Released in July 1995 by Polygram, catalogue number BPCD 1. Produced by Steve Louw and Shelly Yakus. Mixed by Shelly Yakus and Rob Jacobs.
Tracks
- One Cut With A Knife [4.23] single 1995
- Step On [3.12]
- Bye Bye Johnny [4.27]
- The River Flowing [2.41]
- Strange Room [3.32] single 1995
- Run To Me [4.49]
- Kathleen [2.56] single 1996
- Hells Gates [4.12]
- San Diego Serenade [3.57]
- City Of Love [3.24]
- Blue Eyes [2.53]
All songs written by Steve Louw except ‘San Diego Serenade’ by Tom Waits.
Musicians
- Steve Louw: vocals, acoustic guitar
- Scott Crago: drums, percussion
- Mark Harris: bass
- Benmont Tench: Hammond organ, piano
- Tommy Girvin: electric & acoustic guitars, backing vocals
- Mona Lisa & Terry Young: backing vocals on ‘One Cut With A Knife’
- Kip Lennon & Mark Lennon: backing vocals on ‘Bye Bye Johnny’ & ‘Kathleen’
Award
FNB South African Music Awards 1996
Best Pop Music Performance, Best Rock Album
Big Sky for Horizon
Big Sky for Horizon
Big Sky for Horizon
Videos
Reviews
MARTELL BLUES ROCK FESTIVAL 1996
BIG SKY – with his second album “Horizon”, Steve Louw managed to clinch the “Best Rock Act” of 1996 award at the FNB Music Awards. The album is still cruising the airwaves with songs like “Kathleen” and “Strange Room”.
IN THE GROOVE
by Evan Milton
Hit the open road to this sound
BIG SKY: Horizon. A follow-up to 1990’s Waiting For The Dawn, Horizon is the lovechild of Clifton singer-songwriter Steve Louw, formerly of 80’s rockers All Night Radio. To achieve the quality necessary for his idea, Louw took his songs to Los Angeles, where producer Shelly Yakus helped polish the product. Yakus has worked with U2, Dire Straits and Tom Petty, which suits the Big Sky three-chord rock ‘n roll sound just fine. One Cut With A Knife deals with the loss of self-respect which abused women experience in relationships they struggle to escape from. Penned with sensitivity and sung with feeling, the song delves deeper into human relationships than your average pop hit, showing the terrible truth of someone in a position to say: “I hate myself for loving you.” This isn’t to say Horizon is heavy and maudlin: the album swings, grooves and gets you to shake that funky thang the way solid rock should. Big Sky’s songs capture the unique imagery of South African life and retell it in a rock ‘n roll, jeans, leather and cowboy boots, six-string on my back, motorbikes and strong whisky kind of way. Buy this before your next long trip – or maybe buy it just because you’re stuck in an office and can’t take one.
BIG SKY Horizon
by Michael Cross
Calling Steve Louw, who is Big Sky, “the local Bryan Adams” might annoy him, but it’s a tag I tend to agree with. The album is slick, epic, made-for-big-screen stuff, and sure doesn’t sound like it’s from here at all. In fact, it was recorded in the USA with the best backing musos he could afford, but it’s not all indulgent. Steve’s as passionate about what he does as the next guy. He tackles Tom Waits’ San Diego Serenade, which is a little ambitious, but by far the best is Strange Room – a “S’Effrican in New York” thing with a reference to Sting, singing about Russians and trees, and all he’s got is a one-way ticket and a case of anti-freeze. Truly terrific. Steve Louw was with Cape Town rockers All Night Radio before commuting overseas to make albums with serious session men. It beats the hell out of disappearing without a trace.
TOP 40 (July 1995) BIG SKY – HORIZON – TEAL
Once upon a time there was All Night Radio, led by the sometimes abrasive and generally in your rock ‘n roll face Steve Louw. They played raunchy and punchy rock songs at a time when everybody else was going ethnic, and they gave the impression that no stage or territory was big enough for them. It was a rather premature attitude, and after a couple of years of hard gigging and a reasonable amount of chart success, they went the way of so many other bands in this country. All was quiet on the All Night Radio front, and many thought that was it. Then, with little fanfare and fuss, Big Sky appeared; a mature version of the same thing, a great album which was all over your radio in 1990, an album that went on to sell thousands. Louw was back, less abrasive, more thought provoking, and producing a music that stood on it’s own, both here and abroad. Horizon is the second release by this band, and what a good one it is; the intervening period has been put to good use, and this selection of finely crafted and produced songs is evidence of that.
