John Fallon was formerly one of the chief songwriters and guitarists in one of the truly unsung 1980's early 90's groups The Steppes (along with his brother David Fallon.) The Steppes were one of those groups that just simply existed at the wrong time. While The Steppes were making great albums such as "Stewdio", "Drop Of The Creature", "Harps And Hammers" and others, the music scene was littered with bad hair metal, bad dance music, and well just plain bad music in every corner. The Steppes and a few like-minded other existed in a world of their own. Their sound seemed to recall groups such as The Byrds, The Creation, The Jam and even "Horizontal" era Bee Gees. The key to the group was the songwriting team of John & David Fallon. Similar to acts such as the Bee Gees, Everlys, Undertones and even Oasis, the Fallon brothers jelled as songwriters in a seamless fashion, that could only have come from being brothers. At times it's tough to tell the brothers apart, but both were equally gifted songwriters. The Steppes more or less came to an end in the mid 90's, just as guitar-led groups like Oasis were starting to take over the music scene. Since The Steppes split, little has been heard from the Fallon brothers until now. Just recently older brother John Fallon has broken the silence with this limited edition 7" 45 on the Connecticut label called St. Albans Records. John is now based in Las Vegas, and this new single is a return to the past glories of The Steppes. The A side "Picture Yourself Today" is a haunting guitar ballad with a psychedelic influence, it's up there with his best songs. The flipside "Theme For Steve McQueen" is no slouch either, this one is a bit of a slow burner, but after a few plays it really reveals it's worth. All in all a great return for Mr. Fallon, let's hope there is more where this came from. (It's available from Belmont Record Shop through www.discogs.com)

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