Albums In My Collection

– Head Over Heels
– Line Of Fire
– Turn It Loud

An Overview

This Canadian group had an unremarkable career in the early ’80s, which seemed a shame since they featured a lead singer with a spectacular voice. Darby Mills was her name, and kicking major ass with her ballsy vocals was her game.

The band’s first 2 albums, Turn It Loud and Line Of Fire, each contained some hard-rockin’ tracks that showcased just how in-your-face Darby could be when given some fiery material. She fits comfortably into the same category of singers as Janis Joplin, Joanna Dean, Sass Jordan, et al., the sort of raspy female vocalists who were outrageously adept at pouring their emotions into blues-based hard rock music without sacrificing the melodies.

Although many consider the band’s final album, Head Over Heels, a major let-down, I didn’t find it horrible, even though the band altered their style, lightening things up with a more mainstream/AOR approach. Darby is still there kickin’ butt, so it ain’t half as bad as some people claim—it certainly blows to hell just about any other band out there who attempted the same style in the mid-’80s.

Also note, after Darby left the group, the band picked up another terrific singer by the name of Chrissy Steele, but instead of releasing material under the Headpins name with her, the Magnet To Steele album that eventually resulted in 1991 was issued under the name “Chrissy Steele.” Headpins guitarist Brian MacLeod was the only member who lasted into this period before sadly passing away shortly after this new album was released. Be that as it may, the Magnet To Steele album was basically a Headpins album without the actual name and a “return to form” of their previous harder rocking style.