Jack Blades calls and…Mr. Dolas’ mother picks up the phone! After this small detail and the clarification about the right time for the interview, Jack’s very polite assistant connects us with Night Ranger’s frontman and for the next 20 minutes we talk about almost anything (after all Jack was in great spirits, as you will read below)! Necessary elements for this interview were Yiannis’ high-tech microphone, Metallica’s pre-interview music and…a generous quantity of peanuts.

Interview: Sakis Nikas – Yiannis Dolas

Rockpages.gr: Hey Jack, I am glad we are doing this interview after all…

Jack Blades: Me too, guys!

Rockpages.gr: You got a new live album out called “Rockin’ Shibuya 2007”. How come you decided to make a live record?

Jack Blades: Well, we had so much fun with the Japanese audience…the Japanese fans are so excitable and so great that we decided to record a live record in Japan and it turned out really, really great!

Rockpages.gr: Jack, what’s your view on “Hole In The Sun” after almost a year since its release?

Jack Blades: I think that Night Ranger is about twin guitars, twin lead vocals, big choruses and melodies in the verses…I think that’s what exactly “Hole In The Sun” is!

Rockpages.gr: Should we expect another Night Ranger record in 2009?

Jack Blades: That’s interesting! I was hoping to start rehearsing new material in the upcoming weeks…we enjoy recording, we enjoy working together and you know what…with Night Ranger…we are just having so much fun playing, so much fun touring, so much…everything! I don’t think anything can stop us!

Rockpages.gr: What do you think about rock bands, like Night Ranger, that play so many gigs in Japan and actually be huge –popularity wise- there?

Jack Blades: I think it’s really great because we’ve been touring in Japan since 1983 and Night Ranger from the very beginning were selling thousands of records in Japan and then we gained popularity in the States. The Japanese audience has been really, really supportive and they appreciate Night Ranger and our music. After 25 years, we still visit Japan and put on some great shows for our friends there. As a band, we are still enjoying it and we are rocking out…and all in all we feel really, really good!

Rockpages.gr: Also, you had the opportunity to work with one of Japan’s best guitarists, Tak Matsumoto, five years ago…Is there a chance of getting back together with him and work on something new?

Jack Blades: I hope so! Every time I go to Japan, I see Tak, we get together and we have a great time. He is a great guy and we recorded a superb record…I mean, “TMG” was a great, great rock record! Tak is one of the best guitarists I’ve ever played with and take into consideration that I was fortunate enough to have worked with some unbelievable guitar players like Brad Gillis, Jeff Watson, Tommy Shaw, Ted Nugent…Neal Schon from Journey…he is a very good friend of mine…we played a lot together. We have written some songs together that ended up on a couple of Journey records. So, as I said, I really hope to record another TMG record.

Rockpages.gr: Jack, who had the idea of putting Purple’s “Highway Star” into your set-list?

Jack Blades: Oh…that was our idea! We were rehearsing “This Boy Needs To Rock” and somewhere in the middle I started singing… “Nobody’s gonna take my girl, I’m gonna keep her to the end” (ed. Note: Jack’s actually singing the verse of the song!) and then Brad started to do the solo and it sounded…”wow”! So, we kept it in our show and the audience loved it! Let me tell you this…”Highway Star” is a song that inspired us! It is one of those songs that made us the musicians that we are today! Deep Purple, Zeppelin, Cream were the bands that really influenced us and helped shape Night Ranger’s sound!

Rockpages.gr: Jack, what really happened with Jeff Watson? Why did he leave the band?

Jack Blades: Well…you know…it’s just like a marriage. A band is like a marriage and sometimes the marriage just don’t work out. The problem is that you can’t stay together and all your friends are saying: “Why you are divorcing your wife”? But, you can’t please your friends! You have to do what’s right for you…we worked everything out with Jeff…there’s no animosity, no bad feelings…it was time to move on for Night Ranger and for Jeff Watson.

Rockpages.gr: After your reunion record “Neverland”, you released another one called “Seven”. I want you to be honest with me…were you happy with that album?

Jack Blades: We put those records out almost immediately…back to back. The label wanted another record and so we went back at no time in the studio. Those were different times…the times are changing and Night Ranger is changing, too! We can’t stay the same, that’s for sure. If you stay the same, you die! You know what I mean?

Rockpages.gr: Absolutely!   

Jack Blades: Cool. When we released the “Neverland” record the sound was perfect and when we hit the studio for the next one it seemed kinda natural to follow the same path…that’s what we tried to do…some of the songs on “Seven” I really enjoyed, some of them were not my favorites, but it’s OK.

