Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane

Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian alt folk band who have been together since the mid 1980s.  The band consists of three siblings (Margo, Michael and Peter Timmins) along with bassist Alan Anton.  While they are something of an underground band in the U.S., they had a string of hits in Canada and remain together to this day.

Their cover of The Velvet Underground's classic, "Sweet Jane" was their biggest hit in the U.S., but it did not crack the top 100 on the Billboard charts.  In fact, they never had a charting hit in the U.S., although they have scored 9 top 40 hits in their native country.  "Sweet Jane" did hit the U.S. Modern Rock charts in 1989, reaching #5 and the video generated some views on MTV at that time.

"Sweet Jane" was from the 1988 album The Trinity Session, which was recorded in Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity in one night, using one microphone.

Regular readers of ERV will recall that we featured The Velvet Underground's Lou Reed last September ("Dirty Blvd.").  There is a bit on VU there and we would recommend it -- The Velvet Underground were brilliant and ahead of their time.  They are one of those bands whose impact was materially greater than their record sales.  "Sweet Jane" was originally from the VU album Loaded, from 1970, and is now widely regarded as a masterpiece.

Cool trivia fact:  the Timmins other sibling, Cali, was an actress on Ryan's Hope from 1983 - 89.

The Cure - In Between Days

Led by the unique (and intentionally unkempt)  Robert Smith, The Cure produced some of the more interesting and creative pop songs of the 1980s and 1990s.  Indeed, while a casual observer might view The Cure as a goth band, the reality is much more complex.

The Cure formed in England in 1976, and emerged during the English post punk/new wave scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Although their early music mostly fits into the goth genre, there was always a strong pop and alternative sensibility present.  By the time the band released their 1985 album, The Head on the Door, they had clearly transitioned to a more pop oriented sound that was somewhat unique.  This led to huge success in the U.K. and Europe, and modest success in the U.S.  For instance, The Cure has had 22 top 40 hits in the U.K., but only 3 in the U.S. ("Just Like Heaven, "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm In Love.")

"In Between Days" is a good example of their work, as it features a strong uptempo melody with introspective lyrics.  The song hit #15 in the U.K., but peaked at #99 in the U.S. -- although it did gain some traction on college radio.  The Head on the Door was a top 10 album in Britain, but only reached #60 in the U.S., though it was the first Cure LP to go gold in America.

Of course, The Cure would go on to have continued success globally and the band remains active in the industry as of this writing.

Cool trivia fact:  early incarnations of the band were called Malice and Easy Cure before becoming The Cure in 1978.

Note that "Pictures of You" appeared on ERV in September 2014, while "Lullaby" was part of ERV's All Hallows Even celebration in 2020.

Saraya - Love Has Taken Its Toll

Saraya were a New Jersey based hard rock band, named after their female lead singer (Sandi Saraya).  [As an aside, ERV previously featured a song from a different female-led hard rock band -- Femme Fatale's "Falling In and Out of Love" last May.]  The band formed in 1987, and originally was called Alsace Lorraine.  After some lineup changes, Saraya scored a recording contract, and their self-titled debut came out in 1989.

Unlike many other bands of this era, Saraya had a strong voice, and the music was influenced more by old school rock (Heart, Pat Benatar, etc.) than hair metal.  The album hit #79 on the charts, with both "Love Has Taken Its Toll" (#64) and "Back to the Bullet" (#63) charting, but not breaking the top 40.  While Saraya never quite found its audience, we were fans, and think that the first album, in particular, is very solid.

The band released a second album, 1991's When the Blackbird Sings (which did not do as well) before breaking up in the early 1990s.

Cool trivia fact:  Sandi Saraya was married (at one time) to Brian Wheat, the bass player for Tesla.

Kool & The Gang - Get Down On It

Although they started as a jazz band in 1964(!), Kool & The Gang are best-known as a funk and R&B outfit from the 1970s and 1980s.  The group was led by siblings Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell  and released their first album in 1969.  In an industry where few acts have any longevity, Kool & the Gang remained successful for the better part of two decades, helped by their willingness to evolve as musical tastes changed.

The band actually had two successful stretches -- a funk period from 1973 to 1975 or so best illustrated by "Jungle Boogie," which hit #4 in 1973, and a smooth R&B period from 1979 through the mid 1980s.  The R&B sound was helped by the new leader singer James "J.T." Taylor, who joined the band in 1979 (and parted amicably in 1988 to focus on his solo career).

"Get Down On It" was a solid hit for the band, and peaked at #10.  It was the 5th of 15 top 40 hits that the band would have between 1979 and 1986.  They also had 4 top 40 hits during their earlier funk period, with a multi-year dry spell in between.  While the song was a hit, the video remains rare, partly due to the blurred images and partly due to the fact that early MTV was not friendly to R&B acts -- hence, its inclusion on ERV.

