Cherry Red [Release date : 13.11.26]

Talented Texas brothers, Dan and Jim Seals were big in popular music in the 80s and 90s, mostly in the USA.
Jim nicknamed his brother “England Dan”, as a reference to the fact that, as a youngster, Dan had fixated on The Beatles and accordingly – fortunately only temporarily – had adopted an English accent.

England Dan and John Ford Coley enjoyed a run of chart hits through the 70s, most especially ‘I’d Really Love To See You Tonight’, which reached no.2 on the US Billboard Top 100 in 1976.
By 1980 they had split.

Seals went on to release a string of solo albums, beginning with Stones, the first of the four (of his 16 studio albums) in this boxset:

Stones (1980) : CD1
Harbinger (1982) : CD2
Walking The Wire (1992) : CD2
Fired Up (1994) : CD1

This was the eighties. Atmosphere, accessibility and of course, romance were the soft rock formula’s primary ingredients.

And so, suitably polished up and radio friendly, those first two releases measured up. The studio sessions were crammed with talent, David Foster, Bill Payne, Steve Lukather, Richie Zito and many other successful musicians

Maybe ‘Stones’, the debut solo album’s title track, was just a little too cynical for soft rock tastes, despite the cleanly executed harmonies.

‘Late At Night’ and ‘Love Me Like The Last Time’, both co-written with professional country rock song writer (and Grammy nominated), Rafe Van Hoy, hit the charts a glancing blow.

Seals and the label (Atlantic) cast their net much wider in the songwriter pool on the follow up, Harbinger. Snagging Pam Tillis, another soft rock artist who moved sideways into country, very successfully in the eighties. Her father, Mel Tillis had written worldwide hit ‘Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town’ for Kenny Rogers.

David Foster and Jay Graydon (who founded legendary melodic rock band, Airplay, with Tommy Funderburk and Bill Champlin) contributed one song, ‘It Will Be Alright’. Maybe Chicago could have got a hit with this one, but Seals couldn’t. Great song.

Lack of commercial success, despite critical approval, called for a change of direction. The Rafe Van Hoy songs had Nashville blood running through their veins. That seemed like the right direction.

After moving to the Warner Bros label, Seals recorded and released a bunch of very successful country albums through the eighties, scoring 11 no.1 hits on the Country charts, culminating in 1992’s Walking The Wire and 1994’s All Fired Up.

Both delivered music that navigated shifting fashions, utilising tried and tested songwriters like Bill LaBounty (another artist who’d emigrated from soft rock to country), Denis Morgan, Robert Ellis Orral and Jesse Winchester, whose songs had been recorded by Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and Faith Hill, among others.

Seals scored another handful of chart hits from the two albums, continuing his well established trend. Several superb tracks, like “A Good Place to Be,” “Hillbilly Fever,” and “A Rose From Another Garden,” enjoyed favour with all seeing, all knowing Allmusic. Say no more.

Seals died at his daughter’s Nashville home 17 years ago, aged 61 (RIP). ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

Josh now hosts “Taerk’s Tracks” as part of the Singer Songwriter Sunday sequence on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio.

This is the second show broadcast on 25 October Josh presents some of his inspirational artists and tracks.

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 18 October 2026.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 9 November 2026

ZETRA Adrena (Nuclear Blast Records)
THE HARBOURS Breathe (indie)
SUM SUN Worth The Wait (indie)
SKERRYVORE Second Chance (indie)
WASTED WIZARDS WTF (Dalapop)
BLACKTOP MOJO Time The Killer (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 9 November 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings. The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.