The Cult - Rain

"Rain" was the second single off The Cult's 1985 Love album (or perhaps the first, as "She Sells Sanctuary" was actually released prior to the LP).  This is another atmospheric rock song that makes one wonder why The Cult weren't even bigger stars.

The group formed in Yorkshire, England in the early 1980s, and started as a goth rock band called Southern Death Cult.  Lineup, name, and style changes followed with the band really taking shape in 1983 or 1984.  Led by the mystical singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, The Cult crafted a unique hard rock sound with atmospheric and new wave influences.

The video for "Rain" is a cool, slightly freaky clip that alludes to the song's subject matter (in a word: sex).  We don't recall seeing this one back in the day, but it is a strong if somewhat odd effort.  The single did not chart in the U.S., but did pick up a bunch of rock and college radio airplay - similar to "She Sells Sanctuary," which was posted on ERV in August, 2011.  However, the Love album would reach #87 on the charts and go gold.

The Cult would go on to have significant success before breaking up in 1995, though there have been numerous reunions since then.

Cool trivia fact:  The Cult are a no hit wonder in the U.S.; their highest charting single was 1989's Fire Woman (#46).  (They did have #11 top 40 singles in the U.K.)

Cool trivia fact #2:  Prior to joining The Cult, guitarist Billy Duffy played with a pre-Smiths Morrissey in the Nosebleeds.

The video for "Lil' Devil" was posted on ERV in May, 2021.

Joe Satriani - Satch Boogie

How prevalent were rock guitarists in the 1980s?  So much so that even Michael Jackson inserted a blistering solo into "Beat It" (with Eddie Van Halen, no less).

However, even among guitar heroes Joe Satriani stood out as a king among kings.  His effortless technical prowess, use of multiple styles and abilities as a teacher made him a living legend in the hard rock scene of the 1980s.  Surprisingly, a combination of great musicianship, good timing, and a bit of good luck led to some commercial success, in spite of the fact that his work was entirely instrumental.

Satriani was born on Long Island and gained local notoriety as a player and teacher.  In the late 1970s he moved to California to pursue a career in music, which eventually led to a gig in the Greg Kihn Band (seriously!)  After former student Steve Vai joined David Lee Roth's solo band, Satriani became better-known, and he eventually released his second solo LP in 1987.

Surfing With the Alien became a surprise hit that same year, reaching #29 on the charts, and the title cut and "Satch Boogie" both hit the Mainstream Rock Charts, due to FM radio play.  The video for "Satch Boogie" is relatively basic, but this is definitely a 'let the music do the talking' sort of song.

 Joe Satriani's  commercial success faded somewhat in the 1990s, be he remains a working musician, and seems to enjoy performing with other guitarists.  (For example, G3, a working group that originally comprised Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson has continued in various versions to the present day).

Cool trivia fact:  Satch is Joe Satriani's nickname.

Styx - A.D. 1928 / Rockin' the Paradise

Long time readers will recall that videos which were played during the first day of MTV (August 1, 1981) have a special place in our hearts at ERV.  Is this rational?  Probably not. (Especially since we did not get MTV on our cable system until the following summer).  But there you have it.

Which brings us the Styx' "A.D. 1928 / Rockin' The Paradise," the 10th video played on MTV (yes, ever).  "A.D. 1928" is the piano and keyboard intro, while "Rockin' the Paradise" begins with the guitars (around 1:10 below).  The song is a good example of the band combining different musical styles, while the live (ish) video highlights the band's showmanship.

Styx are an interesting band and an unlikely success story.  The group formed in Chicago in the late 1960s and officially became Styx when they signed their first recording contract in 1972.  Originally a prog rock act, the band's style become progressively more pop rock during the 1970s, leading to their 1977 breakout, The Grand Illusion.

"Rockin' the Paradise" was off the group's 1981 Paradise Theater album, a concept album based on the opening and eventual closing of a theater in Chicago.  By this point, the tension between guitarists Tommy Shaw / James Young (who were more rock oriented) and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung (who was more pop ballad focused) were nearing a breaking point.  The conflict would eventually boil over during the 1983 Kilroy Was Here album and the group would break up the following year.

In spite of this, the Paradise Theater album would reach #1 on the charts, although "Rockin' the Paradise" surprisingly did not chart.  However, "The Best of Times" (#3) and "Too Much Time on My Hands" (#9) would both break the top 10.

Styx re-formed in 1989 (without Tommy Shaw, who was in Damn Yankees at the time), broke up in 1992, and reformed in 1995.  They remain together (with some personnel changes) as of this writing.

Tommy Shaw's solo video for "Girls With Guns" was posted on ERV in September 2013.

J. Geils Band - Come Back

ERV regulars will recall that we posted "Love Stinks" back in July 2012.  And our Facebook readers will note that we would have prefered to post "Just Can't Wait" here, but alas, no video appears to have been made for that song.  Fortunately, our second choice is still quite solid indeed.

"Come Back" is J. Geils at their danciest (not totally sure that this is a word, but let's go with it).  The song is clearly influenced by the popularity of Disco, and we suspect that means that lead singer Peter Wolf had a particularly large impact on the songwriting -- though officially virtually every song on the Love Stinks LP was co-written by Wolf and keyboardist Seth Justman.

"Come Back" ended up becoming the highest charting single off the Love Stinks album, reaching #32 (the title cut hit #38, while "Just Can't Wait" peaked at #78).  However, the video was not played as much as the insanity that is "Love Stinks," making this a bit of a rare one.

As many readers will know, the J. Geils Band story is a bit sad.  The band toiled as an overgrown bar band, gradually becoming a major act, before finally breaking out with 1982's Freeze Frame.  Success seemed to ruin the group, as Wolf left in 1983 to embark on a solo career.  The remaining member released one album (1984's You're Gettin' Even While I'm Gettin' Odd) before breaking up the following year.  However, there have been periodic reunions in recent years.

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).

Fiona - Talk To Me

It is easy to forget how difficult it is to become a rock star.  Even if all of the pieces are there, sometimes they just don't fit together.  Case in point: Fiona, who had the attitude, looks and voice to be a star, but never made it.

Fiona Flanagan was born in New Jersey, but moved to New York City when she was 18, and began her career as the frontwoman of several bands.  This led to a recording contract with Atlantic, and a 1985 self-titled debut album produced by Beau Hill, who had worked with Ratt and Sandy Stewart.  (Hill would later produce albums for Winger, Warrant, and Europe.)

Fiona's debut album generated some traction, but never delivered the breakout song to launch her career.  The album reached #71, while "Talk to Me" peaked at #64.  We seem to recall seeing the video on our favorite station, but we don't think that it went into heavy rotation.

A guest spot on Miami Vice ("Little Miss Dangerous") and a second album followed in 1986.  In 1987, Fiona co-starred in the Bob Dylan movie Hearts of Fire, which did so poorly in its limited U.K. release that it was sent direct to video in the U.S.  After two additional albums did not succeed, Fiona left the industry, although she did return in 2011 with Unbroken, which has received positive reviews from AOR rock aficionados.

For the blog, we went with "Talk to Me," which does a nice job of highlighting the charismatic singer and her hair.

Jack Green - One by One

Jack Green is a Scottish guitarist who played in three famous bands.  Green was in T-Rex for five months in 1973, and was later a member of The Pretty Things from 1974 - 1976.  He was also a member of Rainbow for three weeks (apparently) in 1978.

Green was able to turn his experience in the industry into a recording contract, and he then released four solo records between 1980 and 1986.  "One by One" comes off Green's second album, 1981's Reverse Logic.  We remember the song from HBO's Video Jukebox, a program that played music videos between movies on the channel.  In fact, the main version of the video below comes complete with a HBO Video Jukebox intro.

The video includes a bowling alley, women (including Vanna Bonta) , and a trampoline.  Ahh, those early 1980s videos.  Sadly, neither the song nor the album charted.

As an added bonus, we found a version of the video with what appears to be the director's commentary:

Green apparently left the industry years ago, and now teaches guitar.  He also has a small film production company.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Featuring Stevie Nicks - Insider

Long time readers will recall that we love a good rock & roll story at ERV and "Insider" totally fits the bill.  Eighties music fans will also remember that Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks had a smash hit with their other duet (done around the same time), "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."  That song (the 25th video ever played on MTV) would go on to reach #3 on the charts making it anything but a rare song or video.

