Ray Parker, Jr. - The Other Woman

Well, it's that time of year again at ERV, when we kick back and jam on some Hallloweeny videos, including the awesome rare clip below.  Regular readers will recall that we love Halloween at ERV, and post a trio of videos each year that capture the holiday spirit, without resorting to to the laziness of "Thriller" or "Ghostbusters."

Speaking of "Who ya gonna call," Ray Parker, Jr. kicks of the All Hallows Even videos this year with his underrated funk pop song, "The Other Woman."  Ray Parker's early success was with his band Raydio, who had four top 50 LPs and 5 top 40 singles between 1978 and 1981.  The group was textbook pop funk, and are recommended by ERV.

Raydio broke up in 1981, as Parker wanted to go out of his own, and "The Other Woman" was his first solo single, off the 1982 album of the same name.  The song was a hit, reaching #4 on the charts (we have to admit that this surprised us; we did not think that it had done this well).  While Parker scored a #1 hit with "Ghostbusters" in 1984, in general his solo career was uneven, and he faded from view after 1990.  However, he remains in the industry and appears to be active as of this writing.

The video for "The Other Woman" fits perfectly into our theme, with vampires, skeletons, graveyards, a spooky saxophone player, and the ubiquitous Frankenstein butler.  Oh, and there is definitely a Blacula reference (how freaking cool is that?)  The video may not make a ton of sense, but it gets a thumbs up from us.  It's also a great way to start this year's All Hallows Even celebration -- we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Note that Ray Parker, Jr. and Raydio's "A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)" was posted on ERV in March 2016.

Greg Kihn Band - Jeopardy

The Greg Kihn Band was a solid working group that had some meaningful success in the early 1980s with three top 40 albums and three top 40 singles.  While Kihn was originally from Baltimore, he moved to San Francisco in the early 1970s to work in the music industry.  By 1976 Kihn had a band and a recording contract.

Success came slowly for the band, who played constantly as they built a following.  Their first real breakthrough was 1981's "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)," which reached #15 on the singles chart.  However, they are probably best-known for "Jeopardy" from their 1983 Kihnspiracy LP (yes, Kihn has a thing for puns as album titles).

The wild, surreal video quickly gained traction on MTV and helped propel the song to the #2 slot on the charts (behind Michael Jackson's "Beat It").  While the song isn't spooky, the video, complete with skeletons, zombies and a giant, tentacled monster seemed like a great fit for our All Hallows Eve videos.

Although Kihn has not had a charting single since 1986, he remains active in the music industry.  He was also a DJ on KFOX in San Jose, California for 16 years (he and the station parted ways in 2012).

The Greg Kihn Band's rarer (and excellent) "Reunited" was posted on ERV in April 2014.

Ramones - Pet Sematary

Written for the Stephen King movie of the same (intentionally misspelled) name, "Pet Sematary" would go on to become one of the Ramones bigger radio hits.  The song would reach #4 on the Modern Rock charts, while the Brain Drain album peaked at #122.  In spite of this success, neither the song nor the album were well-regarded by critics, who viewed the song as more hard rock than punk.  [Readers who are so inclined should contrast "Pet Sematary" with "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," which was also used in the Pet Sematary movie.]

While this criticism is valid, "Pet Sematary" still manages to combine a Stephen King horror flick with the Ramones, making it a fantastic Halloween video.  In fact, it was a match made in horror heaven, as King is a big fan of the Ramones.

The video combines scenes from the movie with the band playing in a ... well, cemetery.  While there a bunch of actors, fog machines, and graves also present, there really isn't much more to the video (although we did appreciate the fact that the band is buried in the end).

By the by, the Ramones were featured on ERV last August with "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" which is well worth checking out.

The Specials - Ghost Town

Kicking off this year's All Hallows Even festivities is "Ghost Town" by The Specials.  The Specials were a truly innovative band, and one of the first 2 Tone ska bands in the U.K.  Founded in 1977, they combined an updated ska sound with an aggressive punk attitude.  Add in political lyrics, and you have the makings of an important and interesting band.

