Donald Fagen - New Frontier

Donald Fagen is one of those musicians who totally marches to his own beat.  Fagen (and Walter Becker) were Steely Dan, a truly outstanding fusion (jazz-rock) band that recorded some of the most interesting songs of the 1970s and early 1980s.  When that partnership ended, Fagen went out on his own and his first solo album was 1982's The Nightfly.

Conceived as a sentimental remembrance of 195's and early 1960s America, The Nighfly is now regarded as a classic, and further cemented Fagen's reputation as a songwriting genius and a studio perfectionist.  The album is impeccably arranged and produced and the material is extremely strong.

The video for "New Frontier" is typical Fagen -- understated and lovingly crafted as a real work of art.  No less a source than Allmusic states that it "was widely considered one of the great videos of the early MTV era."  The attention to detail, down to the animation is remarkable.  Fagen appears only in a poster seen in the video, underscoring him as the anti-celebrity.

Helped by the video, "New Frontier" rose to #70 on the charts, while the other single from The Nightfly, "I.G.Y." peaked at #26.  The album hit #11 and went platinum.

Unfortunately, Fagen then developed a case of writers block; his next album was not released until 1993.  He eventually reconciled with Walter Becker and has remained active as both a solo artist as as a member of  Steely Dan in recent years.

Was (Not Was) - Walk the Dinosaur

With a really catchy backbeat and a fun, Flintstones-esque video, "Walk the Dinosaur"  became a big hit in the late 1980s.  The song was originally released in 1987 in the UK, where it would climb to #10, but it would not peak on the U.S. charts (at #7) until 1989.  Needless to say, it became Was (Not Was') biggest hit, although it is worth noting that the band had an additional top 40 hit, as "Spy in the House of Love" reached #16 in 1988.

Was (Not Was) was founded by David and Don Was (really David Weiss and Don Fagenson) in the late 1970s, and over time the band gained a small following with their funky, slightly strange dance pop sound.  However, only 1988's What Up, Dog?  broke the top 50 on the Billboard album charts.  By the early 1990s, the band went on hiatus, as David and Don Was pursued other endeavors -- Don became a successful record producer while David became a journalist (and produced several soundtracks).  They reunited in 2004 and continue to perform together to the present time, even releasing a new CD in 2008.

Curiously, "Walk the Dinosaur" is an upbeat song with dark lyrics -- the song is about nuclear Armageddon. (Somehow that part didn't make it into the video).  Also, the song has taken on a life of its own -- it has appeared on several soundtracks (including the 1994 version of The Flintstones movie) and was used at Chuck E. Cheese's and Disney's Animal Kingdom.  Go figure.

Oh and consider yourself warned -- this thing will bounce around your head at random times for a few days. It is a damn catchy beat.  And with that warning ... "Boom boom acka lacka lacka boom."

Cool trivia fact:  Rolling Stone ranked What Up, Dog? as the 99th greatest album of the 1980s.

The Go-Go's - Turn to You

Most readers will be familiar with the Go-Go's, the all-female new wave band from California.  Best known for being one of the first successful female bands that controlled their music (i.e., wrote their own songs and played their instruments), they emerged on the scene with a hugely successful debut album, 1981's Beauty and the Beat.  That LP went double platinum and was the #1 record in the U.S. for six weeks, making it one of the most successful debut albums of all time.  Unfortunately, the band only released two other albums in the 1980s before breaking up due to drug use and creative differences.

"Turn to You" was the last of the band's five top 40 hits, reaching #32 on the charts and coming off the Go-Go's final studio album of the decade, 1984's Talk Show.  Talk Show is an interesting album -- it received generally positive reviews, and was seen as a return to form after the somewhat disappointing Vacation LP.  However, it did not do well from a sales perspective, peaking at #18 and failing to even go gold.  In recent years the band has generally avoided playing material from this album in concert, leading some to speculate that the songs are associated with the difficult time around the Go-Go's breakup.

The video is something else, involving lots of early 1960s period details, a young Rob Lowe, the band members dressed as men, and the like.  It was the band's first story video and I think they did a solid job with it.

Cool trivia fact:  "Turn to You" was written by Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin and was inspired by Caffey's boyfriend at the time, baseball player Bob Welch.

Cool trivia fact #2:  The video was directed by Mary Lambert, who directed a ton of 1980s videos, including Janet Jackson's "Nasty" and "Control" and Madonna's "Borderline," "Like a Virgin," "Material Girl," and "Like a Prayer."  Lambert then transitioned to feature films; she mainly directs horror movies, including Pet Sematary and Pet Sematary II and most recently, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid.

As a cool added bonus, we found some footage on the making of "Turn to You," which is presented below, for those who are interested.

Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth

The ambitious, eclectic and eccentric Julian Cope has been one of the more interesting figures in the music industry over the past few decades.  Cope first showed up on the scene as the lead singer of The Teardrop Explodes, a psychedelic new wave band from Liverpool.  The band achieved a fair amount of success in the UK in the early 1980s, before creative tensions and drug use tore the band apart.

