FOREIGNER, one of the most successful bands in music history, will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this fall. In celebration of this much-deserved honor, the band will release a career-spanning collection that includes “Turning Back The Time”, a previously unreleased 1996 song featuring original members Mick Jones and Lou Gramm.
On October 4, Rhino will release “Turning Back The Time” in 2-LP and CD configurations. The music will also be available from digital and streaming platforms on the same day. The new single “Turning Back The Time” debuts today. Listen to it below.
Jones reflects on the band’s legacy in a brief note for the collection: “FOREIGNER‘s membership in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is a priceless highlight of my career… I hope that this collection of the songs that brought us here, along with some later recordings that light our way forward, will mean as much to all who listen to them as they do to me.”
Starting with its self-titled debut in 1977, FOREIGNER delivered some of rock’s most enduring anthems. “Turning Back The Time” includes the Top 10 hits “Feels Like The First Time”, “Cold As Ice”, “Hot Blooded”, “Double Vision” and “Urgent”. The set also features the ballads “Waiting For A Girl Like You” and “I Want To Know What Love Is”, which reached No. 2 and No. 1 respectively.
The collection mainly draws from FOREIGNER‘s first six albums, all of which earned platinum status or higher: “Foreigner” (five times platinum),“Double Vision” (seven times platinum),“Head Games” (five times platinum),“4” (six times platinum),“Agent Provocateur” (three times platinum) and “Inside Information” (platinum). To date, FOREIGNER has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide, cementing its status as one of the top-selling bands of all time.
“Turning Back The Time” 2-LP track listing
LP One: Side One
01. Feels Like The First Time
02. Cold As Ice
03. Long, Long Way From Home
04. Hot Blooded
05. Double Vision
Side Two
01. Dirty White Boy
02. Head Games
03. Urgent
04. Waiting For A Girl Like You
LP Two: Side One
01. Juke Box Hero
02. Girl On The Moon
03. I Want To Know What Love Is
04. That Was Yesterday
Side Two
01. Say You Will
02. Can’t Slow Down
03. When It Comes To Love
04. The Flame Still Burns
05. Turning Back The Time
Turning Back The Time
CD Track Listing
01. Feels Like The First Time
02. Cold As Ice
03. Long, Long Way From Home
04. Hot Blooded
05. Double Vision
06. Dirty White Boy
07. Head Games
08. Urgent
09. Waiting For A Girl Like You
10. Juke Box Hero
11. Girl On The Moon
12. I Want To Know What Love Is
13. That Was Yesterday
14. Say You Will
15. Can’t Slow Down
16. When It Comes To Love
17. The Flame Still Burns
18. Turning Back The Time
This past April, it was revealed that FOREIGNER is among the 2024 inductees into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
The induction ceremony will be held on October 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. It will air live on Disney+. An edited version will run on ABC at a later date, and will be available on Hulu the day after.
In an interview with News 8 WROC, Gramm stated about learning that he will be one of Rock Hall class of 2024 inductees: “It was a relief, because we have been eligible for a good long time. And we were wondering if we’d ever be in the Rock Hall Of Fame. We’ve aspired to be part of it, and it’s very satisfying now that we’re voted in. And I don’t think I don’t think we could be any happier.”
Shortly after FOREIGNER‘s Rock Hall induction was first announced, Jones told Billboard that he will have no problems reuniting at the induction ceremony with Gramm, with whom he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame with in 2013.
“On a personal level, I have no hard feelings toward Lou,” Jones said. “We did perform together at the 40th-anniversary concert. It has been so many years now since Lou left FOREIGNER; I like to think that those ill feelings are in the past. There is power in letting go of hard feelings and getting on with your life. Why carry the burden of hard feelings? It serves nothing in the long run.
When FOREIGNER was first nominated for the Rock Hall in February, Gramm released a video message expressing his gratitude. In the one-minute clip, which was posted to Lou‘s social media, the 74-year-old singer said: “I’d like to thank the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for the honor of nomination. And I’d like to acknowledge Mick Jones for his courage as he faces Parkinson’s. I’d like to thank my friends in the music and the acting industry for their support, especially over the last two or three weeks in helping us to receive the nomination. Now I’ve seen a lot of the videos and I’ve definitely been feeling the buzz. It’s really exciting and it means a lot. It means a lot to me and all the guys in the band. Now [multi-instrumentalist] Ian McDonald and [bassist] Ed Gagliardi were vital contributing members of the early FOREIGNER, and I know they’re somewhere in the hereafter fist pumping and cheering for this nomination.”
Earlier that same month, Jones‘s stepson, Oscar-nominated producer/songwriter Mark Ronson enlisted Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Slash, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE frontman Josh Homme (along with Ronson himself) to create a video campaigning for FOREIGNER‘s Rock Hall bid.
“Yes, Mick is my stepdad and I love him more than anything,” Ronson wrote in a message accompanying the video. “But I’m also a MEGA fan just like Dave, Jack, Slash, Chad and Josh… Enjoy this video and VOTE BABY VOTE!”
In the clip, Homme said: “You want to know what love is? Love is putting FOREIGNER in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.” Smith added: “I can’t believe they’re not in already — oh my God.”
“I’ve loved FOREIGNER since I got their debut record,” Grohl said. “There’s one drum riff that I have used in more than a few songs.”
Black sang parts of FOREIGNER‘s “I Want To Know What Love Is” before pleading, “Hey, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, open the door! FOREIGNER‘s waiting outside. Let ’em in.”
In his Instagram message, Ronson shared a brief history of FOREIGNER‘s influence, writing: “Everything that made me want to be a record producer came from being in the studio watching FOREIGNER make records. I’m still completely in awe of the sound of those first five albums. Guitars with swagger and bite. Heavy drums that groove like a mutha with the bass. Wide layers of synths. And then there’s that voice. And those songs. It’s really crazy. It’s also kind of crazy that this is the first time they’ve ever been on the ballot for the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame — after 20 years of eligibility.”
He added: “Fun Facts: FOREIGNER are the most played band on classic rock radio to not be in the hall of fame. They’ve been sung by our fave characters from the Simpsons, The Office, I, Tonya, Stranger Things and Wet Hot American Summer. They’ve been covered by Diana Ross and Mariah Carey (what the rock band can boast that??). They were sampled and turned into HOT FIRE by M.O.P. (remember that Cold As Ice joint?) and Tone-Loc who used them to concoct some Funky Cold Medina.”
To be eligible for this year’s ballot, each nominee’s first single or album had to have been released in 1999 or earlier.
Eligible since 2002, FOREIGNER has had a huge number of rock hits, including “Cold As Ice”, “Double Vision”, “Hot Blooded”, “I Want To Know What Love Is”, “Juke Box Hero” and “Urgent”, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, with no wins.
According to the Hall Of Fame, the FOREIGNER members that will get inducted include only the classic-era musicians Jones, Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Gagliardi, Al Greenwood, McDonald and Rick Wills. McDonald and Gagliardi died in 2022 and 2014, respectively.