Sneaker

Sneaker - Sneaker - 1981 - Handshake Records

An average, pleasant soft West Coast rock album. There is nothing remarkable here, except for "More Than Just the Two of Us", and the Becker & Fagen tune, "Don´t Let Me In", which were two minor hits for Sneaker. There is no doubting the musicianship of the band, and of course the contributions from the great Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, the brilliant Steely Dan, and Doobie Brothers guitarist, and session player Paulinho da Costa. The group released another album, "Loose in the World," in 1982, but nowadays, to many rock fans, Sneaker are unknown. In reality, a "two hit wonder" group. Try and listen to Sneaker's "Live - Footprints In Japan"album, which gives a better idea of how Sneaker played some good gritty rock, without the over polished West Coast 80's AOR sound.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

Don´t Let Me In - W.Becker, & D.Fagen
More Than Just The Two Of Us - Schneider
One By One - Schneider, Crane
Jaymes - unknown
In Time - unknown
Get Up Get Out - unknown
Looking For Someone Like You - Cottage, Crane, Schneider
Millionaire - Schneider
No More Lonely Days - unknown
More Than Just The Two Of Us (demo)- Schneider [Bonus 2003 CD Track on Coolsound Records]
Don't Let Me In (demo) - W.Becker, & D.Fagen [Bonus 2003 CD Track on Coolsound Records]
Easy With Your Love - unknown [Bonus 2003 CD Track on Coolsound Records]
Lazy Lady - unknown [Bonus 2003 CD Track on Coolsound Records]

MUSICIANS

Jeff Baxter Guitar, Producer
Tim Torrance Guitar
Mitch Crane Guitar, Vocals, Background Vocals
Mitch Oare Guitar, Vocals
John Raymond Bass
Michael Cottage Bass, Background Vocals
Jim King Synthesizer, Keyboards, Vibraphone
Little Jimmy King Keyboards
Michael Carey Schneider Keyboards, Vocals, Background Vocals
Paulinho Da Costa Percussion
David Foster Clarinet
Ed Greene Drums
Michael Hughes Drums, Background Vocals
Bobby LaKind Percussion
David Woodford, Lon Price Saxophone
Cleo Kennedy, Sherlie Mathews, Paulette Brown Background Vocals

BIO (Wikipedia)

Sneaker was a West Coast American rock music band, active from 1973 to 1982. The band is best known for its Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hit single, "More Than Just the Two of Us", from its first album, Sneaker (1981). They also had a minor hit with "Don't Let Me In", a song written by Donald Fagen & Walter Becker from Steely Dan. Sneaker was composed of Tim Torrance on guitars, Mitch Crane on vocals and guitars, Michael Carey Schneider on vocals and keyboards, Mike Hughes on drums, Michael Cottage on bass guitar, and Jim King on keyboards, synthesizers, and vibes. The band cited as its primary musical influences Steely Dan, The Eagles, and The Doobie Brothers. They released 2 studio albums on Handshake Records, Sneaker in 1981, which included their Top 40 hit, "More Than Just The Two Of Us" and Loose In The World in 1982. Both albums were produced by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. In 2001, Cool Sound Records, a Japanese record label, released Early On, a collection of their early recordings and, in 2003, released Footprints In Japan, a 1982 live recording from Osaka & Tokyo, Japan. The group's name "Sneaker" was taken from the Steely Dan tune "Bad Sneakers" from their album "Katy Lied", a fact confirmed by Michael Carey Schneider from Sneaker.