Forty Years in the Mix: Keyboardist Sam Reid on the Making of Glass Tiger’s Debut

by Scott Roos

photos by David Leyes

As Glass Tiger marks the 40th anniversary of their landmark debut The Thin Red Line, the songs that launched them from bar stages to international radio still carry the spirit of the young band that first created them. Four decades on, keyboardist Sam Reid finds himself revisiting those early recordings in a new way and not through the dense production that defined the 1980s, but through stripped-down performances that return the music to its core. With the band preparing for an intimate, acoustic-leaning show in Prince Albert, Reid’s reflections reveal how the album was built: from basement rehearsals and early club sets to a pivotal partnership with producer Jim Vallance that helped shape the songs into the classics fans still know word for word. What follows is a track-by-track look back at Thin Red Line - drawn directly from Reid’s memories - revisiting how each song was written, refined, and ultimately became part of the band’s DNA.

Sam Reid: Keyboards, Roots, and Early Glass Tiger

Sam Reid’s journey into Glass Tiger began long before the band was a household name. From a young age, classical music shaped his understanding of melody and structure. As he recalls: "My parents put me in classical Royal Conservatory classical music when I was five. I went through the classical system up until grade nine… But I took a left turn when I was about 13 or 14. That's when I started jamming in the basement with friends and I realized that I really appreciated and still love all of my formal training. But what was really motivating me was playing some songs that I loved listening to. I listened to a lot of Supertramp, Genesis, Emerson, Lake and Palmer."

That early mix of formal training and hands-on experimentation helped shape his approach to songwriting. Sam explains, "We were one of those bands in the early years that when somebody in the band had an idea, we would develop it together… We'd start with somebody and bring it to the band and we would work out the idea." Even in the bar circuit, where cover songs dominated to keep dance floors full, the band found ways to showcase their originals without interruption. "Anytime we played an original song within our show, we never ever stopped the show and we never ever told the audience it wasn't original. We just kept going… If you have the dance floor filled with people and we used to belt into Thin Red Line and then tell the audience it's a band from England… Afterwards, when people privately would say, 'Hey, that's cool. What band is that?' 'Well, it's actually ours. That's our song.' But it never stopped the show. That would give us our cover."

Sam’s keyboard work and early musical instincts became a defining feature of Glass Tiger’s sound, bridging technical skill with the collaborative spirit that fueled the band’s earliest compositions.

How Jim Vallance Came to Produce

The band’s connection with Jim Vallance began almost serendipitously. Vallance was a name brand songwriter who had worked extensively with Bryan Adams and also been on the production side of his first record. Sam Reid recalls:

"We had the record, we were signed to Capital Records, and we hadn’t picked a producer yet. Dean Cameron, the president and A&R, just said, 'We have a bit of time. Would you guys write with Jim Vallance?' Jim got to hear some of the songs and really dug them. He flew to Toronto, saw the band in a small club, and then invited Al, myself, and Alan out to his house. We had nothing to lose — spend a week with him in Vancouver. If you write something great, if you don’t, we’re still making a record. What we didn’t know was that on the first day we clicked with Jim and wrote 'Don’t Forget Me' and 'Someday' in that first session. The production came afterwards — it came out of the writing sessions."

Reid adds context on why Vallance was such a perfect fit:

"Well, we had other producers work with us sporadically, like on demos, but we never really had a proper producer that had credibility and, of course, a list of hit songs a mile long. And so when Jim came into the studio, our chemistry with Jim was very much from a music point of view. Some producers presented to the band just know what a hit is and produce from that angle. There are producers that are songwriters too, and Jim Vallance just happens to be one of those  Swiss Army knife kind of producers."

That initial week of writing and immediate chemistry set the stage for Vallance to take the helm as producer, shaping the debut album from its very first sparks of inspiration.

The Thin Red Line: Track-By-Track 

Track 1: Thin Red Line

For longtime fans, “Thin Red Line” isn’t just the opener but it’s also the band’s origin story crystallized into four minutes. Reid makes it clear that this was never just another track on the record. It was foundational.

“It was from the earliest history of the band when we started writing songs. It's one of only a handful of songs that survived through all of the early years. We did four or five years of showcasing before we got a record deal.”

The song carried real emotional weight internally, especially as the band prepared to introduce themselves to the world. Even though the group later found undeniable pop success in other singles, Reid admits the group’s heart lived in material like this:

“We loved the fact that ‘Don’t Forget Me’ it launched the band but our heart at the time was in songs like ‘Vanishing Tribe’ and ‘Thin Red Line’ and you know the deeper cuts that are on that album are the songs that were really close to our heart.”

