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 Old s'cool: SANTERS - Shot Down In Flames
Author: VOA 
Date:   04-05-05 19:22

Man, what a bad ass band - what a great record! Had to dig up my old vinyl tonite and blast thru this sucker and it sounds as good now as it did back in '81/'82. Other than Rush, Frank Marino, and Triumph, these guys were the one Canadian act that really blew me away back then - totally fell in love with SDIF (after hearing the Lee Aaron Project first....) and then managed to grab the 'Mayday' EP with the live tracks (did any Canucks on this board see them open up for Ozzy?) and then 'Racing Time' hit, which was another great album ('Winter Freeze', 'Road to Morocco', etc.) that we played to death. But the debut is still tops - the whole B side with 'Shot Down.....', ''Caught In the Wind', 'Paths of Heart', and 'Points of Resistance' just kills! Rick Santers had great, very unique tone and was a smokin' guitarist (and singer), period, and Rick Lazaroff on bass plays amazingly well, very fluid, very lyrical. Whatever happened to him? - He must be playing jazz or something now...... Anyway, the 'Guitar Alley' album was a major letdown after that and I guess that was it until Rick popped up in Triumph for a bit (and they re-issued their catalog with that lost album). Too bad the Santers didn't have a longer, more successful run - they deserved better.
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 Re: Old s'cool: SANTERS - Shot Down In Flames
Author: Figge 
Date:   04-05-05 19:45

Interesting post VOA......'cause the only album (vinyl) I have with Santers is "Guitar Alley" and I was never that impressed with it actually. Although I really liked "Can't Shake You", which BTW was the reason why I bought it. Sure, "Guitar Alley" had it's moments (especialy Rick's voice impressed me) but not very consistent and I never liked the, kinda, thin production.

So you recommend the debut then?

Maybe I'll just pick up my old scrathcy vinyl and refresh my memory tonight.


Figge
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 Unnit it bloody strange??!!
Author: bosnian bagel buoy 
Date:   04-05-05 19:59

Was reading 'Uncut' the other night and my mind for some unrelated reason wandered to Santers. I had the first album and that night I thought how I would not mind getting it on Cd. Funny thing is I can't even remember the name of the album (something like 'Racing Time' or summit like that??) Really strange that VOA should bring them up. ('Twilight' Theme' strikes up in the background LOL)...


.bbb
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 Re: Old s'cool: SANTERS - Shot Down In Flames
Author: Phil 1 
Date:   04-06-05 00:58

Hi VOA,

Santers actually got a small push here in the UK with the Heavy Metal America subsidiary of FM/Revolver releasing Racing Time and Guitar Alley, they even toured here with Magnum once and were very impressive indeed. As far as I know the original band re-united about 4 years ago and played occasional shows in Canada, but have since called it a day again.
Rick Santers released a solo album called Revitalize in 1996, which is pretty good and sounds like a more acoustic version of the band. Mark Santers played with Carl Dixon, and also had a band with Rick Lazaroff for a few years after Santers originally split up. While Lazaroff, as you rightly surmise, got involved in the Toronto jazz scene and has recorded CD's with his partner Darlene Watters among others.
There's actually very little information on the internet, but I found this interesting page that Rick Lazaroff put up. There's what appears to be a pro-shot live video for 'Road To Morrocco' from Massey Hall in 1983, and some other interesting stuff, including Mark Santers and Rick Lazaroff playing 'Satch Boogie' with guitarist Peter Swann.
The link is http://www.wasaga.com/music/santers/

Also, the four album set on CD is essential!

Take care,
Phil
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 Re: Old s'cool: SANTERS - Shot Down In Flames
Author: VOA 
Date:   04-06-05 05:42

Figge, definitely get the debut, 'Shot Down In Flames' - the production was fat then and still holds up. Very warm and earthy with plenty of punch - and great guitar and bass tones. 'Racing Time' is excellent as well albeit more polished, with added keyboard textures - at the very least check out the magnificent 'Winter Freeze' (there is a sample on santers.com) and 'Road to Morocco'. These two discs are essential for any hard rock/melodic rock collection IMO.
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 Re: Old s'cool: SANTERS - Shot Down In Flames
Author: VOA 
Date:   04-06-05 06:23

Phil, thanks for looking up that info. Actually, I decided to google Rick's name after I posted here and came across that same wasaga site - I had to laugh when I saw that he is indeed playing jazz now. LOL I knew he was way too sophisticated a player even then to just play (hard) rock. I'll have top check out some of those vids and eventually get that 4-CD Santers set. I know the band is once again split up but the 'Sweden Rock' people should really get those guys to reunite one more time - they'd be great for that festival.
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 As they say......
Author: VOA 
Date:   04-06-05 06:26

"Great minds think alike!" ;-)
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 Re: Old s'cool: SANTERS - Shot Down In Flames
Author: sharxfan 
Date:   04-06-05 16:18

I picked up the 4 disc box set about 5 years ago and just dusted it off again a couple of weeks ago. Great band, great songs and Rick Santers is a dead ringer for the great Carl Dixon in the vocal department, so it's all good as far as I'm concerned. The reunion disc Top Secrecy is a hugely pleasant surprise as well.
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 Re: Old s'cool: SANTERS - Shot Down In Flames
Author: Scott Watson 
Date:   04-06-05 19:19

Can't believe that this many people have heard of Santers.

I've had the 4 disc set for quite a while. I also picked up the Rick Santers - Revitalize cd which is very good. Had all of their stuff including the Mayday EP on vinyl years ago.

Santers - Racing Time is my favorite release.

This is another band Frontiers should convince to reform and record something new.

I guess I'll throw in a Santers cd to play on the way to school this morning.
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 Re: Old s'cool: SANTERS - Shot Down In Flames
Author: Adguy 
Date:   04-07-05 04:30

Thought I'd chime in on this ... though my story is about the same as everyone else's.

I remember picking up all the vinyl because of the write ups in Kerrang. Wasn't too impressed with them then. 20 years go by and I come across those records as I'm looking for something to listen to. This time, I loved them ... especially Racing Time. I liked Guitar Alley as well. Shot Down In Flames, funny enough, was probably my least favorite.

Anyway, I ended up getting the 4-cd set on eBay about 6 months ago. Top Secrecy is the hidden classic and far outshines the other three in my opinion.

I don't have the Santers solo cd ... so I'll have to look for it.

All in all, an underrated band that deserved bigger things.
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