Two more Strangers releases have hit all streaming services:
First up is the band’s 1991 release “The Joker and the Wheel.” This recording marked a major step forward for The Strangers, capturing the moment the five-piece electric band committed to full-time touring life, while needing a calling card and recorded representation of the band at that moment. Recorded during July and August of 1991 at Mobius Music in San Francisco with producer Oliver DiCicco, the album was both a sonic milestone and a declaration of intent from a young, hungry band ready to hit the road hard.
With this record, The Strangers brought together its acoustic roots, new roster of originals, and electric energy to create a layered, harmony-driven album rooted in folk, rock, jam, and groove. Pre-production began in June 1991, as the band’s booking agent RBA started pushing us into new territory beyond San Francisco and the tried and true Dublin Pub and Taylor’s. By July 6, we had just come off a four-show run, including the High Sierra Music Festival, and jumped straight into the studio. Recording sessions spanned all of July and early August, with mixing wrapping just before hitting the road again.
The physical CD arrived on December 24, 1991, just in time to be unwrapped under some lucky fans’ trees. To save on costs and get the album by Christmas, the CDs were shipped as separate components: discs, art inserts, and jewel cases. That meant every copy was assembled by hand, and in a 70’s-inspired “LP shwag” moment, the band added a secret ‘easter egg’ to this first run of CDs: a green triangular sticker featuring the joker character from the album artwork was tucked under the disc tray of the jewel case. Fans who looked closely through the spindle hole would catch a glimpse of it, and if they gently popped the tray out, they’d find a collectible sticker.
I had three songs on the album: Brighter Days, October Wind and Life in the City, the latter of which became a live mainstay for the band and found its way slightly reworked on my Hearts and Reason album a few years back. Stream “The Joker and the Wheel” here, and anywhere else you find online music:
Also available today is “From the Vault: Live at the W.O.W. Hall 10/1/1994.” Here, The Strangers shared the stage with musical powerhouse and mentor Jerry Joseph. It was one of those electric evenings where everything clicked: big crowd, dialed-in performances, and a sense of community between bands chasing the same dream, albeit with Jerry and company FAR ahead of us. For The Strangers, it was a creative and commercial high point in Eugene, and another evolutionary moment with the band ripping through latter era material like Kitchen, Garden of Eden, Honest Child and Nearly Missed alongside live standards like Josephine, Call Me Crazy and Getting Out. This might be my favorite era of the band… dig it here and where you dig your online tunage:
