ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601120009
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: KIRA L. BILLIK ASSOCIATED PRESS
They'll be loading more than guitars and amps onto singer Bob Seger's tour bus this time around. Diapers, formula and toys will also find their way on board.
That's because Seger's taking his second wife, Nita, and his two children, Cody, 3, and Samantha, 7 months, on the road with him this month. That's how important family has become to him - in fact, his re-evaluated priorities led directly to his 18th album, ``It's a Mystery.''
One song, ``Lock and Load,'' deals with settling down and getting serious.
``When you've got kids, you can't blame anybody else anymore,'' Seger said in an interview in a New York hotel. ``Suddenly, there they are right in front of you and you're responsible for them. You take on a whole new mantle of self-awareness.
``Now, I think my focus is much clearer,'' he said.
Even the album's production, which he did by himself for the first time, goes back to having domestic responsibilities. It's a less polished effort, despite its emphasis on keyboards; it's edgy and gritty.
``I think when you have kids, you spend a lot of time with them, which is just great,'' he said. ``And then when you go to work with less time to go to work, you really start saying, `What do you really, really want to do here?' You become very focused - you start to know exactly what you want to achieve.''
Seger's songwriting process, too, has become streamlined. He has a separate house where he goes to write.
``[I] do it about 4 to 6 hours or until I feel like I'm hitting a wall,'' he said. ``Then I go home and deal with the family and the kids and usually the next day I come back, the wall is gone because I've completely blocked it out.
``That's the great part about having a family. I thought it would be, oh, what an intrusion, but it's a focuser. Suddenly, the things that don't mean that much become so clear, and if the song isn't quite good enough and you're beating yourself up over it, you say, `Next.' ''
Seger, 50, wore a black jacket, T-shirt and jeans and matching cowboy boots. His neatly trimmed beard is slightly sprinkled with gray. His speaking voice is as cigarette-roughened as his trademark throaty growl. He's a man of great good humor and joie de vivre - his eyes crinkle when he smiles or laughs.
On ``It's a Mystery,'' Seger also criticizes the world at large: the jaded ennui of life in the 1990s (the title track); the systematic destruction of heroes (``Revisionism Street''); and today's culture of blame (``Hands in the Air'').
``You can take an angle on anything - let's talk about the dark side of Alfred Hitchcock, let's talk about the dark side of Elvis Presley,'' he said. ``Is this worthy of cutting down a tree in a forest and making a million copies?
``If we're going to deal in nonsense and advertise it as sensational and interesting, either you're stupid and you fall for it or you just say, `That is nonsense and it's not worth my time.' ''
Seger's first album was 1968's ``Ramblin' Gamblin' Man.'' Eight years later, with the classic ``Beautiful Loser,'' he had his first top 10 hit, the evocative ``Night Moves.'' Top 10 albums and singles then came in droves: ``Hollywood Nights,'' ``We've Got Tonight,'' ``Against the Wind,'' and his best-known song, ``Old Time Rock & Roll'' from 1979, which enjoyed a second wind in 1983 on the soundtrack of the film ``Risky Business.''
In 1994, he released his ``Greatest Hits,'' which is still on the charts after reaching No. 8 on Billboard's album charts.
He explained why he allowed Chevrolet to use his 1986 song, ``Like a Rock'' in its current truck advertising campaign. He balked for six months before agreeing to do it; he had refused other commercial offers throughout his career.
``They [Chevrolet] had lost like $1.9 billion the quarter preceding when we decided to do it,'' he said. ``The true story of it is I was sitting in a restaurant with my wife and this guy came up and leaned over the table and said, `How come you never do anything for the auto companies?' Literally said that.
``I called my manager and I said, `Come on, you sent him.' ... He said, `Swear to God, nobody sent him.' I said, `Well, then, what the heck am I worried about?' ''
Seger's still amazed at his longevity. He recalls the advice of singer Freddy Cannon (``Palisades Park''), with whom he toured early on.
``He said, `Do your best, 'cause it's only going to last two or three years,'' he said. ``Until I was 30, we didn't make a dime ... just enough to buy amps and guitars and keep going and keep playing.
``When we hit and I was 31, it was like, we'd better do good and stay good. I wrote `Rock 'n' Roll Never Forgets' when I was 31 thinking I was old then. And here I am at 50 and we still get a lot of radio play and we're going out on tour. ... I'd have never `thunk' it back then,'' he said with a robust laugh.
``I'm a very lucky guy. I've got a great wife and two great kids and I can't complain. If it all ends today, I can't complain. I've done well.''
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Seger colorby CNB