Night Ranger. I remember nights “motoring” and wondering just what was the “price for flight” as I cranked up the car stereo and lamented the consequences for “Sister Christian”.

I sat down today and opened iTunes to select a playlist for today’s symposium of writing. As I paged through playlists and artists, a familiar band caught my eye: Night Ranger. I have not listened to this band for quite some time. In fact, according to iTunes, the last time I listened to a Night Ranger song was in March 2019! The first song I clicked play on today was “Sister Christian”. Written and sung by drummer Kelly Keagy, the song is actually about his sister, Christy, as she was “motoring” the ups and downs of growing up. The name was changed to Christian because that’s the name band members mistakenly heard through the monitors as Keagy sang, and the name stuck. The rest is history and it became the penultimate coming-of age song and shot the band to rock-n-roll stardom. 

For me, Night Ranger represents long lost summer nights of driving with the windows down; car stereo blasting the soundtrack of innocence and dreams. They hit the music scene as I was winding down my high school sentence with the album Dawn Patrol and the hit single “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” and other great tunes like “Sing Me Away” and “Eddie’s Comin’ Out Tonight”. The very next album was Midnight Madness which contained the hits “When You Close Your Eyes”, “(You Can Still) Rock in America”, and “Sister Christian”. 

Night Ranger is one of those rock bands that is always there…waiting for you to remember how awesome they rock! They are often overlooked, but never disappoint when you are in the mood for a rocking good time. Their latest album, Night Ranger Live,  was released this month and is a remastered live record from shows back in 1984. In the summer of 2020, Night Ranger will be touring with Whitesnake and Sammy Hagar & The Circle. Jack Blade and the boys rocked and still rock! As I prepare to go to Aomori, the nearest big city to Misawa here in remote Northern Japan, I have made sure I downloaded my top ten Night Ranger songs for the drive. The cost of motoring to Aomori is small, but my reward could be big…I hear there is a Tony Roma’s Rib restaurant at a hotel there! C’mon Sister Christian…motor us to those ribs!

My Top Ten Night Ranger Songs:

1. Sister Christian
2. When You Close Your Eyes
3. (You Can Still) Rock in America
4. Don’t Tell Me You Love Me
5. Four in the Morning
6. Sing Me Away
7. Sentimental Street
8. Eddie’s Comin’ Out Tonight
9. Growin’ Up in California
10. Don’t Let Up

© 2020 Gregory Vessar. All Rights Reserved.