Billy Ocean - Loverboy

Rounding out our All Hallows Even celebration is "Loverboy" by Billy Ocean.  This is definitely one of the oddest 1980s videos, with a plot that seemingly has nothing at all to do with the song.  We suspect that there may have been some controlled substances involved, along with at least one Star Wars fan.

Long time viewers may recall that this is Billy Ocean's second appearance on ERV, as "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" was posted last March.  As we mentioned then, Billy Ocean (given name: Leslie Charles) was a modestly successful singer until 1984, when his Suddenly LP broke out, reaching the top 10 in both the U.S. and the UK.

While "Loverboy" was a big hit (#2 in the U.S. and #6 in the UK), it was not as big a hit as "Caribbean Queen" in either market. Not not worry, though, Billy Ocean remained massively successful through the rest of the decade.

As to the video ... it is a perfect Halloween video, from the sci-fi perspective.  We are of two minds here - on the one hand, it is trying to be an ambitious mini-movie.  On the other hand, there seems to be little plot, and the visuals are cheesy, though perhaps less so by the standards at the time.  The plot seems to revolve around a lizard creature, who goes to a cantina to ... kidnap a female alien (?), after killing her date in an unprovoked burst of laser fire. Yeah. 

It's probably best to not analyze it too much, but it is a weirdly engaging and odd Halloweeny clip.

Cool trivia fact: superstar music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange co-wrote the song, along with Keith Diamond and Billy Ocean.  

Los Lobos - Will the Wolf Survive?

Los Lobos were an unlikely and underrated success story in the 1980s.  The group's roots date back to 1973, and they were originally named Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles (the wolves of East Los Angeles.)  The band's name came from a 1977 National Geographic article, "Where Can the Wolf Survive?" making the group perhaps the only rock act named after a story in Nat Geo.

Their music blended traditional rock with country and Tex-Mex influences, creating a unique sound that became critically acclaimed.  Unfortunately, major commercial success proved to be elusive - they only had three charting singles, two of which broke the top 40 (although their cover of "La Bamba" hit #1 in 1987.)

"Will the Wolf Survive?" is a lovely piece of songwriting, and shows the sophistication of Los Lobos.  Rock, country, and Latin American sounds seem to effortlessly fuse together.  The lyrics use the metaphor of a wolf, trying to find his place in a modern world, to illuminate the status of immigrants. In our view it is poetic and evocative.

The single, "Will the Wolf Survive?" peaked at #78 on the singles charts, while the album How Will the Wolf Survive reached #47.

Los Lobos remains together (with most of their original members) as of this writing.

Cool trivia fact:  Rolling Stone rated How Will the Wolf Survive as the 30th best album of the 1980s (and at #431 on their list of the greatest albums ever)

Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes To Midnight

We love highlighting the diversity of eighties music at ERV, and we particularly enjoy abrupt transitions from one video to the next. This made it hard to pass up the opportunity to go from Sheena Easton to Iron Maiden as part of our 2020 All Hallows Even Celebration.

Iron Maiden made this even easier by starting "2 Minutes to Midnight" with one of the filthiest guitar riffs of the decade.  Combined with a somewhat creepy video about ... well, we're not exactly sure, but it definitely passes the atmospheric Hallowweny test for us. (Although we're not quite sure why there's a yo-yo starting at 0:26).

The song would go on to become a hard rock classic, and it actually hit #11 on the U.K. charts, while the Powerslave LP reached #2 in the U.K. and #21 in the U.S.  As most readers will know, Iron Maiden remains active as of this writing, and is one of the few 1980s acts that has remained successful during the intervening years. 

For folks who want more Iron Maiden, "The Number of the Beast" was featured on ERV's first All Hallows Even celebration in 2011, while "Flight Of Icarus" appeared on our blog in 2015. Both are highly recommended from your friends at ERV.     

Cool trivia fact #1: "2 Minutes to Midnight" is one of the few Iron Maiden songs not written or co-written by bassist Steve Harris. It was co-written by guitarist Adrian Smith and singer Bruce Dickinson. This helps explain why it sounds different (to my ear, at least) from most other Maiden songs.

