The single, "Take My Breath Away" from Icon's current LP, Right Between The Eyes, may be the first you've ever heard of the Arizona-based band, but they're no newcomers to the hard rock scene. Icon released two previous LP's, a self-titled debut in 1984 and Night Of The Crime in '85 before being dealt a severe blow: Vocalist Stephen Clifford quit the band on the eve of a big tour and important video shoot. Enter present vocalist Jerry Harrison, a Bloomington, Ca. native highly recommended by then-bandless drummer Tommy Aldridge, with whom he'd been writing. At the time Jerry was playing guitar in a band called Marquis that featured Marq Torien on vocals. "I left to join Icon because I got the opportunity to sing," explained the frustrated frontman. "I found out later that Icon's (Capitol) record deal was pretty much gone and the tour was off but I loved the way the guys played." The guys, consisting of guitarist Dan Wexler, bassist Tracy Wallach and drummer Pat Dixon (a second guitarist quit after Clifford left) proceeded to spend the next few years writing songs and looking for a new deal. Says Jerry, We wrote continuosly and then there was a period where we considered changing direction and we made an independent tape distributed in Arizona only, called A More Perfect Union; it's really good pop rock, softer Icon." They soon got back on the heavy metal track and their 4-song demo caught the attention of Megaforce Records, who signed them at the end of 1988.
Right Between The Eyes was produced by Danny, but, according to Jerry, "everybody in the band had a hand in it." They briefly considered an outside producer but "Danny's got enough studio experience and we had the songs so well don in pre-production ... the last thing we wanted was to bring in somebody to mess with the whole vibe," says the singer.
Icon had the honor of a guest appearance on the LP by another Arizonian, Alice Cooper. "He lives in our town and he plays golf every weekend with our manager," explains Jerry. "It wasn't a preconceived thing, he came down to the studio and sang some lines on "Two For The Road" and he did the narration on "Holy Man's War." Says Jerry of the Coop, "he's so quiet and calm. Nothing like his onstage persona."
The band is presently working on a video follow-up to "Take My Breath Away" (for the ballad "Forever Young" to be shot in Arizona, LA or New York). The first clip, filmed in the Arizona desert, may look good, but was a tad tough to make. "It was pretty strenuous. They wanted me to do it barefoot and we filmed 17 hours in a row, no breaks. By the end, I had cacti stuck in my legs, pieces of steel in my feet and I broke my big right toe because we were on rocks." Not to mention the heat. "wearing leather in the desert, nothing like it. . . you sweat, it gets wet, then it dries and shrinks."
Icon spent the end of '89 on an exhaustive club tour before heading to Europe for a dozen dates with White Lion in January. Jerry, who hopes to stay on the road as long as possible, is happy with his band and their album, but like most artists is not completely content. "I'd love to sell a couple million, I'd love to be able to play for 50,000 people all the time and I want to host the Grammys," he states. He'd also like to write movie soundtracks. On the other hand, Jerry feels blessed by success. "I'm playing with guys I want to play with, I think I made an album that's as good as it can be. I'm secure and content with that.