John Cougar Mellencamp - Ain't Even Done With The Night

Mr. Happy Go Lucky, John Mellencamp has built an impressive career through the years.  Mellencamp combined folk, roots rock and 1960s influenced pop into a catchy form of heartland rock that has earned him comparisons with Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty.  He has also sold more than 40 million albums and has hit the top 40 twenty two times (seventeen of which were in the 1980s).

Mellencamp got his start in the mid-1970s as Johnny Cougar (a name chosen by a former manager without Mellencamp's knowledge).  His first two albums were not successful, but 1979's John Cougar charted, helped by "I Need a Lover" which hit #28 (and received a further boost when Pat Benatar recorded a cover version on her debut album).

Nothin' Matters and What If It Did solidified Mellencamp's status as an artist in the rise and produced two top 40 hits -- "Ain't Even Done With The Night" (#17) and "This Time" (#27).  The album also became the first of nine consecutive LPs to go platinum.

To my ear, the songs off Nothing Matters are more influenced by 1960s pop and have less of an Americana feel than his later work, which may have been intentional.  Much ink has been spilled on Mellencamp's desire to be taken seriously as an artist; it seems likely that part of his musical shift may have been designed to show him in a more serious light.  However, it is worth pointing out that his early pop songs were extremely well-crafted, with unusually strong lyrics for the genre.  (See our Facebook page for an example.)

The video for "Ain't Even Done With The Night" underlines the 1960s pop influences, from the microphone, to the outfits, to the James Brown inspired coat.  It also contains one of the best 'man pretending to be a saxophone' scenes in an early 1980s video.  The whole thing looks like it was shot on the cheap (perhaps in one take), but we still find it enjoyable.

Of course, Mellencamp's career really took off with 1982's America Fool, which went to #1, helped by the ever present (also #1) "Jack and Diane." (As an interesting side note, those were the only #1's of Mellencamp's career.)  And as many readers will know, John Mellencamp remains active in the industry to the present day.

Paul Carrack - Don't Shed A Tear

Paul Carrack has built a long and interesting career, and has sung lead on several memorable hits.  In fact, his voice may be more recognizable than his name to many readers.  He has been described as pop's ultimate journeyman (Allmusic) and the man with the golden voice (BBC) and both descriptions ring true.

Carrack first rose to prominence with Ace; he was the lead singer on their one hit, 1974's "How Long."  After Ace broke up, he joined Roxy Music and played keyboard on two albums before replacing Jools Holland in Squeeze (1980) where he sang lead on "Tempted."  After leaving Squeeze he tried his hand at a solo career and worked with Eric Clapton and Nick Lowe before joining Mike + The Mechanics.  With Mike + The Mechanics he shared lead vocals with Paul Young, but sang lead on "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" and "The Living Years."

In 1987, again released a solo record with some success.  The One Good Reason album would reach #67 on the charts, and produced two top 40 singles -- the title cut and "Don't Shed a Tear," which would hit #9.  By the by, "Don't Shed a Tear" was written by professional songwriter Eddie Schwartz, perhaps best known for Pat Benatar's "Hit Me with Your Best Shot."

The video for "Don't Shed a Tear" was directed by Peter Care, who would go on to direct a boatload of videos for R.E.M. and Belinda Carlisle.  (He also directed Banarama's "Venus" and  "Rise" by Public Image Ltd.)  The model/actress is Kendal Conrad, who has since left the industry, we believe.

Carrack remains active in the industry to the present day and has seemingly worked with everyone.  (OK, slight exaggeration, but he has worked with a ton of folks).

General Public - Tenderness

"Tenderness" started as an English Beat song; when that group broke up in 1983, singers Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger took the tune with them to their new band, General Public.  They added Mickey Billingham (keyboards) and Stoker (drums) from Dexys Midnight Runners and Horace Panter (bass) from The Specials to create the first version of General Public.  Guitarist Mick Jones, who had recently left The Clash, also worked with the band on their first LP, but left during the recording sessions and would go on to form Big Audio Dynamite (although his guitar tracks were used on "Tenderness.")

