Rick Springfield - Human Touch

Our second All Hallows Even clip is Rick Springfield's "Human Touch."  This is Springfield's second appearance on ERV; his cover of Sammy Hagar's "I've Done Everything for You" was featured on our little blog way back in 2012.

"Human Touch" came in the midst of Rick Springfield's heyday - between 1981 and 1988 he had 16 top 40 hits and five top 40 albums.  Over time, we've come around on his work - there is a fair amount of solid pop rock songs in his catalog, including this one.  Helped by the slightly odd video, the song hit #18 on the charts, while the Living in Oz album reached #12 and would become the third of four consecutive Springfield albums to go platinum.

The apocalyptic sci-fi video starts with some small skeleton people wondering into a lab that contains Rick and ... a bunch of dancers, it seems.  The year: 2016. The world seems to be a total wasteland (sadly, Springfield might not have been that far off about 2016).  There is then a bunch of dancing, some computers, and a four eyed saxophonist (no, not with glasses ... but with four actual eyes).  The result is an odd but fun video, which is easily recognizable as an 80s clip (the special effects ... oh my).

The sci-fi elements, set, and costumes make this an excellent Halloween video, and we hope that our reader(s) enjoy it as much as we did.

Real Life - Send Me An Angel

For our second All Hallows Even treat, we're posting Real Life's "Send Me An Angel" (the original version; more on that in a moment).

Real Life were an Australian band that formed in Melbourne in 1980.  Originally called The Wires, the group changed their name to avoid being confused with Wire (the UK punk rock act).  They settled on A Private Life, which turned out to be a terrible choice, as they were then threatened with a lawsuit from Private Lives (a Sydney band) and so changed their name again to Real Life.

"Send Me An Angel" was the lead single from the group's first LP, 1983's Heartland. The song did reasonably well, reaching #29 on the U.S. charts, and going to #6 in their native Australia.  The video, with a spooky forest and a wolfman (prince?) looking for his Celtic (?) princess (?) seems ... odd, but definitely Halloweeny.

As mentioned above, Real Life re-released the song (and video) in 1989, as part of their Send Me An Angel/Best of Real Life compilation.  Incredibly, "Send Me An Angel" re-charted even higher in the U.S., reaching #26.  The video is less interesting (and less spooky) than the original, but we've included it here anyway (cause that's what we do).

Special shout out to M, who asked for our help after seeing a portion of the video on Loop ... and then found it herself.  Obviously, we liked it enough to put it up on the blog.

Jim Capaldi - Living On The Edge

While Jim Capaldi is not a household name (even here on ERV), he was an interesting and important figure in rock, especially during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Capaldi was born in  Evesham, Worcestershire (this isn't important, but we liked it anyhow) and became involved in the lively London music scene during the 1960s. He eventually started jamming with Steve Winwood, Dave Mason, and Chris Wood and they formed the influential rock/jazz band Traffic in 1967.

One of our favorite facts about Traffic concerns the way they wrote their songs.  Capaldi would write lyrics first and then Winwood would compose music that suited Capaldi's lyrics.

After Traffic broke up (for the second time in 1974), Capaldi married a Brazilian woman (Aninha Campos) and raised a family in Brazil, where he became interested in environmental and social issues (and Samba).  Although Capaldi remained active in the industry, his only real solo success came from his 1983 Fierce Heart LP.  That album hit #91 on the charts and generated two charting singles -  "That's Love" (#28) and "Living on the Edge" (#75). In typical ERV form, we are opting for the lower charting song, primarily because we like it better.  Additionally, it has a pretty far out there video with birds, motorcycles, and what appears to be some sort of Native American ceremony. 

[Note that the MTV has the wrong album title on their credits - Rock Art and the X-Ray Style is a 1999 album by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros.]

Jim Capaldi died from stomach cancer in 2005. 

Fastway - Say What You Will

"Fast" Eddie Clarke rose to fame as Motörhead's guitarist, and can be seen on the "Ace of Spades" video, which was posted on ERV in November 2013.  However, a dispute during the band's 1982 U.S. tour resulting in him leaving the group - and he quickly set about forming a new one.

Around the same time, bassist Pete Way left UFO, and with Clarke formed a band, which they called ... Fastway.  Singer Dave King and drummer Jerry Shirley rounded out the lineup.  Unfortunately a legal dispute with Chrysalis prevented Way from recording with his new band; as a result he left the group prior to their first LP.  (Bass is uncredited on the album but seems to have been Mick Feat.)