While there have been some personnel changes, Kool & the Gang remain active in the music industry to this day.

"Misled," a damn catchy gem from 1984, was posted as part of ERV's All Hallows Even celebration in 2018.

Jeff Healey - Confidence Man

John Hiatt has already appeared twice on ERV -- once for "Slow Turning" and a second time for Bonnie Raitt's cover of his song, "Thing Called Love."  Astute readers may now be wondering what this has to do with Jeff Healey ... and we'll get to that in a moment.

Canadian Jeff Healey saw significant success with his first album, 1988's See the Light.  The LP reached #22 on the charts, helped by "Angel Eyes", which hit #5.  [In typical ERV style, we are going with "Confidence Man," the first single off the album, which did not chart.]  Healey was also a unique guitarist in two regards -- first, he was blind, and second, he played the guitar laying flat on his lap (almost like a steel guitar).

The John Hiatt / Jeff Healey link is this:  Hiatt wrote both "Confidence Man" and "Angel Eyes."  It is somewhat ironic that Hiatt (who never has had a top 100 hit in the U.S.) wrote the songs that helped to launch two separate artists' careers.

In any event, Healey's commercial success peaked with his first album.  While he remained successful (particularly in Canada), he did not have another top 40 hit in the U.S., making him an official one hit wonder.  Later in his career, he transitioned to jazz, and even played trumpet and trombone on his albums.  Sadly, Healey died of cancer in 2008.

Coll trivia fact:  The Jeff Healey Band was the house band in the 1989 film Road House (staring Patrick Swayze).

Todd Rundgren - Hideaway

Todd Rundgren is a fascinating artist who has crafted a long and diverse career both in front of and behind the microphone.  Rundgren's career began with Nazz in the late 1960s, but really took off with his 1972 double album Something/Anything.  That LP was a huge success, featuring two top 20 hits in "I Saw the Light" and "Hello It's Me."  However, instead of continuing to write pop songs, Rundgren moved into progressive rock and became more involved in production and engineering.

For much of the 1970s and 1980s, Rundgren recorded music, both as a solo artist and with his band, Utopia.  He also worked behind the scenes with artists including Badfinger, The Band, Patti Smith, Meat Loaf, Grand Funk Railroad, the New York Dolls, and XTC, among others.  His work is notable for his craftsmanship, strong technical expertise and varied styles.  As a result, he is favorably viewed by critics and his fellow musicians but he did not achieve significant mainstream success as a performer (although he does have a loyal following as something of a cult artist).

"Hideaway" is from Rundgren's 1982 album The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect.  The album marked something of a low point in his career, as he viewed the release as a legal obligation to his label, Bearsville Records.  As a result, the songs are a bit more pop sounding and less complicated -- there have been rumors that he just wanted to finish the album quickly.  However, his talent still shines through.  The best-known song from this album is "Bang the Drum All Day," which has become something of a pop classic.  Instead of going with that, we opted for "Hideaway," a relatively unknown pop gem with a cool video to go with it.  "Hideaway" never charted (the LP peaked at #66) and received only a modicum of airplay, but is well worth a listen.

Rundgren remains active in the music industry to this day.  Additionally, Rundgren's band Utopia was posted on ERV in March 2014 for "Feet Don't Fail Me Now."

Men at Work - Overkill

Most ERV readers will remember (or have heard of) Men at Work -- the Australian band that seemingly came out of nowhere to become international recording stars in 1982.  The combination of catchy songs and Beatles-esque videos drove their debut album (Business As Usual) to the top of the charts all over the world.    In fact, as of this writing, they are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and single in the U.S.

Of course, we are not going to feature anything off of this massively successful album.  Instead, we are highlighting "Overkill" from their 1983 Cargo album.  While Cargo was not as big a success as Business as Usual (what was?) it did reach #3 on the U.S. charts, and "Overkill" also peaked at #3.  Additionally, "It's a Mistake" reached #6, giving the band 4 top 10 singles in 2 years.  Sadly, they would never have another top 40 album or single, as the follow up to Cargo, 1985's Two Hearts, did not do as well, and the band broke up soon afterwards.

Several of the member of the band remained in the industry, most notably lead singer Colin Hay, who has had some success in recent years with a more folk driven sound.  In addition, Hay and original member Greg Ham (keyboards, saxophone, flute) performed at reunion concerts prior to Ham's death in 2012.

The original video:

By the way, is it just me, or is this a surprisingly reflective and sad song for a band who just sold a gazillion copies of their debut album?

