Paul Simon - Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes

In 1986, Paul Simon's career was at an interesting juncture.  On the one hand, he was one of the foremost singer/songwriters of the 1970s, with three top 5 LPs (plus another three top 5 albums as half of Simon and Garfunkel).  Oh, and he had recorded 26 top 40 singles, too.

On the other hand, his 1983 album, Hearts and Bones had not broken the top 30, and a case could be made that his most interesting work (and biggest successes) were behind him.  Simon had other ideas, however, and recorded the unexpected and brilliant Graceland album.

Some readers may have a hard time appreciating just how out of left field this album was.  World music was in its infancy, and South African music was essentially unknown in the rest of the world.  In addition, music was very stratified in the 1980s.  The idea of combining western pop with mbaqanga and turning it into an album ... this was insanity.  And genius, as it turned out.  The resulting album was a masterpiece that managed to sound fresh and familiar at the same time.

The album rejuvenated Simon's career, and went 5x platinum in the U.S., where it peaked at #3.  It had similar success globally.  Graceland also appeared on seemingly every best of list -- Rolling Stone considers it the 5th best album of the 1980s (and the 46th best album ever).

For the blog, we went with "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes," our favorite cut from the LP.  The song features Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a black South African men's choral group singing the intro (in Zulu of course).

Saga - Wind Him Up

Way back in the dark days of August 2011 (when we started ERV), the first thing that we did was to compile a list of 35 or so potential videos for the blog, most of which have already appeared.  One name on the list was Saga.  So after sitting in the bullpen for more than two years, the Canadian progressive rock band finally gets its turn.  [As an aside, the bullpen list now has 216 names, and continues to grow.]

Saga formed in Oakville, Ontario (near Toronto) in 1977 and were originally called Pockets.  They released their first record in 1978 and gradually built an audience in their homeland.  The group's third LP, Silent Knight (1980) even charted in Canada (#42), although they remained relatively unknown in the U.S.

This all changed in 1981 when they released the Worlds Apart album.  Two videos from the record went into heavy rotation on your favorite video music channel and Saga became an early MTV success story.  The Worlds Apart LP reached #29 in the U.S. (#22 in Canada), while "Wind Him Up" (#64) and "On the Loose" (#26) both charted.  Saga even won the Juno Award for Most Promising Group of the Year in 1982 (regular ERV readers will now shake their heads knowingly ... another example of the cursed nature of a best new anything award).

Unfortunately, the band's commercial success did not last, but Saga has remained a working band and continues to regularly release albums and tour.  They remain particularly popular in Germany, Scandinavia and Puerto Rico.  As of this writing, Saga has released 21 studio albums and remains active in the industry.

For the blog, we went with "Wind Him Up," an early story video.  While the video was clearly shot on a budget, the band's dramatic flair and storytelling were ahead of their time, and helped generate traction on MTV.

Fine Young Cannibals - Johnny Come Home

Named after a 1960 movie, Fine Young Cannibals were a British pop/soul band formed from half of The Beat (The English Beat to Americans), who were previously featured on ERV for "Save It For Later."

The Beat broke up in 1983, surprising guitarist Andy Cox and bassist David Steele, who were notified by their accountant that vocalists Ranking Roger and Dave Wakelin had left the band to form General Public.  Once Cox and Steele decided to continue making music, the first order of business was to find a singer, which proved to be a difficult task.  After eight months and 500 demo tapes, the duo finally settled on Roland Gift and set about recording their first LP.

The first single off their self-titled first album was "Johnny Come Home," a cool piece of post-ska fusion.  While the song only reached #76 in the U.S., it broke the top 10 in the U.K., leading to significant success there.  Four years later, the band's second album, The Raw and the Cooked became a huge international success, reaching #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K.

There seems to be some controversy over whether the band officially broke up, but Fine Young Cannibals never released a third album, and have only occasionally worked together since The Raw and the Cooked.  This is a shame, as they created some of the best jazzy, soul/pop music of the decade.

Tommy Shaw - Girls With Guns

There was always tension in Styx between the theatrical vision of Dennis DeYoung and the rock approach favored by Tommy Shaw, and these differences finally tore the band apart in 1983.  After the Kilroy Was Here tour, Shaw left the band and set out on a solo career.  Styx released a live LP, and then disbanded for the rest of the 1980s.  [We considered including a "Mr. Roboto" joke here, but thought better of it.]

Shaw immediately began work on his first solo album, and Girls With Guns was released in 1984.  The title cut reached #33 on the charts, while the album peaked at #50.  Unfortunately, Shaw's other albums did not fare as well, with only 1985's What If breaking the Billboard 200 album charts.  However, the formation of Damn Yankees (with Night Ranger's Jack Blades, Ted Nugent and drummer Michael Cartellone) led to two top 25 LPs and 2 top 40 singles in the early 1990s.

The video for "Girls With Guns" is a great example of a one shot video -- the entire clip was shot in one continuous take, with no edits.

