MIKE TRAMP Looks Back On WHITE LION’s “Unfinished” Big Game Album – “We Were Out Of Touch With Reality”

Former White Lion singer, Mike Tramp, is featured in a new interview with 80’s Glam Metalcast. He discusses his new album, The Songs Of White Lion, and revisits classic White Lion albums Big Game and Mane Attraction. Check out the interview below. 

On why he wanted to redo his own songs for Songs Of White Lion album

Tramp: “I ended White Lion in 1991,  but wherever I go people slap the White Lion sticker on me. Promoters cry out for me to play White Lion songs. I’ve never had a band that ever played in that style. Mike Tramp solo is more a Tom Petty, Springsteen, or Mellencamp kind of thing. So people say they want me to do these songs, but I’m going to do them the way I want to do them, and the way I can do them. It doesn’t sound like White Lion 1988 because Mike Tramp isn’t 26, he’s 62!”

On the Mane Attraction and Big Game albums 

Tramp: “With ‘Love Don’t Come Easy’, I thought we wrote the ultimate American radio song. But when we got that out, the whole scene was changing. I also never thought the beat in it really made the song happen, so that was the reason I really wanted to redo it. Mane Attraction in America is almost a non-existent chapter for the band. No interviews, no real promotion. We had been touring on the Pride album for almost two years. By the time we got to 1988, the record company was crying out for a new album, but Vito (Bratta / guitar) and I needed a long ass break. They send us off to a hotel for a week and we wrote and demoed the Big Game album. Prior to recording the Pride album, we had played those songs in the clubs for a year. So right after Christmas, we’re in the studio recording Big Game. We were also seeing the big earnings coming in from the Pride album and the tours. We were in the studio making this new album, but we were out of touch with reality. Everyone around us is also out of touch.  Everyone is just wanting this new album to get out. It was already shipping gold before we recorded it. The record company isn’t saying to take our time, they are doing the opposite. Even though there are some great moments with the songs – production and arrangement wise, Big Game is an unfinished album. So when it came time to do Mane Attraction, Vito and I worked on the songwriting for a year.” 

On the exit of James Lomezo and Greg D’Angelo and the end of the band 

Tramp: “They were unhappy with the business arrangement. Without blaming Vito, he really was doing the negotiations with them. We weren’t that flexible. So after a successful European tour, they departed the band. We weren’t really that concerned about it. We got Jimmy Degrasso and Tommy Caradonna in there. For a while in the rehearsal room, it felt like we were born again. So we go out on an American club tour. We come into New York, our hometown playing a big sold out show. Nobody from the record company shows up. To me, it was a clear message they were looking elsewhere. I took it upon myself, being really offended, and with everything else going on…..I told Vito, when we play Boston on Sept 2nd it will be our last show. He just looked at me and said okay, and we never spoke of it again for 25 years.”

On Vito Bratta and reunion questions

Tramp: “People love to make comments, but they don’t know the facts. Since White Lion ended in 1991, Vito has not been on stage or in the studio and that’s a pretty long time to be out of commission. Vito hasn’t done any real interviews besides one with Eddie Trunk and that was years ago, where he said the doors not closed. The door is closed! I would never rule out doing a side project with Vito. White Lion will never reunite, we wouldn’t be as good as we were….and the band doesn’t want to reunite. This is not that Mike Tramp doesn’t want to do it; it just ain’t gonna happen.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg9NOoiAJCU

Tramp will release Songs Of White Lion on April 14. Check out a new, official teaser video below:

Pre-order/save Songs Of White Lion on CD/LP/Digital here. Please note, due to ongoing lengthy vinyl manufacturing wait time, the LP version will be released on July 14.

Additionally, Tramp will be embarking on a Songs Of White Lion US tour in May, as well as participating in the The Original Rock Meets Classic Tour in Germany this April. A full list of dates can be found on Tramp’s website, here.

As the title implies, the album sees Tramp re-imagining select cuts from his former band White Lion’s catalog.

Songs Of White Lion tracklisting:

“Lady Of The Valley”

“Little Fighter”

“Broken Heart”

“Love Don’t Come Easy”

“Hungry”

“Cry For Freedom”

“Going Home Tonight”

“Wait”

“All The Fallen Men”

“Living On The Edge”

“Tell Me”

“When The Children Cry”

“Little Fighter”:

“Cry For Freedom”:

Official Teaser, Part 1:

Lineup:

Mike Tramp – Vocals

Marcus Nand – Guitars

Claus Langeskov – Bass

Alan Tschicaja – Drums

Sebastian Groset – Keyboard

Christoffer Stjerne – Harmonies

Produced by: Soren Andersen & Mike Tramp