Produced in L.A. by Steve Louw and Shelly Yakus – he of U2 fame – Horizon stretches this band’s horizon’s considerably. It’s an unashamed rock album, paying lip service to a variety of influences; you’ll find yourself thinking oh, that’s familiar, but without being able to put your finger on it. The reason for this is clear; it’s a work that fits firmly into its genre whilst maintaining it’s own originality and individuality. With the exception of San Diego Serenade, a Tom Waits track, the songs are all written by Louw, and what an exceptional songwriter he has become. Look to find ‘One Cut With A Knife’ on the radio almost every time you switch it on; it’s just the right combination of hook and rock, a humming and bopping thing. There’s something for everybody here; Mr Louw has clearly mellowed somewhat, and there’s a bit of country, a bit of blues and some fine ballads. The cover and the name are apt; it is an album that is full of space and wide horizons, and the cover picture is emblematic of all that, a guitarist leaps into the sky, and hopefully takes you along with him. Buy it.
Lyrics
One Cut With A Knife
One cut with a knife
One hit and my life
Just shatters in pieces
Just scatters and he says
On your feet
Out in the night
Out of my life
I didn’t mean it, I’m bleeding
I didn’t mean it, I’m pleading
I hate myself for loving you
For all the things you’ve made me do
One cut, one knife
One hit, one life
Honey, come over here
Honey, you’ve got nothing to fear
Why did you make me so bad?
Why did you make me so mad?
I hate myself for loving you
For all the times that I’ve been used
‘Bout self-respect, I just don’t know
Just can’t find my way home
One cut, one knife
One hit, one life
One cut, one knife
One hit, one life
I hate myself for loving you
For all the times I’ve been used
One cut, one knife
One hit, my life
Step On
Why do we do what we do?
Step on the ones we love
Can’t you see it’s true?
Step on the ones we love
Darlin’ it’s just you
Love the one you love
I hear the sound of thunder
I hear the sound of rain
I’m calling out to you Lord
I’m calling out in vain
Can’t you just tell me
Why it’s always the same?
I see a flash of lightning
Lights up the sky
I look up in the darkness
I see the reason why
We do this to each other
Just to hear us cry
All this hurting, all this pain
All this crying out
Driving me insane
Why do we do what we do?
Step on the ones we love
Can’t you see it’s true?
Step on the ones we love
Darlin’ it’s just you
Love the ones you love
All this hurting, all this pain
All this crying out
Driving me insane
Why do we do what we do?
Step on the ones we love
Can’t you see it’s true?
Step on the ones we love
Darlin’ it’s just you
Love the one you love
Bye Bye Johnny
Last night I was dreaming
I was driving with you
Mile after mile we were listening to Lou
Take a walk on the wild side, got to make amends
Oh Lord, won’t you buy us a Mercedes-Benz?
We were driving mom’s car
Had to be home by 10
When I woke I was calling
Calling out again
I was saying
Bye-bye, Johnny, bye-bye
Bye-bye, Johnny, Johnny, bye-bye
Why, why, Johnny, why, why?
I look up in the night sky
Johnny, bye-bye
I was calling in the night
I was calling in vain
Calling out to you, John, just to ease my pain
I hope that you can hear
I hope that you can see
I hope you’re flying high tonight
Listening to me
Well, if you’re out there
In the night sky
Listening to me calling
Listen to me cry
I’m saying
Bye-bye, Johnny, bye-bye
Bye-bye, Johnny, Johnny, bye-bye
Why, why, Johnny, why, why?
