Love's So Tough

Love's So Tough is a studio album by the Iron City Houserockers. Released in 1979, the Iron City Houserocker's first album attempts to capture the presence of what was essentially a Pittsburgh bar band playing to a blue collar crowd every night. While Joe Grushecky's songwriting skills are clearly still developing, his potential is visible in cuts such as "Dance with Me" and "Heros Are Hard to Find". The general sound of the album is reminiscent of a slightly "harder" Bruce Springsteen, and the heavy use of harmonica would be a distinguishing factor of the Houserockers for several albums to come. The Chuck Berry song "School Days (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)" was recorded for the album but was cut from the final release. The track was then released on Pumping Iron & Sweating Steel: The Best of the Iron City Houserockers.[4][5]

Love's So Tough
Studio album by
Iron City Houserockers
ReleasedApril 14, 1979
Recorded1978
StudioAgency Recording, Cleveland, Ohio
GenreRock
Length37:30
LabelMCA
ProducerThe Slimmer Twins (Steve Popovich and Marty Mooney)
Iron City Houserockers chronology
Love's So Tough
(1979)		 Have a Good Time but Get Out Alive!
(1980)
Singles from Love's So Tough
  1. "Hideaway"
    Released: July 1979
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB[2]
Rolling StoneFavorable[3]

The album was reissued in CD format in 1999 by Rock Heritage, and again in 2019 in remastered digital format by Cleveland International Records for its 40th anniversary.[6]

Background

In the spring of 1977 Joe Grushecky's brother Jon sent him a full page ad from Billboard magazine about the release of a Ronnie Spector record on Cleveland International Records. The band was known at that time as the Brick Alley Band, and they sent a demo tape to Steve Popovich at Cleveland International Records. After a personal phone call from Steve Popovich, Joe Grushecky and his band drove out to Cleveland and under the guidance of Steve Popovich and Marty Mooney, made a series of recordings that landed a deal with MCA Records.[7]

Track listing

Side one
  1. "I Can't Take It" (Joe Grushecky) – 3:54
  2. "Hideaway" (Fred Goodman) – 4:31
  3. "Turn It Up" (Grushecky) – 4:54
  4. "Dance with Me" (Grushecky, Art Nardini) – 4:46

Side two
  1. "Love So Tough" (Grushecky, Gil Snyder) – 3:42
  2. "Veronica" (Grushecky) – 3:38
  3. "Heroes Are Hard to Find" (Grushecky, Nardini, Gary Scalese) – 2:55
  4. "Stay with Me Tonight" (Grushecky) – 4:43
  5. "I'm Lucky" (Grushecky, Nardini) – 4:27

"Turn It Up" was recorded at Asterick Recording, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Personnel
Iron City Houserockers

with:

Chart performance
Chart (1979) Peak
position
Billboard Bubbling Under the Top LP's 201
Cash Box Top Albums 164

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: I". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 27, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. Marcus, Greil (September 6, 1979). "Rough bar-band stuff from Pittsburgh". Rolling Stone. New York, New York: Straight Arrow Publishers Inc.
  4. music.aol.com
  5. www.answers.com
  6. https://orcd.co/ichrlovesotough
  7. Liner notes from Love's So Tough 1999 re-issue
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