Greetings and welcome to the first From My Collection of 2023. This week, we go back in time to the golden age of metal, also known as the early 80s. All across the globe, new bands are sprouting left and right, demanding the attention of headbangers far and wide. The NWOBHM paves the way for the eventual thrash and glam scenes that would dominate the rest of the decade. And the bands who paved the way for the NWOBHM are either A. Changing with the times or B. Extinct. Those in the former category are acts like KISS, Uriah Heep, and Deep Purple, all of who released stone cold classics in this era that stand up to their 70s output. Another, who doesn’t get mentioned enough, is Blackfoot. Today, we revisit the heaviest band of the southern rock crop and why their classic trilogy should be regarded as a quadrilogy. This is the story of Siogo.
Despite achieving their greatest success in the late 70s and early 80s, Blackfoot initially formed way back in 1969. Rickey Medlocke, grandson of veteran bluegrass musician Shorty Medlocke, formed a band out of high school named Fresh Garbage (named after the Spirit song of the same name). Over the course of a couple years, Fresh Garbage became Hammer, who subsequently became Blackfoot to reflect the Native American ancestry of the band members. And then, Blackfoot became toast. By this I don’t mean their new name was “Toast”, but rather they called it a day…temporarily.
Medlocke got a call in ’71 to join an up and coming band called Lynyrd Skynyrd. While things started strong, it wasn’t long before Medlocke quit and reformed Blackfoot. Considering Skynyrd went onto sell 28.5 million albums and score a slew of rock radio anthems, one could say Medlocke was in the right place at the wrong time, a victim of “woulda, coulda, shoulda”, just like Dave Mustaine with Metallica and Tracii Guns with Guns N’ Roses after him. But did he take this laying down? Hell no! Blackfoot soldiered on and, come 1975, released their first album, No Reservations.
While both the debut and 1976’s Flyin’ High are brilliant heavy 70s albums, they were a little too rough around the edges, both musically and lyrically, for the general public. Whereas Skynyrd balanced even their most rocking moments with splashes of country, blues, and R&B, Blackfoot went for the jugular, cranking the amps up to 11 and coming off like a southern fried spin on Thin Lizzy or UFO. If there’s any band to credit with the inception of southern metal, it’s them.
With a little bit of fine tuning, endless touring, and an ungodly amount of determination, Blackfoot finally hit the big time in ’79.In the wake of the Skynyrd tragedy, Blackfoot, and even the more boogie oriented Molly Hatchet, filled the southern rock void. Their third album, Strikes, went platinum and landed a Top 40 hit in “Train, Train”. As the 70s turned into the 80s, Blackfoot continued to strike (pun fully intended) with Tomcattin’ (1980) and Marauder (1981). While neither reached the commercial heights of Strikes, both remain fan favorites among diehards. And then, something strange happened: Southern rock became yesterday’s news.
Much like the early metal crop of the 70s did during these years, the 80s saw southern rock’s biggest acts hanging on for dear life. Most folded outright. The ones who didn’t made drastic musical changes (Remember Black Oak Arkansas’ metal phase?). Of course, none adapted better than ZZ Top, whose southern pop rock forays made them the unlikely darlings of MTV and saw them sell tens of millions of albums overnight. However, I can’t help but acknowledge Blackfoot’s equally brilliant attempt at 80s rock commercialism, Siogo.
Contrary to popular belief, this was not an example of a band jumping upon the Foreigner/Styx/REO Speedwagon bandwagon, trading in rockers for ballads and softening up their sound. No, Siogo saw Blackfoot remain heavy as ever, their sound further emboldened by the inclusion of keyboards and emphasis on melodic hooks, the former contributed by none other than former Uriah Heep keyboardist, Ken Hensley. I can’t help but think his former band’s heavy AOR masterpiece, Abominog (1982), was used as a sort of template for Siogo.
Before we head any further, you may be wondering: What on earth does “siogo” mean? The Blackfoot boys told the good folks at Atco that it was a Native American word for “togetherness”. Of course, this turned out to be total bullshit, and was in fact a reference to a sticker on their tour bus which read “Suck It or Get Out”. Talk about pulling a quick one on the suits! I proudly raise a glass of the finest bootlegged moonshine to you, Mr. Rickey Medlocke.