Cool trivia fact #2: The video for "2 Minutes to Midnight" about spies, cults, and a stolen nuclear weapon (we think) was the group's first concept video.  The theme plays off the fears on a nuclear war, which drove the title and lyrics for the song.

Billy Ocean - Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)

While Billy Ocean may have seemed like an overnight success, nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, he had been in the music business for 15 years prior to his rapid ascent to stardom.

Born as Leslie Charles in Trinidad and Tobago, Ocean moved to London as a child, and quickly became immersed in music (his father was also a musician).  By the late 1960s, Ocean was trying to make a go of it as a professional singer, which led to a name change -- Ocean supposedly comes from the Oceans 11 football team in Trinidad and Tobago.  He scored his first album in 1976, and had a few minor hits over the years, but few would have predicted his successes in the 1980s.

Ocean's fifth LP - 1984's Suddenly - blew up, and for several years Ocean was a bona fide star.   Between 1984 and 1989, he had 3 Top 20 albums, and 11 top 40 singles - including 3 #1s and 2 #2s.  Wow.

"Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" was the song that started the run.  The lead single off the Suddenly LP, it hit #1 in the U.S. (and #6 in the UK).  The video is pretty standard fare, but this is some well-crafted pop.

While Ocean's star faded somewhat after his 1980s heyday, he remains active in the industry as of this writing.

Note that the cool, and very weird video for Billy Ocean's "Loverboy" was posted on ERV in October 2021, as part of our annual All Hallows Even celebration. 

Kool & the Gang - Misled

This is  Kool & the Gang's second appearance on ERV, as "Get Down On It" was posted back in 2013 (and has a solid if brief summary of the band).

Unlike the funk and R&B that characterized most of Kool & the Gang's work, "Misled" is a catchy pop gem with an excellent guitar hook.  Additionally, the video is the perfect stealthy Halloween type that we love at ERV.  From the creepy guys in robes to the Indiana Jones-inspired later scenes, the whole thing is steeped in pure 1984 awesomeness.  The ghostly white dancer and that amazing blue jacket round out the major characters in the video.

The song ended up being a big hit, and reached #10 on the charts, which surprised us.  To be fair, the 1984 Emergency LP also spawned "Fresh" and "Cherish," so it isn't as if there wasn't a lot of Kool on the radio back in the day.  However, we don't remember seeing the video on MTV, which is kind of a shame.

While Kool & the Gang did have a few hits after "Misled," they had mostly faded from view by the late 1980s.  However, they remain active in the industry as of this writing.

Dio - Last in Line

After years of playing in bands, Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald James Padavona) came into his own in the early 1980s, helped by his MTV-friendly videos.  Dio's band (cleverly named Dio) scored two platinum records and added a gold one to boot before their popularity declined in the later part of the decade.

Although Dio's career traces back to the early 1960s (!) he is best known for being the frontman of Elf (1967-75), Rainbow (1975-78) and Black Sabbath (1979-82).  After leaving Black Sabbath, Dio opted to form his own band with drummer Vinny Appice, guitarist Vivian Campbell, and bassist Jimmy Bain.

"Last in Line," from the 1984 album of the same name, suits our All Hallows Even theme perfectly, and has been on our list for some time.  From the elevator ride from (to?) hell, to the weird goings on in the basement, this is one odd and creepy video.  We particularly like that the band plays only supporting roles in the clip, though Dio is pretty visible towards the end.

Though Dio's popularity faded, Ronnie James remained active in the music industry until his death in 2010.

Dokken - Just Got Lucky

While Dokken's version of melodic hard rock seemed tailor made for the pop metal era, they never quite landed the big breakout song or album.  To be fair, though, they did have three consecutive platinum (and top 50) LPs in the 1980s, which is more than most groups can say.

