Martha Davis - Don't Tell Me The Time

In 1987, Martha Davis broke up the Motels in order to go solo.  Later that year,  she released the Policy LP, which unsurprisingly sounded a lot like a Motels record.  However the hard-fought success that the Motels had captured eluded Davis as a solo artist.

In retrospect, the album was likely hurt by the name change and perhaps by the evolving tastes in the music industry.  Davis' brand of melancholy-tinged new wave pop likely seemed out of place by 1987, especially as pop metal took over the charts (and MTV).  The album peaked at #127, while "Don't Tell Me the Time" only reached #80.

In the aftermath of Policy, Davis asked to be released from her contract (with Capitol Records) and did not release another solo album until ...So the Story Goes in 2004.

While the song didn't break any new ground, "Don't Tell Me the Time" is a solid Motels-ish pop song that could have been a hit with a bit of luck.