As a special treat, it turns out that the above video for "Girls With Guns" was not the original.  As Shaw explains in the clip below, a more standard video was shot, but discarded.  Even better, a short clip of the original video is included in the video below (this starts at 0:22)

Cool trivia fact:  While Shaw is an official one hit wonder as a solo artist, he wrote or co-wrote 7 top 40 songs with Styx and Damn Yankees.

The video for Styx "A.D. 1928 / Rockin' the Paradise" (the 10th video played on MTV) was posted on ERV in July 2015.

X - Hungry Wolf

Although they were not the first LA punk band, X quickly became the standard-bearer for the California punk scene.  The band's literate, dangerous lyrics and unique punk meets rockabilly sound earned them rave reviews and a loyal following but never translated to mainstream success.  Perhaps that is part of their charm, through their lack of success says more about rock radio and the listening audience than it does about X.  It is easy to describe a band as ahead of their time and few truly were, but X fits the bill.

The group came together in the late 1970s and was made up of transplants from all over the U.S. -- John Doe (bass and vocals, born John Duchac from Baltimore), Exene Cervenka (vocals, born Christine Cervenkova from Tampa), Billy Zoom (guitars, born Ty Kindell from Illinois) and D.J. Bonebrake (drums, from California and using his real name -- Donald James Bonebrake).

X released two spectacular early 1980s independent albums (both of which made Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time) before signing a major label deal with Elektra.  Their Elektra debut, 1982's Under the Big Black Sun was just as strong, in your author's opinion.  The LP opened with "Hungry Wolf," and the video picked up some airplay on MTV back in the day.  In spite of this, the album peaked at #76, and the single did not chart.

After Under the Big Black Sun, X slowly shifted their sound, trying for greater commercial success.  These changes did not pan out and guitarist Billy Zoom left the band in 1986, supposedly frustrated by the lack of success.  Amazingly, X has remained together through the years, albeit with several extended breaks.  While the group has not recorded any new material since 1993, they continue to perform to the present day (with Billy Zoom, as of this writing).

Cool trivia fact:  Ray Manzarek (The Doors) produced X's first four albums.

Cool trivia fact #2:  John Doe and Exene were an item, and were married from 1980 - 85.

Living Colour - Cult of Personality

Living Colour (the band, not the cool TV show, In Living Color) has been on the list of acts to add to the blog for some time.  And while we considered going with a less well-known video such as "Open Letter to a Landlord," we finally settled on "Cult of Personality" because ... well, because it rocks.

Guitarist Vernon Reid was the driving force behind Living Colour and formed the group in 1986 with singer Corey Glover, bassist Muzz Skillings and drummer Will Calhoun.  The New York group became regulars at CBGBs and soon caught the ear of Mick Jagger, who helped the band get signed (and later had them open for the Stones on the 1989-90 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle tour).

While Living Colour initially gained some notoriety for their skin color, it soon became apparent that they were carving out a divergent musical path that combined hard rock, jazz and funk into a new sound.  The result was critically acclaimed, and amazingly found an audience.  The group's 1988 debut, Vivid, reached #6 on the charts and produced two top 40 songs -- "Cult of Personality" (#13) and "Glamour Boys (#31).  Living Colour also won the MTV VMA for Best New Artist in 1989 (which may have been the kiss of death; see the Michael Penn - No Myth entry for a list of MTV's Best New Artist winners).

Unfortunately, the band's follow up efforts became progressively less successful, and this, combined with disagreements around their musical direction caused Living Colour's 1995 break up.  The individual members remained in the industry and re-formed the group in 2000; they continue to record and perform to the present day.

Cool trivia fact:  the song contains samples of several famous speakers, most notably Malcolm X in the intro.  (JFK and FDR are sampled later in the song).

Cool trivia fact #2:  Rolling Stone views Vivid as the 64th greatest album of the 1980s.

Arc Angel - Tragedy

Arc Angel (not to be confused with The Arc Angels, the 1990s blues rock band) was an early 1980s  AOR band.  Though they were talented, the group never quite found its audience and broke up after just one LP.

The band was comprised of Jeff Cannata and Michael Soldan, who had previously been in Jasper Wrath, a locally famous Connecticut progressive rock band.  After Jasper Wrath broke up in 1976, Cannata and Soldan continued to work together and eventually secured a recording contract as Arc Angel.  The record was put together using studio musicians; while the video appears to show a band, Arc Angel was in fact a Cannata and Soldan project.

Although Arc Angel was not a success, "Tragedy" from their 1983 eponymous debut album did pick up some radio play.  However, we don't recall ever seeing the video at the time.  While the music did not break any new ground, it was a well-produced slice of album rock and we think the band deserved more success than they found.

After Arc Angel, Jeff Cannata remained in the industry, and released records under the Cannata name.  Arc Angel (with Michael Soldan) also released a second album in 2002, called Tamorok.

Cool trivia fact:  the intro (backwards) lyrics are "Never gonna slip away."