Fastway's self-titled album came out in 1983, and represented a solid bluesy hard rock effort.  The album was a modest success, reaching #31 on the charts, though the "Say What You Will" single did not chart.  However, Fastway was not able to build a following, though they released several subsequent LPs, and even played on the Trick or Treat soundtrack (now who remembers that movie).  Clarke tried several lineup changes in the late 1980s, to no avail, and finally broke up the group in the early 1990s.

The video for "Say What You Will" did receive a bit of airplay back in the day, but eventually faded from view ... until now.

"Fast" Eddie Clarke remained in the industry until his death in 2018.

Sheena Easton - Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)

Nine years ago (!), we started an ERV tradition - the posting of the All Hallows Even videos.  We are justifiably proud of the 22 (and counting) clips that we have presented since then, which can be found using the All Hallows Even label to the right and down a bit.

Kicking off 2020 - on October 13th, no less, we'll start with Sheena Easton. Easton grew up in Scotland, and got her big break on the BBC reality show The Big Time, were amateurs showed off their skills (dressmakers, cooks, comedians, etc.) Easton appeared in 1980, as a singer, which eventually led to a recording contract - even though the talent manager on the show (Marion Massey) was quite lukewarm on her.

Easton would go on to become a genuine pop star, with 15 top 40 hits in the U.S. - all but 1 of which were in the 1980s. "Telefone" came out during Eason's early period of success, and went on to hit #9 on the charts, while the Best Kept Secret album reached #33 and went gold.

The video is a campy black and white classic.  While the single was released in August, the LP came out in October, so perhaps that's why they went with a movie monster theme.  Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, Quasimodo, King Kong, and a disembodied hand all make an appearance - making this a great way to kick off our All Hallows Even celebration.

Sheena Easton had continued success throughout the decade, and famously worked with Prince for a time.  She remains active in the industry to the present day.

As an added bonus, we found some behind the scenes footage shot when the video was being made.

Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody

Rufus were a successful funk act during the 1970s with six top 20 albums, as well as ten top 40 singles.  However, changing tastes and lead singer Chaka Khan's desire to go solo (a story as old as time) resulted in the group's decline at the end of that decade.  In fact, although Chaka Khan's 1978 LP Chaka made her an emerging star, the singer remained in the band for an additional two albums to fulfill her contract.

All of this made Khan's appearance on 1983's Stompin' at the Savoy – Live album somewhat surprising.  The album and documentary were meant to be a commemoration of Rufus, and Khan was not required to participate.  Fortunately, she opted to assist with the project.

In addition to the live songs, the group recorded four new studio tracks for the double album, one of which was "Ain't Nobody."  This led to a dispute with their label, as the band wanted the song to be the lead single, while label executives were less enthusiastic about the track.  Warner Bros. finally relented after the song's composer (Rufus keyboardist Hawk Wolinski) threatened to sell the rights of "Ain't Nobody" to Quincy Jones for the upcoming Michael Jackson album Thriller.  (Some readers may have heard of this album, as it was somewhat successful.)
 
"Ain't Nobody" would go on the become a big hit, reaching #22 on the charts (and #1 on the R&B charts).  The song became an eighties dance mainstay, and won a Grammy to boot.  However, in spite of this, the video received little airplay on our favorite video music channel.

Rufus disbanded after the album, and have rarely played together since.  Chaka Khan remained successful as a solo artist, though she only had one top 40 hit post-Rufus: "I Feel For You."

Cool trivia fact:  Khan's 1984 hit "I Feel For You" is a cover of a Prince song.  It was originally on Prince's self-titled 1979 LP.

Walter Egan - Fool Moon Fire

Our long time reader(s) will know that we love this time of year - to the point that we have an All Hallows Even celebration every year (since 2011!)  This year, we start off with a pitch perfect video - Walter Egan's "Fool Moon Fire."

Egan kicked around the music industry for years, and never quite broke through - with one exception.  His 1978 song "Magnet and Steel" (written about Stevie Nicks), hit #8 on the charts, making him an official one hit wonder.

Of course, this is an eighties blog, and we are taking Halloween, so we went with 1983's "Fool Moon Fire" instead.  The song did chart (#46). although the Wild Exhibitions LP did not.  The video hearkens back to the days when artists spent five grand to make a video - though we find the homemade elements charming.

