DOKKEN Are "Halfway Done" With New Studio Album - "I Wrote A Tongue-In-Cheek Song About A Guy Who Is Running The Country And Feels He Has No Limitations Or Rules," Says DON DOKKEN

June 29, 2020, 3 years ago

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DOKKEN Are "Halfway Done" With New Studio Album - "I Wrote A Tongue-In-Cheek Song About A Guy Who Is Running The Country And Feels He Has No Limitations Or Rules," Says DON DOKKEN

In a new interview with Robert Cavuoto for My Global Mind, Don Dokken discusses the upcoming release The Lost Songs: 1978-1981, how he came across the tapes with these old songs, the work that went into completing them, the bands who influenced him at the time, and how the political unrest in America country now is influencing the writing of the next Dokken studio CD. An excerpt follows:

Robert Cavuoto: "I understand that you are working on a new Dokken CD, and knowing that you typically write from the heart, will you be singing about what is going on in our country with the election, the protests, and pandemic?

Don Dokken: "We are about halfway done with the record, and a lot of my lyrics are about what is going on now. Whether you are a fan of Trump or not, I see him as a little unhinged and trying to take over the planet, so I wrote a song called 'Hail To The King' about him. He has a king mentality. I’m not a political person at all; I don’t get involved in politics but when you see the craziness of the government and the guy firing his people daily like the Attorney General, and the Prosecutor it’s bizarre [laughing]. I wrote a tongue-in-cheek song about a guy who is running the country and feels he has no limitations or rules. That he can do whatever he wants like a king. I wrote another song about the insanity of these demonstrations. People have the right to march and protest the George Floyd situation, but you get these people who use it as an opportunity to rob and loot. They don’t care about George Floyd; they just want to go down there with a hammer and bust out windows to grab TVs, so I wrote a song called 'Rampage'. They are thugs, gang bangers, and crooks who want to take advantage of the situation while the police are doing their best to keep the crowds under control."

Read the complete interview at MyGlobalMind.com.

It wasn’t always multi-platinum sales and stadium gigs for Dokken. There was a first-phase and there were early days, and it is those bold first steps to stardom which are celebrated comprehensively on Dokken’s The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 album, out on August 28 via Silver Lining Music.

Featuring spectacular sleeve art by renowned US artist Tokyo Hiro (Motörhead, Motley Crüe), The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 show the crackle and craft of a hungry young Don Dokken as he embarked upon a journey which started in Southern California and Northern Germany. It is a trek which is testimony to the sheer endeavour and perseverance Don Dokken showed in those few years between 1978 and 1981, starting from when he spent time at a guitar store called Drake’s Music, owned by Drake Levin in Manhattan Beach, California.

A fair selection of the treasure on The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 are from these early European days. “Felony” carries a thuggish fuzz-coated riff -think early Van Halen in really greasy embroidered denims- while “Day After Day” showed that Don could pen a radio-slaying ballad.

The writing and creation of The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 are further tribute to enduring early days of struggle in both Germany and LA, Don would return to LA for a spell after those brief European gigs, and he worked with Croucier on material, including perhaps the truest view of Dokken’s then-future “Hit And Run”, which incredibly did not end up on the eventual Breaking The Chains release. From the sunbaked SoCal hook of “Step Into The Light” to the furious, fledgling, late-Sunset Strip sound of “Back In The Streets,” The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 shows Don in his unfettered early days of balls-out attitude, qualities doubtless forged in the sheer nature of the adventures undertaken in writing, recording and deciding Europe was the place to keep cutting his teeth.

The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 not only shares that magic with the fans, it gives them the final, vital and undeniably missing (until now) early album in the Dokken collection.

The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 is available for pre-order here on CD, Vinyl, digital formats and special D2C bundles.

The Lost Songs: 1978-1981 tracklisting:

"Step Into The Light"
"We’re Going Wrong"
"Day After Day"
"Rainbows"
"Felony"
"No Answer"
"Back In The Streets"
"Hit And Run"
"Broken Heart"
"Liar"
"Prisoner"

"Step Into The Light" video:

Musicians who appear on The Lost Songs: 1978-1981:

Don Dokken - vocals, guitar
Jon Levin - guitar
BJ Zampa - drums
Juan Croucier - bass
Greg Leon - guitar
Gary Holland - drums
Mick Brown - drums
George Lynch -guitar
Rustee Allen - bass
Bill Lordan - drums
Greg Pecka - drums



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