Simple Minds - All The Things She Said

While we had thought of Simple Minds as a big time success story, it turns out that they had only a brief period of success in the U.S.  American audiences will likely remember the band's big hit, "Don't You (Forget About Me)," which hit #1 in 1985.  That song was the first of four top 40 hits in the U.S between 1985 and 1986.  And with the exception of 1991's "See The Lights," the group did not have another top 40 song in America.

In contrast, Simple Minds were stars in their native Britain, where they had 24 top 40 singles between 1982 and 1998.  They also had three #1 and two #2 albums during this period, as opposed to one top 50 album in the U.S. (1985's Once Upon a Time).

Simple Minds were formed in Glasgow, Scotland in the late 1970s.  The band's name came from the lyrics to David Bowie's 1972 hit, "The Jean Jeanie" ("He's so simple minded he can't drive his module.")  Originally an art rock band modeled after Roxy Music, they evolved into more of an artistic pop/rock band over time; "All The Things She Said" is reasonably representative of the band during the 1980s.

The video features the two key members of the band, singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill.  In fact, both of them remain with the group to the present day.  The female co-lead singer is Robin Clark, a professional backup singer.  Interestingly, Clark is married to Carlos Alomar, who played with David Bowie from 1975 to 2003.

"All The Things She Said" was the last of the four top 40 hits mentioned above -- the song reached #28, while the Once Upon a Time album hit #10.

Cool trivia fact:  The band was not eager to record "Don't You (Forget About Me)," which was brought to them by their label.  The song had already been turned down by The Fixx, Bryan Ferry, and Billy Idol, and Simple Minds also initially turned the song down before reconsidering.  However, they remained ambivalent towards it, as evidenced by the band leaving it off the Once Upon a Time album.

Cool trivia fact #2:  Lead singer Jim Kerr was married to Chrissie Hynde (of the Pretenders) from 1984 - 1990.  He subsequently was married to actress Patsy Kensit from 1992 - 1996.

Dave Edmunds - Slipping Away

Dave Edmunds was a key part of the late 1970s and early 1980s British rockabilly scene, and his work (with Nick Lowe) in Rockpile particularly stands out.  However, both before and after Rockpile, Edmunds played and recorded his version of 1960s influenced rock and roll.

Edmunds was born in Cardiff, Wales and played in a series of bands before launching a solo career in 1970(!)  That year, his cover of "I Hear You Knocking" became a #1 hit in the UK (#4 in the U.S.).  Edmunds also became a notable producer, which led to a working relationship with Nick Lowe.  While legal issues prevented the use of the Rockpile name (Edmunds and Lowe were signed to two different labels), most of their work from 1976 through 1981 was as Rockpile (with Billy Bremner on guitar and Terry Williams on drums).  Ironically, the one 'official' Rockpile LP came at the end of this period.

"Slipping Away" is off Edmunds' 1983 Information LP, which was released after Rockpile broke up.  The song would go on to become a top 40 hit for him (barely), reaching #39 on the charts, while album rose to #51.  We suspect that some of this success was due to the video, which received a bit of airplay on MTV back in the day.

Edmunds remains active in the music industry to the present day, although his work has been less frequent since the early 1990s.

Cool trivia fact:  "Slipping Away" was written and produced by Jeff Lynne (of ELO fame).

McAuley Schenker Group - Gimme Your Love

Any discussion of the McAuley Schenker Group has to begin with the Mad Axeman himself, Michael Schenker.  The guitar protégé started performing with his older brother Rudolf in the Scorpions at 15 before joining the British hard rock band UFO in 1973 as an 18 year old.  His work in UFO established Schenker as a premier guitarist but his behavior became increasingly erratic, primarily due to alcohol issues, and he left the band in 1978.

After a brief stint with the Scorpions in 1978-79, Schenker decided to form his own band, appropriately named the Michael Schenker Group (MSG).  While MSG showed flashes of strong material, the group's album were also notoriously inconsistent, plagued by the continued alcohol abuse of Schenker (which also led to significant turnover within the band).

In 1986, Schenker recruited Irish vocalist Robin McAuley and was so impressed by the songwriting that he re-named the band the McAuley Schenker Group.  This version of MSG would go on to release three studio albums, one EP and one live album before McAuley left the band (to get married and temporarily retire from the industry) in 1993.

The McAuley Schenker Group's sound was more commercial than most of Schenker's other work.  This was not accidental; the group moved to Los Angeles and tried to cross over during the heavy metal heyday of the mid to late 1980s.  Unfortunately, significant commercial success eluded them.

For the blog, we went with "Gimme Your Love" from the first McAuley Schenker Group album, 1987's Perfect Timing.  The song did not break to top 100 (though it did hit #40 on the Mainstream Rock Charts), while the album peaked at #92.

Schenker remains active in the industry to the present day, and has been involved in occasional reunions with UFO.  McAuley also remains in the industry, and was the lead vocalist for Survivor from 2006 - 2011.  He has also performed with Schenker, notably on his 2012 tour.

Cool trivia fact:  At different points in his career, Michael Schenker was asked to audition for the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and Ozzy Osbourne.  Obviously, none of the auditions worked out.

Van Stephenson - Modern Day Delilah

Van Stephenson had an interesting career as a singer/songwriter, spanning the treacherous waters between country and rock in the 1980s and 1990s.  He began his career as a country songwriter, and wrote songs for Crystal Gayle and Kenny Rogers, among others.  He also released a solo album in 1981 called China Girl, which did not chart.

In 1984 he released the Righteous Anger LP, a more straightforward pop/rock album, which included his one top 40 hit, "Modern Day Delilah," (#22).  The album reached #54 and a second single, "What the Big Girls Do" nearly broke the top 40 at #45.  Unfortunately, Stephenson's next album, 1986's Suspicious Heart, did not chart.

As his solo career waned, Stephenson continued his songwriting (often for the country group Restless Heart) before forming the country act Blackhawk with Henry Paul and Dave Robbins in 1992.  Blackhawk would go on to have significant success, with four top 25 Country records and 14 top 40 Country singles.

Tragically, Stephenson was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and passed away in 2001 from the disease.  He was 47.

Huey Lewis and the News - Workin' For A Livin'

Before Huey Lewis and the News blew up (to the tune of two consecutive #1 LPs and 15 top 40 hits), they were just a hard working bar band out of San Francisco.  The band formed from the remains of Clover (mentioned on the blog post for the Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes song, "New Romeo.")  The new group was originally called American Express, but when the financial company complained, they changed their name, signed to Chrysalis and released their first album in 1980.

"Workin' For A Livin'" comes off their solid second album, 1982's Picture This.  The song was co-written by Lewis and guitarist Chris Hayes, and is one of the more upbeat songs in the Huey Lewis and the News catalog.  Although the band's migration to middle of the road pop brought them huge commercial success, we enjoyed the more rocking songs ... but then again, we haven't sold 30 million units.

The "Workin' For A Livin'" video is a great piece of straight ahead bar band rock.  Nothing fancy here, just the band playing ... ahh the early days of MTV.  By the by, the song was a slight disappointment back in the day, only reaching #41, while the album hit #13.

Note that the Huey Lewis and the News song, "Heart and Soul" was featured on our first bunch of All Hallows Even songs in October 2011, and is a cover of an Exile song (really).  We also posted "Some of My Lies Are True" in April 2014, and "Doing It All For My Baby" in October 2018.

Cool trivia fact:  Huey Lewis' given name is Hugh Cregg.

Tone Lōc - Funky Cold Medina

An early and somewhat forgotten rap success story belongs to Anthony Smith, aka Tone Lōc.  Born and raised in Los Angeles, Lōc left Compton (and the infamous Crips gang) to seek fame and fortune as a rapper.  He then had the good fortune to work with Young MC and The Dust Brothers; the result was 1989's  Lōc-ed After Dark, which became the second rap album to hit #1 on the charts, following The Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill.

"Funky Cold Medina" was the second Young MC penned song to become a huge hit, reaching #3 on the charts ("Wild Thing" had previously hit #2).  The song used Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" as the main sample, but also sampled "Honky Tonk Women" and "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones and "Christine Sixteen" by Kiss.  (Ahh, the pre-litigation days of sampling ...)

Sadly, "Funky Cold Medina" was it as far as Tone Lōc's successful rapping career went -- he would never have another charting LP or top 40 single.  He then transitioned to acting, and seems to be making a decent living.

The video is Lōc-tastic and shows off his larger than life personality and sense of humor.  Definitely one of our favorites from back in the day.

Belinda Carlisle - Mad About You

We don't dislike Belinda Carlisle -- really, we don't.  While her solo work was a bit slick and commercial for our taste it was also pretty inoffensive.  And truth be told, there is nothing wrong with a good pop song.  In fact, we tend to be somewhat deferential here at ERV, recognizing the tremendous amount of skill and work that goes into writing and recording any song.

Having said that, we found Carlisle's solo career somewhat disappointing.  The Go-Go's brand of new wave and surf influenced pop rock was creative and interesting -- even at the end, they were still churning out solid material, such as "Turn to You" (featured on ERV in November 2012).  In contrast, Carlisle seemed to take the safe route, recording well-crafted but less interesting pop songs.  We wonder if part of the issue was losing the songwriting influence of Jane Wiedlin, who co-wrote many of The Go-Go's strongest songs (often with Charlotte Caffey who continued to work with Carlisle).

Anyhow, "Mad About You" was the lead single off Belinda Carlisle's 1986 solo album, and it did quite well, hitting #3 on the charts, while the Belinda LP peaked at #13.  Carlisle would go on to have five additional top 40 singles and two additional top 40 albums before her success waned.

The video for "Mad About You" was directed by Leslie Libman, who would go on to become a successful TV director.  The video features Morgan Mason, Belinda Carlisle's husband (in fact, they married in 1986) and Andy Taylor (of Duran Duran fame) playing the guitar solo, just as he did on the record.

Cool trivia fact:  "Mad About You" was originally intended to be a Go-Go's song when the band briefly considered recording an album without Jane Wiedlin.

The Faith Brothers - A Stranger On Home Ground

The Faith Brothers were a British pop/rock band who recorded two strong albums in the mid-1980s.  Led by their passionate and political frontman, Billy Franks, their sound contained elements of rock, pop and soul.  The band was also known for their thoughtful lyrics, which often addressed social or political issues.

The group formed in Fulham, London and released their first album, Eventide (A Hymn For Change) in 1985.  "A Stranger On Home Ground" comes from this LP (it was the second single, we believe).  A second album (A Human Sound) following in 1987, but neither record broke through commercially, and the group broke up by the end of the decade.

We don't recall hearing this back in the day, but came across it while researching the blog and enjoyed it.  This is a true rare video, from a unique band who never quite found their audience.

Cool trivia fact:  In 2009, Billy Franks was the subject of a documentary called Tribute This! where he and three friends tried to recruit 10 famous artists to do a tribute album to ... Billy Franks.  (Yes, really).

Queensrÿche - I Don't Believe In Love

Although they were often categorized as a heavy metal band, Queensrÿche was actually more of an alternative hard rock band.  Their music combined a guitar-driven sound and Geoff Tate's screaming vocals with elements of progressive rock and Pink Floyd.  The result was some of the most unique and interesting rock music of the decade.

The band formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington and they released their self titled debut EP in 1983.  Two successful LPs followed in 1984 and 1986 before the group released the audacious concept album Operation: Mindcrime in 1988.

Mindcrime tells the story of a drug addict who gets involved with a revolutionary group, with disastrous results.  The story begins and ends in the same place -- with the lead character, in a psychiatric hospital.  A great review is on Something Else Reviews, which goes into more detail.  Many critics consider the LP to be one of the best concept albums of all time and one of the best hard rock albums of the 1980s.

For the blog, we went with "I Don't Believe In Love."  Interestingly, none of the singles from Mindcrime charted, although the album went platinum and reached #50 on the charts.

After Mindcrime, Queensrÿche released several strong albums, including 1990's Empire, which included the group's only top 40 single, "Silent Lucidity" (#9), making the band an official one hit wonder.

Original guitarist (and songwriter) Chris DeGarmo left the group in 1997.  In 2012, lead singer Geoff Tate was fired, which led to a court battle.  As a result, there are currently two versions of Queensrÿche using the name.

Blotto - I Wanna Be A Lifeguard

The 36th video played on MTV's first day was the humorous and slightly bizarre "I Wanna Be a Lifeguard" by Blotto.  The video music channel continued to play the video for some time, and it became something of a trendsetter -- in its early years, MTV played a small number of eccentric videos mixed in with more traditional counterparts.  This gradually ended by the late 1980s.

Blotto was an unlikely success story.  The band formed in 1978 in Albany, New York and built a small following over the next couple of years.  Named after a dog in the 1931 Thorne Smith novel The Night Life of the Gods, the group used pseudonyms -- all with the last name Blotto (a nod to the Ramones).  Their comedy-infused new wave was not totally out of place with acts like the B-52s and The Tubes leading to gigs in metro New York (coincidentally, the headquarters of MTV).

In 1980, the band cut an EP - Hello, My Name Is Blotto, What's Yours and worked with some students at SUNY Albany to make a video of "I Wanna Be A Lifeguard."  The result is below.  In retrospect, videos with any kind of story were rare in the early days of MTV, giving the band a leg up.

Unfortunately, this early exposure did not lead to a huge amount of success as MTV was just starting its meteoric rise.  Blotto did release some additional work including an LP (1983's Combo Akimbo) before breaking up in 1984.  The surviving members of the group (bassist "Cheese Blotto" (Keith Stephenson) passed away in 1999) continue to perform periodically as of this writing.