The place for great and not-so-great nearly forgotten videos from the decade of Miami Vice, mullets, and acid wash jeans. All praise to the bands, YouTube, and the original posters of these videos.
ERV reader(s) who are into movies from back in the day may recognize this song, as it was featured prominently in Real Genius, a fun (and underrated) 1985 flick starring Val Kilmer. However, the Comsat Angels were a well-regarded early New Wave act, and with a bit of luck could have become major stars.
The band formed in Sheffield, UK in 1978 and were named after a J. G. Ballard short story. Their initial work was sparse, atmospheric pop, in the same segment as Joy Division. Unfortunately, they never quite found their audience and their label (Polydor) did not know how to promote them.
The band switched to Jive, and then Island records during the 1980s, and tried to transition to a more pop-oriented sound, in an effort to become successful. Sadly, nothing seemed to work. By 1990, the group even changed its name to Dream Command and released a more rock-oriented LP (Fire on the Moon). Several years later, they broke up, although they did briefly re-form in 2009-10.
"I'm Falling" is a catchy synth pop song that hints at the strong songwriting of the band. The song did not chart in the U.S., but did reach #90 in the UK.
In 1987, Robbie Robertson released his eponymous debut album. Younger listeners might not have been quite sure what to make of it, but it was a significant event for the music industry.
To understand why, we need to go back to Robertson's prior work as the main songwriter of The Band. That group started as Bob Dylan's backing act, but would go on to become one of the most influential acts of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They helped pioneer a type of roots rock that influenced ... seemingly everyone, from The Beatles and the Rolling Stones to Eric Clapton and The Eagles.
The Band broke up in 1977 (documented through one of the greatest rock movies ever made - Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz). And in the aftermath of The Band's breakup, Robertson didn't seem to have much interest in the mainstream music industry. Instead, he acted and worked on film soundtracks (often with Scorsese).
So when Robertson decided to release his first solo record, it was kind of a big deal, especially as it became apparent that the sound was different from his prior work. In general, the critics were supportive of the LP, though the commercial success was mixed. "Showdown at Big Sky" did pick up a fair amount of rock radio play, but the song did not chart. The album reached #38.
Robertson continued to sporadically release albums through the years, and remains active in the music industry as of this writing.
Cool trivia fact: Rolling Stone ranked Robbie Robertson's first solo LP at #78 on the best albums of the 1980s list.
Rufus were a successful funk act during the 1970s with six top 20 albums, as well as ten top 40 singles. However, changing tastes and lead singer Chaka Khan's desire to go solo (a story as old as time) resulted in the group's decline at the end of that decade. In fact, although Chaka Khan's 1978 LP Chaka made her an emerging star, the singer remained in the band for an additional two albums to fulfill her contract.
All of this made Khan's appearance on 1983's Stompin' at the Savoy – Live album somewhat surprising. The album and documentary were meant to be a commemoration of Rufus, and Khan was not required to participate. Fortunately, she opted to assist with the project.
In addition to the live songs, the group recorded four new studio tracks for the double album, one of which was "Ain't Nobody." This led to a dispute with their label, as the band wanted the song to be the lead single, while label executives were less enthusiastic about the track. Warner Bros. finally relented after the song's composer (Rufus keyboardist Hawk Wolinski) threatened to sell the rights of "Ain't Nobody" to Quincy Jones for the upcoming Michael Jackson album Thriller. (Some readers may have heard of this album, as it was somewhat successful.)
"Ain't Nobody" would go on the become a big hit, reaching #22 on the charts (and #1 on the R&B charts). The song became an eighties dance mainstay, and won a Grammy to boot. However, in spite of this, the video received little airplay on our favorite video music channel.
Rufus disbanded after the album, and have rarely played together since. Chaka Khan remained successful as a solo artist, though she only had one top 40 hit post-Rufus: "I Feel For You."
Cool trivia fact: Khan's 1984 hit "I Feel For You" is a cover of a Prince song. It was originally on Prince's self-titled 1979 LP.
The story of XYZ begins in Lyon, France - not exactly a hotbed of successful rock acts. However, Patt Fontaine (bass) and Terry Ilous (vocals) hail from Lyon, though they moved to Los Angeles in 1984 in search of fame and fortune.
Fontaine and Ilous soon put a band together and by 1986 XYZ was playing on the Sunset Strip as the unofficial house band at the Whisky a Go-Go. A self-financed EP followed, as the band slowly gained a following in the LA hard rock scene.
In 1989, Enigma records signed them, and they cut their self-titled debut album, which Don Dokken produced. The album ended up as a small success, reaching #99 on the charts, and the videos for "Inside Out" and "What Keeps Me Loving You" both picked up a bit of airplay on MTV.
Unfortunately, the 1991 follow up (Hungry) did not do well, and the band was dropped by the label. XYZ broke up in 1993, although they have re-formed in the early 2000s, and appear to be active as of this writing.
For the blog, we went with the video for "Inside Out," an excellent time piece from 1989. Hair, girls, and a sharp guitar hook - it's enough to make one wonder why these guys didn't do better.
While Billy Ocean may have seemed like an overnight success, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, he had been in the music business for 15 years prior to his rapid ascent to stardom.
