Album of the Day-May 16
Broken Homes — Broken Homes
Broken Homes — Broken Homes
16.May.2020
Broken Homes
Broken Homes
1986
Whether its Los Angeles, California, or Dayton, Ohio, there are typically five ingredients for any band to rise above the fray, regardless of genre: guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and talent.
Broken Homes had all five, tenfold.
Los Angeles in the mid-80s was awash with hair metal bands and daily carloads of every half-wit to the right side of California driving there to be a rock star…or any kind of star.
However, on the outskirts of the Aqua Net blight on Sunset were bands like X, Jason and the Scorchers, Lone Justice, The Unforgiven, and Broken Homes hammering out a different kind of sound.
The sound of the bands like Broken Homes was rooted in more traditional rock and roll, country, and punk — some called it cowpunk, some called it roots rock, some album rock…whatever you wanna call it, it was more real than what was happening within the specter on the Sunset strip.
Unfortunately, that cloud of Aqua Net grew into a tornado that would run roughshod over the world for a few years…at the expense of our ears and bands like Broken Homes.
However, Broken Homes did get a deal with MCA Records and their self-titled debut was released in 1986.
Produced by Jeff Eyrich (The Blasters, T-Bone Burnett, etc.) it’s got a big “American” sound. It’s a sound that’s aiming for arena’s…perhaps bold, but not out of place and it works for most of the songs.
Broken Homes A&R person at MCA was Michael Goldstone who would go on to sign Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine, among others.
So, you can see that Broken Homes had the right ears listening.
Broken Homes the band was:
Mike Doman — guitar, vocals
James ‘Jimmy’ Ashhurst — bass, background vocals
Kregg ‘Craig’ Ross — guitar, background vocals
Craig Aaronson — drums
The songs here are all straight-ahead rock songs. Thematically, it’s what you would expect from four guys in their 20’s. Love, heartache, boozing, cheating, etc. — there’s nothing new here, and in 1986, that wasn’t so bad. And in 2020, it’s still not so bad. Good rock and roll is timeless.
Sonically, Broken Homes debut is a kissing cousin to R.E.M.’s Life’s Rich Pageant.
I don’t know the recording and release timeline of the two records but it seems as though Jeff Eyrich and Life’s Rich Pageant (and John Mellencamp) producer Don Gehman where channeling one another. The albums came out months within one another and each shares the same big “American” sound.
College radio, and even mainstream radio, latched on to Life’s Rich Pageant, but neither cottoned to Broken Homes. Well, mainstream radio did, a little. Enough so that I head about them in Ohio…long before just two companies owned all the radio stations in the country. So that says something.
Broken Homes remains one of my top ten albums.
It’s long out of print, so finding it anywhere is a chore. After my first dog chewed up my original album it took my about seven years to find a replacement record…I had to wait for the internet to ramp up.
Recently, I can’t find too much on streaming and certainly not Broken Homes. If anyone knows what became of or who owns the master recording of this album please contact me. I fear that it may have been lost in the 2008 Universal fire.
Honestly, Broken Homes is one of the best rock records of the mid-80’s you’ve probably never heard of.
Post-script on Broken Homes:
MCA held on to Broken Homes for two more records, which is a testament to how much they believed in the band. Straight Line Through Time and Wing and A Prayer…with each, if I recall, doing worse than its predecessor. While I listen to Broken Homes almost monthly, I can’t say I’ve listened to Straight Line Through Time more than twice(?), when it was released. And I have no recollection of ever hearing Wing and A Prayer.
I could very well be wrong about those records and their popularity and only ascribing my perspective based on my feelings about their first album…the truth is there isn’t much information about Broken Homes on the internet.
Michael Doman — keeps a presence on Facebook, but that’s about all I can see. The last performance I see mentioned is from 2017 (but I am not very FB proficient…or tolerant).
James ‘Jimmy’ Ashhurst — went on to play with Izzy Stradlin and the JuJu Hounds, The Black Crowes, and Buckcherry.
Kregg ‘Craig’ Ross — went on to be a regular member of Lenny Kravitz’s band for 13 years as well as playing with artists like Mick Jagger, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, The Black Crowes, and others.
Craig Aaronson — went on to have a successful A&R career signing successful bands like Jimmy Eats World and Less Than Jake before succumbing to cancer in October of 2014.