Toni Basil - Mickey

Toni Basil's "Mickey" may seem like an odd choice for a rare videos blog, but loyal readers will recall that we love our covers at ERV ... especially if most listeners don't realize that the song is a cover.  This fits "Mickey" to a T.  [For other songs of the same ilk, check out the Cover label to the right.]

While the path to success is rarely a straight line, Toni Basil's journey was particularly circuitous.  Born as Antonia Basilotta in Philadelphia, Toni grew up as the daughter of entertainers and began her professional career as a dancer.  She quickly became interested in choreography and was an assistant choreographer (and dancer) on the Shindig! TV show.  Basil also sang and acted throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Later, Basil became interested in the new wave movement; in fact, she choreographed, and co-directed with David Byrne, "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads in 1980.  Soon afterwards, she recorded and released her debut LP, Word of Mouth, which came out in 1981 (U.K.) and 1982 (U.S.).

"Mickey" slowly gained traction, helped by the striking music video.  Legend has it that Basil came up with the idea for the video first, and then looked for a song to act as the soundtrack.  The video is considered to be the first formally choreographed clip to appear on MTV and was an early example of the power of the new video music channel.  The song would go on to become a #1 hit in the U.S. (#2 in the U.K.), while the Word of Mouth album went gold and reached #22 in the U.S.  However, Basil never had another top 40 hit, making her a rare (#1) one hit wonder.

In the years since "Mickey," Basil has remained active in the industry, mostly as a choreographer.

"Mickey" was a cover the a song originally called "Kitty" by the U.K. band Racey.  The song was written by the songwriting team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, but was not originally released as a single.  It was on Racey's 1979 album Smash and Grab.

Cool trivia fact:  The cheerleaders in the video were part of a squad from Carson High School in LA.

Cool trivia fact #2:  Devo was heavily involved in the writing and recording of Word of Mouth.  At the time, Basil was involved with Devo member Gerald Casale and the group co-wrote several songs and acted as the studio band for the LP.

The Brothers Johnson - Stomp!

"Stomp" is a real toe-tapper and a somewhat forgotten classic by the Brothers Johnson -- who really were brothers.  The song is also an excellent example of early 1980s dance/funk, sometimes called sophistifunk, for sophisticated funk.

The Brothers Johnson were centered around George and Louis Johnson and began as a backing band before signing with A&M Records in 1975.  The group immediately became successful, and had four consecutive platinum LPs between 1976 - 1980.  They also scored four top 40 hits (and had eleven top 40 singles in the R&B charts).

Part of their success was likely due to having the smarts or good fortune to work with Quincy Jones.  Mr. Jones produced the band's first four albums, co-wrote a few songs, and helped the group collaborate with songwriters such as Rod Temperton and Michael Jackson.  We should all be so lucky.

The video for "Stomp" is pretty standard pre-MTV stuff, and shows the brothers playing and driving in their car while people dance.  The song seems to be channeling old Kool & the Gang; we particularly dig the bass solo at 2:30.  "Stomp" ended up being the band's last big hit at #7, while the album Light Up the Night reached #5.  After a less successful album in 1981, the brothers split up, although they have reunited several times through the years.

Drivin' n' Cryin' - Honeysuckle Blue

Drivin' n' Cryin' is an eclectic alt southern rock band who became local heroes in Atlanta and environs, but never quite found their national audience.  The group was formed in Atlanta in the mid-1980s by Kevn Kinney (guitar, vocals) and Tim Nielsen (bass), who remain as the group's constant members.  And no, Kevn does not spell his name with an 'i'.

After becoming a big club act, Drivin' n' Cryin' signed with 688 Records in 1986; their first LP soon followed.  Island Records then picked them up which led to some rock and college radio airtime.  However, although they developed a loyal following, they never quite crossed over to mainstream rock audiences.  Not only was southern rock out of favor in the late 1980s, but the shifting scene (from hair metal to grunge) made the late 1980s and early 1990s particularly treacherous for rock acts.

"Honeysuckle Blue" is off the 1989 LP Mystery Road.  We don't recall ever seeing the video on MTV, although the song did pick up some radio play.  However, neither the song nor the album charted.

Drivin' n' Cryin' would continue to have modest success through the early 1990s, and remain together as of this writing as a working band.

Hothouse Flowers - Don't Go

Hothouse Flowers' roots date back to 1985, when Liam Ó Maonlaí (lead vocals, keyboard) and Fiachna Ó Braonáin (guitar) began performing as street musicians in Dublin, under the name The Incomparable Benzini Brothers.  The group soon added Peter O'Toole (bass), Leo Barnes (sax), and Jerry Fehily (drums) and renamed themselves Hothouse Flowers.