Cope then went on to a successful solo career.  To be fair, his solo work is somewhat inconsistent, partly due to continued drug use and partly a result of his avant-garde tendencies.  However, at his best, Cope recorded some truly great (and under appreciated) independent rock.

"World Shut Your Mouth" was Cope's most successful single, and was off the Saint Julian LP.  The song was a top 20 hit in the UK, but only rose to #84 in the U.S.  It remains Cope's only charting (top 100) song on Billboard.  The video is pretty straight ahead, with the exception of the jungle gym mike stand.

In the aftermath of Saint Julian, Cope remained a prolific songwriter and continues to release material to the present day.  In addition, he has written 2 autobiographies, 2 books on lesser-known music (one each on the German and Japanese underground music scenes), and 2 books on ancient monuments and sites in the UK and Europe.

Cool trivia fact:  Cope recorded Saint Julian using a Gibson ES-335 12-string guitar, but he only used 9 strings -- the E, A and D strings were singles, while the the G, B and high E strings were doubled.  This is an unusual set up, but it does seem to fit Cope.

Cool trivia fact #2:  Chris Whitten (formerly of The Waterboys) played drums on Saint Julian.  Whitten was also the drummer on "The Whole of the Moon."

Michael Penn - No Myth

The brother of actors Sean and Chris Penn, Michael Penn has had a long career as something of an anti-rock star.  While his first LP, 1989's March did peak at #31 on the album charts, most of his successive work has not had anything close to that level of success.  Nevertheless, Penn is regarded as a strong singer-songwriter and has recorded a bunch of critically acclaimed albums over the years.

"No Myth," the superb first single from March remains as Penn's only top 40 hit; it hit #13 on the charts.  The incredibly catchy song received a bunch of airplay back in the day and the video was in heavy rotation on your favorite video music channel, as well.  Penn was actively involved in the production of the video, mostly because he didn't want it to look too commercial, and we think that he succeeded for the most part.

Penn remains active in the music industry as of this writing, with his wife, Aimee Mann (formerly of 'Til Tuesday).

Cool trivia fact:  Penn may have been cursed by the infamous "best new artist" problem -- he won the 1990 MTV VMA for Best New Artist.  (Ironically, his wife also has the same award -- "Til Tuesday won the 1985 Award).  See the comments section for a list of the VMAs for Best New Artist (current as of this post).

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.

Earth, Wind & Fire - Let's Groove

Earth, Wind and Fire were perhaps the most successful funk/pop act of the 1970s, with six consecutive top five albums.  "Let's Groove" was on the last of those, 1981's Raise.  Although the single and album sold well, critics were less enthusiastic, and in retrospect, this album marked the beginning of the end for the band.

Maurice White, the main creative force behind Earth, Wind and Fire, co-wrote "Let's Groove," and he was clearly searching for an updated sound.  He used a vocoder to create the intro; this funky futuristic vibe is accentuated by the video.  In particular, we love the costumes and the video effects (the video was made using the classic Scanimate computer system, commonly used in the 1970s and early 1980s).

"Let's Groove" peaked at #3, while the Raise LP peaked at #5.  In my book, it is noteworthy that even during their descent, E, W & F were still churning out some really solid music.

While the band soldiered on, they did not have any top 40 hits after 1982, and their album releases became less frequent, as well.  However, they continue to perform (with Maurice White) to this day.

Guns N' Roses - It's So Easy

There was never anything easy about Guns N' Roses.  The band announced their presence with screaming vocals and howling guitars, and made music that was raw, rough and occasionally ugly -- but it was very, very real.  They also brought a level of excitement that rock had not seen in years.  For an all-too-brief period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they were the Biggest Band in the World, before it all went south.

Between 1987 and 1991, the band released four albums, and sold just shy of 90 million units worldwide.  Appetite for Destruction, their debut LP, was a #1 record and sold 18 million units in the U.S. alone.  So how does a band this big show up on ERV?  Well, that's a funny story ...

Back in 1987, after the band recorded Appetite, they decided to release "It's So Easy" as their lead single.  The video was filmed at Riki Rachtman's Cathouse club, a run down bar that was popular among up and coming LA hard rock bands.  So the video is shot, a rough cut is made ... and the label freaks out.  The video is just way too rough to be played in the U.S.  In fact, an edited version was rejected by MTV, and Geffen drops the video (and never promotes the single, as far as we can tell).

Later, when "Welcome to the Jungle" is released, Geffen still has a hard time with MTV, but finally gets the station to air the video -- at 5AM on a Sunday.  Apparently, MTV almost immediate started getting requests for the video, the momentum built, and ... well, you know the rest of the story.

Years later, the original promo video for "It's So Easy" is leaked and shows up on the internet.  Overall, this makes it the perfect video for ERV -- totally rare video from a huge band.  Oh, and be warned, the video is somewhat explicit, so NSFW (or kids).

2018 Update:  GnR officially released a better quality, official video, so we have updated the link.  It includes a bit of behind the scenes footage from back in the day.

Cool trivia fact: Rolling Stone rates Appetite as the 27th best album of the 1980s ... and as the 62nd best album ever.