Speedway Blvd -

Speedway Blvd. was an American studio-only hard-rock quintet that released a 1980 self-titled album on Epic. Producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz assembled the project around three musicians from a Ram Jam touring lineup. They completed the group with keyboardist Jordan Rudess and singer-pianist Roy Herring Jr. Bassist Dennis Feldman later joined Balance, while Rudess established a solo catalog and became a member of Liquid Tension Experiment and Dream Theater.

Members: Dennis Feldman (bass, vocals), Glenn Dove (drums, percussion), Gregg Hoffman (guitar, vocals), Jordan Rudess (keyboards), Roy Herring Jr. (vocals, piano, percussion)

Background

Kasenetz and Katz retained guitarist Gregg Hoffman, bassist Dennis Feldman, and drummer Glenn Dove after the Ram Jam touring unit ended. Feldman previously recorded with Wiggy Bits. The producers then invited Rudess and Herring into the studio project.

Rudess studied at Juilliard from age nine and later played with Maryland progressive-rock group Apricot Brandy. He first worked at K&K Studios in Great Neck as a teenager, then returned to New York near the end of the Seventies. Herring recorded with Hidden Strength for the 1975 United Artists album Hidden Strength and sang backing vocals with the Brecker Brothers.

Epic A&R representative Lennie Petze heard the studio recordings and secured the label deal.

Speedway Blvd.

Speedway Blvd. released their singular self-titled album, Speedway Blvd., in July 1980 through Epic Records.

The album sets Herring’s principal voice and piano against Rudess’s keyboards, while Hoffman and Feldman expand the vocal blend. Reggae-derived accents enter selected arrangements. The closing “A Boulevard Nite” restates the title phrase from opener “Speedway Boulevard,” which supplied the group name.

“Speedway Boulevard” revs through coarse riffs and sharply layered ensemble passages. “Chinatown” glides from a futuristic opening into sustained chords beneath a warm lead. “(Think I Better) Hold On” sways through offbeat accents as bright synth figures punctuate each refrain. “Dog in the Distance” sweeps through airy group replies against a forceful lead. “Out of the Fire” strides at midtempo toward a blazing solo.

“Telephoto Lens” skitters from an eccentric electronic prelude into a taut dance beat. “Prisoner of Time” lurches through abrupt sections with syncopated chord entries. “Money, Money” struts through high harmonies while guitar and keyboards trade compact phrases. “(Call My Name) Rock Magic” swells from a gleaming piano prelude into wide-set riffs and sudden ensemble turns. “A Boulevard Nite” circles through theatrical phrasing toward a final “Speedway Boulevard” reprise.

A1. “Speedway Boulevard” (3:46)
A2. “Chinatown” (3:21)
A3. “(Think I Better) Hold On” (2:53)
A4. “Dog in the Distance” (3:58)
A5. “Out of the Fire” (2:58)

B1. “Telephoto Lens” (3:27)
B2. “Prisoner of Time” (4:27)
B3. “Money, Money” (3:01)
B4. “(Call My Name) Rock Magic” (4:17)
B5. “A Boulevard Nite” (2:58)

Sessions occurred at K&K Studios in Great Neck, New York, with producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz and engineer Michael Earls. Kasenetz and Katz entered the project aftertheir co-production of the two Ram Jam albums.

Epic packaged Speedway Blvd. in an orange sleeve with crossed checkered flags and a circular road emblem. The front places the group name around red-and-black bands and a black globe silhouette, with checkered borders across the upper and lower edges.

Epic issued “(Think I Better) Hold On” as a May 1980 single (b/w “Speedway Boulevard”). The label asked early programmers to stop airplay until the album reached stores, then returned the record to station playlists after release. In September, “Speedway Boulevard” reappeared as the A-side of a second single (b/w “Out of the Fire”).

Rock Candy issued a remastered CD in January 2014, with Jon Astley preparing the new master from the original tapes.

Postlude

Speedway Blvd. ended without a concert appearance or second album. Feldman joined Balance for their 1982 second album In for the Count, followed by work with the Michael Schenker Group and Heaven. Rudess issued the solo album Arrival and played keyboards on Vinnie Moore’s Time Odyssey. He later joined Liquid Tension Experiment and Dream Theater.

Hoffman participated in a brief 1994 Ram Jam reunion, then left the music business. Dove recorded the Rebekka Frame album Haystacks and later performed with Long Island group Afterlife. Herring worked as an LA producer/songwriter and issued music as Mr. Roy.

Discography: