Foreigner no stranger to The Canyon
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

JUKE BOX HERO- Mick Jones is the sole survivor of Foreigner.

Foreigner, the wildly successful '70s and '80s rock band known for such hits as "Juke Box Hero," "I've Been Waiting For A Girl Like You" and "Cold As Ice," just to name a few, has been revived by lead guitarist and founding member Mick Jones and will appear April 11 at The Canyon club in Agoura Hills.

Jones is the only remaining member from the original group.

"I'm the Foreigner," he says.

Indeed, Jones wrote or co-wrote every Foreigner song, and produced or co-produced every album, according to Jeff Albright, the group's publicist. Jones also produced best-selling albums for Billy Joel ("Storm Front") and Van Halen ("5150") and has written songs with artists as diverse as Ozzy Osbourne and Eric Clapton. He also played on George Harrison's 1974 hit album, "Dark Horse."

"The band has gone through a number of changes, the biggest one being when we split from (lead singer) Lou Gramm," Jones said. "We had been together for a long time. I think we just got fed up with each other."

Foreigner has played previously at The Canyon club.

"It's one of our favorite little places to play in L.A.," Jones said. "We seem to gravitate back there."

Jones is working on a new album, due out this summer. The Canyon concert, however, will be a retrospective of the group's memorable hit songs. In all, Foreigner chalked up 16 top 30 hits, most of which are instantly recognizable- "I Want to Know What Love Is," "Double Vision," "Hot Blooded," "Dirty White Boy," "Head Games" and others.

Jones said the new band has been together for three years. "It started off with just Jason Bonham," he said. "He called up and asked if we could meet and play together. From that conversation we spent the afternoon playing together. Before we knew it we were putting Foreigner back together. We came together very organically."

The Foreigner rhythm section is composed of bassist Jeff Pilson and Bonham, who plays drums. Pilson and Bonham co-starred with Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston in the Warner Bros. movie "Rock Star." Pilson is a founding member of the band Dokken. Bonham- whose father, John, had been the drummer for Led Zeppelin before his death in 1980- appeared with a reunited Led Zeppelin in 1987 for Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary and played drums for Led Zeppelin at a December 2007 benefit concert to honor the late Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records. He recorded and toured with Jimmy Page on "Outrider" and founded the band Bonham, whose debut gold album, "The Disregard of Timekeeping," spawned the No. 1 MTV video "Wait For You."

Kelly Hansen is Foreigner's lead vocalist; Thom Gimbel plays sax and rhythm guitar; and Paul Mirkovich, who also performed with Led Zeppelin at the 2007 London benefit concert, is the band's keyboardist.

Foreigner stats are impressive. Albright said "Foreigner 4" spent more weeks on the Billboard chart at No. 1 than any album by AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, U 2, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Genesis, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and every other artist in Atlantic Records' 60 year history."

Albright also says the band had nine top 10 hits, just one less than The Eagles and as many as Fleetwood Mac. Indeed, the group's productivity rivals Crosby, Stills and Nash, ZZ Top, Bad Company, The Steve Miller Band, Alice Cooper, Genesis, Journey, Def Leppard and "a whole lot more," Albright said.

According to Jones, "The (new) band is the best it has ever been."

For downloadable songs, visit homepage.mac.com/merrie2/. For April 13 Foreigner ticket information, call The Canyon club at (818) 879-5016.