The collaboration between Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty began while Petty was recording his 1979 breakthrough LP, Damn the Torpedoes.  Nicks was in the early stages of putting her first solo album together and asked Petty to write a song for her.  Although Petty didn't respond at first, Nicks was persistent and eventually got Petty to agree around a year later, as he and the Heartbreakers were working on the follow up to Damn the Torpedos.

Here's where it gets really interesting.  The song that Petty wrote for Nicks was "Insider."  After it was recorded (in post-production, we imagine), Nicks realized that Petty really loved the song and gave it back to him for his album.  In response, Petty offered Nicks a different song, one that he (and guitarist Mike Campbell) had written earlier called "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."  The rest is history.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 1981 album eventually was named Hard Promises after a line in "Insider."  While the song never became a hit, it is a great song in our humble opinion and a rare video, too.

Cool trivia fact:  "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was the highest charting single ever for both Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty.

Cool trivia fact #2:  The working title of Hard Promises was Benmont's Revenge, named after keyboardist Benmont Tench, who was mentioned in our salacious post on Feargal Sharkey's "A Good Heart" and "You Little Thief".

Note that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Change of Heart" (directed by Cameron Crowe) was posted on ERV in October, 2013.

David Lee Roth - Goin' Crazy!

For my money, David Lee Roth's 1985 departure from Van Halen was a real musical tragedy.  Led by Diamond Dave's showmanship and Eddie Van Halen's guitar licks, Van Halen had become superstars by the mid-1980s.  Both factions seemed to suffer after the breakup, and it is hard not to wonder what they would have produced together.  In fact, the parties involved also seem to have (eventually) realized this as there have been several reunions since 1996.

But in 1985, these reunions were very far away.  Inspired by the success of his Crazy From the Heat EP, Roth put together a group to rival Van Halen.  Guitarist Steve Vai, bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Gregg Bissonette were all outstanding musicians, but the songwriting and chemistry just did not seem to click as much as they had in Van Halen.

On the other hand, Roth's campy and slightly insane worldview remained front and center -- and was well-suited for MTV.  As an example, the video for "Goin' Crazy!" has a nearly three minute intro (skip to 2:36 if you would just like to see the song).

"Goin' Crazy!" reached #66 on the charts, while the Eat 'Em and Smile LP hit #4 and went double platinum.  While 1988's Skyscraper was a hit, Roth's fortunes then faded; by the early 1990s he was no longer a major star.  Van Halen saw a similar trend, and the group has reunited with Roth several times since 1996.  The most recent incarnation of Van Halen has included DLR since 2006 or so, and even released an album (A DIfferent Kind of Truth) in 2012.  They appear to be together as of this writing.

Cool trivia fact:  "Goin' Crazy!" was originally intended to also be the theme of Roth's movie of the same name, but the project was shut down.

Note that Van Halen's cover of "Pretty Woman" was posted on ERV in January 2012.

[January 2019 update]  So it turns out that DLR made a Spanish version of "Goin' Crazy" called ..."Loco del Calor." See it for yourself, below:

Chris Rea - The Road to Hell (Part 2)

Though Chris Rea was a major star in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s, he was more of a cult figure in the U.S.  Stylistically, his music was a modern English (no relation to the band) interpretation of the blues; while Rea and ZZ Top (below) shared some of the same influences, they interpreted the material differently.  Rea's smooth, laid-back feel often reminds me of Dire Straits, but Rea's songs seemed a bit darker compared to Mark Knopfler.

Chris Rea was born in Middlesbrough, England, and started his music career in 1973, when he joined the local band Magdalene (he replaced David Coverdale, who would go on to find success in Deep Purple and Whitesnake).  After kicking around the industry for several years, Rea released his first solo LP in 1978, and gradually built up a following in Europe, before breaking through in the U.K. in the mid-1980s.  Between 1985 - 1998, Rea had 8 top 15 albums in the U.K., and 11 top 40 singles.

