I first became curious about Walter when I saw a Rolling Stone review of his first album,‘Fundamental Roll', back in 1977. I picked up a copy, and it was a very interesting listen. ‘Only The Lucky’ made a good first impression as did ‘Won't You Say You Will’ and ‘She’s So Tough’, with Dean Torrence, once of ‘Jan & Dean’, on background vocals. I remember playing ‘Tunnel o' Love’ on a jukebox in a club, and people asking who was singing.
A year later, cut to me mindlessly watching afternoon television
on a weekday I had off. I was listening to Merv Griffith
interview someone, and suddenly there was this band onscreen playing this awesome song,
‘Magnet & Steel’. It was
Walter and The Professional Band,
playing a track from his new release, ‘Not Shy’.
A couple of months later I saw a video for ‘Blonde
In The Blue T-Bird’, which featured Stevie Nicks,
who along with Lindsey Buckingham, helped produce
the album.
‘Night’ (featuring
Chris Thompson, ex-Manfred Mann’s Earth Band,
on vocals) later had a pretty large hit with ‘Hot Summer Nights’.
One day in 1979, I’m reading Rolling Stone one day and I see a half-page ad for ‘Hi-Fi’, so I run out and buy it. I remember a reviewer complaining that ‘Little Miss, It’s You’ aimed for, but couldn’t achieve the live party ambience that the Beach Boys did on the ‘Party’ album, because the party sounds were overdubbed later, unlike what the Beach Boys did. It’s good to know that research and accuracy are not qualifications for reviewing records. My two favorite tracks on the album are the rocker ‘Hi-Fi Love’ and ballad ‘I Do’, the last two songs on side one (ahh, the joys of vinyl).
‘The Last Stroll’came next, the last of Walter’s four records released on Columbia Records, circa 1980, and ‘Bad Attitude’,‘Tuesday Weld’ and ‘Waiting For The Rain’ are so mind-blowingly good, it’s curious that his label couldn’t find a way to promote the record. I remember Walter doing a radio station interview and plugging the record. I remember he said that he wanted people to dance to it, which is why he wrote the title track.
‘Wild Exhibitions’ came out next, after a spell of three years, on, MCA-distributed, Backstreet Records,which was Tom Petty’s label at the time. ‘Fool Moon Fire’, a wonderful single, accompanied by a monster-movie inspired video, went to number 37 without the benefit of any real promotion, as his label dissolved around him. Essentially, a political tug-of-war erupted between Irving Azoff, then-president of MCA and the head of Backstreet, viola - no more label (and no more promotion).
Around 1988 or 1989, I caught Walter at a gig at ‘The Lighthouse’, a club in Hermosa Beach, California,his wife and baby son in tow. Besides the old favorites, he played a couple intriguing new songs, ‘Challenger’ and ‘Living In The Now’.The former came out on his ‘lost’ album, but the latter, a better song, has never appeared.
The Lighthouse Cafe‘Walternative’ his self-released album, came out in 1999, and it is a shame he didn’t have major-label support, because ‘There Goes My Girl’ is a reggae-flavored winner The Police would be proud to record, the philosophical ‘Land of The Living’ is nearly as good.
‘The Lost Album’ followed in 2000, although it should have come out in 1985, featuring more winners, ‘Jean’, ‘Stop, Don’t Stop’ and the aforementioned ‘Challenger’.
‘Apocalypso Now’ appeared in 2002 on Gaff Records, and has a killer one-two punch in the original ‘You Pay For Love’, and a manic cover of the Roky Erickson-penned 13th Floor Elevators classic ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’. There's also a crisp cover of one of Gene Clark's best Byrdssongs in 'The Reason Why'.
Besides his solo career, Walter has played country-rock with Sageworth & Drums (one of their songs, 'Hearts On Fire' appeared on Gram Parsons 'Grievous Angel') and The Brooklyn Cowboys ('Doin Time On Planet Earth' has a co-write between Gram Parsons and Walter ,"Carolina Calypso", composed days before Gram's death), has picked up the 'Flying Burrito Brothers' mantle, playing and singing in 'Burrito Deluxe' and he continues to 'pray for surf' with The Malibooz and his lifetime friend and all-around nice guy, Dr. John Zambetti. (a/k/a 'Johnny Z').
