If you needed help who would you call? Night ranger? Or Alice in chains? I’d call night ranger all day long because they sound better and they would rescue me from the deep dark music of the 1990s.
The keyboard player is my brother Alan Fitzgerald. He went on to play with several other big names after Night Ranger like Van Hagar & Halen for 24 yrs. He is now retired and living in Fl. He was a very hard working musician since 1974 as the bassist for Montrose and Gamma and switching to keys for Sammy Hagar and then he started Night Ranger. The new guy who took his place is being made to look as much like him as possible.....laughable
It's funny you should say that Eric Levy is out there to resemble Fitz because the first time I saw the current line-up was a RU-vid video of Night Ranger in Chicago and that's what I thought. Unfortunately I never did get to see your brother or Jeff Watson perform with Night Ranger but I DID get to see the new line-up. After seeing this video, I missed something special.
Wondered what happened to him. I saw NR many times when your brother and Jeff Watson were still in the lineup and loved every show. With Van Zant at the Colorado State Fairgrounds, Arnold Hall at the Air Force Academy... good times. Always a good show!
Thanks for posting. I often wonder where is Fitz. He got the shaft by the band. I miss him still in NR. Tell him his fans miss him and I wish him all the best.
I was sad when Fitz left the band for good. He is an amazing keyboard player that helped shape Night Rangers sound. I don't know the circumstances of his leaving Night Ranger for good the second time, but I hope he is still friends with his old bandmates and holds no animosity towards them. Being in a band is kinda like a marriage of sorts, and friction happens. I hope that he maybe does like Eddie Van Halen did with Hagar, just bury the hatchet. Life is too short to live in anger over really stupid shit when you look back on it years later. Hope Fitz is happy and healthy......
If you wanna hear some great rock listen to Night Rangers last 3 albums.Their 2012 album 'Somewhere In California' is the best rock album this decade I ever heard.Thanks RMO for covering this band.I would say 75% of their music is top shelf quality hard rock.
Dave, You forgot to mention Night Ranger's masterpiece, "Rumors In The Air", possibly the best, but most certainly among the 5 best Night Ranger songs. Good vid as usual. Richard
If you can find me a radio station that's actually allowed to change and tweak its playlists, I'll gladly call and request other NR tunes. The problem is, those stations that still have human DJs don't allow them to play anything other than what corporate tells them to play. Clear Channel, anyone?
Ahhh. Night Ranger was my band as a teenager. Just great stuff. They got pigeon holed after Sister Christain...they were A and R'd by their label to keep putting out the ballads. 4 in the morning...the song that goes along with me as a teenager destroying gin as a viable alcohol option!. 😂
Did It For Love is great! Record label was stupid, though - releasing a ballad-type song as first single, from that record. Should've gone with a rocker, like Man In Motion .. or Reason To Be.
Nah, those songs would not have gotten airplay either. Did it For Love is hated by the band because an outside writer wrote it. They never even played it in concert when they were touring for that album. It was just released at the wrong time. Even the band was going through the motions when Man In Motion got released. They had just released Fitz, because they didn't want to be known for keyboards. They all just threw in the towel after that one. Did It for Love and Restless kind had the best chance for airplay on that one. I did like the song Man In Motion, but it was not as catchy as their earlier rockers.
My last concert was night ranger before all this coronavirus they did the first two albums they were incredible everyone can sing perfectly still both Jack and Kelly Brad is still great they haven't missed a step.Alot of singers in the rock/metal genre just don't have the range anymore and there voices are blown out for example Don dokken sounds horrible Vince Neil is bloated and can't sing anyore Joe Elliot from def Leppard voice is blown out etc
They are great live still. I did stop seeing them after seeing the same show for 10 years though. They started to sprinkle in more older non-singles which is good. Too many covers and then Damn Yankees songs. Funny thing is they stopped playing Coming of Age..like that one better than High Enough.
No one listens to the radio anymore man. It's moved on to RU-vid and Spotify. Everyone started on Sister Christian. Then I ended on Secret of My Success and Man in Motion. Those are my top 3 songs.
"...The secret to my success is I'm living 24 Hours A Day..." -Night Ranger. Night Ranger was right up there with; The Dead Kennedys, Berlin, Lizzie Borden, Oingo Boingo, Missing Persons, Cheap Trick, Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper, The Meat Puppets, The Cars, Camper Van Bethoven, The Tubes, The Cruzados All & Pat Benatar even though she's a bit older than most of these others.
In 1984 Night Ranger did a concert at Six Flags over Texas, it was a September, We had heavy rains and lighting. They started the concert and something on stage exploded due to heavy rain. They took about one hour break to wait for rains to go away, Finally did they started playing all their hit song at the time, Seems as if they got in maybe 5 or 6 song, then the rains came back and they had to stop. One of the better concerts I have ever seen, and also we didn't have to deal with an opening band.
