When a person looks back on the good ol' days, they usually reflect on a specific moment in time - a summer romance, a vacation, high school perhaps, maybe even scoring the big touchdown, or cruising with the top down listening to your fave song/band. In my case all the above was done to a genre/era of music I loved and grew up. Popping in a Bon Jovi CD takes me back to the summer spent on the beach with a then girlfriend. I could name numerous bands and artists that I can link to a fond memory. One artist in particular is Ted Poley of Danger Danger fame. Many can recall him singing 'Naughty Naughty', 'Monkey Business' and 'Bang Bang', all of which were the sound track to a growing youth's life. Well Mr Poley is back with a hard hitting, melodic-drenched opus that will leave you asking 'What took so long!?' Here we find out about the CD, song writing and everything in between.

Ted, your career is the sort of career that most would only dream of achieving. MTV, hit songs, touring the world and playing arenas. Now from Danger Danger to Bone Machine and Melodica, back to D2 and now finally releasing your very first solo album. Why so long of a wait and why now?

"Yes, thanks, it's been a fun ride so far and it's still going strong, thanks to all my fans and friends. The new solo album wasn't a premeditated career move, I just never had the right offer or label support prior to this release. Kivel records has given me the opportunity to release a great CD under my own name as my first official solo album. Of course I had a lot of help in the kitchen from some very talented people starting from the label president and head baker John Kivel, who co-ordinated all of the ingredients, and of course my ultra talented musical partner Vic Rivera who wrote and played most of the music,and the guest star guitarists who added their spice, the genius Alex Salzman who threw everything into his big mixing bowl and mixed all the ingredients into a big tasty cake and even F3 graphics who iced that cake made the CD look like a million bucks. Take a bite, it's friggin delicious! You will be licking the crumbs from your plate and the icing off your fingers by the time you get through."

What can you tell us about this album that makes it so special. What sets it apart from your prior endeavours?

"I think it's one of my best sounding releases since D2. I got to record it in a studio, not in my basement, so that was a bit more professional."

It seems that Kivel Records has stepped up to the plate nicely by giving you the right vehicle to shine. Something some of your past endeavours had just fell short of possessing. Would you say that this was a calculated move on both you and the label to put the nay sayers to rest finally? I must say you are in top form on this release. It would be a tall task to find a complaint about you on this album.

"Thanks and yes, I always calculate to release a great sounding CD, but this time the calculations came out closer to the original vision in the end result. Again, I don't have as much money of my own to spend making an album, so when I have the support of a label who will spend what is necessary then I can excel. It's like working with better tools, its easier to do the job right."

You have quite a list of guests on your CD, from Bill Leverty (Firehouse), Pete Lesperance (Harem Scarem), Vic Rivera (Adriangale) and a reunion to your old band cohort Andy Timmons (Danger Danger). It must have been difficult deciding who received which solos. How did the decision process work on that?

"Andy co wrote 'Yeah You Want It' so he was the natural choice for that one. On other songs that needed guitar leads, we got to ask some of my own favourite guys to play and they all did, and they all did a great job! its nice to have such talented friends."

Not only do you have a impressive list of guest players but an impressive collection of material with such songs as 'Maybe', 'Endgame', 'Rise', 'Good Enough' and the classic D2 sound of 'YYWI'. Tell us about the writing process on this album and how these songs came to be.

"Vic Rivera wrote the majority of the album, my good friend Joey D from Ohio and the band Liquid (formerly Fatal Charm) wrote two killer songs, and two more were found by the label, one of which was 'Yeah You Want It' which had been written specifically for me to sing 15 years ago, so it was nice to finally get to that."

Considering you stated you were retiring sometime ago, it is a pleasant surprise to have this album come out. What changed your mind?

"Alzheimer's is setting in and I forgot I was going to retire. Thanks for reminding me!!"

Why the secrecy around this album?