The group had 7 top 10 hits in the U.K. between 1979 and 1981, without much success in the U.S.  "Ghost Town," a non-album single released in 1981, spent three weeks as the #1 song in the U.K.  Inspired by the economic problems and urban decay of Britain in the early 1980s, the song touched a nerve in the U.K., but remains somewhat unknown in the U.S.

The video, featuring the band driving around in a Vauxhall Cresta through empty London streets is simple but effective, and is a great way to start off the Halloween season.

Many critics view "Ghost Town" as The Specials greatest achievement.  Unfortunately, the band partially disintegrated soon after the song was released, with the three primary singers (Terry Hall, Neville Staple, and Lynval Golding) leaving to form Fun Boy Three.  While The Specials carried on (as The Special AKA) for one album, it was not as successful, and Jerry Dammers (the band's primary songwriter) disbanded the group in 1984.

Yazoo - Don't Go

Another superb Halloween video (if we say so ourselves ... and we do) is Yazoo's "Don't Go."  Long time readers and 1980s synth pop fans will recall that Yazoo (Yaz if you live in the U.S.) was formed by Vince Clarke after he left Depeche Mode.  Although they only released two albums, Yazoo produced some of the strongest synth pop material of the early 1980s, helped by Alison Moyet's powerful vocals.

Yazoo's first album, 1982's Upstairs at Eric's was a smash in the UK, where it went to #2 on the charts.  (The band's follow-up, 1983's You and Me Both, peaked at #1).  However, Yaz had less mainstream success in the U.S., where they were mainly seen as a dance band.  In fact, "Don't Go" did not break the top 100 on the Billboard charts in the U.S., although it did hit #1 on the U.S. Dance charts (and #3 in the UK).  However, the video was popular on MTV back in the day.  We dig the Rocky Horror vibe of the video, and we think it works quite well with the song.

Yazoo disbanded after their 1983 album.  Vince Clarke would of course go on to form Erasure (ERV featured "A Little Respect" back in March) while Alison Moyet had a successful solo career (particularly in the UK).  Clarke and Moyet re-formed Yazoo in 2008, and they have worked together from time to time since then.

Cool trivia fact:  Yazoo never had a top 40 hit in the U.S., although "Only You" and "Situation" both broke the top 100.

Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon

A strong candidate for the second-best Halloween video ever, "Bark at the Moon" came about in large part due to Ozzy's fascination with werewolves.  As many readers will know, werewolves were everywhere during the 1980s (much like vampires today), including in An American Werewolf in London (which inspired Osbourne and Michael Jackson) and the "Thriller" video.

Once Osbourne decided on the werewolf theme, the decision was made to use the same team for the album cover shoot and the video.  While he did not get John Landis (who directed both An American Werewolf and "Thriller"), the team that was put together consisted of horror movie professionals, and the results were quite solid, in my opinion.

The song is also noteworthy in that it was the first collaboration between Ozzy and Jake E. Lee, who replaced Randy Rhodes as Ozzy's guitarist.  Rhodes, of course, died in a plane crash in 1982.  Lee worked with Ozzy until 1987 and would then go on to form Badlands, who have already appeared on this blog and are one of the rare underrated 1980s hard rock bands, in your author's opinion.

The Bark at the Moon LP would peak at #19 in the U.S and would go on to triple platinum status.  "Bark at the Moon" (the single) would not do as well, and did not break the top 100, hitting #109 at its peak.  To be fair, few of Ozzy's singles did well.  However, Ozzy has remained successful and continues to perform and record to the present day.

The Sherbs - We Ride Tonight

Long time readers will remember that ERV loves Halloween, and we put up a few Halloweeny videos last year before the holiday.  [As an aside, last year's videos can be found by clicking the All Hallows Even tag here or to the right.]

This year's All Hallows Even tribute starts with a classic by The Sherbs.  This is the band's second appearance at ERV; "I Have the Skill" was featured in June, 2012.  In short, The Sherbs were the re-formed version of Sherbert, a successful Australian pop band who changed their name, updated their sound, and released two albums in the early 1980s.

"We Ride Tonight" was from the second solo record, 1981's Defying Gravity.  The song hit #26 on the U.S Mainstream charts, but did not break the Billboard top 100.  The LP did not do well, and the band broke up soon afterwards.

