Garage Sale Vinyl: Cinderella
Heartbreak Station / Mercury / November 1990
by Christopher Long
For their more fervent followers, experiencing the musical evolution of Cinderella felt like a bona fide thrill ride. You best buckle-up back there, friends! This baby’s turbo-charged!
Their piston-popping 1986 debut, Night Songs, ran circles around the fiercest arena rock competitors of the day. The 1988 follow-up, Long Cold Winter, hung a hard left, leading the band in a decidedly more bluesy direction. Given the enormous momentum generated by those first two platinum-selling LPs, the track now was prepped for Cinderella to throttle-up fully with their highly-anticipated third record, Heartbreak Station.
A joint production venture between John Jansen (Britny Fox, Faster Pussycat) and the band’s founding frontman, multi instrumentalist and chief songwriter Tom Keifer, Heartbreak Station further distinguished the Philly-birthed brigade from the day’s pack of less genuine poster boys.
Residing stylistically somewhere near the intersection of Jagger Avenue and Janis Boulevard, Heartbreak Station oozed true blue rock and roll swagger and dripped with soulful authenticity. Featuring an array of celebrated session players, including acclaimed percussionist Bashiri Johnson and the famed Memphis Horns, the record’s street cred was amped up further by contributions from legendary Uriah Heep organist Ken Hensley and string arrangements courtesy of Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.
Heartbreak Station hit the Billboard Top 20 in short order, and it soon became Cinderella’s third consecutive million-seller. But what made the record so successful and what continues to endear the 11-track collection to so many, was (and still is) the honesty and purity of the songs. Tom Keifer was on his “A” game, and as a result, Heartbreak Station was a tour de force.
Bursting with blues-inspired brashness, “The More Things Change” was a massive opener. A songwriting effort between Keifer and bassist Eric Brittingham, the funk-fueled “Love’s Got Me Doin’ Time” stunk from the groove, while the gospel-tinged “Shelter Me” drove onto the Top 40 with a Buick-sized hook.
A beautifully orchestrated acoustic heart-tugger, the soaring title track remains a career-defining epic. Drummer Fred Coury packed plenty of punch and BÖC-style cowbell on both “Sick for the Cure” and “Make Your Own Way”— guitar-driven bruisers, punished to perfection by Jeff LaBar. A countrified coming-of-age classic, “One for Rock and Roll” harvested layers of lap steel and mandolin, making for a legit “purple sage” moment.
Possessing Bad Company-caliber guts, “Electric Love” ranked as another satisfying stand-out, while “Love Gone Bad” was a “long cold” keeper. Delicate and transparent, “Winds of Change” offered heartfelt introspection and burned as the record’s brightest white hot sparkler. But, that’s the way Keifer rolls.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I will confess openly that Cinderella is my all-time favorite rock band, and that Heartbreak Station is my all-time favorite Cinderella album. So, when I got the opportunity to do a phone interview with Tom Keifer prior to the band’s 2002 summer tour, I was stoked, to say the least. And of course, among the many topics we touched on was Heartbreak Station.
Communication with Cinderella’s organization had proved challenging. Numerous messages left with the band’s handlers went unanswered, and I was getting nowhere fast. Then, just two days before my deadline, the call finally came through. An interview with Keifer was confirmed for the following day at 4 p.m. Unfortunately, the next day came and went with NO call from Keifer. I’d learned early in my writing career that when it comes to interviewing rock stars, Monday usually means Tuesday, 4 p.m. means 6 p.m., and well, you get the idea. This time, however, I was getting stressed because my deadline was now only 24 hours away. Ugh! I really needed to get this story.
I was sleeping in late on the morning of my deadline after having been out ‘til the wee hours DJ-ing at a club the night before. Suddenly, the phone rang. I couldn’t imagine who on earth would be so rude as to disturb me at the crack of noon on a Saturday. As I fumbled for the phone, I glanced down at the Caller ID and to my surprise (and relief), Tom Keifer was on the line!
“Rock and roll is like primal instincts. It appeals to everybody.” — Tom Keifer (March 2002)
For more than an hour, we discussed various phases of Keifer’s incredible career, going all the way back to his teenage years when he made what was to be a life-changing discovery — rock and roll.
