Years later, still Corey Hart fan

At his book signing in Salt Lake City, Daniel Handler (otherwise known as author Lemony Snicket) noticed my iPod Shuffle and asked, "Hey, what's on the iPod."

"Pantera, Metallica, Lamb of God, Slayer and Corey Hart," I said.

"Corey Hart?" he asked astonished.

"Yeah. Him and Neil Diamond, The Grateful Dead and The Doors," I said. "I also have Pat Benatar, The Eagles, Van Halen, Ben Harper and Jimi Hendrix."

"Corey Hart?" he said again.

Hey, what can I say? I like Corey Hart. I think my favorite album of his was "Boy in a Box." I bought it as a cassette back in 1985. Up until then I was a metalhead. Any New Wave of British Heavy Metal band was on my home stereo or car stereo at the time. But there was something about the New Wavey Corey Hart that turned my ear.

Maybe it was his lyrics. I will always have a special place for his song, "Never Surrender," because a good friend dedicated it to me one night on the radio when I was going through some trying times. And the words were inspiring to my 17-year-old mind.

But it wasn't only that song that made me a Corey Hart fan. I liked the album's title track and a little rocker called "Komrade Kiev," which featured a heavy-metal guitar lick that rivaled even the late great Randy Rhodes.

In fact, when I told the members of the metal band I was in at the time that the song was by Corey Hart, they all looked at me with their mouths open until I showed them the cassette.

In addition to the music, there was something about Hart's voice that seemed to soothe my hyper mind. Songs such as "Eurasian Eyes," "Everything in My Heart" and the surreal "Water from the Moon" were usually playing when my insomnia shut down, allowing me to sleep.

During the last two decades, I have lost the cassette and compensated by buying a Corey Hart "Greatest Hits" CD to put on my iPod. Unfortunately, the CD does not include "Komrade Kiev," "Eurasian Eyes" or "Water from the Moon."

I have since found that "Boy in the Box" is out of print and available only online as an import. But the album is back ordered.

So, each time I visit a CD store, I search through the new and used sections to no avail.

These days, I hear Hart is a big time concert producer who has worked with Celine Dion.

Memo to Corey Hart: Please remaster and rerelease "Boy in a Box" domestically. I'd like to hear those songs again.

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E-mail: scott@desnews.com