Siogo opens with my all-time favorite Blackfoot song, “Send Me an Angel”, which was issued as a single. For all purposes, this should’ve been a massive hit. It’s heavy as hell, but boasts all the qualities expected in a pop metal crossover. Dramatic synths, massive choir vocals, memorable hooks: You name it, “Send Me an Angel” has it. Much like Rainbow’s “Street of Dreams” and Night Ranger’s “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”, it’s heavy enough for the headbanger crowd, but welcoming enough for mass consumption.
“Crossfire” stands out as a strong rocker that revisits the meaty riffage of Blackfoot’s early days, albeit spruced up for the 80s. The chorus boasts that slick AOR accessibility, and even the solo is preceded by a gentle, melodic passage. It too had serious hit single potential, although this description can apply to nearly every song on here. The sole cover on here is that of Nazareth’s “Heart’s Grown Cold”. What was initially conceived as a delicate acoustic ballad has been reimagined here as a peppy pop rocker. The tropes are blatantly 80s, but I prefer this upbeat version to the subdued original.
Side A continues with the molten metal aggression of “We’re Goin’ Down”. The riffing and arrangement on this straightaway rager hold much more in common with traditional metal than the heavy AOR attempted on Siogo, or even Blackfoot’s southern rock roots. If you didn’t know any better, you could be forgiven for mistaking “We’re Goin’ Down” as a Michael Schenker Group or British Steel era Judas Priest song.
But alas, Blackfoot returns to the heavy AOR formula before we know it with “Teenage Idol”. Another song that should’ve been a mega hit, “Teenage Idol” rocks hard and sticks to you tighter than gum on a shoe. The whole song is just one hook after the next, topped off with a chorus for the ages. And for those who may dismiss it as simply AOR as opposed to melodic metal, explain Firewind’s cover of the song. I rest my case.
As we flip over to side B, we’re greeted by “Goin’ in Circles” which…hold on a second. Is it me, or does this sound identical to Rainbow’s “Since You Been Gone”? The riff, the vocal delivery, the melodies, even the drumming…once you hear it, you can’t unhear it. For this blatant similarity alone, it’s probably the weakest cut on here, but even a Rainbow/Russ Ballard knockoff sweeps the floor with most metal, hard rock, and AOR bands of the era. “Run for Cover” keeps things in a rather pedestrian AOR lane, relying on catchiness over heaviness. It’s alright, certainly a step up from “Goin’ in Circles”, but doesn’t achieve much in the long run.
Enter “White Man’s Land”. Easily the most southern fried cut on this affair, “White Man’s Land” revisits all the classic Blackfoot tropes that made their prior three studio albums so beloved. Gutsy riffs, sizzling solos, and lyric chronicling the plight of the Native Americans? This one has it all in spades. If you can’t crank this one up to full volume and let loose, Blackfoot is probably not for you. Further southern exploration isn’t to be on here, as “Sail Away” takes us back to the heavy AOR which dominates Siogo, albeit executed in a slightly more melodic and atmospheric manner. This is exemplified in Hensley’s keys and Medlocke’s guitar lines.
Closing it all out is a scorcher of a number, “Drivin’ Fool”. Similar to “We’re Goin’ Down”, “Drivin’ Fool” is an in your face metal song, though the overall feel is more late 70s than early 80s, if that makes any sense. In other words, it would’ve fit in on Strikes as much as it does on Siogo. This is probably because by ’79, traditional metal as we know it was about to explode, thanks to the likes of the NWOBHM and Blackfoot’s American contemporaries in Riot, Y&T, Van Halen, Legs Diamond…you get the idea.
Unfortunately, Siogo did little for Blackfoot in the way of commercial and critical success. There were no hit singles, the album itself only charted at #82, and critics largely dismissed Blackfoot as has-beens. Even their once dedicated legion of fans was starting to thin out, leading to smaller venues and further ill advised forays into the AOR/pop rock realm. By the mid 80s, Blackfoot as we know it folded. Medlocke continued to put together iterations of the band throughout the late 80s and 90s, before rejoining his old pals in Skynyrd for good come 1996. He’s been touring with them ever since.
Today, Blackfoot tours county fairs and casinos with zero original or classic members. While I personally don’t approve of this move, I am forever grateful for this band’s output, and if somebody’s willing to pay tribute to it, even under the name, I guess that’s better than nothing (This current Blackfoot is sanctioned and managed by Medlocke.) If this essay accomplishes anything, I hope it steers the Blackfoot conversation away from the already awesome Strikes, Tomcattin’, and Marauder, and towards the equally awesome Siogo. Maybe you haven’t listened to this album in 40 years. Revisit it now with a fresh perspective, and perhaps even a beer or three. Can I get an “Amen!”?