After U2's Bono saw the band on Irish television, he became a supporter of the group and helped them land a recording contract with Polygram. In 1988, the band released their debut album (People), which became a #1 LP in Ireland (and #2 in the U.K.).  Unfortunately, Hothouse Flowers never broke out in the U.S. -- People peaked at #88 on the album charts, and the group's subsequent LPs did not break the top 100.  In addition, the act never landed a top 40 hit in the U.S. (though "Don't Go" did reach #11 in the U.K.)

Later albums continued to do well in Britain and Ireland, without causing much of a stir in the U.S.  After the band's 1993 album Songs From the Rain, Hothouse Flowers took a break (which lasted for several years) and the more recent releases have been less commercially successful.  Nevertheless, the band remains active to the present day.

"Don't Go" represents the band well, as an upbeat, somewhat folk-oriented pop song.  The song did receive a bit of airplay on college radio, so some U.S. listeners may remember it, but it never got a fair shake on this side of the Atlantic.

Tesla - Little Suzi

Some videos just cry out for inclusion on ERV; Tesla's cover of "Little Suzi" being one great case in point.  The single was from Tesla's debut LP, 1986's Mechanical Resonance.  Although the song picked up a bit of airplay on rock radio, it barely dented the charts at #91, though the album went platinum and peaked at #32.

Telsa is an interesting band -- they were positioned as a hair metal group, but never quite fit the bill, and were in fact more of a straight up hard rock act.  They originally formed in Sacramento in 1982 and performed under the name City Kidd for several years, before changing their name (due to their manager's suggestion and during the recording of their first LP).  The band's jeans and T-shirt image, along with more complex songs (often with somewhat unconventional lyrics) differentiated them from the run-of-the-mill pop metal act.

The group released four consecutive albums that broke the top 40, and even scored two top 40 singles ("Love Song" and "Signs") between 1986 and 1994.  In 1994, guitarist Tommy Skeoch left Tesla due to drug problems, and the group broke up shortly afterward, before re-forming in 2000.  They continue to perform as of this writing, though Skeoch left the band again in 2006.

The video for "Little Suzi" is a pretty standard staged performance clip, but it does fit the band and the song reasonably well.

"Little Suzi" is also noteworthy to us as is it a cover of a song by the British act Ph.D.  The original version of the song was called "Little Suzi's on the Up" and was from that band's self-titled 1981 debut.  By the by, Ph.D. got its name from the last names of the three members -- Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas, and Jim Diamond.

Neither the single nor the LP charted in the U.S., but the somewhat eccentric video for "Little Suzi's on the Up" was the fifth vid ever played on MTV.  (Other first day videos featured on ERV can be located by using the MTV First Day label on the right.)

Kim Carnes - Voyeur

Although Kim Carnes has been featured on ERV twice before (for "More Love" and "Bette Davis Eyes"), those songs were both covers.  As Carnes is a prolific songwriter, we thought that it would be appropriate to highlight a song that she wrote (co-wrote in this case), which leads us to "Voyeur."

Carnes co-wrote "Voyeur" with her husband Dave Ellingson and songwriter Duane Hitchings.  The song was the lead single off the 1982 album of the same name, the follow up to the massively successful Mistaken Identity.  As ERV readers know, the music industry can be a capricious place, and although Voyeur was a well-constructed new wave/pop album, it fell flat with the listening public.

It's not that Carnes had a terrible career -- she generated 5 top 100 LPs and 7 top 40 singles before moving to Nashville with her husband and repositioning herself as a songwriter.  But it is a shame that she didn't stay at the top of the charts for longer.  Her unique voice and solid songs, which bridged the gap between new wave, pop, jazz, and folk would have made her an interesting pop star.

"Voyeur" is a strong video of a really decent song.  As was alluded to, the song only reached #29 on the charts, while the album stalled at #49.  Carnes would continue to release solo albums through the early 1990s and continues to sporadically perform to the present day.

Cool trivia fact:  Carnes only had one top 40 album in her career -- 1981's Mistaken Identity, a #1 LP.

The Ravyns - Raised on the Radio

"Raised on the Radio" is a superb fit for ERV, and is by the Ravyns, a Baltimore-based rock band.  The song was originally on the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack, which led to a recording contract with MCA and a 1984 LP (which also contained the song).

The band then released three videos (including "Raised on the Radio," below) and won the 1985 MTV basement tapes competition with a video for their song "Rhythm of the Heart." Unfortunately, neither the songs nor the album did that well, and MCA dropped the band.

The band broke up in 1985, but continues to sporadically play to the present day.

By the by, the song starts around the 2:00 mark in the video below, for readers who want to skip over the dramatic intro.

