Cleveland, OH. (Top40 Charts/ Retrospect Record) - The quintessential rock 'n' roll of the '80s was glorious, uplifting, Wide-screen music: big production, swooping melodies, swelling choruses, lush harmonies. Few bands pulled off this music with the conviction and panache of Cleveland-based Champion. And now, its sole full-length release, 1988's Halfway to Heaven, co-produced by the band's guitarist and vocalist John Norman and the Outlaws' Freddie Salem, is available now, for the first time ever on CD, on Las Vegas-based re-issue label, Retrospect Records for $12.99.
The nine-track disc, featuring band members Tim Kenworthy on bass, Kevin Alexander on lead vocals and lead guitar, Jerry Quade on drums and percussion, primary songwriter David Mauk on keyboards and lead vocals, and Norman on guitars and lead vocals, offers a true slice of heaven for '80s music lovers. From exhilarating mid-tempo rockers like the title track and 'On My Way,' to the bursting heartbreak ballad 'Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind' and its mirror image, the ecstatic love ballad 'Nobody,' to such irresistibly lilting tracks as 'One Plus One' and 'Just Another Day,' Champion displays its mastery of epic melodic rock.
Although Halfway to Heaven was Champion's only release and it didn't make a big impact on the charts, the band still accomplished more than most bands ever do. Forming in the early 1980s, shortly after the members' graduations from high school, the band committed itself totally to music, forgoing outside jobs. It built an extensive playing circuit that soon took it far beyond the Cleveland area and made it self-supporting and self-contained, toting a full PA and light show. The band also financed its own recording sessions.
'I don't have any regrets,' says Norman, who's now a successful packager of museum-style touring exhibitions. 'I think we had a wonderful, educational 10 years, getting to do what a majority of people wish they could have done. The fact that we didn't become the next Journey or Van Halen is fine. I don't regret all that hard work. We were absolutely one of the hardest-working bands of the time. I think we played in 28 states. We did it full-time and have a lot of great memories. To be able to hear your song on the radio - I still tell people that's one of the coolest things that can happen to you, to be driving in your car and hearing 'Halfway to Heaven' and knowing that thousands of people are listening at the same time.'
With the Halfway to Heaven album available for only about a year and the band breaking up in 1990, soon after its release, Champion's memory lived mostly in fans' scrapbooks. But last year, David Mauk, now living in Las Vegas and playing nightly with his duo Paris Pianos at the Paris Hotel, was approached by Sam McCaslin, head of Retrospect Record, who wondered if he was the David Mauk from Champion and expressed his interest in re-releasing the group's lost gem. Now, fully remastered and with the original artwork, the album is once again available to fans.
'I'm excited to release a vastly underappreciated classic AOR release in Champion,' enthuses McCaslin. 'This is a group of extremely talented musicians who knew how to write a good hook and unfortunately did not get the national recognition they deserved. That all changes NOW!!!'
'There's an audience that's still in love with 80s music, songs that had good hooks and were memorable,' says Norman, describing the prospective audience for the disc. I think all of our songs were very positive. There are so many songs out now that have a negative tone but we were always optimistic and always trying to put out positive messages.'
