Rex - S/TReleased 1976 on Columbia PC34399
Every generation has its share of teen heartthrob and teen idol superstars. From Ricky Nelson all the way to recently Justin Beiber (and whoever is slowly gaining momentum and about to make us forget about Justin). The people have always been here. When people complain about the modern version and start to claim how today's fads are crap and all the real music and stars were in the past, gently remind people that this is the way entertainment has always worked.
One thing that has always been a constant with these teen heartthrobs is the desire by these people to be taken seriously. I can still remember hearing tales of how Shaun Cassidy really only wanted to rock like the hard rocks acts of the early 70s. I believe these desires were also shared by Leif Garrett. David Cassidy strove to just be recognized as a serious artist, which lead to Broadway and the stage in general.
This desire also lead to The Monkees to take control of their musical output and release their strongest album, Headquarters. They had no desire to be stuck as a centerfold spread in the teeny-bopper magazines. They wanted the Pop stardom, but they wanted it on their own terms.
But what happens when the opposite happens? When you have a person who is a credible, serious, brilliant hard rock performer. A person who is fronting a brilliant, hard hitting rock act. What happens when that person leading the band, a band on the rise (but maybe not rising fast enough), is also teen heartthrob in appearance?
If you, fine readers, are unfamiliar with them, let me introduce you to Rex!
Rex were a early to mid-70s five piece hard rock act that rocked just as hard as anybody else out there. Any questions about how hard they could rock is answered within the first 30 seconds of the first song on this, their debut album. The song is "Trouble" and it features a killer riff with an even better vocal melody. Yes, the intro riff is a little disjointed and awkward feeling, but it all works and comes together in a glorious song for fighting.
The band featured dual guitars, bass and drums with a vocalist who had the abilities to rival Robert Plant and Steve Marriott. Maybe not as soulful as those guys, but without a doubt brave enough to chase the staggering heights those two would chase. Buy he was also better looking than those two guys, and he seemed to be more than happy to be front and center.
Make no doubt about it, the star of the show is vocalist Rex Smith. The band is named after him for this very reason. If this was a band decision or a label decision, there is no doubt he was the star. This is also obvious songs like "Stay With Me," a slow blues-ish burner which is designed in execution to show off Smith's vocal abilities. The guitars do nothing but strum a chord and hold it out to ring while Smith throws his voice all over the place. No guitar fills getting in his way, and drum fills are held off until Smith is out of the way. As long as he is in verse or chorus, everything is there just to back him up to let him do his thing. It is admirable, and also a little frustrating. Aside from a pretty dang good solo to end the song, it is Smith.The song could have been a masterpiece if everybody was allowed to step in and shine. Yes, songs need to have room to breathe, but every song should also fill gaps where feelings should show up, and the only feeling in an actual band should not only come from the vocalist.
Something about Rex makes me think of a hard edged Silverhead. Smith and Michael Des Barres even share a few vocal traits in tone. Both can really lead a song. Smith has more range, and Des Barres has more attitude.
With the exception of "Stay With Me," which is not the Faces tune, the album is all about rocking the hell out of your house. But remember, even that song will blow your roof off with Smith's vocal wailing. That song closes out side one, and it almost has to just to give you a chance to catch your breath.
The album does feature two covers: the aforementioned "Stay With Me," which has been covered and recorded numerous times. Again, this is not the song that was a hit for Faces. This is a slower Bluesy number that allows Smith to belt out the voice. The other cover is The Who's "I Can't Explain." An admirable cover that sticks close to the original.
Rex Smith is the brother of Starz vocalist Michael Lee Smith. So Rex had something to prove right away if his brother was fronting the brilliant Starz. There are similarities, but I do think that the band Rex does hit harder than Starz did. Starz had a little more Glam and party atmosphere. Rex is a little more down and dirty. "Dead End Kids" has a darker vibe and content. This is not to say that Rex was a better band than Starz, they were just went more towards that gutter angle on this release.