"The Road to Hell (Part 2)" (and yes, there is a part 1) was a song with a long instrumental intro, and the label pushed to break the track into two parts.  It is off the 1988 album of the same name, and is generally viewed quite favorably by critics.  The song was conceived while Rea was stuck in traffic on the M25 (the major ring road around London).  "The Road to Hell" reached #10 in the U.K., but did not chart in the U.S., while the album of the same name was a #1 album in the U.K. (#107 in the U.S.)

Rea remains active to the present day, and his albums continue to perform better in the U.K. and Europe compared to the U.S.

Cool trivia fact:  Rea is a U.S. one hit wonder, as only his 1978 single "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" (#12) broke the top 40.

ZZ Top - Stages

ZZ Top may have been the most surprising success story of the 1980s.  True, the blues-rock trio had landed five albums in the top 25 from 1973 - 1981, and even had two top 40 hits ("Tush" and "I Thank You.")  Still, the success of 1983's Eliminator, which launched the band into superstardom, was stunning.  In retrospect, this success was largely driven by two factors ... but more on that in a minute.

The group formed in Houston in 1969 (!) and has remained intact to this day, with guitarist/singer Billy Gibbons, bassist/co-singer Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard (ironically the only member of the group without the trademark Rip Van Winkle facial hair).  From the start, the band's sound incorporated elements of the blues into modern rock songs.

On Eliminator, the group updated their sound even further, adding synthesizers and drum machines to their blues-rock sound.  Though this sounds like a recipe for disaster, the results were spectacular.  It was this updated sound, combined with a shrewd use of videos, that drove ZZ Top's massive success.

1985's Afterburner continued in the same vein, albeit with results that did not hold together quite as well.  Still, there were highlights, such as "Stages," which is our favorite cut off the album.  The song reached #21, while the Afterburner LP went to #4 (thus becoming the highest charting ZZ Top album ever).

The band released one more synthesizer-influenced LP, 1990's Recycler, before returning to a more traditional sound.  While their mainstream popularity gradually declined from the 1980s highs, they remain active in the music industry to the present day.

Cool trivia fact:  The ZZ Top name came as a tribute to blues legend B.B. King.  The band was originally called ZZ King, but decided that this was too similar, and changed it to ZZ Top.

Billy Squier - The Big Beat

The previous time that we discussed Billy Squier was last August, when Squire's amazingly terrible video, "Rock Me Tonight" was featured on the blog.  "Rock Me Tonight" is sometimes viewed as the worst major video ever made, and one that may have contributed to the decline of Billy Squier's career and/or Western civilization as a whole.

While Squier continued recording through the mid-1990s, he did not have a top 40 single or album after "Rock Me Tonight," making it an interesting and somewhat sad anecdote.  And that would be the end of the Billy Squier story, except ...

Squier's trademark sound was punctuated by a driving beat, something that is particularly evident on his earlier work ("The Stroke," for instance).  Bolstered by the superb (and loud) Bobby Chouinard, this strong backbeat would differentiate Squier's songs from many of his contemporaries.  In fact, he led off his first solo album -- 1980's Tale of the Tape -- with a drum intro on "The Big Beat" (side 1, song 1).

Having a clean drum break proved to be irresistible to early rap acts, and the drum intro on "The Big Beat" was sampled as early as 1981.  Over time, the enthusiasm for the drum line has not waned, and it has been used by artists including:  Jay-Z ("99 Problems"), Run-D.M.C. ("Here We Go"), and Alicia Keys ("Girl on Fire').  As of this writing, "The Big Beat" has been sampled in nearly 200 songs, and is one of the 10 most popular samples of all time.  Other Squier songs, particularly "The Stroke" are also popular samples.

Unfortunately, this popularity has not translated to a resurgence in Squier's career, and in recent interviews he seems someone ambivalent about the sampling.  For readers who are interested, Squier's first two LPs -- Tale of the Tape and Don't Say No are particularly strong and well worth a listen.

We don't recall ever seeing the original video for "The Big Beat" on MTV back in the day, so it definitely qualifies are a rare (and cool) video.  We're not totally sure about the yellow pants, though.  Also worth checking out:  roller skates! (1:20) and an obscure Eraserhead marquee (2:30, but blink and you'll miss it).

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.