The song’s identity also came from story and heritage. The title wasn’t just evocative. It was rooted in history and singer Alan Frew’s background:

“It's based off of a little bit of the Scottish history… it was the Sutherland Highlanders that were known as the Thin Red Line… we loved the story about it and of course it was dear to Alan's heart with the Scottish heritage.”

Then came Jim Vallance - and this is where the song transformed. Reid credits Valance with refining the band’s instinctively progressive writing approach into something sharper and more direct:

“We had a habit of writing very progressively… ‘Thin Red Line’ had probably four or five other parts in it than what you hear on the record… Jim heard it and he's like, ‘okay, guys, you know that main melody is killer. Let's keep that… those other four sections are very, very similar. They're just going to be confusing. So let's pick the strongest one… best idea wins.’”

That phrase - best idea wins - becomes a central theme in understanding how the album was shaped.

“He really taught us about fairness in songwriting… all ideas on the table, and we pick the best one no matter where it comes from. There's no egos.”

For fans who’ve always felt the track had a cinematic quality, that’s no accident. Even the video was designed to mirror the narrative:

“It was all about the night before the big battle and that's the gist of that whole song.”

This was the band’s identity piece - the DNA track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDprFTCAdx-qc&v=prFTCAdx-qc

Track 2: Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)

If “Thin Red Line” was the heart, “Don’t Forget Me” was the rocket launch.

The band initially wanted to lead with the title track. But radio had other plans.

“We pushed ‘Thin Red Line’ out in front… that was a deliberate conscious effort to let everyone know that this was the new band's identity… but what happened was they were so undeniably pop radio grabbed (Don't Forget Me) immediately.”

Once it started gaining traction, everything changed overnight.

“'Don't Forget Me' was like strapping yourself to a rocket and lighting the fuse.”

And that shift wasn’t strategic - it was survival.

“Some of the radio stations were basically saying 'I don't care what single you're releasing but this is the one we're going with'… we had to jump on that freight train immediately.”

One of the most fascinating insights for fans is how accidental the Bryan Adams collaboration really was. It wasn’t label-driven. It wasn’t a marketing play.

“Honestly, it was done so haphazardly. It's funny. It's not a calculated marketing move at all.”

Instead, it came out of the Valance connection and proximity. Adams had worked extensively with Vallance on a few of his previous albums and also lived in Vancouver like Vallance did. 

“Bryan often stopped by Jim's house… he got to hear parts of the record as it was being done.”

And then one day, it just happened.

“Jim just threw it out there and said you know you guys should just go out to the microphone and sing together… throw a mic up let's just see what happens.”

Adams, who was still in the midst of residual success from his smash hit album Reckless, even warned them what it might mean:

“Bryan was like well you're gonna get a little bit of attention for this… basically having me on this as a debut band.”

The band didn’t hesitate.

“We were like ‘well screw that we love it.’”

And 40 years later, it’s still the moment.

“You cannot do a show… if you value your life you won't do a show without ‘Don't Forget Me.’”

Track 3: Closer to You

This is where Reid’s studio personality really emerges and where Valance’s influence intersects with Reid’s obsession with production detail.

“I'm the one guy in the band (who loves the studio). I followed Jim around like a puppy dog… I'd be in the studio following all the engineers around.”

The layered intros across the album weren’t accidents. They were deliberate based on some of his earlier musical influences with bands like Emerson Lake and Palmer, Genesis, and early Supertramp.

“I love their transitions… things before and after songs that didn't necessarily have to be the song but they could lead you into the song.”

Reid would spend extra hours crafting sonic mood pieces:

“I'd be in the studio extra time and I would be noodling around with a little vibe… I loved putting something on the front of each of these songs knowing full well that radio… they're gonna cut it out anyway but that's okay.”

Musically, “Closer to You” also highlights the band’s collaborative push-pull between synth and guitar.

“Al Connelly is a very melodic guitar player… we always work really hand-in-hand when it comes to these melodies… often he'll play something and I'll go ‘great I'd like to play along with that’… and he's done the same.”

That shared approach — encouraged and refined by Valance’s “best idea wins” mindset — is why the song feels so tightly interlocked.

Track 4: Vanishing Tribe

One of the most revealing moments for hardcore fans is hearing Reid dismantle a common assumption.

Yes, the Duran Duran comparison existed. But he points somewhere more specific:

“I was and still am a huge Duran fan… I would call them an influence for sure.”

But rhythmically, the song comes from a different place entirely:

“The rhythmic part of vanishing tribe is closer to Spandau Ballet… if you listen to early Spandau Ballet… very much a funk based… funky grooves and vanishing tribe.”

And again, this track represents where the band’s identity lived before pop success shifted the spotlight.

“Songs like ‘Vanishing Tribe' and ‘Thin Red Line’… the deeper cuts… those were really close to our heart.”

