''Wolftracks'' is the tenth album by John Kay and Steppenwolf, released in 1982 (see

1982 in music This is a list of notable events in music from 1982, a year in which Madonna made her debut and Michael Jackson released '' Thriller'', which holds the title for the world's best selling album. Specific locations * 1982 in British music * 1982 ...

). It was originally released only in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The album was the first new studio album in six years for John Kay, featuring a new line-up of Steppenwolf and Kay renaming the group accordingly.

Background

In 1980, John Kay reclaimed the Steppenwolf name, touring as “John Kay & Steppenwolf.” The album ''Wolftracks'', the first after the band reformed, was recorded "live" in the studio on a 2-track digital recorder, which was then a new medium.

Track listing

;Side one #"All I Want Is All You Got" (John Kay) – 3:55 #"Time" (Kay, Michael Palmer, Kevin Kern) – 3:31 #"None of the Above" (Kay, M. Palmer, Steven Palmer) – 5:59 #"You" (Kay) – 3:50 #"Every Man for Himself" (Kay) – 3:19 #"Five Finger Discount" (Kay) – 4:36 ;Side two #"

Hold Your Head Up "Hold Your Head Up" is a song by the English rock band Argent (band), Argent, released as a single in 1972. The song was a Top 5 hit in both the Billboard Hot 100, US and UK Singles Chart, UK, peaking at No. 5 in both countries. However, it was the ...

" (

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the ...

, Chris White) – 3:42 #"Hot Night in a Cold Town" (Rick Littlefield, Geoffrey Cushing-Murray) – 3:20 #"Down To Earth" (

Kim Fowley Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...

, Ross Wilson) – 3:00 #"For Rock-N-Roll" (Kay) – 3:42 #"The Balance" (Kay) – 6:15

Personnel

John Kay and Steppenwolf

* John Kay –

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 ...

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 ...

Michael Wilk Michael John Wilk (born ''circa'' 1961 in Chicopee, Massachusetts) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer best known for his contributions to John Kay and Steppenwolf largely as a keyboardist and bass player. He has also wo ...

–

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 ...

, vocals * Michael Palmer –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, vocals *

Welton Gite Welton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Nether Welton, a place in Cumbria * Welton, Cumbria, a place in Cumbria * Welton, East Ayrshire, Scotland; a UK location *Welton, East Riding of Yorkshire *Welton, Lincolnshire ** Welton Hill, a haml ...

– bass * Steven Palmer –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, vocals

Additional musicians

Brett Tuggle Brett Tuggle (September 23, 1951 – June 19, 2022) was an American musician who is best known for his keyboard playing with Fleetwood Mac and the David Lee Roth band. Career Early years As a child, he studied classical piano and learned guitar ...

George Biondo George Michael Biondo (born September 3, 1945) is a musician who served as bass guitarist of the Canadian rock band Steppenwolf from April 1970 to October 1976. Born in New York, Biondo has been based in Southern California throughout a career ...

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Technical

* John Kay – producer *

Richard Podolor Richard Allen Podolor (January 7, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American musician, record producer and songwriter. His career started as a session musician in the 1950s, and he was best known as the producer of Three Dog Night. Life and career ...

– producer (track 1) * Kevin Kern –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, assistant producer * Rich Feldman – engineer * Mark Ettel, Steve Crimmel – assistant engineers * Bruce Leek, Richard Donaldson – mastering * Drennon Studio –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

* John Exley –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

References

1982 albums Steppenwolf (band) albums {{1980s-rock-album-stub