And we would be remiss if we didn't point out the candy apple red vintage Mustang ... and one of the best wolf man playing guitar scenes ever (around 3:23).

Red Rockers - China

Red Rockers was a fascinating band who never quite found their audience.  To be fair, this was at least partly due to their evolving musical style, which seemed to shift almost on a song-by-song basis.

The band formed in New Orleans in 1979 as a punk act, influenced by groups such as The Clash and The Dils.  In fact, Red Rockers (the band) is named after "Red Rockers" (the 1979 Dils' song).   However, after  their first LP (1981's Guns of Revolution), they swung wildly from punk to pop/new wave on 1983's Good as Gold album.  This resulted in a MTV hit with "China," and set off a series of internal conflicts within the band (not to mention alienating their early punk fans).

In spite of some serious MTV airplay, "China" peaked at #53, leaving Red Rockers one hit short of being a one hit wonder.  Internal conflicts and some personnel changes continued through 1985's Schizophrenic Circus, and the band broke up later that year.

The Kinks - State of Confusion

We're back, and what better way than with a song that may be more apropo today than when it came out. 

The lyrics of "State of Confusion" touch on both personal and global stresses, and remind the listener that Ray Davies had been on the rock scene for a long time by 1983.  Musically, the strong pop rock sound fits in nicely with the Kinks' early 80s work.

Interestingly, "State of Confusion" was not released as a single in the U.S., although the song did hit #26 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart (based on airplay).  The album of the same name hit #12 on the charts, driven by the success of "Come Dancing" - the Kinks most successful song in decades.

The video seems a little bit more lighthearted than the song, but still conveys the intended message.  We particularly like how Davies singing is out of synch with the song at several points.

While State of Confusion (and "Come Dancing") were the last big successes of the Kinks storied career, long time readers may recall that we featured "Do It Again" on ERV in September 2012.  We encourage folks to check that one out, as well.

Shannon - Let The Music Play

"Let the Music Play" was a successful and influential single that helped create the dance sound of the eighties.  When the song was released in 1983, dance had mostly fallen off the pop charts, as nothing had filled the void left by the collapse of disco.

With its Latin beats and use of drum machines and synthesizers, "Let the Music Play" pointed to a new sound, that was initially called the "Shannon Sound," but eventually evolved into Freestyle music.  Unfortunately, Shannon did not remain at the forefront of the scene, as other acts such as Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and The Jets became far more successful.  However, "Let the Music Play" really opened the door for much of mid to late 1980s dance pop.

Shannon (born Shannon Green) was in the business in New York City when she met producers Mark Liggett and Chris Barbosa.  She auditioned for them, they liked her voice, and soon afterwards they were in the studio recording "Let the Music Play."  The success of the single (it hit #1 on the dance charts and #8 on the pop charts) led to a 1984 LP of the same name, but that turned out to be Shannon's commercial peak.  Although she had several dance and R&B hits, she did not break the top 40 again, and she asked to be released from her contract in 1987.  However, Shannon remains active in the industry as a working musician to the present day.

In spite of the song's success, the video for "Let the Music Play" remain somewhat rare, exacerbated by the fact that MTV (and many other video channels) were more focused on rock and new wave at the time.  As a result, it's perfect for ERV.

Helix - Heavy Metal Love

I remember seeing "Heavy Metal Love" back in the day, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The same holds true for Helix's earlier entry on ERV, "Deep Cuts the Knife," which was posted back in October, 2011.

As we mentioned on the earlier post, Helix is a hard working, hard rocking Canadian band.  The group formed in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in 1974 and has been led by Brian Vollmer on vocals from day one.  At the time of this single, the remainder of the band consisted of Paul Hackman and Brent 'The Doctor' Doerner on guitars, Mike Uzelac on bass and Greg 'Fritz' Hinz on drums.

Hinz and Vollmer remain with the band to the present day.  Hackman was killed in 1992 when the band's van crashed during a tour.  Doerner left Helix in 1989, but has rejoined the act several times over the years, and  Uzelac quit in 1983.

While "Heavy Metal Love" picked up some airplay on my favorite music video channel, the song did not break into the singles chart, though it did reach #23 on the Mainstream Rock chart (based on airplay on rock radio stations).  The No Rest for the Wicked LP peaked at #186 on the album chart.