The band's roots date back to 1976, when singer/guitarist Don Dokken formed Airborn in Los Angeles.  The name change to Dokken occurred in 1979, when the group discovered that there was a signed band with the Airborn name.  Four years later Dokken had gathered enough of a following to land a recording contract with Elektra.  Unfortunately, their first album (1983's Breaking the Chains) did not do well -- to the point that convincing the label to finance a second album became quite an ordeal (as an aside, this led to the LP's name -- Tooth and Nail).

Though Tooth and Nail didn't become a smash hit, it did establish Dokken as a legitimate rock act, and eventually reached #49 on the album charts.  "Just Got Lucky" did not chart on the singles charts, but hit #27 on the Billboard mainstream rock chart.  It remains our favorite Dokken song, though we don't recall seeing the video back in the day.

The vid is pretty standard stuff, though it does look as though portions of it may have been filmed in a dressing room (mirrors!).  The guitar solo was shot in Hawaii, near an active volcano that apparently made breathing difficult.

As previously mentioned, Dokken would go on to have further successes in the 1980s, before the simmering tensions between Don Dokken and lead guitarist George Lynch caused Dokken to break up in 1989.  However, there have been multiple reunions since then, and the band seems to be doing reunion shows as of this writing.
 

Glenn Fry - Smuggler's Blues

It has been a tough few weeks in rockland; Atropos has been busy.  And while we already had posts up for Lemmy ("Ace of Spades") and Bowie ("Ashes to Ashes"), Glenn Fry was still in the bullpen at the time of his passing.  As a result, we moved him up in order to create a fitting ERV memorial to him.

Glenn Fry was born in Detroit, Michigan, and moved to California in the late 1960s to follow his dream in music.  This eventually led to work in Linda Ronstadt's backup band, and in 1971 he and fellow backup band members Don Henley, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon formed the Eagles.

The Eagles were at the forefront of the California folk/country/rock sound of the 1970s, and became one of the best-selling acts of the decade.  And though there was some turnover among the band members, the group was more or less run by Fry and Henley.

After the Eagles disbanded in 1980, Fry continued recording as a solo artist, and had three top 40 LPs and 7 top 40 singles in the 1980s.  His solo popularity faded in the 1990s, but this was offset by the Eagles' resurgence, as they had several reunions starting in 1994.

"Smuggler's Blues" showcases Glenn Fry at the peak of his popularity, and the song was helped by the movie-like video.  Additionally, the song and theme fit perfectly with the TV show Miami Vice, and Fry (and his song) were showcased on the 15th episode, which was named (not coincidentally) Smuggler's Blues.  All this publicity helped "Smuggler's Blues" to reach #12, while The Allnighter album hit #22.

With its bluesy guitar sound and cool video, this remains our favorite Glenn Fry single and is, we think, a fitting tribute to him.

Rest peacefully, Glenn Fry, and thanks for the music.

Jefferson Starship - No Way Out

Rounding out this year's All Hallows Even celebration is "No Way Out" from Jefferson Starship.  The song is off the Nuclear Furniture LP, which became the last Jefferson Starship album when guitarist Paul Kantner quit the band, taking the name with him.  (Kantner was unhappy with the group's musical direction).  The act soldiered on as Starship, and found success with a slick, commercial pop sound, though it seems unlikely that any of those videos will appear on ERV.

While "No Way Out" starts off on a creepy note, the video quickly drifts from cool and campy into plain weird.  Perhaps this was intentional, as the clip did garner some airtime on MTV, which likely helped the song. (The single reached #23 on the charts, while the LP hit #28).  In addition to being downright strange, the video is noteworthy for the appearances of one Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello).

In the aftermath of Kantner quitting, the renamed Starship would go on to have 6 top 40 and 3 #1 singles in the later half of the 1980s, before breaking up in 1990 (although singer Mickey Thomas reformed the band in 1992).  Thomas and Kantner remain somewhat active in the industry as of this writing.

Long time readers will recall that Jefferson Starship's "Find Your Way Back" was featured on ERV in April 2013.  In addition, Marty Balin's "Hearts" has also made an appearance on ERV (Balin was the lead singer of an earlier verson of Jefferson Starship).

