VELVET THUNDER

Wild Eyed Southern Boys and Special Forces reissued and remastered by Snakefarm Records

First released in 1981, 38 Special’s Wild Eyed Southern Boys marked the turning point in the US band’s career, giving them the opportunity to transcend the Southern Rock pigeonhole they felt they’d been squeezed into with their first 3 outings.

Collaborating with Survivor’s Jim Peterik and with celebrated producer Rodney Mills at the helm, the album gave birth to the US hit track Hold On Loosely, which found a home on both the rock and pop singles charts and rocketed the album into the US Top 20, the first of their records to do so.

On the 40th anniversary of it’s release, Wild Eyed Southern Boys, which has gone RIAA certified Platinum, will be available on 140g hot pink vinyl, featuring sleeve-notes and original artwork. This is the first time this iconic album has been repressed on vinyl since it was originally issued, with the audio re-mastered specifically for this format.

After the release of Wild Eyed Southern Boys, this substantial success continued the following year with follow-up album, Special Forces.

With both Jim Peterik (Survivor) and Rodney Mills reprising their roles as collaborative songwriter and producer respectively, the band were truly inventing a signature sound and not simply following in the footsteps of their predecessors (such as singer Donnie Van Zant’s older brother Ronnie’s band, Lynyrd Skynyrd).

The album bore significant hits in the form of lead single Caught Up In You, which became the first .38 Special track to reach the US Top 10, leaving You Keep Runnin’ Away to push the album to #10 on the US Billboard chart.

Special Forces, which has gone RIAA certified Platinum since its original release, will be available on 140g orange vinyl, featuring sleeve-notes and original artwork. This is the first time this iconic album has been repressed on vinyl since it was originally issued, with the audio re-mastered specifically for this format.