"It feels like the fiiiirst tiyeem, it feels like the very first tiiiyeem." You know it. Even if you don't know it, you know it. It's Foreigner. Anyone who's listened to mainstream radio over the past two decades has had Foreigner songs lodged into their frontal lobe repeatedly. The sound epitomizes late-'70s, early-'80s arena rock: big guitars; semi-screeching, powerfully pitched, almost operatic vocals; keyboards; and catchy choruses that cement into your memory. Foreigner were predecessors to hair metal, though more pop than metal, and they were one of the first bands to go spelunking into the nether regions of the ever-dreaded power ballad.
Foreigner had an absolute knack for writing hits, thanks to guitarist/songwriter Mick Jones and singer Lou Gramm, and they juiced it. To the present date, Foreigner has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide and landed 16 top 30 hits. Six of their albums have gone multiplatinum. Foreigner 4 spent more weeks at number one on the Billboard chart than any album by AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, U2, the Who, or the Rolling Stones. Sing it with me now, "Shee's hot bluuuded, check it and seeee. She gotta feevah of a hundred and threeeee. She's hot bluuded, hot bludead."
During the past 30 years, Foreigner's rotating cast has seen 31 different members. Currently, they're playing and touring with Mick Jones as the only original member. But there's a sector of the listening public out there who wants their Foreigner. They want to partake in songs again that were part of their past and scream engrained, beloved choruses. Current Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson (formerly of Dokken and Dio) spoke. Multiple times during the interview, I sang the chorus to "Cold as Ice" out loud.
You're a huge Lil Wayne fan.
Not particularly.
You love Wu-Tang Clan.
Not so much. They're good. I'm just not a fan.
What do you think of all the Auto-Tuned vocals these days?
I think it might be overdone? But I'm sure there was a time when flangers and reverb were overdone as well. It's just a vocal effect. I'm not a huge hiphop fan, but I love Eminem. A lot. He puts out intense, powerful, resonant, and relevant music. It's hiphop's day right now. Hiphop albums are selling.
The N.W.A. influence on Foreigner is completely obvious.
N.W.A., now they were great. They influenced a ton of music. Maybe not Foreigner. I didn't appreciate them at the time, but over the years I've definitely come to respect and appreciate them.
Foreigner have so many hits from back in the day. Real-deal hits. These songs and melodies are etched into the collective musical subconscious of the mainstream-radio-listening USA. I mean, "You're as cold as iiiiyyce, you're willing to saaacrifice our love." Sing it with me. Are you kidding me with that? That's late-'70s arena rock at its finest. What makes a hit a hit?
If someone knew the answer to that, they'd be very, very, very rich. I think what makes a hit a hit is a combination of things. Whether it's a melody or a message. Foreigner has simple songs, the phrases really work. And they were delivered by a great vocalist, Lou Gramm. He has one of the greatest voices in rock, ever. Mick Jones is a visionary guitar player, writer, and producer. They just had great recordings. Between all of those elements, I think Foreigner hit at the right time for that kind of music, with the right melodies, the right voice.
What is the Foreigner crowd now?
Well, you have the die-hard fans who have been there for 30 years. And now you have a lot of younger people who have been exposed to the band by Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games. And Glee. And Hot Tub Time Machine. And Dancing with the Stars. I see lots of kids who are just getting into classic rock. It's new to them. Our crowd is a wide range. The older fans and the younger fans all seem to relate to the music the same way, that's the bizarre thing.
I'm going to say a Foreigner song, and you say the first thing that comes to mind: "Feels Like the First Time."
First Foreigner song I heard. Amazing rock song.
Did you lose your virginity to it?
No. I wasn't a virgin by the time I heard that song.
What song did you lose your virginity to?
I don't think we had a song going. It was done at the parents' house, really quick. We weren't establishing an atmosphere with music and all that.
Next song: "Cold as Ice."
Almost a progressive rock song, in a certain way. So good that you'd never think of it as progressive rock.
"Hot Blooded."