Cool trivia fact: Kantner's appearance in this video was was his last appearance in Jefferson Starship until he reformed the band (with different members) in 1992.

Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me

Welcome to ERV's 5th annual All Hallows Even celebration, and feel free to click on the (appropriately named) All Hallows Even label to the right if you'd like to catch up on our earlier videos.  In short, we try to come up with rare and interesting Halloween videos to celebrate the spooky time of year.

Leading off this year is an artist who had some definite career advantages.  For instance, although being Barry Gordy's son may not ensure that you make in the music business, it sure can't hurt.  Ditto for having Michael Jackson (yes, that Michael Jackson) sing backup on your first single.

To be fair, Rockwell (born as Kennedy William Gordy) used a stage name, and may have even signed to his father's Motown label without the old man knowing.  Rockwell's first single was released in 1984 and is a perfect Halloween video (it has been in the bullpen from our first All Hallows Even post).  One viewing and you'll see (or remember) why.

"Somebody's Watching Me" turned out to be a big hit for Rockwell, reaching #2 on the charts, while his debut LP of the same name hit #15.  However, that was the peak of his success, and after his next two albums failed to break the top 100, Rockwell left the industry.

Cool trivia fact:  Rockwell is not a one hit wonder, as "Obscene Phone Caller" off Somebody's Watching Me reached #35 on the chats.

Bruce Cockburn - If I Had a Rocket Launcher

"If I Had a Rocket Launcher" was one of the more political songs to hit the charts during the 1980s.  The song was written by Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn, who built a successful career in his home country, but saw little mainstream success south of the Canadian border.

Cockburn was born in Ottawa and entered the music business in the late 1960s.  His big breakthrough was 1979's "Wondering Where the Lions Are" which led to an extended period of chart success in Canada.  Between 1979 and 1997, Cockburn had 8 top 40 singles (and another 12 songs that charted but did not break the top 40).  In contrast, only  "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" and "Wondering Where the Lions Are"  broke the top 100 in the U.S.

Interestingly, prior to 1984's Stealing Fire, Cockburn was not considered an unusually political songwriter, though his humanist and pacifist leanings were known to his fans.  However, an Oxfam sponsored trip to Central America underscored the troubles there, and led to much of the material on his album.  "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" was inspired by an actual event, where Cockburn saw Guatemalan refugees fired on by helicopters.

Although there was some controversy around the song -- particularly the last lyric, Cockburn has said that it is not a call for violence, but a cry for help.

"If I Had a Rocket Launcher" peaked at #88 in the U.S., while the Stealing Fire LP would reach #74.

Cool trivia fact:  Bruce Cockburn is a one hit wonder in the U.S.; only 1979's "Wondering Where the Lions Are" (#21) broke the top 40.

Apollonia 6 - Sex Shooter

The Apollonia 6 story begins where the Vanity 6 story ends.  (And another shout out to long time reader Sam, who requested the Vanity 6 video more than two years ago).  As we mentioned in the earlier post, Vanity left Vanity 6 (and Prince) in order to go out on her own.  This created a problem for Prince, as not only was he writing material for Vanity 6, but Vanity was supposed to be the female lead in Prince's upcoming movie at the time (you may have heard of it -- Purple Rain).

A casting call ensued, and Patricia Apollonia Kotero was chosen for the role.  Prince liked her middle name, and just like that Apollonia was the new lead singer of Apollonia 6 (still named after the number of breasts in the band ... really).  Additionally, Apollonia became the female lead in Purple Rain.

While Apollonia was quite beautiful, she did not have the strongest singing voice, and Prince seemed to lose interest in her (and the concept of a girl band) soon after Purple Rain.  There may or may not have been a romantic falling out, as well.  As a result, only one album was released, the eponymous 1984 LP.  "Sex Shooter" became a minor hit, reaching #85 on the charts, but Apollonia is probably best-known for the movie, and her duet with Prince, "Take Me With You," a top 40 hit from 1985 (and the last single from Purple Rain.)

Apollonia also had a falling out with Prince, and went out on her own in 1985, primarily as an actress.  She later went to film school, and we believe that she still runs her entertainment company, Kotero Entertainment.

In addition to the primary video for "Sex Shooter," we also found the performance clip from Purple Rain; in the interests of completeness both are below.

Cool trivia facts:  "Take Me With You" was originally intended to be an Apollonia 6 song, but was a late addition to Purple Rain.  In additional, "Manic Monday" (later a big hit for The Bangles) and "Glamorous Life" (later a hit for Sheila E.) we both originally written as Apollonia 6 songs.

Sandy Stewart - Saddest Victory

Best-known for her collaborations with Stevie Nicks, Sandy Stewart is a singer/songwriter who could have become a successful pop star if the pieces had fallen into place.  The fact that she ended up as more of a musical footnote says more about the vagaries of the industry than her talent.

Stewart grew up in Houston, and met Stevie Nicks through a mutual friend when Stewart was trying to break into the industry.  Initially, Stewart was seeking some help writing lyrics for a song, but she soon partnered with Nicks and co-wrote three songs for Nick's 1983 LP, The Wild Heart. Two of those songs, "If Anyone Falls" (#14) and "Nightbird" (#33) broke the top 40.

Unsurprisingly, this led to a recording contract and Stewart's debut solo album, Cat Dancer, came out the following year.  Although "Saddest Victory" picked up a bit of airplay on MTV, neither the song nor the album charted.  A collaboration with Nile Rodgers for the soundtrack of White Nights followed in 1985 ("This Is Your Day").

In 1987, Stewart co-wrote the Fleetwood Mac song "Seven Wonders" (with Stevie Nicks), which would reach #19 on the charts.  While that was it for her major hits. Sandy Stewart remained in the industry, and has collaborated with Stevie Nicks several times in the intervening years.  Most recently, Stewart has been involved with the Purple Songs Can Fly organization, which helps pediatric cancer patients through music and songwriting.

Roger Hodgson - Had a Dream (Sleeping with the Enemy)

Any discussion of Roger Hodgson has to begin with his time in Supertramp, as he co-fronted the band (with Rick Davies) from its 1969 founding until 1983.  Over time, he began to feel less comfortable in the band (a sadly common occurrence) and this seems to have been exacerbated by his move to Northern California in 1981 (the remainder of Supertramp was based in LA).  As a result, Hodgson left Supertramp in 1983 to spend more time with his family.

However, Hodgson continued to write and record (with the aid of a home studio) and in 1984 he released his first solo album -- In the Eye of the Storm.  While the album garnered favorable reviews, it did not perform well, reaching #46 on the album charts, while "Had a Dream (Sleeping with the Enemy)" only hit #48 on the singles charts.  It is likely that the fading popularity of art rock and the lack of name recognition combined to hurt sales.

Three years later, Hodgson's second solo LP was released (Hai Hai), but it performed even worse than its predecessor.  Compounding the issue, Hodgson fell and broke both wrists, which prevented him from touring.  He then seems to have semi-retired from the industry for a time, although he has performed more in recent years (he did release a third solo album in 2000, as well).

In spite of the lack of commercial success, "Had a Dream" sounds like a classic Supertramp song to my ear (in a very good way).  The upbeat song and progressive, quirky lyrics lend themselves to the video, including the juxtapositioning of marching bands and military parades.  We view the song and video as something of a forgotten classic.

Let's Active - Waters Part

Let's Active came out of the vibrant Southeastern college rock scene of the early 1980s and could have become a big time alternative band if things had broken for them.  Unfortunately, this did not happen, leaving the group as more of a footnote in 1980s music.  This is a shame, as they produced some of the best college pop this side of R.E.M.

The group was founded in North Carolina in 1981 and was led by singer/songwriter Mitch Easter.  Easter is best-known for his work with R.E.M.; he produced their debut EP, Chronic Town, and co-produced (with Don Dixon) the band's first two LPs, Murmur and Reckoning.  Easter's own sound was not totally dissimilar to R.E.M., but with more 1960s pop and less folk influences.