Cool trivia fact: The woman in the video is actress Sandahl Bergman, best known as the female lead in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian.

Bananarama (featuring Fun Boy Three) - Really Sayin' Something

This is Bananarama's second appearance on ERV for a cover, as "Venus" was posted on our little blog back in January of 2013.  To be fair, the members of Bananarama also co-wrote much of their material, often with the Stock Aitken Waterman team.

The group initially consisted of Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward -- three friends who sang in unison, instead of using harmonies.  They started the band in 1979 and created the name by combining the TV show The Banana Splits with Roxy Music's "Pajama Rama."

Amazingly, Bananarama got not one but two big breaks to help launch their career.  First, the group happened to live above a rehearsal room used by Steve Jones and Paul Cook (formerly of the Sex Pistols); this led to their first recording contract in 1981.  Later that year, an article in The Face (a U.K. fashion magazine) in support of their first single ("Aie a Mwana") was read by ex-Specials singer Terry Hall.  Hall reached out to Bananarama to work with his new group (Fun Boy Three) on  "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" which led to a second collaboration on "Really Sayin' Something."

Both Fun Boy Three songs became top 10 hits in the U.K., and launched Bananarama as a major pop act in their native country.  During the 1980s they had 18 top 40 singles in the U.K., though they had only 3 in the U.S. ("Cruel Summer," "Venus," and "I Heard a Rumour").

Siobhan Fahey left Bananarama in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan (who left in 1991).  Since then, the group has been a duo, and remains active as of this writing.  Fahey went on to form Shakespears Sister with Marcella Detroit.

"Really Sayin' Something" (with a g) reached #5 on the U.K. charts, but did not break the top 100 in the U.S.  It was off Bananarama's 1983 debut LP, Deep Sea Skydiving, which hit #7 on the U.K. album charts, and #63 in the U.S.

The original version of the song ( "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" with no g at the end) was recorded by Motown group the Velvelettes in December 1964 and became their biggest hit, reaching #64 on the U.S. charts.

The Rolling Stones - Undercover of the Night

The 1980s were tough on the Rolling Stones.  The group had been around for twenty years by the early part of the decade, an eternity in the music industry.  In addition, the punk, new wave, and metal scenes made their music seem old fashioned to many younger listeners.

To complicate matter further, Mike Jagger and Keith Richards had a fundamental disagreement over songwriting.  Jagger wanted to move in a more current dance/pop direction, while Richards wished to stay true to the roughed up blues sound that was the Stone's signature.  (For more on this, please see our earlier post for Keith Richards solo video, "Take It So Hard.")

The result was disjointed and mostly disappointing, though there was some solid material mixed in.  Sadly, much of this material was composed by either Richards or Jagger, due to the difficulty that they had in working together.

Which brings us to "Undercover of the Night," the lead single off the Stone's 1983 Undercover album.  The song was all Mick; supposedly Keith just showed up and played some guitar lines.  Jagger has since said that the concept for the song came from the William Burroughs novel Cities of the Red Night.

The video for "Undercover of the Night" was the first full-on production that the Stones released.  Directed by Julien Temple, the story was dark and violent -- in fact, Temple has said that he didn't believe that the band would use it.  MTV would only air an edited version of the vid (and only at night), but this did not seem to hurt sales.  The single would go on to hit #9 on the charts, while the album reached #4 (breaking a string of eight consecutive LPs to hit #1).  By the by, due to the violent imagery of the video, the band cut a second version, which is below.

As of this writing, the Stones remain mostly intact (bassist Bill Wyman left the group in 1993) and continue to  sporadically tour, although they have not released a new album since 2005's A Bigger Bang.

In the interests of completeness, here is the B version video of "Undercover:" (Not nearly as good as the original clip, in our opinion).

Iron Maiden - Flight Of Icarus

We have posted many acts on ERV that were (are) one hit wonders, often with the caveat that there is no shame in having only one top 40 hit.  Case in point: Iron Maiden, who scored exactly zero charting singles in the U.S. (Yes, that makes them a no hit wonder, we suppose.)

"Flight of Icarus" is a retelling of the Greek myth of Icarus, although in the Iron Maiden version, Icarus' father (Daedalus) betrays Icarus by encouraging him to fly too close to the sun.  (In the original version, Daedalus warns Icarus not to fly too high, but the boy doesn't listen, with disastrous consequences).