So what happened with Rex? What were they? In a video interview with bassist Orville Davis we get an idea of some of what happened. On the surface one can make the obvious assumption that Smith followed the money. Davis makes the claim that the whole band were hired guns. He states that the first time he met Mike Ratti, the drummer, was at the first rehearsal. If the band was a truly organic band, formed from the ground up, one would guess they would have met at a party, a bar, or anywhere other than the first rehearsal. This points to a product.
So the band may have been hired guns, but a look at the credits tells us it was meant to be more. This isn't a Monkees style hiring with professional song-writer provided songs. The songs on the album are mostly written by the members, with two outside helpers and two covers. So the attempt of a real band was at play. This works as the whole thing does sound like a band that had been working together for a time. While Rex Smith is the show, the whole band is contributing and is a vital component. These present days are not like that, and an album of hired guns sounds just like that and only carries the face of the person the band is assembled around.That being said, it was obvious just from the covers that this was all about Rex Smith. He is the only one on both the Rex album covers. Although, he is not very photogenic on this cover and he looks downright terrified on the back of the cover. But it would seem this was all assembled around him.
For as great of a record this one is, and everything leads me to believe the second is just as good, the times were tough for hard rock bands. The competition was really thick back during the mid-to late 70s for these bands. Most hard rock acts had to have more than one "ace in the hole" during this time. Bands like Led Zeppelin had a Plant and a Page, and behind them they had Jones and Bonham. Styx eventually had De Young and Shaw. KISS had the two voices, Frehley AND the image. Bands like Rex, Starz and Angel struggled against these other acts. Great bands, but they were missing that one thing that could throw them over the top. Plus during this time if a hard rock audience sniffed a corporate act it could kill the band. Bands like Boston, Foreigner, Supertramp, while becoming big were torn apart by the crowds who believed in keeping it real. So while Rex was a great band with solid musicians, nobody jumped out at you, so the competition was going to be that much tougher, especially in a band formed around the vocalist.
This is speculation, but I think in hindsight we can kind of see what went on. The label hired Rex Smith, formed a band of what was popular. They hired a backing band made up of people who were real musicians who had slugged it out. They gave it a shot and they did OK, but they seemed to never go far beyond opening act for big bands. The labels possibly decided that the band was not worth the money or time, and that Smith would be easier to work with if they gave him true hired guns, people who just played and didn't act like a real band.
1977 saw the second Rex album released, the first Rex Smith album came out two years later. If I was a betting man (and I am) I would say the label pulled Rex and gave him a make-over and took those two year to help redesign him. On the cover for the second Rex album, Where Do We Go From Here (heck, even that album title is a bit prophetic), we see Rex Smith with black hair and looking fairly rebellious. On the first Smith solo album, Sooner or Later, his hair has blonde highlights and is poofier. There was a definite style change.
And that was that. Rex the band was gone, Rex Smith the teen heartthrob was born. He would eventually go to being an actor first and foremost.Davis went on his way and joined Starz. I guess it only makes sense. Before Rex he was in the band Hydra, and according to him they still play every now and then and have remained friends (Off The Record). He is still playing and releasing music. He currently does Country and is solo as a vocalist and guitarist.
Mike Ratti, the drummer, can be found in a quick 1:22 second video online (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br4hkUMEW3o). According to Discogs he has worked with a couple of other bands (Heavy Balloons pre-Rex and The Nails post-Rex). Watch the video, it is short but very much worth it. He confirms he has merch from Rex still. He and Davis also confirm that somewhere out there is an unfinished third Rex album that was more in light with the band that they truly imagined Rex could be. If this is true, then somewhere out there is a lost Rock and Roll masterpiece, as both Davis and Ratti say they were held back on the first two.
My copy of Rex was found at a Half Price Books for the outrageous price of $0.50! At that price it is possibly the single best music purchase I have made. I would easily pay $15 for this one. Front to back it is a brilliant slab of Hard Rock. An album that walks a fine line between Hard Rock and actually touches on some Punk sensibilities. It is a true shame that we don't have more from these guys. There are some live bootlegs to be found on You Tube and one really gets the idea that these guys should have been much bigger. Grab this one if you see it without hesitation.
Sources: Orville Davis interview with Off The Record https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01tPoe30vQ0
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