General Public's first album, All the Rage was released in 1984 and became a hit, reaching #26 on the charts.  "Tenderness" would peak at #27, one of two top 40 hits for the band (more on that in a moment).  Sadly, the band's second LP, 1986's Hand to Mouth did not do well (#151) and the lack of success and disagreements over the music direction of the band led to its dissolution.

In 1994,  Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger were asked to contribute a song to the Threesome movie soundtrack and decided to re-form General Public (though without any of the other original members).  They recorded a cover of The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There," which became General Public's second top 40 hit (#22) and led to the 1995 Rub It Better album, which did not chart.  The group broke up a second time soon afterwards, though Wakeling and Ranking Roger have continued to perform in various projects since then.

As a cool factoid, it turns out that there were two "Tenderness" videos and we have included both of them (of course).  The first version (below) is the one that we recall seeing on MTV back in the day.

And below is the rarer version, which includes Dave Wakeling's poor taste in (small) bathing suits (consider yourselves warned):

Rainbow - Can't Happen Here

Make no mistake, Rainbow was Ritchie Blackmore's band.  Founded after Blackmore left Deep Purple in 1975, Rainbow saw a nearly continuous turnover of members until Blackmore broke up the band (to return to a re-formed Deep Purple) in 1984.  Similarly, the band's sound evolved through the years, changing from a classical-influenced hard rock band to a more commercial oriented sound.

"Can't Happen Here" came when the band was firmly seeking commercial success.  The song was off the 1981 Difficult to Cure album, which received mixed reviews (to put it kindly).  Ironically, this more mainstream sound did not generate the huge success that Blackmore had hoped for; the album peaked at #50, while the single did not chart on the main charts in the U.S. (It did hit #13 on the Mainstream Rock charts).

The video is a pretty standard performance piece with some nice additional footage thrown in.  The video features Blackmore and new lead singer Joe Lynn Turner (who replaced the awesomely named Graham Bonnet during the recording sessions for the LP).  Turner would remain with the band until their 1984 breakup.

Rainbow would continue to focus on commercial success in the early 1980s, and would even score their one top 40 single, "Stone Cold" (which reached #40) in 1982.  Readers may also remember "Street of Dreams," which hit #60 on the charts the following year.

Blackmore remained with the reunified Deep Purple until 1994, at which point he re-formed Rainbow.  That version of the band released one album in 1995, which did not chart.  Since the late 1990s Blackmore has been performing as Blackmore's Night with his wife (Candice Night); they are a folk-rock act.

Cool trivia fact:  "Can't Happen Here" was the 52nd video played on MTV.

Biz Markie - Just A Friend

By mixing comedy, fresh rhymes and cheesy singing, Biz Markie created some solid and fun rap during the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Biz (given name: Marcel Hall) came out of the Cold Chillin' Records scene in New York, where he became known for beat boxing and rapping.  He released his first album in 1988, but broke through with his sophomore (pun intended) effort, 1989's The Biz Never Sleeps.  That album features his one hit, "Just a Friend," which would go on to reach #9 on the main charts.  (To be fair, Markie did have 4 songs that broke the top 100 on the R&B charts, although none would climb higher than #80, except for "Just a Friend.")

The video for "Just a Friend" is pure rap comic genius, highlighted by Markie in full Mozart get up at the piano.  The visuals were unlike anything in rap at the time and helped the video move into heavy rotation on MTV for a while.

Unfortunately, Markie's success came back to bite him when he used Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)" as the basis for a song on his next album (1991's I Need a Haircut).  O'Sullivan sued Markie and won in a landmark ruling that helped create the precedent that samples had to be cleared by the original artist before they could be used.  I Need a Haircut was pulled from store shelves, and Markie's rap career never recovered.  We love that Markie's 1993 album was titled All Samples Cleared, showing that the man never lost his sense of humor.

