Hüsker Dü - Makes No Sense At All

Hüsker Dü was one of the most interesting and influential bands of the 1980s.  No less a source than Allmusic believe that they and R.E.M. changed the direction of rock and roll.  At a bare minimum, Hüsker Dü has to be considered one of the acts that laid the groundwork for the alternative music scene.

The group formed in Minneapolis in 1979 and were originally a quartet called Buddy and the Returnables (seriously).  Eventually Grant Hart (drums/vocals), Bob Mould (guitar/vocals), and Greg Norton (bass) booted keyboardist Charlie Pine out of the band and transitioned to a hardcore punk act.

While the band's first few indy records were strong, over time Hüsker Dü began recording material that sounded like melodic punk songs -- punk pop, if you will.  This was groundbreaking and innovative stuff.  Unfortunately, although the band built a strong cult following, they never became a mainstream success.

"Makes No Sense At All" is a great example of the punk pop sound, and comes off the superb 1985 Flip Your Wig LP.  This was the last record on the SST label, as the group had just signed to major label Warner Bros. (who apparently wanted to release Flip Your Wig, but the band declined).  The video includes "Makes No Sense At All" and "Love Is All Around" (the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show) which was the B side.  The result is somewhat odd, but still impressive.

Hüsker Dü would go on to release two additional records on Warner Bros. before breaking up in 1987, due to the creative tension between Bob Mould and Grant Hart (the two songwriters for the band).  Mould and Hart remained in the industry, while bassist Greg Norton has sporadically played in the intervening years (he has spent most of his time in the restaurant business).

Cool trivia fact:  Neither "Makes No Sense At All" nor Flip Your Wig charted in the U.S.

Note that Bob Mould's "See A Little Light" was previously featured on ERV.

Novo Combo - Tattoo

Sometimes characterized as an American version of The Police (albeit a much, much, much, much less successful version), Novo Combo released two solid new wave/pop albums in the early 1980s and even generated a bit of airplay on MTV.  However, the band was unable to break through, which of course makes them perfectly suited for ERV.

Novo Combo formed in New York and was composed of several music industry veterans, including Michael Shrieve (drums), who played on the first 8 Santana albums.  Stephen Dees (bass) played with Hall & Oats, while guitarist/singer Pete Hewlett and lead guitarist Jack Griffith rounded out the original lineup.  (Carlos Rios replaced Griffith on the second Novo Combo album.)

"Tattoo" was off the band's self-titled 1981 debut LP.  The album did hit the charts, at #167, and "Tattoo" reached #42 on the Mainstream Rock charts.  However, the group's second effort, 1982's Animation Generation did not do as well, and the band broke up soon afterwards.

The video is a classic early MTV performance piece, and we vaguely remember seeing it.  We particularly enjoyed the super-serious drummer, smoke effects, and Steinberger headless bass (so 1980s).

Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock - It Takes Two

A prototypical one hit wonder, Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock burst onto the music scene with their infectious (and possibly overplayed) "It Takes Two" in 1988 and then faded into the background nearly as quickly.

Rob Base (Rob Ginyard) and DJ EZ Rock (Skip Bryce) came out of Harlem and had immediate success with their first album, also titled It Takes Two.  The LP went to #31 on the charts, while the single of the same name reached #36.  "It Takes Two" liberally samples the 1972 song "Think (About It)" from Lyn Collins, assisted by James Brown (who co-wrote and produced the song).  The intro music is from "Space Dust" by The Galactic Force Band.

In the aftermath of It Takes Two, Base and DJ EZ Rock split up; Base released the 1989 follow up, The Incredible Base as a solo album.  It did not do as well, and failed to produce a hit single.  The duo then worked together on a 1994 album, Break of Dawn, but it did not generate any traction.

Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock remained in the industry and continued to sporadically perform until EZ Rock's untimely death on April 27, 2014.

As an added bonus, here is the Lyn Collins song "Think (About It)."  The break at 1:23 is the sample.

Zebra - Tell Me What You Want

With their Led Zeppelin inspired licks and batshit crazy videos, Zebra became an MTV success story in 1983.  The trio originally formed in 1975 in New Orleans and was fronted by guitarist/singer Randy Jackson.  Bassist/keyboardist Felix Hanemann and drummer Guy Gelso rounded out the lineup.

The group gained a following on the Long Island (NY) club scene in the early 1980s, starting as a cover band playing ... Zeppelin (and Rush).  Their self-titled debut did surprisingly well, helped by the videos for "Tell Me What You Want" and "Who's Behind the Door." In fact, when the album was released it became one of Atlantic Records' fastest-selling debuts ever and eventually climbed to #29 on the charts.

The singles did not do as well; "Who's Behind the Door" only made it to #61, while "Tell Me What You Want" did not break the top 100.  Zebra's follow up album, 1984's No Tellin' Lies only reached #84, and was the band's last charting record.

 The video for "Tell Me What You Want" is a total WTF crazy clip.  Although it starts with a literal interpretation of the lyrics (head's on the floor/with a slam of the door), it soon devolves into some kind of smoke-filled nightmare, complete with Zebra chick, and a bunch of weird images that had seemingly little to do with the band or the song.  By the by, the rest of the band (non-Randy Jackson division) gets remarkably little screen time in the video.  My favorite moments:  the double neck BC Rich guitar solo (1:36), the plastic spider (2:07) and the Saran Wrap scene that presages Dexter (2:22).  Also, considered yourself warned that any drinking game that requires players to take a drink whenever the phrase "tell me what you want" is sung is likely to prove fatal.

Zebra broke up around 1990, but reformed in 1997 and remains active to the present day.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Tuff Enuff

While the Fabulous Thunderbirds 1986 album Tuff Enough was a commercial success, many fans and critics were disappointed by the record.  It's not as though Tuff Enough was a bad LP, but it represented a different, more commercial direction for the roadhouse blues band.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds were founded in 1974 and came out of the Austin, Texas blues scene.  Led by singer Kim Wilson and guitarist Jimmy Vaughan (the older brother of Stevie Ray), they released their first album, Girls Go Wild in 1979.  Three additional  strong blues albums followed through 1982, which were generally well reviewed by critics, but they did not become huge commercial successes.

That changed with Tuff Enough.  The album rose to #13 on the album charts and featured the two highest charting hits of the band's long career -- the title cut (which went to #10) and "Wrap It Up," which reached #50.  (Yes, that makes the Fabulous Thunderbirds an official one hit wonder).

Truth be told, the video for "Tuff Enough" is pretty cheesy.  It features stripper/construction workers doing their thing, while the band plays and occasionally interacts with them.  It was not a high point of 1980s videos.  It did, however, generate some airplay, so we suppose that it did its job.

The band saw steadily declining record sales through the 1980s and in 1989 Jimmy left the group to work with his brother.  The band continues to soldier on the the present day, with Kim Wilson as the only constant member.

Cool trivia fact:  Dave Edmunds produced the Tuff Enough album.

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.