Exclusive | Mike Tramp talks about White Lion – Pride

Track by Track

Stan Novak recently had a sitdown with Mike Tramp for a track by track commentary on ‘Pride’, the 1987 album that brought White Lion big international success.

HUNGRY

I lived in my manager’s basement and sat there with my acoustic guitar. I have always been a big admirer of Bob Dylan. I remember having the first verse ready but then Vito changed it quite a bit. We had already written the ‘Fight To Survive’ album together but the dynamic between us was different now. We had grown as collaborators. ,,Hungry’’ is a textbook example of our new way of working together.

LONELY NIGHTS

No idea when we wrote it but it confirms that we had a clear direction in mind with ‘Pride’. ‘Fight To Survive’ was far more broadly oriented. ,,Lonely Nights’’ had a strong melody and luscious guitar playing. The song represented life in the late eighties. It somehow became our new blueprint.

DON’T GIVE UP

When I arrived in New York in 1983 I knew I wouldn’t leave and that America was where I needed to pursue my career. I needed however to accept the harsh American society. ,,Don’t Give Up’’ was the first song we mixed and it gave us confirmation that we were on the right track.

SWEET LITTLE LOVING

There is some inspiration from The Power Station in this one. The song underlines that Vito can effortlessly go from one place to another with his guitar playing. Together we formed a combination that wouldn’t work in other hands. If for instance Ronnie James Dio had been sitting there with Vito it might have ended badly.

LADY OF THE VALLEY

A little masterpiece and fan favorite. It’s our ,,Song Remains The Same’’ or ,,Gates Of Babylon’’. I wrote it Queen’s ,,Lily Of The Valley’’ and Rainbow’s ,,Lady Of The Lake’’ in mind. The title came first and out me in the difficult position of writing an adventurous text. ,,Light And Thunder’’, the opener of our last album ‘Mane Attraction’, is its’ sequel by the way.

WAIT

Vito played a spontaneous riff with his back turned to me and I instinctively said ,,Wait’’. That had to be the title of the song right away. We then wrote and finished the song the same day. We didn’t know at that time that it would become a single and such a big hit.

ALL YOU NEED IS ROCK N ROLL

It’s the piece that allows you to breathe between ,,Wait’’ and ,,Tell Me’’. It’s not particularly melodic but it clears the air a bit. However, I’m not really in my element on that one. It’s more tailor-made for someone like Steven Tyler. That’s why I never play it live anymore. It still means a lot to me though.

TELL ME

This one once started as ,,Lambs And Lions’’ (a greasy laugh follows). Sometimes you don’t know where something comes from. Those sing-along sounds came to me after the song had already been written. We stuck it in. Maybe that’s why ,,Tell Me’’ turned out to be one of the classic White Lion songs.

ALL JOIN OUR HANDS

A conflict song and that rarely happened. Vito was already working on the melody line but of course I had to sing it and that led to some discussions here. I never felt at home in this song. The progression in the arrangements feels unnatural and I would never have chosen it myself.

WHEN THE CHILDREN CRY

We were looking for a relaxed way to end the record and consciously chose a quiet piece as the closing song. I always felt very comfortable with those lyrics. And still do. There are references to my hero band Rainbow. Their ‘Long Live Rock N Roll’ album ends with ,,Rainbow Eyes’’, which I find one of the most beautiful songs Dio and Blackmore ever wrote. That song was a shining example on how we wanted to end the ‘Pride’ record.