"Growing Up In California" is a KILLER song by NR!! They have a shitload of great songs!! Go listen to "Time of Our Lives"--superb vocals! I could go on & on
Night Ranger has always and will always "Kick Ass"! They are classified as Good Old Classic Rock. If you see them in concert they will have you on your feet. The entire band are talented musicians. People have given them a unjustified bad rap. Listen before you speak. Brad Gillis played for Ozzie. Jack Blade played for Damn Yankees.
Love this video. You nailed it. Night Ranger is my favorite band. They are so much more than just Sister Christian. Brad and Kelly are both sadly underrated.
It's not just Night Ranger. Over time many bands from the 80's have suffered from only one song being played. Loverboy for example, you would think they only had Workin For the Weekend. Ratt only has Round and Round. Those are prime examples, but Night Ranger actually has two songs that get played. NR got killed by Grunge, but also Damn Yankees put a hault on them also. Radio only like to play one song from almost everyone these days. These bands don't even get consideration for the HOF and they should. They were very successful. Many in there that did not have the success.
That really angers me when classic rock stations don't play more bands like Night Ranger. While I didn't exactly become enamored with Sister Christian, their other songs more than made up for it. I can't listen to Goodbye without feeling sorrow for all the innocence lost in this day and age. But my point is classic rock stations need to get on the ball and play more Night Ranger songs. Don't Tell Me You Love Me alone is worth the price of admission.
I love classic rock. But my opinion is it should be played on classic rock stations. All these guys are already rich beyond belief. Not that they don't work at it. At their age they have to. Kevin Cronin runs at least 5 miles a day. at LEAST and he has since forever. He was playing in a theatre that I work in with REO. a local radio station pushed their songs for the concert and he agreed to go their and do an interview the day of the show. this was before cell phones were every where. around say 2002. I explained where the radio station was to him. It was maybe 1.5 to 2 miles away the way the crow flies but on the shortest road route about 4 miles one way. He actually ran their, did his interview ran and back to the theatre with in 2 hours. the average male jogger can do 8 miles per hour. He is a bit better than at say maybe 10. There was also a very big steep 3 mile hill to get up but easy back down.
I just watched a RU-vid video of their latest live show last night. Shot at SeaWorld Orlando recently. Not the best quality video and/or audio. But the band did well.
Dude, you need to understand that these songs, even the hits, are 30, 35 years old. Can you imagine in 1980 radio stations having 4-5 songs by the Andrew Sisters in regular rotation? Yes, the structure of the music industry and listening methods are different now, and radio is definitely too myopic in general, but it was 35 years ago. Music has moved on, there's a sea of content, and there's only so much time for so many songs. Not saying Night Ranger isn't good, but that's just reality.
Yes! I love your example! Never heard any Andrews sisters or Frank Sinatra or Benny Goodman on even the widest format AM radio stations in 1980. It could be argued that was because of those artists not being Rock performers but your point is well taken. But of course, Classic Rock stations could and should open up their playlists a bit and make room for more than one song from some of these old bands. Its not a war though. That is Dave's way of making us click on his videos.
I see his point, I like all of the Night Ranger hits that he mentioned. Luckily I use Napster (formerly Rhapsody), so I have around 1000 80's songs in my playlist, which include ALL of Night Ranger's hits. I'm astonished that terrestrial radio still exists. On the rare occasion that I turn it on, the amount of commercials is enough to make me turn it off. And if you listen to the radio long enough, you hear the same Led Zepplin, Van Halen, Journey, REO Speedwagon, Styx....... songs.
thekeymaster That's because, in tests, most ordinary folks prefer familiarity (allegedly), and the biggest of the BIGGEST songs are the most familiar. Of course, radio creates a chicken/egg scenario by beating certain songs to death so that only those songs are the most familiar in the first place, but that's generally why they do it.
Dave, there is no war on Night Ranger or any other band. We are just “old”. Their songs are just 35 years old. Kelly is good. But does not hold a candle to the Perry, Gramm, Walsh, etc. My favorite is When You Close Your Eyes.
Just heard don't tell me you love me last week on the radio. And I really haven't cared for night Ranger since that keyboard guy quit and they fired Jeff Watson
The keyboard player is my brother Alan. He went on to play with several other big names after Night Ranger like Van Hagar & Halen for 24 yrs. He is now retired and living in Fl. He was a very hard working musician since 1974 as the bassist for Montrose and Gamma and switching to keys for Sammy Hagar and then he started Night Ranger. The new guy who took his place is being made to look as much like him as possible.....laughable!
mfitzster He looks like a creepy doctor on the Midnight Madness album. I remember middle aged women returning that album because they liked Sister Christian and thought NR were a religious band.I recall that album having lyrics intact.I always wondered why he didn't play on Man In Motion.I thought Big Life was a really great album.He really stands out on that one
I saw them open for Sammy Hagar when their first album was out. Always loved "Penny" from the first album. As much as I love Night Ranger, I think Jack Blades popularity was bigger during his time with Damn Yankees.
