After
the
success
of
Fast
Train,
the
next
album
took
on
more
of
a
"mainstream
radio"
sound.
On
Record
was
the
album
that
established
April
Wine
as
a
major
international
artist,
on
the
strength
of
singles
such
as
You
Could
Have
Been
A
Lady,
which
became
a
Number
One
hit
in
Canada
and
cracked
Billboard's
Top
30.
"Our
first
taste
of
commercial
success
with
the
single
Fast
Train
changed
our
thinking.",
explains
David
Henman.
For
me,
for
example,
I
thought
"'okay,
I
can
do
that",
only
to
discover
that
it
is
MUCH
easier
to
write
music
that
is
highly
"personal"
than
it
is
to
write
a
song
that
the
average
person
can
identify
with.
Since
then
I've
developed
much
more
respect
for
"commercial"
music,
even
the
most
insipid
stuff.
I
may
not
like
much
of
it,
but
I
respect
it."
Could
Have
Been
A
Lady
becomes
a
hit
and
still
sounds
great,
usually
showing
up
during
the
encore
of
recent
shows.
It
was
a
cover
of
a
moderate
hit
for
the
group
Hot
Chocolate.
Picked
up
in
the
U.S.
on
a
label
called
Big
Tree,
it
reaches
the
Top
30
on
the
American
charts.
The
producer,
Ralph
Murphy,
sings
the
"na
na
na
na".
The
curious
"noise"
between
tracks
was
added
by
the
producer
after
the
fact.
According
to
Henman
the
band
was
"shocked"
when
they
first
heard
it.
"I
don't
think
any
of
us
liked
it.
What
the
intention
was,
what
it
was
supposed
to
convey,
I'm
still
not
sure."
he
added.
The
riff
for
Drop
Your
Guns
was
inspired
by
Shine
On
by
Humble
Pie.
This
record
also
featured
the
replacement
of
bassist
Jim
Henman
by
Montrealer
Jim
Clench.
Harrison
Tabb,
whom
the
album
was
dedicated
to,
was
a
black
R
&
B
singer
from
Montreal
who
died
in
a
tragic
car
accident
and
was
a
close
friend
of
David
Henman.
|
On
Record
-
1972
