Black Sheep was a local band from Rochester, New York featuring a nice Italian boy as lead singer named Louis Grammatico.  They put out three albums that received little notice.  Then at the invitation of Mick Jones, of Spooky Tooth, Louis auditioned for an, as yet, unnamed band.  The result was the corporate rock phenomenon, Foreigner, for which he changed his name to Lou Gramm.  He became the cloying archetypal voice of stadium rock.

But before all that, I loved this naked song, “When It All Makes Sense.”  Electric piano.  No drums.  Simple beautiful guitar solo, threading a single line.  The quietness of the arrangement manifests the feeling of lying awake at night.  And Gramm displays consummate virtuosity in his singing.  The song opens in a vibratoless scratchy voice, as he whines about the ordinary travails of getting along with his lover.  But then in the chorus he realizes:

When the moon is alone in the sky and weeping
And the one you love lies beside you sleeping
That’s when it all makes sense.

And the fullness and passion and warmth fill his voice.  Mellifluous high tones.  Perfect phrasing.  Beautiful.

Larry Crozier, Louis Grammatico, “When It All Makes Sense,” WB Music Corp. and Open Love Music Inc. (ASCAP) (1975).  From Black Sheep, Encouraging Words, Capitol Records, ST-11447 (1975).  Photography – Lavey-Pincus.