The first album on the Varrick label was the re-release of “Ten Years Live.” This was followed by the re-release of the classic first album “Rock-N-Roll.” These came out in 1983. It was also around this time that Gregg Wetzel joined the band on keyboards. This provided a new element in The Nighthawks sound both on record and in concert over the next few years.

As they worked on their next album for Varrick, the band wanted to do a simple, straightforward blues/rock recording that represented what they were all about. Unfortunately, the producer and record company wanted a more pop, radio friendly sound. The differing perspectives made this one of the more challenging studio sessions for the band. The resulting album, “Hot Spot,” was released in 1983 and was more a reflection of what the record company wanted than what the band did. In an ironic twist, it was at about this same time that Stevie Ray Vaughn’s first album, Texas Flood, won critical praise and created renewed interest in the blues.

Mark Wenner Pursues Additional Music Outlets

Also in 1983, Mark decided he needed another musical outlet—so he teamed up with the band Switchblade, a group of talented local musicians. The nucleus of this group consisted of members of Tex Rabinowitz backing band The Bad Boys. While mainly a summertime activity, they found the time to record an album in January 1984 at Wally Cleaver’s studio in Fredericksburg, VA. Released later in 1984, the album “Fugitive” sold well. Jimmy also started to pursue work independently, putting together groups that would eventually form the basis of his own group, the Assassins. These partnerships also led to a solo release—“No Previous Record.”

An Overseas Recording Opportunity

The band had another unique studio recording opportunity in 1983 on their first trip to Japan. This time it was with Toru Oki, the well-known Japanese blues singer. The resulting album, “Bad Boy Live,” was released on CBS/Sony in Japan and is very hard to find.

Hard Living Produces an Album

The Nighthawks owed another album to Varrick, so the band tried to avoid the mistakes of the previous release and give Varrick everything they wanted with the album “Hard Living.” The band spent 15 months on pre-production, studio work and packaging for the album. They recorded at Bias Studios under the production guidance of talented local musician Steuart Smith. The band also tried to deliver the type of pop cover image that Varrick had previously expressed a preference for. The band took an August break and was prepared to tour to support the album. Then Varrick came back and said they wanted a harder edged image for the band—the opposite of what they had wanted for the previous album—and wanted to reshoot the cover. Because there wasn’t time before the band went on the road, the two week missed opportunity to reshoot the cover ultimately delayed the release of the album from October to the following March.

The band went ahead with their extensive tour from September 1985-March 1986, all of which was supposed to be in support of the release of the album. But with Varrick retooling things, the band was showcasing material from an album that wasn’t yet available to fans. It was a very strong album of original material with excellent production work—it should have been a hit. But the late release and confusing marketing approach seemed to undermine its potential for success.

Jimmy Thackery Decides to Leave - But First...

The band had been touring at a very demanding pace—300 shows per year for the last ten years—and making a lot of great music live. But life on the road had taken a toll, and problems with record companies had kept their great recorded music from reaching its potential audience. One of the results of all this was that shortly after the early 1986 tour and album release, Jimmy Thackery decided to leave the band to pursue a solo career.

But before Jimmy left, the band hit the road for a “Farewell for Now” tour through the Northeast, including a show at Carnegie Hall in New York and a trek to Canada. For these shows they shared the bill with the likes of John Lee Hooker, Charlie Musselwhite, Elvin Bishop and Robert Cray. This U.S. tour concluded with a July 5 show at D.C.’s Carter Barron Amphitheatre that paid tribute to The Nighthawks role as stage partner and supporting cast for some of the blues world’s best. This concert featured guests Bob Margolin, Pinetop Perkins and Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson from the Muddy Waters band, along with John Hammond and Toru Oki. It would be the basis for the live album “Backtrack.” The album is a great showcase of how The Nighthawks could bring a consistent sound and lively performance with a variety of frontmen.

"Live in Europe"

The band then continued on to Europe for a two week tour before taking some time off. A concert in Bremen was recorded and subsequently released by the Crosscut label as “Live in Europe.” In contrast to the album “Backtrack,” this one is a showcase of the core four man group that had done more than 3,000 shows in 15 years with almost no change in personnel. They had become a finely tuned, tight unit that played great blues rock—and this summed it up. It was the end of an era as Jimmy Thackery moved on. But it was also a new beginning as the band would take a break and chart a new course.