Tarney-Spencer Band - No Time to Lose

It goes without saying that MTV had a seismic impact on the music business; by 1982 or so, MTV was one of the most influential factors in the industry.  However, the video music channel showed its importance virtually right from the start, even when it was not widely carried on cable systems.  Of course, the early impact was a bit hit or miss, but it did show the tremendous potential of the channel.

One early success story was the Tarney-Spencer Band's single, "No Time to Lose."  Australians Alan Tarney (guitars, vocals) and Trevor Spencer (drums) rose to prominence as members of Cliff Richard's backing group in the early 1970s, and went out on their own in 1975.  They released three LPs, the last one being 1979's Run For Your Life.  The album was a modest success, reaching #184 in the U.S., while the single "No Time To Lose" peaked at #84.  Soon afterwards, A&M dropped the band, and the duo broke up.

MTV picked up the "No Time To Lose" video (roller skates and all) in 1981, and a re-released version of the single reached #74 on the charts -- 2 years after the group broke up.  Unfortunately, Tarney and Spencer had moved on with their careers, and no attempt was made to reunite as far as we know.

Interestingly, both Alan Tarney and Trevor Spencer would go on to become producers, and remain in the industry to the present day.  Trevor Spencer moved back to Australia and is a Perth-based producer, while Alan Tarney remained in the U.K.  Tarney is best known for his work with a-Ha -- he co-produced the band's first three LPs, including Hunting High and Low (which included the huge hit, "Take On Me.")

House Of Lords - I Wanna Be Loved

House of Lords was actually the continuation of keyboardist Gregg Giuffria's solo band (creatively called Giuffria).  Giuffria actually had a modecum of success, including a #15 hit in "Call to Your Heart" and two additional charting singles -- "Lonely in Love" and a cover of Mink Deville's "I Must Be Dreaming."

In spite of their modest success, the band was without a recording contract after their second LP.  The demos intended for the third record caught the ear of Gene Simmons (of KISS fame), who signed the group with two conditions:  that the band's name and lead singer be changed.  Hence, Giuffria became House of Lords and singer James Christian took over for David Glen Eisley.

To my ear, House of Lords sounds a bit heavier than Giuffria, although they remained solidly in the commercial pop metal segment.  "I Wanna Be Loved" sounds very Whitesnake-influenced, which might not have been the worst sound to go for in 1988.  In any event, the song would go on to chart at #58, while the band's debut album would reach #78 on the charts.

The video mimics the sound of the band, and is pretty typical pop metal stuff -- not terrible, but not groundbreaking either.  House of Lords would go on to release two additional records before breaking up in 1993.

The group has re-formed several times since 2004, mostly without Gregg Giuffria, who seems to have more or less left the industry.

The Knack - I Want Ya

Rock and roll's equivalent to a shooting star, the Knack burst onto the scene in 1979 with their massively successful debut, Get the Knack.  That album went to #1 for 5 weeks and reached double platinum status.  However, in spite of their success (or perhaps because of it), the band quickly fell out of favor with the listening public and broke up just two short years later.

The group formed in Los Angeles in 1978 and were led by singer/guitarist Doug Fieger.  Guitarist Berton Averre, bassist Prescott Niles, and drummer Bruce Gary rounded out the original lineup.  Although the Knack were lazily compared to the Beatles, they were a pure power pop group, closer to Badfinger.  There was nothing fancy about the Knack; they wrote straight up songs (mostly about sex), but they were really good pop rock tunes.  In retrospect, their immediate success meant that many listeners viewed them as a fad, but the Knack created a catalog of strong material, much of it after their debut record.  Unfortunately, egos, stress, and just bad luck torpedoed their career.

The Knack reunited for the first time in 1986, and worked together on and off through 2010.  They even released another solid album in 1991, Serious Fun.  Sadly, in 2006 Doug Fieger became disoriented during a show and it was eventually determined that he had brain cancer.  Fieger passed away in 2010, marking an official end to the band.

For the blog, we went with "I Want Ya" off 1980's ... But the Little Girls Understand (named after a line from Willie Dixon's "Backdoor Man.")  We don't believe that the song was released as a single, and the album reached #15 and went gold, which was considered a disappointment after Get the Knack.  "I Want Ya" is classic Knack; fun, well-crafted, and eminently listenable.