Nasty. Dirty. Sleazy music. It's wonderful. We play it at the end of the set. Everyone from 8 to 80 knows that song.
"Juke Box Hero."
A powerful, powerful tune. Live, we jam on it.
And those vocals, "Juuuke box heeeero, got staaars in his eyes" [screeched Foreigner style, like a sexual panther]. I'm ready to sing for Foreigner. You tell Mr. Vocalist there that he's been replaced.
I'll do that.
Have you played the Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games with the Foreigner songs?
I don't play them myself, no. We went down to the factory and did a promo thing where they showed us how to play them, though. It was cool.
You're probably more a Dungeons & Dragons guy anyway. After your time playing in Dio. With all the dragons and orcs, right?
I'm not a video-game guy at all, to be honest with you.
What enables a band to keep going for 35 years?
Great songs. I don't think there's any other way of looking at it, really. With great songs, you can transcend the ages, and we've managed to do that. We're very grateful. And I'm very grateful to Mick Jones's songwriting [laughs].
Dokken ruled. Tell me a story from the Dokken days.
We toured with Aerosmith once. We were in New Orleans in 1988. It was the last show of the tour, so we were messing with them. For their song "Angel," we got the crew to suspend our guitar player George Lynch from the lighting truss in a full-on angel costume with wings and a wand and a halo. "Angel" is a tender song, and there's George dangling in an angel suit over Steven Tyler. George was acting like he could fly, and because of all the movement, he ended up getting his wires crossed and hung up with the lighting rig. It took them four songs to get him down. He was just dangling there for four songs.
How did you go from playing in Dio and Dokken to playing in Foreigner? How was that transition?
I started playing with Foreigner because I was in a movie with drummer Jason Bonham [and Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston] called Rock Star. Jason and I established a good friendship and a good rapport. In 2004, he started playing with Mick Jones from Foreigner, and they ended up deciding that it was going to be a revamped Foreigner. They called me to come down and play and see how the chemistry was. So I came in, and the chemistry was great. The transition for me was easier than you might think. Foreigner were a big influence on Dokken. Foreigner were known mostly for their ballads, but essentially they were a hard-rock band that put melody to it, much the same way Dokken did. I was a big Foreigner fan and loved the songs. The transition was natural.
What are you listening to these days?
The new Black Country Communion, Jason Bonham's band. It's their second album. Best rock record I've heard in years. I love '70s rock. Jamming '70s music gets me off more than anything. Grand Funk. The Who. Stones. Zeppelin.
You and Jason Bonham are close?
Yeah. I love him to pieces.
I was in LA one time at his sister's place. In the kitchen, there was a photograph of the Bonham family on the refrigerator. For like two seconds, I thought about taking it. Because I think John Bonham is the greatest drummer of all time. But I decided not to take it. I thought I would be struck by lightning or something.
Taking that probably wouldn't have been a good idea.
Speaking of lightning and John Bonham, you know the famous Led Zeppelin/groupie/fish incident took place right here in Seattle at the Edgewater Inn. Does Foreigner do that type of thing, with fish and fans?
Foreigner does not do that type of thing, no.
How would you describe the Led Zeppelin fish incident? How did that happen?
That's a story about young men exercising their power in a different era. It's a testament to how dedicated people were and to how powerful rock was at the time. People were so excited then, they just lost themselves. Unfortunately, that incident was obscene and degrading. You couldn't do that these days.
The cover of the Foreigner album Head Games has a girl in the guy's bathroom sitting on a urinal. Is she taking a pee in there? What's up with that cover? That's another thing that seems like it wouldn't fly today.
She's not peeing. She's standing in front of it. That was a controversial cover at the time. People thought it was sexist. I think it was implying there was going to be some oral sex going on—in the head, which is the bathroom. You know, kind of a double entendre there with Head Games.
Very sneaky.
I think it's mild compared to what some of the metal bands are doing today. You don't see album covers so much anymore. It's a lost art.
"You're as cooold as ice." Sing it! "You never taaake advice. Someday you'll pay the price, I know."
Nice. I do know. Thank you. 
