Ram Jam

A big hit wonder band with Black Betty but the metal heads out there say that their second album Portrait Of An Artist As A Young Ram is a headbanger's classic.  Martin Popoff gave it a perfect 10 on his metal meter.

The single actually goes back to Bartlett's early band Starstruck who released it under their TrackStar label (B side I Should Have Known) but Epic put it out under the Ram Jam name and Bartlett recruited newer members to make their uneven first album.  It didn't help with production from Kastner/Katz who were associated with the Bubblegum pop of Buddah Records of the late 60s.  Ram Jam the album had some nice numbers (Right On The Money, 404 and even a cover of Tuff Darts All For The Love Of Rock And Roll) but the song selection was spotty and most of the album was forgettible as well as the failed followup single Keep Your Hands On The Wheel.

The album sold enough for Epic to give the go ahead on the followup and with a new guitarist at hand (Jimmy Santoro) Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Ram came out to very little fanfair and a much heavier sound and stinging leads from Santoro to give people a headache.  Poorly recorded (lotta treble, not so much bass) Pretty Poison was another failed single.  The album has its moments such as a moody Turnpike, a pop stab with Saturday Night a song that most didn't like but I thought it was the best song of the album and the punk sounding Gone Wild but Santoro's leads overwhelm the whole thing.  Despite kudos from a Geoff Barton and Popoff, most reviews were negative and Epic pulled the plug on the band and they fell apart.
Howie Blauvelt died in 1993 from a heart attack at age 44, Peter Charles in 2003.

Both albums can be found on CD, Collectibles released the first album under Golden Classics, whereas the import Rock Candy reissued Portrait in 2006, remastered by Jon Astley but still remains a ear piercing headache although it has its moments.

Albums
Ram Jam (Epic 1977-later reissued Collectibles 1994)  C+
Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Ram (Epic 1978 reissued Rock Candy 2006) C+
Very Best Of Ram Jam (CBS import of both albums on one disc) NR