I have been a fan as long as you have and listened to them from the start. Even when there was the "hiatus" in the early 90's and Brad and Kelly kept it going with Gary Moon on bass. The three of them did an album, Feeding Off The Mojo, which had some great tracks as well. The title cut itself was phenomenal. I'm more a fan of their "harder rock" songs than the ballads, because you can't be a true ballad band with such great guitar players doing what they love best, rocking the roof off! Eddie's Coming Out Tonight is an incredible song with guitar solos from both of them! Another very often overlooked yet amazing song is Wild And Innocent Youth from the Out of Bounds soundtrack in 1986. Only heard through the closing credits and incredibly hard to find for downloading today, but there is a RU-vid video that is basically audio only with a picture of the band. Love that song and really hope to find it someday to download! Overall, Night Ranger is THE most underrated, underappreciated band of all time!
The title track was a great tune even without Kelly singing it. The problem with that album was Kelly did not sing that many songs on it. The band did not even want to call themselves Night Ranger, but it was the best way to sell cds and have people see them live. I remember when they toured as a three-some before the album was released and probably recorded....Kelly sang a lot more of the songs initially. I think they tried the songs live before recording the cd. The mistake they made is Kelly needed to sing more than 3 tracks on it....one of those 3 songs was a cover. So two new Kelly songs. Kelly needed to sing more on it..it would have done better.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Damn Yankees recently & a Night Ranger concert from 2017 popped up in my suggested videos. Having been crazy for “Sister Christian” since I was a kid in the 80’s, I decided to watch. I’m embarrassed to admit it, considering myself a huge music fan, I didn’t realize Jack was in Night Ranger. That did it. I had to watch & listen to anything I could find on Night Ranger. I started w/ the 80’s concerts. Throughout watching I kept wondering why these guys aren’t included in discussions of 80’s music legends....the song’s & performances were insanely good...they’re excluded because?!?! And just as you said, as amazing as “Sister Christian” was, so many of the songs you named were equally amazing. Another revelation from viewing the 2017 concert was the drummer was singing “Sister Christian!” Holy cow, 37 years & no idea!! I’ve heard it’s difficult to play drums & sing, so was stunned how many songs Kelly performed. Loved the comparison to Deen Castrono as his I’ve seen his Journey performances (Mother/Father, I don’t have the words ❤️) & to me that intensity seemed reminiscent of Kelly’s. Listening to Don’t Let Up, they still rock it! “Sister Christian” deserves to be played for eternity. But limiting this phenomenal band’s legacy to just this one diamond when there’s a mine is truly a loss.
Interesting to note this series of vids. Since the Illuminati took over the music industry completely in the 90s, the bands which promoted any kid of genuine positive symbolism were eliminated from any kind of promotion. It makes sense that they would actively try to suppress exposure of the still-living bands of the past. People might actually like them, and realize that most new music is psychologically toxic in one way or another. It's easy to see in Hollywood, where 99% of heroes are extremely unhealthy-minded anti-heroes, etc. The comments about Alice in Chains and the symbolic contrast really sparked some thought.
Dave, damn straight !! Awesome band live and new music is as well. The true Mark of a damn good band is how they play live. Night Ranger nails it EVERY time !! ✌
I hung out one night with Brad and talked about website building of all things. Great guy! Then another time hung out with the band one night. Cool guys.
Dave; I always like when you remind me of a band I forgot about! I'm glad "Sister Christian" still gets some spins on the radio. They were a great band in an era of great bands who got lost in the shuffle when the music preferences shifted to ...grunge :( The original band had a lot of talent - Kelly whom you pointed out sung "Sister...", he also wrote that tune, Brad Gillis on guitar who replaced Randy Rhodes in the Ozzy Osbourne band. The "sound" of NR was the "double guitar assault" with Brad and Jeff Watson who had the amazing 10 finger tapping technique. Both were greta guitar players in an era of great guitar players. Oh, and the bass player / singer was, Jack Blades who was also in "Damn Yankees" with Tommy Shaw and Ted Nugent. It's a shame these guys are getting forgotten. Thanks Dave.
seen Night Ranger after their first album . only cost $1.01 , yeah , don't tell me you love me , was there hit at that point . great shredding guitar riffs on that .
I can't believe you said exactly what I've been saying for years. Sister Christian is the only night Ranger song I ever hear on the radio. And like you don't tell me you love me was the first Night Ranger song I heard when I was in high school as well and when Brad Gillis finished up his part of the solo the only thing I could say is" who is this guy, and what the hell is he doing to that guitar" it blew my mind.
