Tangier | ar

Tangier was one of the stronger bands hard rock bands to come out of the late 80's. Not built on pretense or makeup, their songs were honed from their obvious influences of Bad Company, Free, and Zeppelin to Johnny Winter. Tangier released three albums with different line-ups while they progressed and honed their style.. The debut was more AOR, but their sound gradually evolved until they became a very impressive bluesy rock band with hailing back to their blues based roots.
Tangier formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in the clubs with bands such as Cinderella, who would later help the group out by having Tangier open for them on occasion. The first album comprised of Bill Mattson (vocals), Doug Gordon (guitar), Rocco Mazzella (guitar), Mike Kost (bass) and Mark Hopkins (drums) and is relatively hard to find these days. Around the songwriting of Doug Gordon, It wouldn't be until the follow-up, released some four years later with Gari Saint (guitar), Garry Nutt (bass) and Bobby Bender (drums), that the band finally received overdue recognition and a major label deal with ATCO records. However Four Winds failed to match the success of their Philly cohorts, and Tangier was forced to go back to the drawing board once again.
Separating with both Mattson and Saint, the band brought in vocalist/guitarist Mike LeCompt in an attempt to start fresh. LeCompt's gruff soulful vocals brought a heavier edge to the band, but by this time the tide had changed and the Seattle sound was all the rage. The band separated shortly thereafter.
In 2013, Rock Candy Records re-released a remastered "Four Winds" with a 14 page CD insert, new pics and and fresh bios. A really nice package of a one of the strongest albums to come out of the era. .