With his recording career on the outs, Markie transitioned to become a TV personality and commercial spokesman.  He continues to work in the industry to the present day.

As many readers will know (or suspect), the chorus for "Just a Friend" samples the 1968 Freddie Scott song, "(You) Got What I Need," included below.

The Motels - Take the L

While the Motels may have seemed like an overnight success in the early 1980s, the original version of the band actually formed in 1971.  Led by the beautiful and charismatic Martha Davis, the Motels kicked around the California rock scene for years before finding a niche as a new wave act.  In fact, this version of the Motels was essentially the second iteration of the band, with only Martha Davis as the common member.

"Take the L" was off the group's breakthrough album, 1982's All Four One.  It was the Motel's third LP, and nearly turned into a total fiasco.  All Four One was a reworked version of the group's Apocalypso album, which Capitol Records rejected.  [The darker and less radio-friendly Apocalypso was finally released in 2011.]  In fact, "Take the L" was not on Apocalypso, although "Only the Lonely" was.

The video for "Take the L" was directed by Russell Mulcahy, who directed "Video Killed the Radio Star," "Bette Davis Eyes," "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and most of the early Duran Duran videos including "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf."  Shot like a magazine, "Take the L" is an excellent example of an early music video.  In spite of heavy airplay on MTV, the song only reached #52 on the charts, though the All Four One album did better (#16), led by "Only the Lonely" (a #9 hit).

The Motels next LP (1983's Little Robbers) also did well, and the group enjoyed another big hit in "Suddenly Last Summer."  From there the band's popularity gradually waned, and Martha Davis broke up the band to officially go solo in 1987.  Davis re-formed the Motels with new members in 1998 and they remain active as of this writing.

Martha Davis' solo effort "Dont Tell Me the Time" was posted on ERV in June 2014.

Timbuk3 - The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

Timbuk3 consisted of Pat and Barbara MacDonald, a married couple who met at the University of Wisconsin in the late 1970s and formed Timbuk3 in 1984.  The name was a play on words on the Malian city of Timbuktu and underscores the band's eccentric sense of humor.

The group was signed by I.R.S. Records and released their debut album, Greetings from Timbuk3, in 1986.  It became a surprise hit, reaching #50 on the album charts, led by the single "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"  That song reached #19 on the charts, making Timbuk3 an official one hit wonder.

While the song initially appears to be an upbeat pop tune, the lyrics are heavy with irony (the sunglasses are likely due to an impending nuclear blast) and meant to be symbolic of the Reagan/Yuppie era in the U.S.  It seems likely that many listeners missed this back in the day.  Pigeonholed as a novelty act, the group's pop/folk music did not get a fair shake, and that is really a shame.  Allmusic points out that audiences (and critics) loved Beck in the 1990s; Timbuk3 was attempting to carve out a similar path a decade earlier, but were unsuccessful after their one big hit.

The MacDonalds divorced in 1995, effectively ending Timbuk3.  However, Pat and Barbara K. (for Kooyman, her maiden name) remain active in the industry to the present day.  To their credit, they have refused to license the song for commercials (they have had offers from AT&T, Ford, the U.S. Army, and Bausch & Lomb (Ray-Ban sunglasses).

Steve Earle & The Dukes - I Ain't Ever Satisfied

"I Ain't Ever Satisfied" is off Steve Earle's second MCA record, Exit 0, and it highlights an artist in transition.  While the album is still a country/rock record, songs such as "I Ain't Ever Satisfied" show such a strong roots rock sensibility that it is not surprising to find that Earle migrated to a more straight up rock style for his next album, 1988's Copperhead Road.  [By the by, "Copperhead Road" (the song) was featured on ERV last June.]

For better and worse, Steve Earle has lived the rock and roll lifestyle.  He was born in Virginia but grew up in Texas and began playing guitar at 11.  Earle left home at 16, eventually moving to Nashville.  Years of work led to several recording contracts before he signed with MCA and released Guitar Town in 1986.  Guitar Town was a breakout record, and Earle was seen as a fresh new country artist and a roots rocker. While Exit 0 and Copperhead Road did well, creative and political tensions with the Nashville music scene, drug use, and multiple marriages (7 as of this writing) derailed Earle's career by the early 1990s.