AWESOME Band. One of my All-Time Faves for sure. And probably one of my top 2 or 3 all-time fave guitar-duos. Jeff & Brad are both MONSTER players, but for me - this Band's heart and soul was Jeff Watson and Kelly Keagy. I mean... Jack has to get a ton of props too. Those 3 are just so musical. So soulful. And great song-writers. And Fitz on the keys? What a Band!
Most of these bands are only going to have their signature songs played on radio including Classic Rock stations-this is why you hear the same stuff played again and again. Time has relegated most of these bands into obscurity and the “where are they now” category unless you were really big like Journey was. Most bands that tour America have to do package deals with other bands as they can no longer headline and pull in a major audience. And now some of them are doing cruise ship performances? In the case of Night Ranger, they simply never became big enough to avoid being categorized as a minor band and this is why we rarely hear of them as well as other artists. I don’t think there is a war against these bands-it’s just simply that too much time has passed and in the next 10 years most of them will be gone for good.
Loved Night Ranger back in the day. Saw them open for KISS in 1981. They are just not relevant anymore. They never changed their style which is good. Hate to see a band change their sound that they are famous for and start playing grunge or whatever style. I still listen to them. Wish they still had Jeff Watson but that is a lost cause. Their new albums sound just like the first ones.
My local classic rock station has a segment called my favourite song and I’ve met the MC of the segment so we are aquainted . I told the MC I was torn with two of my absolute favourites being “ Four In The Morning “ by Night Ranger or “ The Restless Ones “ by Bad English . The response I got was we don’t play either of those . Many years ago Bryan Adams had a press conference going on and was asked about the new CANCON regulations which designates a high. percentage of music in Canada has to be Canadian Content . Bryan’s retort to that question is that regulation will breed mediocrity in the music industry in Canada ! Roughly 20 years or so later that quote from Bryan stick in my mind as I hear a lot of crud on Classic Rock Stations as opposed to what should make playlists .
Recently I was minding my own business, taking a leak on a local poplar by starlight, when suddenly accosted and threatened with write-up. It was the night ranger. And so literally, as regards night rangers, I certainly cannot give a _shit._
Music exec: "Night Ranger... NIGHT RANGER! I CURSE the day I heard the name! This band is the bane of my existence... I shall smite them from the earth, even if I doth draw my last dying breath in doing so. I declare mother and child rending WAR upon this musical ABOMINATION! I shall use every tool in my shed, and every arrow in my quiver, to banish them from the earth! GRRRRRRRR!!!!! NIGHT RANGER!!!!!" 😄
Robert Kimbrough I was facetiously imitating a music exec. In other words, it doesn't happen. The point I was making is that no one is waging war against Night Ranger.
There is no “war” on Night Ranger or any other band. Playlists are determined by the listeners, through market research. Radio is a commercial business. The goal is not to play all the thousands of songs that are out there, the goal is to make money. Stations get more listeners when they play what is most popular. Restricting playlists to only the most popular songs minimizes the chance that someone will hear a song they don’t like and switch to a different station.
paradise_cupcakes: I worked in commercial radio for 7 years and I know you are right. Oh I share Dave's frustrations too here…I'd get calls asking why we play the same songs over and over, I'd want to reply "You think you're sick of them, how do you think I feel…" but I wouldn't...
paradise_cupcakes I also work in radio and media (24 years), and I agree with you, in general. However, I've also worked at many stations that created a self-fulfilling prophecy by beating certain songs to death and ignoring listeners who said they want more new songs or variety.
Glenn Page Music: Yes there is that too…one of the promo liner carts I had to play repeatedly mentioned how the station had "true variety." I kept expecting a caller to call and be like WTF and how would I respond.
Umm, Dave is right here ... A station can't play 1000 songs, by a band like that - but Don't Tell Me You Love, as well as When You Close Your Eyes and Sentimental Street were right up there, on the charts. Would be nice to hear them.
I don't believe that people only remember Night Ranger by one Song Sister Christian .....as He says there are so many if not more memorable at least as much .
For me personally I thought Night Ranger was just kind of weird. I was so used to Brad Gillis playing with Ozzy on the speak of the devil live album and really being a metal kind of guy but then I see a weird name sounding group called Night Ranger which is extremely cheesy and Brad Gillis just doesn't seem to fit with that band in my opinion. A million times better when he was with Ozzy for that one live album.
I loved Night Ranger when they came out, but let's be honest, they haven't written a great record since Midnight Madness. It's not a "war", Dave, it's called LACK OF GOOD MUSIC OUTPUT! Come on man, it's not Rocket Science :)
