The band coming from Krefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany formed in 1976 under the name “Phoenix”, by guitarists Dieter Bützer (solo) and Heinz-Peter Winkelmann (rhythm), bassist Rainer Buschak, drummer Dietmar Winkelmann and Dirk van Offern on vocals.
The played hard rock with a bluesy touch and shortly became a big name especially in their home Krefeld, took part in many competitions. By the late 70s they stood with big act such as the Scorpions or CollosseumII on stage! In 1992 the band under the name “Gambler” released the studio project “Red on Blue” on Scare Records, delivers a sparkling blend of original compositions by blues soft rock and ballads ranging up to uncompromising heavy rock songs.
“Always On My Mind”is the highlight song of the album for sure. Good solos and chorus with nice tunes… “Dreams in the Night”, “Never Let Me Go”, “We Rock” and “Stay With Me” are really good tracks too. The rest is average and there are some fillers. Traditional blues is by Gambler with a particular maintained love and is one of the highlights at the live shows. In 2008 the band released a second album titled “Rock on Blues”.
1. Intro-Starting Over
2. Stay With Me
3. Lonely Nights
4. Always on My Mind
5. Dreams in the Night
6. Talk of the Town
7. Pain and Rain
8. Hold on
9. Out in the Dark
10. Your Love
11. We Rock (Forever)
12. Never Let Me Go
13. My Life is a Boogie
Dirk Van Offern vocals
Michael Böing guitars
Guido Ludwig bass
Holger Schreiber keyboards
Nicky Vorwerk drums
Gambler – Red On Blue (1992)
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