Recorded with his touring band, the Dukes, "I Ain't Ever Satisfied" clearly shows the talent of Earle.  The video, loosely following the Robert Johnson Crossroads story, seems pitch perfect and is enhanced by a Waylon Jennings cameo at 3:31.  The lyrics are also worth calling out, as they are tremendous.  Allmusic goes so far as to state that this is something of a theme song for Steve Earle; at a minimum, it does provide some insight into the man.

Soft Cell - Tainted Love

Soft Cell were a one hit wonder in the U.S., but the group's music was interesting and influential.  In fact, "Tainted Love" played an important role in early 1980s synth pop, highlighting the soulful, human aspect of a musical style that was sometimes viewed as cold and artificial.  As was the case with so many acts, Soft Cell were much more successful in their home market.  The group had 12 top 40 hits in the UK, including a run of five consecutive top 5 singles, starting with "Tainted Love."

The band consisted of singer Marc Almond and synthesizist (is that a word?) Dave Ball.  The duo met at Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Metropolitan University) in 1978.  Soft Cell initially worked scoring music for theater, and soon came to the attention of Stevo (Steve Pearce) a DJ who launched Some Bizzare Records and become a major player in the emerging electronic scene in Britain.  Stevo would become Soft Cell's manager and help them sign a major label deal.

"Tainted Love" comes off the first Soft Cell LP, 1981's Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.  The song became a monster hit, reaching #1 in many countries, including the UK, while reaching #8 in the U.S.  "Tainted Love" took an unusually long time to peak on the U.S. charts and spent a then-record 43 weeks in the Hot 100.

The original version of the song was recorded in 1965 by Gloria Jones and it was not a hit -- in fact, it failed to chart in either the U.S. or UK.  However, a British club DJ (Richard Searling) came across a copy in 1973 and began playing it, which led to a period of success as a club single.  Jones then re-recorded the song in 1976, but the new version failed to chart, as well.  [As an aside for any hardcore musicologists out there, Jones is best known as the girlfriend of Marc Bolan (T. Rex).  Jones and Bolan had a son (Rolan Bolan) together and Jones was driving the Mini when it crashed, killing Bolan in September 1977.]

Soft Cell released three additional albums after Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret before breaking up in 1984.  Both Almond and Ball have remained in the industry, and there have been periodic reunions in recent years.

The original video for "Tainted Love" features togas and a cricket player.  We don't recall seeing the video much on MTV back in the day, though.

Soft Cell also released a remixed version of the song (with a corresponding video) in 1991, which is below:

Lastly, here is the original version of the song by Gloria Jones:

The Gap Band - Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)

"Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" is the Gap Band's second appearance on ERV ("Party Train" was posted back in May 2012).  While this song is less well-known, it is yet another classic Gap Band tune, with a funky bass line and a catchy melody.  "Burn Rubber on Me" was off the poorly titled Gap Band III (it was actually the group's fifth LP), which many critics consider to be their strongest album.

The Gap band was made up of the Wilson brothers (Charlie, Ronnie and Robert) and was named after the streets of their neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Greenwood, Archer and Pine Street).  While they only had two top 40 hits on the pop charts ("Early in the Morning" and "You Dropped a Bomb on Me"), they were mainstays on the R&B charts, where they had 24 top 40 hits.

Although "Burn Rubber on Me" only reached #84 on the pop charts, it was the Gap Band's first #1 hit on the R&B charts.  Gap Band III reached #16 on the main charts (also #1 on the R&B album charts), firmly establishing the group as funk stars.

The video is a simple performance piece full of pure funky cowboy wonderfulness.

As we mentioned earlier, the Gap Band remained popular through the 1980s, and continued performing until Robert Wilson passed away (heart attack) in 2010.