Doctor Downtrip (Downtrip)
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1969-70) - unknown
line up 2 (1970-72) - John Hastry -- bass - Michael Heslop -- guitar, vocals - Sylvain Paul -- keyboards - Michel Rorive -- vocals - Paul van der Velden -- drums
line up 3 (1970-75) NEW - Jean-Paul Goosens -- vocals (replaced Michael Rorive) - John Hastry -- bass - Michael Heslop -- guitar, vocals NEW - Serge Paul -- guitar - Sylvain Paul -- keyboards - Paul van der Velden -- drums
line up 4: (1975-80) NEW - Jose Cuisset -- lead guitar (replaced Michael Heslop) - Jean-Paul Goosens -- vocals - John Hastry -- bass - Paul van der Velden -- drums, percussion
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- Burning Plague (Michael Heslop) - Lagger Blues Machine (Jose Cuisset)
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Genre: rock Rating: 23 stars *** Title: Downtown Company: Epic Catalog: 83664 Country/State: Belgium Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: Dutch pressing; minor edge wear Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5685 Price: $80.00
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1979 saw the release Downtrip's third album; their second release as Downtrip. Self-produced, "Downtown" offered up a rather conventional collection of standard hard rock moves. If that didn't strike you as overwhelming praise, it wasn't ... All ten performances were in English with lead singer Jean-Paul Goosens having a gruff, but somewhat anonymous voice that was well suited to the band's hard rock repertoire. Unlike many of his Belgian competitors, Goosens sang without much of an accent which was a definite advantage in the rock world. Like countless late-1970s hair bands, these guys had a knack for crafting material that was built on surprisingly catchy hooks and equally inane lyrics (check out the cliche ridden 'Love Lights'). Still, you had to give them extra credit since they were writing material in a second language - presumably had they been writing in French, or Flemish the lyrics would have been far more profoun). Against that backdrop tracks like 'Scarecrow', 'Shout It Out' and 'Highway' weren't half bad. Sure, nothing here had a shred of originality, but the performances were never less than professional and energetic and there was something endearing hearing a Belgian quartet singing about life in a motorcycle gang ('Downtown'). While their hard rock moves weren't bad ('C'mon Little Darling' sounded like a Golden Earring outtake), at least to my ears these guys were actually better when they nudged back towards their roots. As such, the stripped down blues number 'Dedicated To You' was one of the highlights for me. Kicked along by a nice John Hastry bass pattern, the title track was also fairly impressive before degenerating into a more pedestrian heavy metal workout. Decent, but not special enough to distinguish it from the crowd ...
Unfortunately neither the album nor the single did anything commercially and within a year the group had called it quits.
"Downtrip" track listing: 1.) Scarecrow (John Hastry - Jose Cuisset - Jean-Paul Goosens - Paul van der Velden) - 2:21 rating: *** stars Judging
by the openerd 'Scarecrow', singer Jean-Paul
Goosens and the rest of the band had been listening to more than their share
of American and UK hardrock. The track sounded fine to me, though you
couldeasily pick out a dozen outside influences. Slowing
it down and adding a little bit of blues to the mix, the slinky 'Dedicated
To You' stuck me as being the album's standout performance. Anyone who
likes Alvin Lee and Ten Years After was likely to appreciate this one.
Jose Cuisset turned in some of his best work on this one. If
someone had played the title track for me at a party and asked me who it
was, I probably would have guessed it was some Southern tier rock
outfit? Maybe The Outlaws? The song wasn't half bad;
rather lacked anything original. Yeah, you've heard every second of
this one before, though I enjoyed
John Hastry's bass line. (side
2) 2.) Brand New Cadillac (V. Taylor) - 2:55 he album was also tapped for a single:
- 1979's 'Brand New Cadillac' b/w 'Dedicated To You' (Philips catalog number 6075064)
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