''Power Play'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

recorded by Australian-New Zealand group

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

, released in September 1979. It was the group's first album without their iconic singer

Marc Hunter Marc Alexander Hunter (7 September 195317 July 1998) was a New Zealand rock and pop singer, songwriter and record producer. He was the lead vocalist of Dragon (1973–11/1979, 8/1982–1989, 1995–11/1997), a band formed by his older brother, ...

although arguably it was the lack of support from the group's label, rather than a decline in quality of the group's output, that accounted for its poor commercial performance: ''Power Play'' peaked at number 64 on the Australian

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

. It was the group's final studio album for five years; they split up in December 1979. Unlike other Dragon albums from the 1970s, it has not been reissued on CD, except as a bootleg; notwithstanding that Dragon in its current form has been playing for over a decade with Mark Williams as singer, ''Power Play'' appears to be regarded as 'non-canon' amongst the group's records. The cover of the album refers to fourth album ''Running Free'', the new line-up of the group depicted on the front cover; the back cover reveals they hold weapons behind their backs.

Track listing

# Motor City Connection (Jenny Hunter-Brown,

Todd Hunter Todd Stuart Hunter NOTE: Requires user to input song title, e.g. POLITICS (born 22 June 1951) is a New Zealand musician and composer known for his involvement in the band Dragon. Their best known songs are "April Sun in Cuba", "Are You Old Enou ...

) – 3:50 # Counting Sheep (Billy Rogers, Paul Hewson) – 3:41 # Crying Shame (J. Hunter-Brown, T. Hunter) – 3:12 # Bus Stop (Robert Taylor) – 3:16 # Time Of The Year (Billy Rogers, Paul Hewson) – 4:09 # Gans En Farben (B. Rogers,

Kerry Jacobson Kerry Samuel Jacobson (born 19 April 1954) is a New Zealand musician, educator, ARIA hall of fame inductee and former drummer of rock band Dragon (band), Dragon. Jacobson was a member from 1976 to 1983, played at their 30-year reunion and at the ...

, Richard Lee, Robert Taylor, T. Hunter, P. Hewson) – 3:09 # Crooked Highway (P. Hewson) – 4:31 # For Free (R. Taylor) – 4:19 # 3:33 (J. Hunter-Brown, T. Hunter) – 3:00 # Same Old Lies (B. Rogers, R. Taylor) – 3:52

Charts

Personnel

* Bass, vocals –

* Drums – Kerry Jacobson * Guitar, vocals – Robert Taylor * Keyboards, vocals – Paul Hewson * Saxophone, lead vocals – Billy Rogers * Synthesizer – Murray Burns * Violin lectric Violin – Richard Lee

Production

* Peter Dawkins – producer *Howard Steele – engineer *Dave Marett – assistant engineer * Richard Dunn – cover * Photography by Graeme Webber – photography * Greg Penniket – photography

References

1979 albums Dragon (band) albums CBS Records albums Albums produced by Peter Dawkins (musician) Rock albums by New Zealand artists {{1970s-rock-album-stub