Who is Tony Carey? Tony Carey is a former member of Rainbow. He was the keyboardist on the album 'Rainbow Rising'. Many Rainbow fans consider this to be the best incarnation of the band. Tony left Rainbow after a few years and moved to Germany, where he lived for many years before moving to Spain (he was originally from Turlock, California). He had a hit single in the 80's with "A Fine Fine Day" from his "Some Tough City" album. Tony has continued to release albums from Germany, and does some producing for several European artists as well.
What is the Planet P Project? Planet P is the name Tony gave to his music that has a science fiction/apocalyptic theme. My first exposure to Tony's music was the Planet P Project's first album. Totally awesome! After that, he released another one called Pink World (also awesome). Back in August of '97, I received a fax from Tony in which he said that he was working on a THIRD Planet P release (update: supposedly the new Planet P album is finished, but Tony is sitting on it until he gets a record deal that he is comfortable with)!
Tony last toured the United States back in 1984. While he was here, he made an appearance on RockLine. Click HERE to read the interview. He has toured more recently in Germany, and also did a date in Austin, Texas at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Conference.
Here is an ad from a San Antonio newspaper for one of his shows on the "Some Tough City" tour:
Below are my comments on the Tony Carey cd's that I have so far. I don't own all of them, so this list does not show all of Tony's albums.
I Won't Be Home Tonight Probably TC's most commercial/pop album (good though). You've probably heard the title track.
Some Tough City Tony's big U.S. success. "A Fine Fine Day" and "First Day of Summer" were hits. I like "A Lonely Life" a lot too.
Blue Highway Awesome album. Personal faves: "We Wanna Live" and "Live Wire".
Storyville Very good album. Storyville was the red light district of New Orleans. Awesome ballad: "Every Single Reason In The World".
The Story So Far Kind of a greatest hits album. Good collection of material.
A Fine Fine Day Also a 'best of' album. Fairly easy to find in the US (unlike most of Tony's work).
Cold War Kids Tony gets political. This album is a little 'funkier' sounding than his other stuff.
For You Another good T.C. album. "We are only sleeping" is a good track.
Boystown Tapes Tony's latest.
Planet P Project Totally awesome! "Why Me" was a hit back in the 80's that you've probably heard. Static is a very cool track. There really isn't a bad track on this cd. By the way, it just went out of print. So, if you see a copy at a music store, buy it! I never get tired of this album.
Planet P Project-Pink World A concept album about a god-like kid and a world on the brink. Most TC/PPP fans consider this to be his masterpiece.
Rainbow Rising Tony's rock-n-roll debut. Many Rainbow fans consider this to be their best album.
Rainbow On Stage This a great album. Listening to Tony live is a real treat.
I'll be adding more reviews as I get more stuff.
Links to other TC/PPP sites on the web:
The official TC site TonyCarey dot com was run by my friend Michael Bagnall, but is now closed.
Jim Bailey's site was one of the first (if not THE FIRST), and has some interesting posts from fans. It's called The Zone.
Joe Breitenbach, guitarist for Tony Carey on the '84 U.S. Some Tough City Tour, has a personal web site.
Unfortunately, Tony's former Rainbow band-mate Cozy Powell died on April 5, 1998 in a high speed car crash. Cozy was one of the best know drummers in rock, having played with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Jeff Beck, Whitesnake, Michael Schenker, Emerson Lake & Powell, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Queen guitarist Brian May. Visit the Official Cozy Powell Web Site for more info on this influential drummer.
Tony Carey played an awesome mini-Moog solo on a track called "Off Beat Ride" on Pat Travers' 1977 album "Putting It Straight". Pat Travers is also one of my favorite musical artists.
You can get Tony Carey and Planet P Project cd's from CD Now:
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