitment of his performance, delivered with the conviction of a man fighting for his life, brings these stories to vivid, sweaty life.”
Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive) is listed as one of the top eight Essential Heartland Rock records alongside the likes of Bob Seger's Night Moves, and John Mellencamp's Scarecrow,
and features many of the Houserockers' signature tunes, including "Pumping Iron,” "Junior's Bar," and "Have A Good Time.” During a 1981 live radio concert in Boston, rabid fans can be heard screaming requests for “Pumping Iron,” an anthem Grushecky penned as a tribute to his home city, and which he still usually plays with Bruce Springsteen when they perform together.
As Hunter fondly remembers: “Joe and the Houserockers were and are an actual rock and roll band. So many 'rock and roll' bands are not real − they just look and act like they are − and fool people most of the time. These guys are for real − and what a lovely man Joe is.”
In the liner notes, Grushecky offers a remarkably concise analysis of the record that emerged: “We had great songs and the band was smoking,” he writes. “We all knew something special was happening. The results were a mixture of Pittsburgh rock and roll, Jersey Shore savvy and soul, and English mystic and muscle. Add a dash of Cleveland moxie and an anything goes attitude and a legendary album was born.”