The outstanding acoustic version of the song (by Colin Hay) was featured on the TV show Scrubs, and appeared on Hay's cleverly titled 2003 solo album, Man @ Work.  It is a great reinterpretation of the song, and well-worth a listen:

Cool trivia fact:  Men at Work is yet another band that may have been jinxed by the "best new artist" curse, as they won the 1983 Grammy for Best New Artist.  For more on this, check out previous posts on the BoDeans and Michael Penn.

Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child (Wild One)

Often called the godfather of punk, Iggy Pop is a true musical innovator who helped change the course of rock.  Unfortunately, this influence did not lead to a ton of commercial success, making him akin to Lou Reed, who was featured on ERV last September.

Iggy Pop is best-known for being the frontman of the Stooges, who are often viewed as the proto-punk band.  While they were not hugely successful, their stripped down, high velocity songs and energetic live performances (which included the innovation of stage diving) were years ahead of their time.  The Stooges first album was released in 1969 and the band broke up in 1974.  At that time, substance abuse derailed Pop's career, a problem that would haunt him for years.

While Pop recorded some music during the 1970s and early 1980s, it was inconsistent, almost as if he did not know what direction to turn towards after the Stooges.  Additionally, his addiction problems undoubtedly impacted his work (and led to several breaks from the industry).

His 1986 album Blah Blah Blah, co-produced by old friend David Bowie, saw something of a return to form, and the album was a modest commercial success -- reaching #90 on the charts.  Although his cover of  Johnny O'Keefe's "Wild One" did not break the Hot 100, it did chart on the Mainstream Rock Charts.  [As an aside, I'll bet that there are a bunch of folks that heard the song and did not realize that it was a cover.]  The success helped re-launch Pop's career, and he has continued to perform (and act a little) to this day.

His version of "Real Wild Child (Wild One):"

And, of course, the original "Wild One" by Australian Johnny O'Keefe from 1958:

Cool trivia fact:  The O'Keefe song was the first rock song to hit the Australian national charts, and the song's release date, July 5, 1958 is often considered the birthday of rock and roll in Australia.

Boy Meets Girl - Waiting For a Star to Fall

Long time readers will know that we like to feature lots of different types of music on ERV, including well-crafted pop songs.  While "Waiting For a Star to Fall" would be more at home on VH1 than MTV, it is an excellent example of 1980s lite rock and has a cool backstory to boot.

Boy Meets Girl was the songwriting team of George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam.  The married (at the time) couple met at a wedding, and became a personal and professional couple.  While they released an album in 1985, they were best-known as the songwriters behind the Whitney Houston hits "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)."

"Waiting For a Star to Fall" was inspired by an actual shooting star that Rubicam had seen at a Whitney Houston concert.  The song was originally offered to Houston, but her team passed, as they were moving in a more R&B direction.  The song was then offered to Belinda Carlisle, who made a demo recording, but decided not to release the song.

As a result, when Boy Meets Girl released their second album, 1988's Reel Life, they were able to include the song.   "Waiting ..." would go on to become the duos' signature song and biggest hit, reaching #5 on the charts, while the Reel Life album peaked at #50.

Sadly, the couple then went through a rough patch -- their third album, 1990s New Dream was not released by their label, and they divorced in the early 2000s.  However, their professional collaboration continues to this day, we believe.

Cool trivia fact:  The blonde girl in the video is the couple's daughter

Cool trivia fact #2:  Boy Meets Girl is not a one hit wonder, as "Oh Girl," from their self-titled 1985 debut, hit #39 on the charts.

As an added bonus, here is Belinda Carlisle's demo recording of the same song:

BulletBoys - Smooth Up In Ya

BulletBoys are your basic late 1980s pop metal band, and we'll admit that we have a soft spot for them, even if they did come off as a mimeographed Van Halen.  The band formed in LA (of course) in 1987, and were led by Marq Torien, who had previously been a member of Ratt and King Kobra.

The band's self-titled debt and early videos tried to duplicate the Van Halen formula, right down to Torien doing his best David Lee Roth impression.  It didn't hurt that their first three albums were produced by Ted Templeman, who also produced Van Halen's first 6 albums.

Drafting off the huge popularity of pop metal and Van Halen, BulletBoys found their audience, and the debut record hit #34 on the album charts, while "Smooth Up In Ya" (#71) and a cover of the O'Jays "For the Love of Money" (#78) both broke the top 100.  The band's second LP charted, but changing tastes and weaker material consigned them to working band status, were they continue to this day.

Coll trivia fact:  BulletBoys did a surprisingly solid version of Tom Wait's "Hang On St. Christopher," on their 1991 album, Freakshow.