The song works on a number of levels, and is helped by the mythological theme.  Maiden cultivated a fantasy-driven image, which was strengthened by singer Bruce Dickinson's lyrics.  [As an aside, Dickinson is an interesting person with expertise in fencing, aviation, writing, and broadcasting; these varied interests have resulted in at least once source naming him as a polymath.]

Directed by Jim Yukich, the video brings these darker elements to the fore, which are contrasted with the band playing the song in a studio.  While the song was not a huge hit, the Piece of Mind LP reached #14 in the U.S. (#3 in the U.K) and went platinum in both geographies.

The band would remain heavy metal stars through the early 1990s, and remain together (with some personnel changes along the way) to the present day.

Another Maiden classic, 1982's "The Number of the Beast" was featured on ERV's first All Hallows Even celebration in 2011, and "2 Minutes To Midnight" was posted to our All Hallows Even collection in 2020.

Big Country - Fields of Fire (400 Miles)

This is Big Country's second appearance on ERV, as "Look Away" was posted on the blog last August.  While U.S. readers will remember the band for their eponymous single (the group's only top 40 U.S. song), "Fields of Fire" was the first of 15 top 40 singles in their native U.K.

Similar to "Look Away," "Fields of Fire" is a grand anthemic rock song, punctuated by the bagpipe-like guitar sound that was Big Country's trademark.  It is also my favorite Big Country song.  The video, with the train, bagpipe player and toys generally works quite well (although the WWI scene seems a bit forced to me).  The song peaked at #10 in the U.K. and #52 in the U.S., and helped launch the band's debut LP, The Crossing (which would hit #3 in the U.K. and #18 in the U.S.)

From an American perspective, the band faded from view after The Crossing, although they remained popular in the U.K. for the remainder of the decade.  As was mentioned in the previous Big Country post, the group remained together until lead singer Stuart Adamson's suicide in 2001.  They have re-formed in recent years, although ex-Alarm singer Mike Peters departed the band in November 2013.  It appears that the current lead singer is Simon Hough and the group remains active as of this writing.

Jeffrey Osborne - Stay With Me Tonight

"Stay With Me Tonight" is a classic pop funk tune from the 1980s that clicks right from the start.  The funky bass line, synthesizer melody and eighties drums combine to shape a really strong song.  It is not surprising that it was written by Raymond Jones, the keyboardist from Chic who built a second career as a songwriter.

Singer Jeffrey Osborne (no relation to Ozzy) developed a solid career as a funk musician.  Born in Providence, Rhode Island, he rose to fame as the lead singer of L.T.D., who are best known for "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again," a #4 hit from 1977.  Osborne left the group to go solo in 1980 and landed 6 top 40 hits between 1982 and 1987.

"Stay With Me Tonight," was a solid success, reaching #30 on the pop charts and #4 on the R&B charts in 1983, while the album of the same name peaked at #25, and eventually went platinum.  The vid appears to have been shot in NYC and plays like an eighties time capsule, complete with roller skates (0:13), old school video editing, and a neon-decorated club where the fashions of the day are on display.  We have to say, in spite of the dated look, the clip still has a certain coolness about it that suits Osborne and the song.

Although Osborne's commercial success faded after the 1980s, he remains active in the music industry as of this writing.

Michael Stanley Band - My Town

The is the Michael Stanley Band's second appearance on ERV as "He Can't Love You" was posted back in October of 2011.  (By the by, "He Can't Love You" is a great early video, and was played on MTV on day one.)

The group was formed by Michael Stanley Gee in 1974 (he changed his last name early in his career, as another musician with the surname Gee was already signed to his label).  While the band were local heroes in Cleveland and had decent success in the midwest, they never quite broke out at a national level.  This is a shame, as the group has a solid straight up rock sound and was known for their high energy shows.  In retrospect, they just never got the lucky break that helps launch many careers.

"My Town" is off the Michael Stanley Band's 1983 You Can't Fight Fashion LP, which was the band's last major label release.  The album reached #64 on the charts, while "My Town" hit #39.  The tune is a love song to Cleveland, which the video underscores.

The Michael Stanley Band remained together until 1986, but finally broke up as they were simply unable to continue economically.  They have reunited periodically, and Michael Stanley remains active in the music industry to the present day.

