Hughes/ Thrall was a musical project formed in 1982 by former

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

and Trapeze bassist/vocalist

Glenn Hughes Glenn Hughes or Glen Hughes may refer to: *Glenn Hughes (musician), born 1951 *Glenn Hughes (American singer) (1950–2001) *Glenn Hughes (cricketer), born 1959 *Glen Hughes Glen Hughes is an Australian former professional rugby league footbal ...

and guitarist

Pat Thrall Patrick Thrall is an American rock guitarist. Thrall began his recording career in 1972. He played guitar, vocals, and percussion with the group Cookin' Mama, which had his brother, Preston Thrall, on percussion. They released the album ''New Day ...

History

While

had spent the late 1970s and early 1980s making a name for himself by playing with the likes of Automatic Man and Pat Travers, former

member

recorded one solo album after the demise of Purple in 1976 entitled '' Play Me Out''; a record that focused more on his love of

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

rather than

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

. ''Play Me Out'' had limited success and Hughes had slipped off the musical map, save for a few guest appearances here and there. Hughes moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to write with the intention of releasing new material. In 1981, Thrall's playing caught Hughes' eye and the two formed a musical partnership. After a period of jamming and writing they started recording with producer Andy Johns (who had previously worked with the likes of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procur ...

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

). They released their debut album, simply called ''

Hughes/Thrall Hughes/ Thrall was a musical project formed in 1982 by former Deep Purple and Trapeze bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Pat Thrall. History While Pat Thrall had spent the late 1970s and early 1980s making a name for himself by playi ...

'' in August 1982. Released on a short-lived subsidiary of

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

, called Boulevard Records, the album had little marketing behind it and although it received critical acclaim it failed to make a big impression with the music buying public and saw disappointing sales. Hughes blamed some of the obscurity on the fact that both he and Thrall were suffering from drug addictions at the time, and couldn't support the album with a proper tour. The album itself had a definite radio-friendly,

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-oriente ...

sound. However it also had elements of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

and new wave, many musicians and critics have cited the record as highly influential to the direction of rock music in the eighties. Over time it has become something of a cult record. Hughes/Thrall took to the road for a short American tour, playing a handful of gigs in California and Texas supporting

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. The touring band featured drummer Tommy Aldridge and keyboardist

Jesse Harms Jesse Harms (born July 6, 1952 in Massachusetts) is an American musician and songwriter. He has worked with Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth, Eddie Money, REO Speedwagon, Bad English, Guitar Shorty, Patty Smyth, and McAuley Schenker Group. Early l ...

Further collaborations

The pair recorded some demos for a proposed follow-up to the first album, but these never ended up being released and the album was scrapped. A few of these demos have surfaced over the years, but are of limited quality. One of the songs originally intended for the aborted follow-up to ''Hughes/Thrall'', "Still the Night" later appeared on the 1985 ''

Phenomena A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

'' album, which featured Hughes’ vocals. This song also made an appearance on John Norum’s 1992 album '' Face the Truth'', again featuring Hughes. Thrall would also record another version of the song, re-titled "Steal the Night", alongside former Strangeways frontman Tony Liddle and Billy Rush of

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are an American musical group from the Jersey Shore led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They have recor ...

, though this never progressed beyond demo form. Hughes and Thrall did team up again in 1987 to record a track for the

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

comedy '' Dragnet''. The song, "City of Crime", featured Hanks and Aykroyd rapping the verses, while Hughes sang the chorus. It was released as a single and a promotional video was shot, which received heavy rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. Two songs, "You Were Always There" and "Devil in You", from the abandoned follow-up album were included on Hughes’ 1994 solo album '' From Now On...''; although both were new recordings that did not feature Thrall’s playing. Thrall did, however perform on Hughes’ 1995 album '' Feel'', playing guitar and keyboards on eight of the tracks and co-writing two of them. To date this is the most recent collaboration between Hughes and Thrall.

Hughes/Thrall follow-up

In 2006 it was announced that Hughes and Thrall were actively working on a follow-up to their 1982 album, and were in the process of writing and recording new material. In September, they started the final phase of the recording process, and announced that the album would be released in 2007. The news of the new album coincided with the setting up of hughesthrall.com. The first Hughes/Thrall album was remastered and re-released in January 2007 on Rock Candy Records. This new version included two additional tracks. In 2007, it was announced on their website that Hughes/Thrall 2 had been pushed back to 2008. They also stated that the album includes thirteen songs, of which eleven are new compositions, while two date back from the sessions of the scrapped initial follow-up. In June 2009, Hughes stated "I have put the Hughes/Thrall 2 project behind me... We started the album in 1997 and Pat Thrall wanted to produce it by himself. Ten years to produce an album? I usually take no more than six months. Let's move on with our lives." On 2 September 2016, Thrall joined Hughes on stage in Las Vegas to play two Hughes & Thrall numbers during Hughes' solo tour.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1982, Remaster 2007)

Other Glenn Hughes/ Pat Thrall collaborations

*"City of Crime" (1987) - Single taken from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

'' Dragnet'' *'' Feel'' -

(1995)

Charting Singles

1983 "Beg, Borrow Or Steal" PEAK: #79 (US)

Line-up

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

/ guitar synthesizer

Additional studio musicians

*Gary Ferguson –

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s * Frankie Banali – Drums * Gary Mallaber - Drums *Peter Schless -

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Additional live musicians

* Tommy Aldridge - Drums *

References

External links

Official Hughes/Thrall websiteThe Glenn Hughes Picture Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes Thrall British hard rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1982