Big Country - Look Away

Long time reader Krista recommended this one, and it is a perfect fit for the blog.  (I have to say, having well-informed readers makes my job even easier ...)

Big Country was a one hit wonder in the U.S., with only "In a Big Country" (#17 in 1983) breaking the top 40.  However, in the U.K., the band had significant success with 15 top 40 songs between 1982 and 1993.  Even more surprising (to me, at least), "In a Big Country" was not their highest charting single in the U.K. (at #17, same as the U.S.).  Instead, "Look Away" was, as it reached #7 in 1986.  In the U.S., the song is not nearly as well known as it did not chart.

Although Big Country formed in mid-1981, it took a few months to solidify the classic line up of Stuart Adamson (guitars, vocals), Bruce Watson (guitars), Tony Butler (Bass) and Mark Brzezicki (drums).  Interestingly, Tony Butler was not the first choice on bass, but Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen declined to join the group.  In 1982, the band signed with Mercury-Phonogram and released their first LP in 1983.

The band was known for their strong Scottish folk influences, driven by guitars that often had a bagpipe-like sound.  This stylized sound eventually hurt the band as critics argued that their songs sounded too much alike.  However, the band did produce a bunch of solid Celtic-rock songs (and that is not a sentence that one writes very often).

For the blog, we went with the previously mentioned "Look Away," from the 1986 LP The Seer.  The video uses period costumes, horses and dogs to capture the feel of the song, and does a nice job, in my opinion.

Big Country remained together and continued to record and perform until Stuart Adamson's suicide in 2001.  The band broke up at that point, but has re-formed twice in the intervening years, most recently with Mike Peters (former lead singer of The Alarm). [Note: Mike Peters left the group in November 2013 and was replaced by Simon Hough.]

The group's first charting single, "Fields of Fire (400 Miles)" was posted on ERV in January 2015.

Billy Joel - Sometimes a Fantasy

By 1980, Billy Joel was a big big star, but the lack of critical acclaim bothered him.  So, he did what any good artist would and poured these frustrations into his seventh solo album.  The resulting effort (Glass Houses) combined Joel's skillful pop melodies with a stronger rock sound and edgier lyrics.  It is our favorite Billy Joel album, and the last of four tremendous LPs (Turnstiles, The Stranger, 52nd Street and Glass Houses) that he made between 1976 and 1980.

The really impressive thing about Glass Houses (and the three other albums) is the strength of the material.  There is nary a bad song on any of these records, and they are quite stylistically diverse, to boot.  They are also impeccably produced by Phil Ramone, which, ironically, may have added fuel to the fire for some critics who viewed it as too polished for rock and roll.

As many readers will know, Joel was anything but an overnight success.  He started playing keyboards with The Echoes in 1965, then quit to join The Hassles in 1967.  In 1969, Joel formed Atilla with The Hassles drummer Jon Small, but the group disbanded after Joel had an affair with Small's wife (Joel would eventually go on to marry her).  Billy Joel's solo career started with the release of Cold Spring Harbor in 1971, and he gradually build a following until the huge success of The Stranger in 1977.

"Sometimes a Fantasy" was the last of five singles released from Glass Houses.  The song reached #36 on the charts, but given Joel's huge success at the time, it is almost a lost classic.  The video (which we don't recall ever seeing back in the day) is the only 'story' video shot from Glass Houses, as the other videos are simply Joel performing on a sound stage (remember, Glass Houses came out a year before MTV launched).  We am particularly partial to the "bad" Billy Joel (the one with the beard) in the video.

Billy Joel would go on to have continued success throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, albeit with mostly weaker material in your humble author's view.  His last rock studio album was 1993's River of Dreams, although he still performs to the present day.  And over time, the critics have warmed up to him -- Allmusic rates the four albums above as 4 stars (on a 5 point scale; actually, all but 52nd Street are 4 1/2 stars).

Echo & The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar

Although they had a string of hits in the U.K (including 13 top 40 singles)., Echo & the Bunnymen never charted in the U.S.  However, they were popular on college radio and did develop something of a cult following in the 1980s.

The band came out of the late 1970s Liverpool scene.  In fact, lead singer Ian McCulloch had previously been in Crucial Three with Julian Cope (who went on to form The Teardrop Explodes before his solo career) and Pete Wylie (Wah! Heat).  After Crucial Three broke up, McCulloch began working with guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson and Echo & the Bunnymen was formed.  Some sources believe that the drum machine used by the band was named Echo, but this seems to be in dispute.  There is little doubt that the name was essentially random and meant to be ridiculous.

We have to admit that we were surprised that "Lips Like Sugar" never charted, as it has generated a fair bit of airplay through the years.  The song did chart in the U.K., where it reached #36, while the album was Echo's highest charting U.S. LP, where it reached #51.

McCullouch left the band in 1988, effectively ending Echo & the Bunnymen (although one album without him was released).  The group then re-formed in 1997 and remains together as of this writing.