I look up in the night sky
Johnny, bye-bye
The River Flowing
When I woke up this morning
Looked out at the sun
I heard the rooster crowing
Big brother is dead and gone
Still, the river is flowing
Down to the sea
And the sun is shining
Baby on you and me
Hear the people singing that freedom song
See that peace flag flying
Flying for everyone
So many hearts have spoken
So many dreams come true
Still, the river is flowing
And baby just look at you
Still, the river is flowing
Down to the sea
And the sun is shining
On a land that is free
Hear the people singing that freedom song
See that peace flag flying
Flying for everyone
When I lay down this evening
Looked up at the sky
So many stars are shining
For all the sons that have died
Still, the river is flowing
Down to the sea
And the sun is shining
On you and me
Strange Room
My cowboy boots and a coat of black leather
Walking down the street I’m feeling better
Seems like it’s been so long ago
That I felt like I had somewhere to go
Out here where I’ve never been
Seen some people I’ve never seen
Got a map in my hand and a book on Mars
Reading about people they say are the stars
There’s a new horizon, across a yellow moon
Clouds throwing shadows, across a strange room
Sting’s on the cover of Rolling Stone
In a country where the nomads roam
Singing songs about Russians and trees
I got a one-way ticket, and a case of antifreeze
My cowboy boots and a coat of brown leather
Walking down the street I’m feeling better
Seems like it’s been so long ago
That I felt like I had somewhere to go
Sting’s on the cover of Rolling Stone
In a country where the nomads roam
Singing songs about Russians and trees
I got a one-way ticket, and a case of antifreeze
Run To Me
The sky is crying
See the tears turn into a rainbow sun
I see you laughing, with your head thrown back
You’re saying you’re the one
Shake the tree, and butterflies float through your blue eyes
I hold your face, as the clouds float by we learn to fly
Oh baby, run to me
Oh baby, run to me
We see a purple sky
Reach up and touch us, we’re so high
Fields of flowers
Turning in the chains of your long hair
I kiss the clouds
As we’re climbing up these ragged stairs
Oh baby, run to me
Oh baby, run to me
We see a purple sky
Reach up and touch us, we’re so high
Touch the clouds under me
Floating higher, flying free
Rolling and tumbling
Through the diamonds burning in the sky
I reach up for you
And pull them down, one by one
Oh baby, run to me
Oh baby, run to me
Oh, my baby, run to me
Oh, my love, come to me
We see a purple sky
Reach out and touch us, we’re so high
Kiss the clouds, under me
Floating higher flying free
We see a purple sky reach up and touch us, we’re so high
Touch the clouds under me
Floating higher, flying free
Kathleen
Oh, Kathleen, you’re a real live wire
Oh, Kathleen, you’re my heart’s desire
Oh, Kathleen, feel my heart break
With every step that you take
You’re going to miss me
When I’m gone
Come here and kiss me
Let me feel those loving arms
Baby Kathleen, my baby Kathleen
Oh, Kathleen, I love you so
With all my heart with all my soul
You came to me from the stars
Feel your love beating in your heart
You’re going to miss me
When I’m gone
Come here and kiss me
Let me feel your loving arms
Baby Kathleen, my baby Kathleen
Chorus
Oh, Kathleen, you’re a real live wire
Oh, Kathleen, you’re my heart’s desire
Hells Gates
They say you held them all to ransom
I say they’re way too late
Came riding out tall and handsome
Straight out of Hell’s Gates
How did you know I was so lonely?
Feels so good to see you tonight
To feel your hands warm, you know it’s only
Your tears clouding my eyes
They say you came down like a comet
A fireball lights up the sky
Well, that’s Hell of a way to go now
Must have been a Hell of a ride
Your flame burned bright ‘til your luck ran out
A shot rang out through the night
Left you lying on that cold cantina floor
Now there’s a star burning bright
So goodbye, I must be going
Hope I see you sometime soon
I’ll be looking for you when that east wind’s blowing
Right around the yellow moon
City Of Love
If I could make time stand still
I’d hold it in my baby’s arms
Feeling her heart beating strong
Tracing her fingers on my palms
I love to dance with you
To your favourite song
With your hand in mine
I’ll carry you on
To the City of Love, the City of Love
That’s what I’m dreaming of
Our City of Love
When you take my heart
I’m in your hands
When you kiss me hard
I can understand
There’s a heaven
Right here and now
Never leave me, baby
I’m coming home, somehow
Chorus
Repeat
Blue Eyes
Blue eyes, shining bright
Come to me, in the night
Darling blue eyes, deep and wild
Sleep now, my little child
Blue eyes, I love you so
Fill my heart, soothe my soul
Blue eyes, filled with tears
Hold you close, still your fears
Blue eyes, I love you so
Little child heart of gold
Part of me part of you
Sleep now, my baby blue
Discography
The Heart’s The Best Part · The Killing Floor · Waiting For The Dawn · Horizon · Going Down With Mister Green · Best Of The Decade · Beyond The Blue · Trancas Canyon · Heart & Soul [DVD] · Headlight Dreams · Thunder And Rain