The Call - The Walls Came Down

"The Walls Came Down" was one of two charting songs by The Call, though the group never had a top 40 hit.  ["Let the Day Begin," which was featured on ERV back in August 2012 was The Call's other charting single.]  In spite of this lack of mainstream success, the band became a favorite of critics and musicians including Peter Gabriel, Jim Kerr, Bono, and Bruce Cockburn.

Led by Michael Been, The Call were known for their strong lyrics and updated roots rock sound.  The band released their first album in 1982, but it was 1983's Modern Romans that became their first hit.  Helped by MTV, "The Walls Came Down" reached #74 on the charts while the LP peaked at #84.

However, the band followed up Modern Romans with the more ethereal Scene Beyond Dreams in 1984 (which did not break the top 200), and then became embroiled in a legal dispute with Mercury Records that delayed the release of their next album (Reconciled) until 1986.  Needless to say, this damaged the group's momentum.

In spite of these issues, The Call continued to release strong albums through 1990, when Michael Been left to try his hand at a solo career.  The band later re-formed in 1997, but broke up again in 2000.  Been eventually became involved with his son's group (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) until his untimely death from a heart attack in 2010.

Midnight Star - No Parking On The Dance Floor

One of several successful acts on S.O.L.A.R. Records, Midnight Star had 12 top 40 R&B songs during the 1980s, although only one of them (1984's "Operator") broke the pop top 40.  The band was formed at Kentucky State University in the mid-1970s and was led by the Calloway brothers (Reggie and Vincent).  In fact, Reggie's production skills played a central role in the band's success.

As an aside, S.O.L.A.R. (Sound of Los Angeles Records) was the re-formed Soul Train Records.  The label started as a partnership between Dick Griffey and Don Cornelius (Soul Train's creator and MC).  However, Cornelius quickly realized that he did not have the time for the TV show and a record label, and backed out of the project.  Griffey remained with S.O.L.A.R., but the change was amicable, allowing S.O.L.A.R. to leverage Soul Train's connections.  While Shalamar was the most successful act on the label, Midnight Star, Klymaxx and The Whispers (among others) had some success as well.  The label eventually closed in 1992, a victim of changing tastes.

For the blog, we went with the title cut from the 1983 LP, No Parking on the Dance Floor.  This album was Midnight Star's most successful LP, reaching #27 on the charts.  The single did not do as well, and only reached #43 on the dance charts (and #81 on the pop charts).  However, the song is an eighties funk/dance classic, complete with a Roland SVC-350 Vocoder.  We also dig the video, which highlights 1983 fashion trends.

AC/DC - Flick Of The Switch

As regular readers know, sometimes outside events influence ERV, and sadly today is one of those days.  Earlier today, AC/DC announced that longtime guitarist Malcolm Young would be taking a break from the band due to illness.  Considering that Malcolm and his brother Angus have been the only constant members of the band since its 1973 founding, this is likely to be bad news.  So this clip goes out to Malcolm, his family and the boys in the band with our thanks.

AC/DC built a career on straightforward, anthemic rock.  While some albums were stronger than others, the basic formula and style of the band has remained relatively constant since its founding.

The group formed in Australia in 1973, with Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar and his brother Angus on lead guitar.  Singer Bon Scott, bassist Mark Evans and drummer Phil Rudd rounded out the lineup.  From the start, AC/DC was a powerful live act whose songs were minimalist and power chord driven.  Over time, the band refined their songwriting which led to several strong albums, most notably 1980's Back in Black, one of the highest selling LPs of all time.

For the blog, we went with a rarer clip -- the title song from the band's 1983 LP, "Flick of the Switch."  This is the first album with Simon Wright on drums (Phil Rudd was fired during the recording sessions due to drug and alcohol problems but rejoined the band in 1994).  The only other change from the original lineup was Brian Johnson on vocals (Bon Scott died in 1980).

The clip was made during rehearsals for AC/DC's 1983 Flick of the Switch tour.  The video was filmed in an airplane hanger while the band was really rehearsing -- the group gave the film crew total access, on the condition that the shoot was finished in one day.  The result is a simple, effective video that fits well with the music.

Although the Flick of the Switch LP was considered something of a disappointment, the album hit #15 on the charts and went platinum.  While the group never topped Back in Black, they have remained a popular act long after most of their contemporaries have faded from the scene.  As one example, their last album (2008's Black Ice) hit #1 on the album charts and sold 2 million units in the U.S.  Not too shabby for a band that had been around for 35 years at that point.