The Outfield - Say It Isn't So

When we started ERV in August 2011, the Outfield were one of the first bands to go in the bullpen, and they have been patiently waiting their turn ever since.  This is somewhat typical of the group -- they weren't avant-garde, or loved by critics, and they did not develop a large cult following over time.  What they did do, however, was produce a bunch of strong power pop songs, led by a #6 hit with one of the best opening lines of the decade:  "Josie's on a vacation far away..."

The Outfield's original lineup of Tony Lewis (bass and vocals), John Spinks (guitars), and Alan Jackman (drums) formed around 1983 in London.  The group was originally called The Baseball Boys, a name inspired by the Baseball Furies gang from The Warriors movie (a great flick that gets a thumbs up from ERV).  When the group signed with Columbia/CBS in 1984, their manager suggested that the name might be too campy.  After a discussion, the group renamed itself the Outfield.

Unlike most British acts, the Outfield were much more popular on this side of the Atlantic, where they had five top 40 hits and four charting albums.  (In the U.K., the group had two charting singles, but no top 40 hits).  It seems likely that their sound, with soaring vocals and strong guitar lines, fit better into the American music scene of the time.

For the blog, we went with "Say It Isn't So," the lead single from their 1985 breakthrough, Play Deep.  While the song didn't chart, the next three singles from the LP did, and the record ultimately peaked at #9 on the album charts.  Sadly, the Outfield would never match the success of their debut album, though they continued to be moderately successful until the grunge era.

Although they never officially broke up, the Outfield took an extended break for most of the 1990s.  They have performed sporadically since then, but have been more active since 2009 (when the original lineup with drummer Alan Jackman re-formed).  Sadly, it is unclear what the current status of the band is, as guitarist (and primary songwriter) John Spinks passed away from cancer in 2014.

The Outfield's "My Paradise" was featured on ERV in November 2021,

Yes - Love Will Find A Way

There is little doubt that the 1980s were tough times for progressive rock acts.  In retrospect, rock audiences likely viewed the sound as dated; it certainly was out of synch with the major musical trends of the decade.

Yes bucked the trend, but at a cost; they more or less abandoned their art rock roots and turned into an arena rock band.  This is especially evident on the hugely successful 1983 album 90125 which scarcely sounds like a Yes record.

This change in style and personnel created a difficult working environment and Big Generator (the follow up to 90125) took 4 years to record.  The result is an album that is stylistically similar to 90125, even though producer Trevor Horn left early in the project.

"Love Will Find A Way" was the first single off Big Generator, and was written by Trevor Rabin.  Interestingly, Rabin wrote the song for Stevie Nicks, but when drummer Alan White heard it he convinced Rabin to keep it for Yes.  The result was a #30 hit, the penultimate Yes top 40 single ("Rhythm of Love" at #40 was the last one).

The musically differences that plagued Yes continued after Big Generator, as the group's next album (1991's Union) also took 4 years to record.  Since then the group has continued to record and tour in different permutations, and many members of the band have also participated in other musical projects.

Tony Carey - I Won't Be Home Tonight

"I Won't Be Home Tonight" is a great example of one of those wonderful videos that often showed up on MTV in the Early Years.  (Actually, we don't recall seeing the video on MTV, but we do remember the song.)  The vid features women, cars, a jeep, and even has a shot of Tower Records (ahh, record stores ...)  It is not totally clear if the video has a plot, however, and the fact that the clip appears to have been shot on a shoestring budget only adds to its charm.

The song is by Tony Carey, and is off his 1982 album of the same name.  Carey got his big break when he was invited to play keyboards in Rainbow, and later he tried to jump start a solo career.  We were surprised to learn that the single actually charted, reaching  #79 on the charts -- it turns out that Carey had four charting singles in 1983 and 1984, including two top 40 hits ("The First Day of Summer" and "A Fine Fine Day").    Savvy readers may also recall that he co-founded Planet P Project as an outlet for his more unusual work; the video for "Why Me?" was featured on ERV in August 2012.

Carey's fortunes waned in the mid-1980s, although he remains active in the 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.