Rockpages.gr: Jack, you wrote some material for a third Damn Yankees album that was never released. What happened?

Jack Blades: Yeah, we recorded that record and quite frankly the label was pushing us to make this album and it just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it. We were using the wrong producer…everything was wrong. So, we decided not to release it because our hearts and souls weren’t into this. Certain songs have turned up on Tommy’s record; on my record…like “Shine On” was a song that Tommy and I wrote for the third Damn Yankees record. Ted also used some stuff for his solo album…but…there is talk of getting back together in March 2009 to record another Damn Yankees album!

Rockpages.gr: That’s very interesting!

Jack Blades: Yeah! We talk together all the time…we are doing some shows with Tommy for the latest Shaw/Blades record…we all stay pretty much together!

Rockpages.gr: And who will play drums on the album, now that Michael (Cartellone) is in Lynyrd Skynyrd?

Jack Blades: Correct, Michael is with Skynyrd now, but we talk all the time…I think that there won’t be a problem…he will play with us.

Rockpages.gr: When you left Night Ranger and formed Damn Yankees along with Tommy and Ted you joined a group of people that were all excellent songwriters. How was the collaboration? Was it easy? Did you fight? (laughs)

Jack Blades: (laughs) Actually, it was very, very easy! We all left our egos at the door! (laughs) Don’t forget that Tommy and I write together all the time…it was easy for us. Ted jumped in and came up with some excellent guitar parts. As I said, it was easy writing the songs for both Damn Yankees records.

Rockpages.gr: Do you go for buffalo hunting with Ted?

Jack Blades: (laughs) I don’t know the first thing about buffalo hunting…I went one time with Ted for hunting in California and it was pretty funny. Tommy and I are not hunters! Ted is doing all the hunting and we just don’t hunt…it was more like…we went along with Ted for hunting!

Rockpages.gr: Did he let you eat with him or did you starve because you didn’t hunt anything?

Jack Blades: We ate whatever it was! I can’t tell for sure what it was, but we ate it! They all just taste chicken to me…

Rockpages.gr: Jack, let’s go back in time…who thought of the name Night Ranger?

Jack Blades: In the beginning, we were called Ranger and we recorded our first record as Ranger and about a week or two before we release this record, there was a big article in Billboard Magazine about a band called The Rangers! That was a week before the release of “Dawn Patrol”! Anyway, The Rangers was a country/western band and they had started the band many years ago, but we didn’t know them at the time. So, I had written a song called “Night Ranger” for “Dawn Patrol” and I called the guys and I say “Hey, let’s call our band Night Ranger because we have a song called “Night Ranger””. Eventually, everybody agreed and that’s how we became Night Ranger.

Rockpages.gr: What’s your favorite Night Ranger record?

Jack Blades:…that’s a tough question! Probably “Midnight Madness”….

Rockpages.gr: My favorite one is “7 Wishes”. Would you do the same photo sessions again with those war aircraft uniforms?

Jack Blades: Sure! Why not?

Rockpages.gr: OK. What about your favorite Night Ranger song?

Jack Blades: Oh, that’s a very difficult one…I mean…maybe, “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”…no, now that I think about it I will go for “When You Close Your Eyes”.

Rockpages.gr: And why’s that?

Jack Blades: Actually, I like “Sentimental Street”, too! I love the emotion, the choruses of those two songs. “When You Close Your Eyes” has a perfect intro, too (ed. Note: Jack sings the melody of the intro).

Rockpages.gr: Jack, if Night Ranger was starting today, so you think that you would have the same impact as you had in the 80s?

Jack Blades: I think it’s hard to say because when Night Ranger started it was the beginning of a new era with the MTV…but if were again 25 years old and formed Night Ranger in 2008, we could still rock our hearts out, tour the country from east to west and be as successful as we were in the 80s! It’s all about the songs! If you have the song in your heart and you sing it with true conviction then the fans feel that, too. That’s what Night Ranger always did and that’s what we do right now! We are so committed and we believe in what we are doing!

Rockpages.gr: Do you think that the same answer applies today with the Internet, YouTube, MySpace etc.? Do you think it’s easy for a new band to stand out?

Jack Blades: I think that good music will always be good music! People always gravitate towards good music!

Rockpages.gr: Is there any chance for you guys to come over to Europe for a few shows?

Jack Blades: There is talk of coming over to Europe for the summer festivals. We’ll see how we will work things out. I’d like that…it’s been a long time since we’ve been there for a concert! The last time that we’ve been to Europe was 1985 and that’s a long time!

Rockpages.gr: So, Jack, can you still Rock In America?