Love's So Tough
| Love's So Tough | ||||
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| Studio album by Iron City Houserockers | ||||
| Released | April 14, 1979 | |||
| Recorded | 1978 | |||
| Studio | Agency Recording, Cleveland, Ohio | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 37:30 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Producer | The Slimmer Twins (Steve Popovich and Marty Mooney) | |||
| Iron City Houserockers chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Love's So Tough | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
| Robert Christgau | B |
| Rolling Stone | Favorable |
Love's So Tough is a studio album by the Iron City Houserockers. Released in 1979, the Iron City Houserocker's first album attempts to capture the presence of what was essentially a Pittsburgh bar band playing to a blue collar crowd every night. While Joe Grushecky's songwriting skills are clearly still developing, his potential is visible in cuts such as "Dance with Me" and "Heros Are Hard to Find". The general sound of the album is reminiscent of a slightly "harder" Bruce Springsteen, and the heavy use of harmonica would be a distinguishing factor of the Houserockers for several albums to come. The Chuck Berry song "School Days (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)" was recorded for the album but was cut from the final release. The track was then released on Pumping Iron & Sweating Steel: The Best of the Iron City Houserockers. The album was reissued in CD format in 1999.
In the spring of 1977 Joe Grushecky's brother Jon sent him a full page ad from Billboard magazine about the release of a Ronnie Spector record on Cleveland International Records. The band was known at that time as the Brick Alley Band, and they sent a demo tape to Steve Popovich at Cleveland International Records. After a personal phone call from Steve Popovich, Joe Grushecky and his band drove out to Cleveland and under the guidance of Steve Popovich and Marty Mooney, made a series of recordings that landed a deal with MCA Records.
"Turn It Up" was recorded at Asterick Recording, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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