The Producers - What's He Got

From The Producers self-titled, 1981 debut album, which is now out of print, we believe.  "What's He Got" did not get a ton of airplay on MTV, but was played a bunch on HBO's Video Jukebox.  Now mostly forgotten, Video Jukebox started as a short series of videos played to fill time between movies on HBO in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Eventually, HBO tuned Video Jukebox into a half hour show, and it ran on the network in this format from 1981-1986.

At any rate, "What's He Got" is a rare pop gem from the Atlanta-based quartet.  And yes, that is Wayne Famous on keyboards.

Note that The Producers "She Sheila" video is also on ERV.

The Producers - She Sheila

The Producers started as a Beatles cover band, but soon began performing original material and ended up as an early (if brief) MTV success story.  Their 1982 album You Make the Heat yielded this Top 50 hit, and the video went into heavy rotation on my favorite video music channel.  The band was even one of the headliners of the 82/83 MTV New Year's Eve concert.  Sadly, their label dropped them soon afterwards, although they still occasionally perform to this day.  By the way, there is another Producers video on ERV that is worth checking out, just above -- "What's He Got."

The Producers also deserve a special shout out for their supremely cool keyboard player, Wayne Famous.

Judas Priest - Breaking the Law

Wonderfully ridiculous video, but based on a true story (no, not really). We particularly like the intro, with the pigeon-feeding, guitar-carrying pilgrim/bank robbers chilling on a park bench.  The video was directed by Julien Temple, who became a mainstay on MTV in the 1980s; if he's smart he might consider leaving this one off of his CV.  The guitars here are so powerful that they can shatter glass, even without amplifiers.  (There is some metal bar bending too, but that is clearly due to the brute strength of Rob Halford.)  Spectacularly cheesey video of a great song.  From 1980's British Steel -- a classic heavy metal album. 

Priests' "Hot Rockin'" was posted on ERV in December 2014.

The Members - Working Girl

Although many sources call The Members a punk band, they sound more like a ska/rock band to me.  The band was founded in the mid-1970s, and kicked around the London music scene through the early 1980s.  Their biggest UK hit was "Sound of the Suburbs."  "Working Girl" was an upbeat, poppy song off their 1982 Uprythm, Downbeat album that received a fair bit of play on MTV in the early days.

The Tubes - Talk to You Later

From the under-rated 1981 album, The Completion Backward Principle.  Co-written by the Tubes lead singer Fee Waybill (best rock name ever?) and Toto's (!) Steve Lukather.  The Tubes would go on to have a modicum of success with "She's a Beauty" two years later before disappearing from public view.  "Talk to You Later" is a great, driving rock song and might be my favorite video ever (we especially love the closing snapshots).

 

Digney Fignus - The Girl With the Curious Hand

Boston-based Digney Fignus won MTV's basement tapes in 1985 on the strength of this song and video.  The female lead in the video is none other than former newscaster Gail Huff.  Yes, that Gail Huff -- wife of U.S. Senator Scott Brown.  Ironically, one of the main reasons why Huff was chosen for the role was due to the fact that she fit into the red dress that had already been purchased.  A clip of this video was also used as part of an MTV promo during the mid-80s.

Clocks - She Looks a lot Like You

The pride of Wichita, Clocks burst on the scene in 1982 with their self-titled debut.  Drummer Steve Swain wrote "She Looks a lot Like You" after seeing a Cosmopolitan magazine cover model who bore a resemblance to his ex-wife(!)  The video and song both did well, but the band seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle, and their label dropped them before a second album could be recorded.  Unfortunately, we do not believe that a CD was ever issued, which is a shame, because this is a one catchy gem.  [Edit - 2020: As one of our loyal readers pointed out, a CD was issued in 2009, and there are copies of it on eBay as of this writing.]

Farrenheit - Fool in Love

Great song from Charlie Farren's band, Farrenheit, from the 1987 self-titled CD.  Farren is now playing with Jon Butcher (see below); they named the band Farren Butcher Incorporated (FBI).  Farren is another guy who kicked around the Boston music scene for years and often seemed on the brink of stardom.  He was the lead singer in the Joe Perry Project (when Perry left Aerosmith), and had several other songs that were played on MTV.  Sadly, he never quite broke through.

Jon Butcher Axis - Don't Say Goodnight

Great, nearly forgotten video and song from Jon Butcher.  We love the intro guitar hook.  Butcher was a mainstay on the Boston music scene in the 70s and 80s, and by all accounts is a nice guy to boot.  He is now in a band with Charlie Farren, another Boston guy who did some great music as well (see above).  From the 1984 album, Stare at the Sun.

Pat Benatar - You Better Run

The second video played on MTV -- Pat Benatar's great cover of the Rascals "You Better Run."  From the 1980 Crimes of Passion LP, this video shows Benatar at the height of her powers.  Crimes would go on to sell more than 5 million units, and remains Benatar's biggest selling album of her career.  The album peaked at #2, and had 3 big hits ... and "You Better Run" was the lowest charting of them at 42.

This entry will also serve as the launching post for the "songs that you didn't know were covers."  "You Better Run" was originally recorded by The Rascals (originally called The Young Rascals) in 1966, and it actually charted, peaking at #20.  As an aside, The Rascals were an American blue-eyed soul band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  They are best known for the songs "Groovin'," "Good Lovin'," and "Mustang Sally." (We wonder if they briefly considered calling it "Mustan' Sally?")  Anyhow, here is the original version:

Also worth noting:  Benatar's "All Fired Up" was posted on ERV in March 2014 and "Promises in the Dark" was posted in March 2018.