"YOU JUST CAN'T STOP IT"
	( i n f o )
BACKGROUND INFO ON YOU JUST CANT STOP IT "You Just Cant Stop It" was selected as the very important second single...to follow up AVALANCHE's successful first radio release. As a follow-up single, it was a crucial record...because a "follow-up" determines whether a band is able to maintain momentum...or will just be regarded as a "One-Hit-Wonder". "You Just Cant Stop It" was selected for two reasons. First, it was a very powerful song, and captured the essence of AVALANCHE very well. Secondly, the name of the song very much fit in with the band's name, and the momentum the band was enjoying at that time. It seemed like a very logical choice. After "Little Miss Sad Eyes" and "Give My Love" had received such positive attention from so many New England radio stations...there was a lot of anticipation about the new record...and one Program Director from a very prominent station that had been instrumental in breaking AVALANCHE onto the air...was actually invited to...and attended, the recording sessions for that song. Unfortunately, he left that session before the vocal tracks were laid down...but before leaving, he indicated that he thought the song would be more successful than the first record had been. Spurred on by such positive feedback, the band finished the recording and mixing, and was well into the manufacturing of the first 5000 copies when the song was previewed by that same Program Director...in its finished form. It was then that the lyrics to the song were heard for the first time...and the band was notified that that song would not be aired...it was being banned from the air due to lyrical content. The song was very controversial...and was about drug trafficking...and how the CIA was engaged in that activity to fund their "Black Ops" projects. Because that agency was mentioned by name...the radio stations considered the song "too hot to handle"...and one by one...all thirteen radio stations that had promised to air the song backed down. It was a devastating blow for the band. The public was ready and waiting for the new record...and the band was enjoying incredible momentum at that point...and the record being banned from the air stopped AVALANCHE dead in its tracks. Before the band was able to recover from the loss of momentum and the financial problems that resulted from that unfortunate turn of events...AVALANCHE broke up. Charles Calmese, the original bass player, and a huge part of the equation that made AVALANCHE music work...quit the band...out of sheer frustration...five months after this recording was made. The good news is...Avalanche is back...and recording new music again...with another month of sessions scheduled in late spring of 2005. This is the first time that this song has been available for the public to hear since it was recorded in 1979. The first two seconds of the song were inadvertently cut off during the Digital Remastering process. Hopefully, I will be able to restore the song to its original complete form when I return to the studio in Connecticut, this spring. In the meantime...the bulk of this song is here and still "kicks". About five years after the song was banned, Don Henley released "Smuggler's Blues"...a song which talked about many of the same subjects...and mentioned the DEA by name...and it received massive airplay, worldwide. I guess being on the "crest of a wave"...and writing about a "new" truth that has since become common knowledge...can be a liability...it certainly was for AVALANCHE. And...oh yeah...I'm not Don Henley, either. This is one of the few recordings of the original AVALANCHE band in existence...with all the original members...and recorded at the band's peak as a live concert act. The production quality of this track could be better...it reflects the technology that was available at that time...as well as my inexperience with production and mixing...but the interaction between my guitar and Mark's...and Charles Calmese's contributions on bass are, again, immediately apparent... and Barry Easton's solid drumming clearly shows how each member of this band was key...in making this band what it was... I hope you like it...Michael