For the blog, we went with "Waters Part" from Let's Active's first LP, 1984's Cypress.  The song did not chart, while the album only reached #153.  Sadly, Let's Active never had a album break the top 100.  The group released additional albums in 1986 and 1988 before breaking up in 1990, though there have been some reunion shows in recent years.

Cool trivia fact:  The Let's Active name came from a nonsensical expression used on a Japanese T-shirt back in the day.

Animotion - Obsession

We continue our series of songs that you didn't know were covers with Animotion's 1985 hit, "Obsession."  This song was originally written by Michael Des Barres and Holly Knight (more on them in a moment).

Animotion was a San Francisco-based band that was mainly comprised of former members of the Sci-Fi rock band Red Zone.  The six member band was also notable for having co-lead singers -- Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams.  Their 1985 self-titled debut LP reached #28 on the charts, led by "Obsession," which would go on to become a #6 hit for them.  Unfortunately, lineup changes and weaker material would hurt the band, though they did release three major label albums before their 1989 break up.

The video for "Obsession" is a nice set up for our forthcoming All Hallows Even celebration; it looks like a cool mid-1980s costume party in California.  MTV loved the vid and it went into heavy rotation for quite some time in 1985, which no doubt helped the song.

As previously mentioned, the original version was written and performed by Michael Des Barres and Holly Knight and was featured in the 1983 movie A Night in Heaven.  By the by, Holly Knight has been previously mentioned on ERV (we now have a tag for her) as a big time songwriter.  There is more on her on the posts for John Waite's "Change" and  Lou Gramm's "Just Between You and Me" ... and yes, she wrote both of those songs too.

Cool trivia fact:  Animotion is not a one hit wonder, as 1985's "Let Him Go" (#39) and 1989's "Room to Move" (#9) both broke the top 40.

Morris Day and The Time - Jungle Love

With his larger-than-life persona, humor, and style Morris Day was the perfect frontman for The Time.  He was also a tremendous foil for Prince in Purple Rain, but had a tough time translating that to continued commercial success.

The Time began as a Prince side project and provided an outlet for some of his funkier music as he transitioned to rock and pop.  He created the group in 1981, and filled it with talented members of the Minneapolis funk scene, including Morris Day, a childhood acquaintance (who also co-wrote "Partyup" on the Dirty Mind LP).  Most of The Time came from a preexisting R&B act called Flyte Time, which included Jellybean Johnson on drums, Jimmy Jam and Monte Moir on keyboards, and Terry Lewis on bass.  With Morris Day and Jesse Johnson (guitars), the group was complete.

Though The Time released three top 50 albums in the early 1980s, there were issues with Prince from the start.  First, Prince played all of the music on their albums and required that Morris Day sing the songs note-for-note as Prince intended.  There were also problems concerning the pay and the treatment of the band; by 1984 The Time had broken up.

"Jungle Love" may be The Time's best-known song; it reached #20 on the singles chart in 1984.  It is a straight up funk jam that is captured quite well in Purple Rain.  Though it is not the rarest of the rare, it has become something of a forgotten classic.

There have been several Time reunions, starting in 1990 for the Graffiti Bridge movie soundtrack.  The group is currently together, and has been working under the name The Original 7ven since 2001.

Rod Stewart - Infatuation

Unlike most established rock stars, Rod Stewart embraced music videos, and he made several great ones during the 1980s.  Unfortunately, his music was not the strongest during this time (something that even he has admitted in recent years).  Even so, there are a few clips that stand out, and "Infatuation" is foremost among them.

The song comes off Stewart's 1984 Camouflage album.  The LP peaked at #18 in the U.S., while "Infatuation" hit #6.  It is not a terrible song, and is typical of the lightweight, somewhat commercial pop material that Stewart was recording in the 1980s.  However, the video is something else.

The music video was directed by Jonathan Kaplan, who is probably best-known for his 1988 film, The Accused.  Mostly taking place in an apartment complex (as a homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window), the vid features Stewart as a voyeur infatuated with a mobster's girlfriend (played by Kay Lenz).  Character actor Mike Mazurki rounds out the cast as the mobster's enforcer or bodyguard.