Vallance recognized that too and protected those instincts rather than sanding them down too much.

Track 5: Looking at a Picture

This is the definition of a deep cut that quietly carried the band’s earliest DNA.

“It's definitely one of the early early ones and it dates back to when the band was called Tokyo.”

That predates Glass Tiger entirely  which makes the song a time capsule from their pre-label identity.

It also disappeared for practical reasons, not creative ones:

“We hadn't really played that song since 1986… when we broke and left Canada… we spent the world touring… our sets were quite a bit shorter… a song like ‘Looking at a Picture’ probably didn't survive the set list back then.”

The band, in those days opening for acts like Tina Turner and Journey, would only get 35 - 40 min sets. So they had to be more selective with set lists. But when this particular track returned decades later, fans responded.

“We did a little test run (recently)… it was really a lot of fun to bring it back into the show.”

That revival is part of the anniversary spirit that will hopefully be on full display in Prince Albert..

Track 7: Ancient Evenings

One of the album’s most atmospheric tracks started with sound first and lyrics second. Once the music was in place, the concept came from Alan Frew reading:

“Alan was reading a book… I think it might have been called Ancient Evenings… when he heard the music he thought of those lyrics.”

Reid also ties the track directly to his obsession with sonic staging:

“'The secret': it's one of those intros that I messed around with because it had an Egyptian kind of vibe.” The short spoken word track worked as a natural lead in to "Ancient Evenings".

Even now, the band treats "Ancient Evenings" as one of the heavier live moments:

“We play it heavier than on the album… the guitars are just a little bit heavier and the keys are a little more aggressive… it's still one of our favorites.”

Track 8: Ecstasy

Another relic from the Tokyo era  and another example of how Vallance respected the band’s identity.

“It is definitely a Tokyo song… I have demos from like 1980 for that.”

Built around technology of the time:

“It was built around the DX7… it was a loop that I wrote and presented it to the guys and then we expanded upon that.”

Vallance’s reaction to it is especially revealing:

“He loved songs like ‘Thin Red Line’ and ‘Ecstasy’ because he said he would never write them… that song could have never come from me.”

That moment shows the dynamic perfectly: Vallance wasn’t trying to replace the band’s voice but more or less helping focus it.

“He realized how important those songs were to us.”

Track 9: Someday

The second lightning strike from that first writing session with Vallance.

“Al (Connelly) and I stepped out for a smoke break,” Reid says. “When we came back, Jim was playing that marimba-style keyboard part.”

The song formed almost instantly.

“Alan (Frew) was already singing nonsense lyrics over it - that’s how he starts. Within half an hour, the structure was there.”

For the band, its success meant stability.

“You breathe a little easier once you have a second hit. The last thing you want is to be known for just one song.”

Track 10: I Will Be There

Another Bryan Adams moment that fans often forget about:

“I think we threw a bunch of stuff at him when he was in the studio that day… he really liked the I will be there vibe… he just did a couple of shouts in there.”

Even Reid acknowledges how overlooked it is:

“It often gets overlooked that Bryan… he's in that song as well.”

Track 11: You’re What I Look For

A small moment became a cultural connection point and, again, it came out of the Valance writing environment.

“Jim's wife… Rachel Paiemont… she was a French Canadian artist was in the studio that day.”

Then the idea emerged organically:

“We should put some French in this.”

What followed became one of the band’s most enduring details:

“She came up with ‘je pense que je t’adore’… it fit musically so well… we were like oh this is awesome.”

The result surprised everyone:

“Just because of that one line of French… the majority of early fan mail… were all based in Quebec.”

A tiny addition turned into a lifelong connection.

The Vallance Effect - The Album’s Hidden Foundation

Across nearly every track, one theme keeps surfacing: Jim Vallance didn’t just produce The Thin Red Line. He helped refine Glass Tiger’s identity without erasing it.

From writing two hits on day one…

“We wrote ‘don't forget me’ and ‘someday’ in the first day of sitting with him.”

To mentoring them structurally:

“He became our mentor when it came to going through the songs that he didn't write.”

To his core philosophy:

“Best idea wins.”

That philosophy is the invisible thread running through the entire record — shaping arrangements, sharpening songs, and helping transform early Tokyo-era material into a defining debut.

Thus, Forty years later, revisiting The Thin Red Line isn’t just a walk down memory lane - it’s a reminder of the creative chemistry, the risks, and the friendships that defined Glass Tiger at the start. As Sam Reid reflects, the songs are as alive today as they were in the studio with Jim Vallance, whether stripped down for an intimate acoustic set or played in full-blown arena glory. The 40th anniversary isn’t just about celebrating a record. It’s about honoring the artistry, the storytelling, and the enduring connection between the band and the fans who’ve kept these songs alive for decades.