Dave Reynolds

A resident of Germany in the late 1970s, Dave Reynolds returned to the UK a full-on metalhead thanks to life-changing exposure to Kiss, Angel, Cheap Trick, Van Halen and Status Quo. Arriving home with the NWOBHM in full swing, he would go on to write for Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Metal Forces and AOR. He is a co-author of the International Encyclopaedia Of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.

Articles by: Dave Reynolds

Guiffria studio portrait, 1986

"The record company should’ve offered counselling - we could've been the next Journey!" The high hopes and shattered dreams of melodic rock's nearly men, Giuffria

By Dave Reynolds published

When cult rockers Angel broke up, Gregg Giuffria formed another band – and they could have been huge

Angel: Studio portrait, 1976

"We played eight shows and they were amazing. The kids followed us everywhere": The story of the album that should have turned Angel into stars

By Dave Reynolds published

In 1976 Angel released On Earth As It Is In Heaven: It turned out be be a mixed blessing

Rock band Le Roux onstage

“It didn’t sell well in the States at all, but I learned later how popular it was in Europe”: cult US rockers LeRoux’s lost 1980 AOR masterpiece Up is the missing link between Toto, Kansas and Survivor

By Dave Reynolds published

New Orleans rockers LeRoux shifted from funk-infused R&B to AOR - and made one of the great forgotten gems of the early 80s

Cult AOR singer Paul Laine in 1990

“It was the first time I smoked pot and saw a naked girl. The next day I bought a guitar and swore to do this for a living”: how Paul Laine made cult AOR classic Stick It In Your Ear, the greatest Bon Jovi album Bon Jovi never made

By Dave Reynolds published

Cult Canadian Paul Laine’s debut album Stick It In Your Ear is an early 90s hard rock lost treasure

The rock band Desmond Child & Rouge in the late 1970s

“I’m a believer in things happening for a reason. If I had become a huge star then I may not be alive today”: how cult 70s soft rockers Desmond Child & Rouge launched the career of a songwriting superstar

By Dave Reynolds published

Desmond Child has written multi-platinum songs for Bon Jovi, Kiss and Aerosmith – but it wouldn’t have happened if his own career as a musician hadn’t failed

The Strand in 1980

“It was a no-brainer to get Jeff Porcaro from Toto to produce. He’d played on more hit records than anybody I knew”: how cult melodic rockers The Strand made the greatest AOR debut album you’ve never heard

By Dave Reynolds published

What links Toto and Steve Irwin: Crocodile Hunter? Cult US rockers The Strand

Paul Sabu of Only Child

“Had I known I was going to create a piece of history, I would have approached things differently”: how Only Child made one of the greatest cult hard rock debut albums ever

By Dave Reynolds published

Paul Sabu is the man behind Only Child – the band beloved of AOR connoisseurs everywhere

Cover of the debut album by rock band candy

“I wanted us to be the punk Monkees, the mainstream Ramones or Mötley Crüe with sneakers”: the story of Candy, the cult 80s LA glam rockers who produced a future Guns N’ Roses superstar

By Dave Reynolds published

With their debut album, Whatever Happened To Fun?, LA power-pop outfit Candy should have been huge

Angel posed in the studio in 1977

“We got caught up in the hype. Maybe another label would have given us a clobber round the head”: how Angel delivered a 70s pomp rock classic with Helluva Band

By Dave Reynolds published

Angel were tipped to become the next Kiss. That didn’t happen, but they still delivered a lost treasure with 1976’s Helluva Band album