Internal problems with Aerosmith led to the creation of the band “Renegade” in 1981. Joey said the reason he put the band together is that Aerosmith was ready to self-destruct. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford had already left the band, and Steven Tyler was side-lined for the year on account of a motorcycle accident. Joey Kramer asked Marge Raymond (lead vocals) to become the lead vocalist of Renegade along with Jimmy Crespo (Flame, Aerosmith-lead guitar), Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith-bass) and Bob Mayo (Peter Frampton-keyboards/guitar).
Renegade started recording at the Power Station with producer Tony Bongiovi. Tracks were recorded with CBS behind the project. Renegade recorded a seven-track album in “SIR Studios” in New York City. All the songs were written by Jimmy Crespo. At one point “Renegade” had a record deal after they did a couple of live performances exclusive for label executives at the SIR studio (yet never performed publicly). Different sources quote different amounts of tracks being recorded, but the following 5 tracks exist are confirmed to exist:
- One More Night
- Do It Again
- All Night Long
- Badlands
- Cinderella Dreamer
But after realising that Renegade was buzzing the industry and about to take off, Steven Tyler came back to fulfil his contractual obligation with Aerosmith (he contractually owed CBS 2 albums) and reclaimed his band. Tom and Joey had to finish the Aerosmith album “Rock In A Hard Place” first, so the whole project got put on the back burner. Renegade was shelved, Marge Raymond went solo with members from her former band “Kicks” and the addition of Steve Augeri.
In a 2012 interview with Eddie Trunk, Joey Kramer claimed to have the master tapes for the Renegade tracks, by 2020, during an online MasterClass, he changed his version stating that he did not have the tapes and that doubted the recordings were in good condition after so many years; however, by 2021 he came back to his original version and said that he still had the tapes and that he would often listen to them.
Marge Raymond kept a cassette tape copy of the tapes and at some point got it transferred to CD and shared it with Joey and Jimmy. Nothing came from this effort and the tracks have remained unreleased despite ongoing fan interest. Marge eventually got a couple of the demos played during online podcasts during the 2010s.
Renegade has been mentioned in biographical books like “The Fall and Rise of Rock’s Greatest Band Aerosmith”, “The Biography of Aerosmith”, Joey Kramer’s “Hit Hard”, along with numerous websites on the internet.
Hello dear fans! Marge Raymond here, the lead vocalist of Renegade. Im assuming this track was lifted from a podcast. I leaked them. I figured its time for the fans to hear what never got released. This would have been a monster album. I wanted everybody to know we’re not a myth and we were a real live band. A super-group in today’s terms.
Marge Raymond, 2019 YouTube comments compilation
I have 6 songs from Renegade, including “One more Night” and “Do It Again”. “Do it Again” sounds like an Aerosmith tune, Only thing is, I’m a female with a huge voice.
“One More Night” is one of my favourite power ballads. I released a couple of these tunes on a podcast a couple years ago. It originally was recorded for Flame’s 3rd album. When we recorded One More Night with Renegade I did all the background vocals. It was an overdub. I have recorded that tune with 4 different bands. Its phenomenal ballad. Unfortunately, we don’t have a music industry anymore.
The rest of the tunes are right here in my house. The other tunes that Renegade recorded are: All Night Long, Badlands, and Cinderella Dreamer, which would have been a big hit for radio back in the 80’s. I sing that tune with my lighter voice, not my big belting voice.
This is a 2 track demo recorded completely live. We wanted to do what the Beatles did (4 tracks bounced down to 2). This is a total live performance!
Jimmy Crespo and I were in a band called Flame. We recorded two albums and the beginning of a third album on RCA. Jimmy Iovine was the producer. We disbanded Flame and shopped ourselves to Leber/Krebs management. They were the largest and biggest management company. They had everybody signed to them. Including Aerosmith, AC/DC, Ted Nugent, the scorpions, Michael Bolton, Mahogany Rush, balance, Def Leppard, a lot of bands. The management loved Jimmy and I and we were going to form a band around us being the front line. The rest is history. Aerosmith was auditioning guitarists when Joe Perry left. Jimmy got the gig. I then joined a band called Kicks and became the opening act for Aerosmith.
Steven and the rest of the band saw me one night when I opened their show. Usually they would come in after I opened. I saw them in the wings watching me. They were awestruck. I’m not kidding. Steven wanted me to come back out and sing backing vocals on Lick and a Promise, Come together and Train kept a rolling. I also play tambourine. The band I was with was Kicks. Raceway was the tune I opened with for Aerosmith. Let me tell you, its not easy to open for Aerosmith, especially when we never got billing. “Who the hell is this band”? we want Aerosmith!. Well, once we started with Raceway, I commanded the stage and the audience was screaming for more. That’s why Joey asked me to be the lead vocalist when he created Renegade. He knew what I could do.
What you are listening to or live demos that we recorded. It was never released because contractually Aerosmith still the owed their label 2 albums. Steven, was up in Sunapee New Hampshire, kind of recovering from an accident, heard that Renegade was about to be signed to Columbia (Sony). We showcased the band and were about to be signed. We even started tracking for the album at the Power Station in NYC. Then Steven took his band back and the rest is history.
Renegade, one of the greatest super-groups EVER that never had a chance to perform live. Well, we did at SIR and to major recording labels, but never to the general public.
Years later, in 2012, when Joey was on Eddie Trunk’s show, Eddie asked Joey about Jimmy. Joey said they were going to Vegas to do a show. I called up Jimmy and gave him Joey’s number so that they could meet.
Renegade’s master tapes are gone, lost, who knows what happened to them. Joey Kramer has nothing of them either. I only have cassettes. Fortunately, I have musician friends who own great studios. One of them was kind enough to let me transfer the muddy cassettes to mp3, you need an engineer for that. He did me a favour by letting me use his studio and engineer for free. We need an investor. There is no market for selling CD’s anymore. Everyone streams and downloads for free. Jimmy Crespo wrote the tunes, owns the tunes, copyrights and publishing. If the song were ever to be published, it would be his call. But we never signed with a record label. And he just came out of the hospital. Not sure what he would do. If anyone wants to invest in Renegade, here I am!!!
#ReleaseRenegade
References:
Music First Podcast with Marge Raymond
MargeRaymond.com
ReberbNation.com
The Back-Burner: Aerosmith Outtakes & Demos 
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