Shot primarily in black and white, the storytelling, camera shots, and connection to the song's lyrics made this a truly exceptional video, in your author's opinion.  Several scenes really jump out, including the intro in the pool, the goldfish feeding, and the scenes where Stewart dances in front of the oversized picture of the object of his affection.  And it has Jeff Beck, who brings his sizzling guitar with him.

Stewart would go on to have a long and successful career in the music business, though he did transition to something of a crooner in the 1990s.

Cool trivia fact:  There were two version of the video made.  In the one above, the mobster rides off with the girl.  In the second version, below, Stewart gets the girl (or maybe it is just in his head).

Cool trivia fact #2:  There is a solid interview with actress Kay Lenz at Noblemania.

Lastly, we found a cool making of video with Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck, so of course we had to include that too:

Billy Squire - Rock Me Tonight

Eighties Rare Videos is filled with rare and semi-rare videos of great bands that never quite made it.  But we also like a great story, and the tale of how Billy Squier supposedly ruined his career with a terrible video is just too good for us to pass up.

Billy Squier, the pride of Wellesley, Massachusetts, had a long road to rock stardom.  He began performing in bands in 1969, and finally signed with Capitol Records as a solo artist in 1980.  His breakthrough came on his second LP, 1981's Don't Say No, which went triple platinum and peaked at #5 on the U.S. album charts.

By 1984, Squier was a well-established rock star, with two top 5 LPs and three top 40 hits ... which makes the "Rock Me Tonight" video all the more inexplicable.  To be honest, we just thought of it as a terrible music video, but in recent years, it has become legendary in scope (and has been requested more than once by our readers).  The story really took off after after it was featured in the 2011 Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks book, I Want My MTV.  During their research for the book, they found that the video was generally viewed as the worst major video ever made, and that it essentially ruined Billy Squier's career.  In fact, they devote an entire chapter of their book to "Rock Me Tonight."

In reality, the video was not played much on MTV, as the station realized what Squier's management and label didn't (namely, that it was effeminate and suckie).  Ironically, the song ended up being the highest charting single of Squier's career at #15, and the album also did well at #11.  While Squire had four more charting singles and two top 75 albums in the 1980s, his period of major commercial success was over.  In my view, the video didn't help but probably was not the major cause for Squier's fall in popularity (in general, rock stars have a limited shelf life).

However, "Rock Me Tonight" is a genuinely terrible (and unintentionally hilarious) video:

Billy Squire continued recording albums through the mid-1990s and remains occasionally active as a performer as of this writing.  Note that Squier's "The Big Beat," which has been sampled nearly 200 times by hip hop artists, was featured on ERV in November, 2014.

Whitesnake - Love Ain't No Stranger

"Love Ain't No Stranger" was the first Whitesnake song to make a dent in the U.S. market, reaching #34 on the Mainstream Rock charts.  However, this was soon overshadowed by "Slow An' Easy" (posted on ERV in August 2011), which reached #17 on the same charts.

Both songs were off the poorly titled 1984 LP Slide It In, which turned out to be Whitesnake's breakthrough album in the important U.S. market; the album reached #42 in the U.S. and eventually went double platinum.  As we have previously mentioned on ERV, it was around this time that lead singer David Coverdale began to focus more intently on commercial success, which resulted in significant turnover among the other members of the band.  This also led to an increased focus on videos.

The video for "Love Ain't No Stranger" intercuts the band playing with Coverdale watching girls on trucks at an army base.  No, it doesn't make much sense to me, either.  The video is quite rare though, and the song is a solid, somewhat forgotten power ballad.

Whitesnake would go on to have huge success on their eponymous next album in 1987,  and Coverdale continues to use the Whitesnake name to record and perform as of this writing.

Cool trivia fact:  Whitesnake's first charting single on the U.S. pop charts (the Billboard 200), "Here I Go Again '87" went to #1.