"John Kivel's idea. We didn't want any pre-conceived notions about the album so we released the news when the CD was finished, not before as is the usual process. I think it was a good idea. Once people first heard about it, they could already go and buy it without waiting months."

Now lets talk about your controversial art. Who the hell thought up this twisted idea and what are we trying to say here? Do you not like children? Haha!

"The children represent all of the so called innocent illegal downloading of music on the internet and by playing with their new toy, they destroyed the scene, causing Collateral Damage and putting many bands and labels out of business ... get it? Pretty cool concept and it was, yes you guessed it again, Kivel's idea. A very good one."

How has the reaction from the fan base been so far?

"Amazing. I am very pleased with the reaction. The album is even #17 on the BURRN! Magazine Rock Import CD charts this month! Amazing. I have been to Japan twice already this year and I might go back again with the new live band."

What do the D2 guys think of your new CD? And the question on everyone's mind ... a new D2 album anytime soon?

"I don't think that they have heard it. Not sure that they are big Ted Poley fans in general, but we do enjoy playing live together and are still touring around the world. As far as a new D2 album goes, I don't think there is a label with enough cash to make that happen. But if the right offer came along, maybe the powers that control the D2 brand name will entertain making a new CD and ask me to partake. I would love to hear what we can come up with in this millennium, and Bruno is a great producer now so I am sure it would be one of the albums of whatever year it was released, but as of now, as far as I know there are no plans to record another D2 album. That can change at any time with a phone call, so you never know."

What can we look forward to after being dealt Collateral Damage?

"Collateral Damage is still going strong and so I am in the process of rehearsing the most killer live band, under the name of Poley/Rivera so that we can go out and play the 'Collateral Damage' songs and new songs live. It's going to be a nice fresh fun break from singing 'Monkey Business' and 'Bang Bang' when D2 is off the road. Don't get me wrong, those songs put me on the map and I still have lots of fun dieting and working out for many months and singing them with the fans around the world, but as an artist I love to be able to enjoy the best of both worlds and sometimes work on a new original song and then shove a meatball parm hero down my singing hole. To be in a famous band like D2 is a great blessing, for which I am eternally thankful but I am very happy that I can express myself and my art through my other projects too. So very many thanks to the fans for their loyal support in all I do."

The name game!

Gene Simmons
Just saw him in Osaka Japan, and Paul too! They are the reason that I decided to do what I do, so to me they are my idols, especially Paul.

Bill Leverty
One of the nicest guys in the business. A good friend and did such a great guitar lead on 'Maybe'.

John Kivel
John Kivel

Bruno Ravel
My mentor and my Dr Frankenstein, he created the monster known as Ted Poley. Super talented.

Vic Rivera
My close brother, musical partner and one of the most amazing song writers and multi-instrument players I have ever known. He can play every instrument and excel at any of them, and we make great basement demos together. It's always fun to work with Vic and wait till you hear our new live band! Alex Salzman - Truly a genius and has golden ears.

Sebastian Bach
DUDE! I love that guy and lately he has been real cool to me and we had fun playing a show together in NY and hanging out with the Pussycat Dolls in Japan! He is the real deal, all rock, all the time.

Okay, the end of the interview, obligatory plug your shit and say what ya want part. GO!

Geez, I am exhausted, please visit my site at www.tedpoley.com. There's rare music and photos on myspace at www.myspace.com/tedpoley. You can get a sneak peak into my musical future at www.myspace.com/poleyrivera. Thanks as always to all my fans who I love, see you soon on the road in one band or the other! Thanks to Kivel Records. Thank God this interview is finally over.....

So there you have it folks! All I can add to this would be, that if you are a Ted Poley fan or melodic rock lover at heart, then this album is exactly what you are looking for. Fans of Ted Poley and early Danger Danger have been waiting a longtime to hear Ted release such a album. Without a doubt sweetening the deal and giving melodic rock fans everywhere even more to sink their teeth into.

As the song on the album asks ... Is it Good Enough? Well Ted, YES IT IS!!