Foreigner: “Double Vision” (1978)

Foreigner continues their assault on the charts with the title track from their second album.

Kronomyth 2.2: The road to diplopia.

So, where did the whole “two guys singing into one microphone” thing start? I mean, I get it if you’ve only got one microphone, but in the video for Double Vision, Mick Jones clearly has his own microphone from the outset. Somehow, before the song is over, he’s drifted over to Lou Gramm’s microphone and everyone is paired up, singing on top of each other. To paraphrase Seinfeld, nobody leaves a perfectly good microphone to share a microphone with someone. And Gramm doesn’t look visibly pleased to have another dude with his mouth wide open two inches from his face. Credit Ed Gagliardi for giving Ian McDonald some space and seizing the opportunity to take over Jones’ abandoned microphone at the end. The moral of which is: friends don’t let friends share microphones. Great song, though. Kudos, Foriegner. The B side is Lonely Children, which I initially likened to “Hot Blooded,” but in fact sounds a lot more like Kansas this morning (Steve Walsh and Lou Gramm were comparable singers).

Original 7-inch single version

A1. Double Vision (Mick Jones/Lou Gramm) (3:29)
B1. Lonely Children (Mick Jones) (3:35)

The Plastic

Released on 7-inch single in September 1978 in the US (Atlantic, 3514), Canada (Atlantic, AT 3514), the UK (Atlantic, K11199) and New Zealand (Atlantic, 45-3514) with picture sleeve. Reached #2 on the US charts (charted on September 23, 1978 for 20 weeks) (RIAA-certified gold record).