The video has an eerie feel to it, no doubt inspired by the keyboard intro and unusual bridge.  Both of those sections of the song feature the motorcycle vs. strange people in robes scenes that make the video perfect for this time of year.  The remainder of the video features that band performing, often in close-up.  All-in-all, it seemed like a good way to start the season.

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast

What is more Halloweeny (yes, we just made up that word) than some good old-fashioned metal?  How about some metal with horror clips and a demonic-sounding title?

Iron Maiden's 1982 album, The Number of the Beast, is on a short list of the greatest heavy metals albums ever.  Dark, loud and surprisingly melodic, it is the prototypical Iron Maiden record, and the first one with lead singer Bruce "Air Raid Siren" Dickinson.  The album also proved to be a tremendous commercial success, and has sold some 14 million units worldwide.  It reached #33 on the US charts, but hit #1 in the UK, where both "The Number of the Beast" and "Run to the Hills" broke the top 20 on the singles chart!

While religious conservatives were concerned with the "satanic message," the title song from the album was actually inspired by bass player Steve Harris' nightmare after watching Damien: Omen II.  To be fair, though, the band did play up the supernatural angle in interviews, which (of course) seemed to help sales.

Cool trivia fact:  the band originally wanted Vincent Price to read the intro (foreshadowing "Thriller") but he proved to be too expensive for their budget.  As a result, an actor named Barry Clayton was hired to do it.

Iron Maiden's underrated 1983 song, "Flight of Icarus" was posted on ERV in March, 2015, while "2 Minutes to Midnight" was featured during out 2020 All Hallows Even celebration.

Huey Lewis and the News - Heart and Soul

The second of our "songs that remind us of Halloween in a subtle, non-"Thriller" sort of way."  "Heart and Soul" was Huey Lewis and the News' big breakout; it reached #8 on the charts and launched their career.  It was the first single from 1983's Sports, which became a #1 album, and the second biggest album of 1984, only trailing a little album that you might have heard of called Thriller.

The video is basically Huey and the band at a cool Halloween party in San Francisco, in 1983.  We're not really sure what the video has to do with the song, but hey, MTV liked it and put it in heavy rotation, and the rest is history.  Cool trivia fact:  the actress in the video is Signy Coleman, who would go on to become a regular on The Young and the Restless, and is also the lead in the "I Want a New Drug" video.

Now for some extra coolness -- this song is a cover.  This will relaunch the "songs that you didn't know were covers" section of the blog -- note that the second post ever (Pat Benatar's "You Better Run") also fits in that category.  Expect some more in due course.  At any rate, the original version was done by Exile (of "Kiss You All Over" fame) in 1981, and it actually charted (#102).  For those who are interested, a link to the song is below:

Note that "Workin' For A Livin'," "Some of My Lies Are True" and "Doing It All For My Baby" have also been posted to ERV.

The English Beat - Save It For Later

The first of three songs in honor of the upcoming All Hallows Even.  However, we did not want to be lazy about the holiday and go with "Thriller" and the like; instead we have chosen songs that have a Halloween vibe (to us, at least).

The English Beat (The Beat to all non-Americans) were a 2 Tone ska/pop band founded in England in the late 1970s.  The group's sound evolved over time and by 1982's Special Beat Service, it was clear that they were venturing away from their ska roots and into something different ... more like a ska influenced new wave pop sound.

Although it was actually an old song (written before the band formed, in fact), "Save it for Later" fit in quite nicely with this post-ska aesthetic.  It is a wonderfully odd sounding song, driven by an unusual open D guitar tuning (DADAAD, if you must ask).  Lyrically, it is about a teen's transition into a twenty-something, with a dirty joke thrown it, to boot ("for later" ... fe'llator ...)

But it is the video that places the song here, in late October.  The strangle club, the skeletons, the unusual clientele -- it all reminds us of a Halloween party (a really cool one, in England circa 1982).

Sadly, The English Beat broke up soon after Special Beat Services was released, but returned (in a way) as former members became General Public and Fine Young Cannibals.