Midnight Star - No Parking On The Dance Floor

One of several successful acts on S.O.L.A.R. Records, Midnight Star had 12 top 40 R&B songs during the 1980s, although only one of them (1984's "Operator") broke the pop top 40.  The band was formed at Kentucky State University in the mid-1970s and was led by the Calloway brothers (Reggie and Vincent).  In fact, Reggie's production skills played a central role in the band's success.

As an aside, S.O.L.A.R. (Sound of Los Angeles Records) was the re-formed Soul Train Records.  The label started as a partnership between Dick Griffey and Don Cornelius (Soul Train's creator and MC).  However, Cornelius quickly realized that he did not have the time for the TV show and a record label, and backed out of the project.  Griffey remained with S.O.L.A.R., but the change was amicable, allowing S.O.L.A.R. to leverage Soul Train's connections.  While Shalamar was the most successful act on the label, Midnight Star, Klymaxx and The Whispers (among others) had some success as well.  The label eventually closed in 1992, a victim of changing tastes.

For the blog, we went with the title cut from the 1983 LP, No Parking on the Dance Floor.  This album was Midnight Star's most successful LP, reaching #27 on the charts.  The single did not do as well, and only reached #43 on the dance charts (and #81 on the pop charts).  However, the song is an eighties funk/dance classic, complete with a Roland SVC-350 Vocoder.  We also dig the video, which highlights 1983 fashion trends.

Lou Gramm - Midnight Blue

"Midnight Blue" may not be the rarest song on ERV, but it has become something of a forgotten classic.  The song was the first single off Lou Gramm's 1987 solo record, Ready or Not, and it became a hit, reaching #5 on the charts.  In fact, Gramm had three solo top 40 hits, including "Just Between You and Me" (not the April Wine song) which was featured on ERV in April 2012 and "True Blue Love."

The Ready or Not LP was a collaboration between Gramm and Bruce Turgon, who had worked together in the band Black Sheep.  When Gramm joined Foreigner, Black Sheep disbanded and Turgon became a working musician in LA.  However, the two artists remained in touch, and as the chemistry in Foreigner deteriorated, Gramm invited Turgon to work with him on a solo project.

The video for "Midnight Blue" is pretty standard fare, but that doesn't make it bad.  By the by, the actress in the video is Traci Lind, who left the industry long ago (there is an interview with her on Noblemania for those who are interested), while the actor is Joe Holland, who died in 1994.

While "Midnight Blue" may not have broken any new ground creatively, it is a damn fine rock song, in your author's opinion, helped by a catchy guitar line.  And Lou Gramm has a voice that sounds like it was made for rock.  It adds up to one of the better rock songs of the decade.

Cool trivia fact:  R.E.M. covered "Midnight Blue" on a bunch of their shows in the fall of 1987, and an audio version from one of these concerts has survived:

The Cars - Since You're Gone

Long time readers will note that we have previously posted solo videos from Ric Ocasek ("Something to Grab For') and Benjamin Orr ("Stay the Night"), so it seemed appropriate to roll out a Cars video as well.  In fact, "Since You're Gone" was on the original list of videos to be posted from August 2011, so we suppose that it's about time.

The Cars were at the forefront of the new wave scene; the band's blending of new wave, rock and pop made for interesting and radio-friendly music that justly made them stars.  The band's roots go all the way back to Columbus, Ohio in the early 1970s where Ric Ocasek (Otcasek) and  Benjamin Orr (Orzechowski) met.  Relocating to Boston, the duo went through several musical styles before becoming a new wave act with Greg Hawkes (keyboards), Elliot Easton (lead guitar) and David Robinson (drums).

In 1977, a demo recording of "Just What I Needed" caught the ear of WBCN DJ Maxanne Sartori, which led to a recording contract and tons of success.  We view the first two Cars LPs as classics, with strong songs from cover to cover.  The band's music is also noteworthy for their use of interesting rhythms and offbeat lyrics.  Sadly (for the blog), they were released in the 1970s.

"Since You're Gone" was off the Car's fourth album, 1981's Shake It Up.  This was the last Cars LP produced by Roy Thomas Baker (he did the previous three, as well as albums from Queen).  Shake It Up was more pop than new wave, and after a few years off the band returned with 1984's Heartbeat City, which was even more top 40 oriented.  At the peak of their success, the band took a break and released a half-hearted effort (1987's Door to Door) before breaking up.

Original vocalist and bass player Ben Orr died of pancreatic cancer in 2000, ending any hope of a true reunion.  However, Easton and Hawkes formed the New Cars (with Todd Rundgren, Prairie Prince, and Kasim Sulton) and released Move Like This in 2011.