Foreigner founder Mick Jones says the secret to success in the music business is to keep a song simple and sincere. As the veteran rock guitarist prepares for a concert at Gibbston Valley next weekend, he discusses hooks and honesty with Shane Gilchrist.
Mick Jones may have had his fair share of chart success over the years but, almost 40 years since he formed Foreigner, the British-born guitar slinger, songwriter and producer still gets a kick out of the music business, even when it's someone else making the headlines.
Jones is on the line from his home in New York.
''It's bloody freezing,'' he says, adding (somewhat unnecessarily) ''it's below zero'', before going on to enthuse about the fact stepson Mark Ronson has reached No1 on the Billboard charts with his single Uptown Funk! (featuring Bruno Mars).
The 70-year-old knows all about good hooks.
The architect of Foreigner's long catalogue of hits, including Juke Box Hero, Feels Like The First Time, Urgent, Head Games, Say You Will, Cold as Ice, Hot Blooded, and I Want To Know What Love Is, Jones has produced more than 10 multi-platinum albums, been nominated for Grammys and Golden Globes, won the prestigious Ivor Novello songwriter award in Britain in 1998 and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.
The latest incarnation of Foreigner, which Jones re-formed in 2004 following the departure in 2003 of original singer Lou Gramm, and based around the core of Jones, lead vocalist Kelly Hansen, bass guitarist Jeff Pilson and multi-instrumentalist Tom Gimbel, will join Heart and Three Dog Night in a concert at Gibbston Valley Winery next Saturday, January 31.
''The band had flagged quite a bit during the '90s, for all sorts of reasons. Lou and I weren't getting on,'' Jones says, referring to Gramm, co-writer (with Jones) of many of Foreigner's best-known songs.
''It finally came to a head in 2002 when Lou decided to go solo again and I had to decide whether to go out by myself or pursue bringing the band back to some of its former glory.
''It took some acceptance at the beginning. We were fairly low-key. We spent a fair bit of time rebuilding the band's popularity and that work is paying off.
''It was a challenge but I had a lot of people supporting me. I wasn't happy with the way we'd gone out. I thought we had more to say. So we started the journey of getting back and it took a good six years to do that.
''However, the songs seem somewhat eternal in some ways.''
Jones, who grew up in Somerset, began playing guitar in his early teens. He formed his first band at the age of 15, his influences ranging from the raw American R&B of Chuck Berry to Beatles guitarist George Harrison, the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, as well as his parents' collection of Les Paul and Mary Ford albums.
Having started his own blues-rock band and opening for the Rolling Stones in pubs across South London, Jones' first major break came in 1964 when he moved to Paris and was hired to play with French singer Sylvie Vartan, then invited to work as musical director for French rock icon Johnny Hallyday.
Jones returned to England in the early '70s and played in progressive band Spooky Tooth, but left for New York in 1976, when he formed Foreigner with fellow Brits Ian McDonald and Dennis Elliott, and Americans Gramm, Alan Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi.
He says his initial musical vision for Foreigner was to combine blues and R&B and make it sound ''soulful and authentic''.
''I had grown up in England and had the English influence, but I was also inspired by many elements of American music, from Mississippi blues to country and western.
''My taste was quite varied. I think a lot of influences gather unconsciously. I just wanted it to be soulful and believable, and sincere.
''I think a song and the way it is sung ... well, if you don't quite get it, that can be the difference between worldwide success and failure.''
Jones' instincts and attention to craft have served him well: Foreigner boasts album sales of more than 75 million, including 10 multi-platinum albums and 16 US top 30 hits.
Jones has also turned his hand to the music of others. His production credits include Billy Joel's 1989 album Storm Front, which featured No1 single We Didn't Start the Fire, and Van Halen's 1986 album 5150, which topped Billboard's charts.
He has also written songs with, among others, Ozzy Osbourne and Eric Clapton, with whom he penned Bad Love, for which Clapton received a Best Male Vocal Grammy in 1990.
It's all part of the learning curve, Jones says.
''I used what I'd learned, including from all the people I have had the fortune to play with,'' Jones reflects.
''With Van Halen, that came out of nowhere. I wasn't doing anything for six months, so I thought, `this could be fun'. I didn't really quite know how much fun it would be. It was pretty hectic, pretty crazy.
''And I respected Billy Joel as a songwriter. We were able to work as equals.
''You just have to keep your eyes and ears open and be ready to adapt without selling yourself short.
''I've tried to keep that sincerity with what we do. And that extends to what we do on stage.
''The last 10 or so years have been a great experience for me. Working in a band that puts out 100% every night ... it's a dream.
''I had some medical problems a couple of years ago,'' he says in reference to a heart attack and subsequent surgery in 2012.
''I am much stronger now. But I look after myself. I don't drink Champagne; it's soft-drink city now.''