“What is this music? This is just amazing,” Keifer said to himself upon seeing his first live rock band performing at a school dance. “I listened to everything growing up,” he continued. “I grew up listening to all of the American rock and roll and all of the music that influenced it — from blues to country to gospel.” While discussing his own record releases over the years, Keifer chuckled in agreement when I told him that Heartbreak Station was the best of his career. “There was a magic going on when we recorded that record,” Keifer recalled. “It’s my favorite of the ones we’ve made. We really had a good time making that record.”
Of course, at some point, I had to ask him about the short-lived, yet lethal, Seattle grunge movement of the ‘90s that exterminated the entire good-time arena rock scene, seemingly overnight.
“I loved Nirvana. I thought they were a great rock and roll band.” — Tom Keifer (March 2002)
“What happened in the ‘90s was not as much of a musical change as it was a fashion change,” Keifer said. “A lot of people listen to music with their eyes. Soundgarden and Nirvana — it’s loud guitars cranked up through Marshalls with screaming vocals. It all sounded like rock and roll to me. I never got what the difference really was, other than the look.”
I found Keifer’s easy-going openness to be quite refreshing, and he proved to be as engaging throughout our conversation as he’d appeared to be over the years performing onstage in front of thousands of fans. I appreciated his time, and the experience remains one of my most cherished writing ops.
“There is no doubt that people still want to be served rock and roll. It just hasn’t been on the menu for the last ten years.” — Tom Keifer (March 2002)
At 43, an age when too many people are giving up on their dreams and “settling” in life, I got a “dream” gig to go on tour working as a personal assistant for the iconic rock band, Poison. Cinderella was also on the tour. As a result, I saw Cinderella perform live nearly 50 times during that fast-paced, three-month trek. Simply put, the summer of 2006 was completely surreal. I traveled and lived on the road alongside my favorite band, which exceeds the standard definition of “cool,” and I’ll be eternally grateful to Poison bassist Bobby Dall for giving me that very unique opportunity.
Despite the connection that I thought we’d made during our one-on-one phone conversation in 2002, I found Tom Keifer to be a bit intimidating during our face-to-face excursion in 2006. In fact, we rarely even made eye contact during the tour. ‘Sup, dude? And I never brought up the interview. However, I did get a kick out of hearing him in the next-door dressing room, almost nightly, doing vocal warm-ups to classic tunes by the likes of Rod Stewart and Janis Joplin.
Truth be told, the touring experience ain’t always as incredible as many “civilians” might think. But the Cinderella guys always were cool to me — especially lead guitarist, Jeff LaBar. Heck, most of the time, I wished that I’d been traveling on their bus, working in their world. And I was heartbroken to learn of LaBar’s tragic, untimely death in 2021, at age 58.
Since 2013, Tom Keifer has been forging ahead, making vital new music as a solo artist, while decades later, the all-too-concise Cinderella catalogue still sounds fresh. In the span of just four records, the band created an incredible body of work that showcased impeccable songwriting and musicianship that’s far more reflective of the old-school classic rock era than the aerosol-sprayed days with which they’re too often associated. And Heartbreak Station serves as a timeless testament to their true integrity.
As for my personal vinyl copy, I’ll admit that I didn’t discover it at a garage sale, thrift store, or flea market. In fact, given that it was released originally in 1990, I had no idea that Heartbreak Station had ever even been pressed on vinyl, until just a couple of years ago, when my Florida dealer spotted a pristine copy on her in-store Google machine, for just $12. I’LL TAKE IT!
5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Heartbreak Station Track List
SIDE ONE
1. The More Things Change (Keifer) – 4:21
2. Love’s Got Me Doin’ Time (Keifer, Brittingham) – 5:20
3. Shelter Me (Keifer) – 4:50
4. Heartbreak Station (Keifer) – 4:27
5. Sick for the Cure (Keifer) – 3:39
6. One for Rock and Roll (Keifer) – 4:28
SIDE TWO
1. Dead Man’s Road (Keifer) – 6:38
2. Make Your Own Way (Keifer) – 4:17
3. Electric Love (Keifer) – 5:24
4. Love Gone Bad (Keifer) – 4:23
5. Winds of Change (Keifer) – 5:35
