The Eternal Flame of Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill
The pop-rock power couple talk about their new album Long After the Fire
As the guitarist/vocalist for pop rockers The Bangles, Vicki Peterson shot to worldwide fame in the 1980s with hits such as “Walk Like an Egyptian” and “Eternal Flame.”
Her husband, John Cowsill, was a member of the family group The Cowsills, who had significant success in the 1960s and 1970s (especially with their 1969 version of the song “Hair”), and he also sang for the Beach Boys for more than 20 years. They married in 2003, then formed the band Action Skulls together.
But on April 18, Peterson and Cowsill kicked off a new phase in their partnership when they released Long After the Fire (via Label 51 Recordings). For this album, they’re covering songs by Cowsill’s late brothers, Barry and Bill, who had also been members of The Cowsills, among their other work.
Due to the personal nature of this project, Peterson and Cowsill decided to work on as a duo, releasing this album as “Vicki Peterson & John Cowsill” rather than using a band name. They recorded the songs in their home studio, only seeking assistance from producer/engineer Paul Allen.
“It’s been in my brain forever to honor these two brothers of mine, Bill and Barry,” says Cowsill, calling from the couple’s home in Malibu, California. “So the album is kind of a love letter to them, and a nod to their great songwriting.”
“John originally had a concept, because we knew we were going to put this out on vinyl, that we should put a ‘Bill side’ and a ‘Barry side,’ because in a way the songs are mostly really different,” says Peterson during the same phone call. “A lot of Bill’s songs come from his era of working with the Blue Shadows and other bands, and they have that very American traditional country sound and feel. And Barry’s songs veer from extremely emotionally intimate songs to complete goofy party rock songs.”
So far, they’ve released four singles off the album: “A Thousand Times,” “Come to Me,” “Is Anybody Here” and “Fool Is the Last One to Know.” They are stylistically varied, but share the same emotive and heartfelt delivery.
According to Peterson, the title Long After the Fire represents “the lingering existence of something,” and she says she immediately knew it was the right name to use as soon as Cowsill came up with it.
“We were just throwing names around,” Cowsill says, “and then I came up with ‘long after the fire,’ which is half of a line in [the song] “Embers.” It goes, ‘And the embers keep burning long after the fire.’ And it just was so appropriate, because [Bill and Barry] have passed away, yet they’re still here.”
He admits that sometimes it was a highly emotional thing to record these songs. “Sometimes I’d have to stop singing, so it’s not easy.” But, he adds, “It’s so much love. It’s not a negative; it’s a positive. And so you just do it, and it’s wonderful and beautiful and I hope that comes across when people hear this.”
Peterson says that singing these songs – as with all the work she and Cowsill have done together — seemed like a natural fit. “John and I came from similar universities of vocalizing, learning at the feet of people like the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, and the Bee Gees. That’s been our focus our whole lives. One of my favorite sounds on the planet, I always say, is harmony singing.”
VIDEO: Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill “A Thousand Times”
Cowsill also believes that their personal relationship also plays a substantial part in the way they’re able to seamlessly work together: “We’ve known each other since 1978. We have several relationships in our arsenal. We’re lovers, we’re friends, we’re brother and sister, and they all surface at different times of the day. We both have been in so many volatile relationships that we just like being treated nice and nobody’s swearing at you and yelling at you. It’s just a wonderful, relaxing place. This is the first relationship I’ve ever been in where I can’t wait to go through the front door of my home.”
Still, they both credit Paul Allen’s production and engineering for helping them bring this project across the finish line. “I said, ‘I really want a producer. I don’t want to do this ourselves anymore,’” says Cowsill. “You need a third person. We needed a voice of reason. And Paul Allen is that guy. Otherwise we could stay in there for days, for sure, working on one line.”
Peterson agrees that Allen helped them avoid overworking the material. “There is that temptation to tinker with things, and you can go past the point of diminishing returns — as you move forward, you’re actually moving backward,” she says. “There is a time to just step away from the painting, put down the brush, and say, ‘It is finished.’ And that is a tough place to identify, so it helps to have input from [other] people.”
The pair plan to tour North American from April through the summer to support the album release. “Our retirement plan is just to go do some gigs and have fun,” Cowsill says. (The full list of dates is available on their website.)
And after that, they will continue writing and recording, though they have no firm plans about what form that work might take. “We will definitely be doing something, together and separately,” Cowsill says. “We’re definitely not going to stop — just move forward.”
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