Born as Leslie Charles in Trinidad and Tobago, Ocean moved to London as a child, and quickly became immersed in music (his father was also a musician). By the late 1960s, Ocean was trying to make a go of it as a professional singer, which led to a name change -- Ocean supposedly comes from the Oceans 11 football team in Trinidad and Tobago. He scored his first album in 1976, and had a few minor hits over the years, but few would have predicted his successes in the 1980s.
Ocean's fifth LP - 1984's Suddenly - blew up, and for several years Ocean was a bona fide star. Between 1984 and 1989, he had 3 Top 20 albums, and 11 top 40 singles - including 3 #1s and 2 #2s. Wow.
"Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" was the song that started the run. The lead single off the Suddenly LP, it hit #1 in the U.S. (and #6 in the UK). The video is pretty standard fare, but this is some well-crafted pop.
While Ocean's star faded somewhat after his 1980s heyday, he remains active in the industry as of this writing.
Note that the cool, and very weird video for Billy Ocean's "Loverboy" was posted on ERV in October 2021, as part of our annual All Hallows Even celebration.
Huge in the UK and Europe and relatively unknown in the U.S., Ultravox were an influential band that helped lay the foundation for synth pop. The group formed in London in 1973, and was originally called Tiger Lilly. The name was changed to Ultravox! when the act signed with Island Records in 1976, and the ! was dropped a few years later.
For all practical purposes, there were two versions of the band. From the early days until 1979, Ultravox was led by John Foxx, and had an artsy synth-rock sound (to my ear, the sound is in the same genre as Devo). Foxx left in '79 to start a solo career, and was replaced by Midge Ure, who pushed the band's sound in a lush, artistic direction.
The revitalized Ultravox would go on the have significant success in the 1980s in the UK, with 5 top 10 LPs and 16 top 40 singles, led by "Vienna," which hit #2 on the UK charts. However, they made barely a ripple in the U.S., where only one album broke the top 100, and no singles reached the top 40.
I don't recall seeing the video on my favorite video music channel, but it is quite strong, especially for an early clip. Influenced by the 1949 movie The Third Man (which takes place in Vienna), it was mostly shot in London, primarily at Covent Garden. Interestingly, the band paid for the video, as their label at the time (Chrysalis) didn't think it was worth it. [How things would change a few years later.]
As previously mentioned, Ultravox was successful through the eighties in Europe - and Midge Ure even co-wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas." However, artistic difference led the Ure leaving the band in 1988, and the group broke up a few years later. They did re-form (with Ure) in 2008, and played until 2017, but appear to have disbanded for a second time as of this writing.
Cool trivia fact "Vienna" was the 135th video played on MTV's first day.
As many readers will know, sometimes The Universe calls out and makes a request. Often times these are serendipitous events, but some of the time they are sad - and that's ok. We've been processing the passing of Rush drummer Neil Peart, and were unsure at first whether to put a post up. Then, we heard "Tom Sawyer" on the radio, reminding us of all that is great about Rush and rock and drummers. Even better, the video is somewhat rare.
"Tom Sawyer" was the second single off Rush's breakout 1981 LP, Moving Pictures. ("Limelight" was the lead single.) The song only reached #44 on the U.S. charts, but was a mainstay on FM rock radio in the 1980s. The album rose to #3 and eventually went 4x platinum, making it Rush's best selling LP in the U.S.
The video was shot in Le Studio in Quebec, Canada during a cold Canadian winter. With the exception of a quick outside intro shot, the rest of the clip is the band playing in the studio - note that these were the last few years before MTV, and we suspect the video was something of an afterthought. As a plain vanilla video, we don't recall seeing it on MTV; perhaps it picked up a bit of airplay in the early days.
The song is particularly noteworthy in our book due to the front and center nature of the drum line. This is the stuff that drum heroes are made of, and true to form, Rush drummer Neil Peart quickly established himself as rock's greatest living drummer.
Rush would go on to have significant success throughout the 1980s, and continued to record and tour through 2015.
Cool trivia fact: Rush is a one hit wonder, only 1982's "New World Man" broke the top 40 (at #21).
Cool trivia fact #2: Rolling Stone ranks Moving Pictures at #379 on their list of the greatest 500 albums ever.
Here's a fun conversation starter: What is the most 1980s band? Not the most successful act of the decade; rather, what artist or group best represents the 1980s vibe?
While we're not sure of the answer, Poison should probably be on the short list. The band's flashy glam rock sound and image dominated MTV in the second half of the 1980s, and the group sold a boatload of records, as well.
Poison (named after a 1981 Kix song) formed in 1983 in Pennsylvania, and originally was comprised of Bret Michaels (vocals), Matt Smith (guitar), Bobby Dall (bass), and Rikki Rockett (drums). Like so many other glam rock (pop metal) acts, they moved to LA to make it, and honed their craft playing in the Sunset Strip clubs. Later, when Smith left the group the remaining members held auditions (more on this later) before settling on C.C. DeVille.
The group signed to Enigma Records in 1986, and released their debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In later that year. Although sales were slow to start, a combination of flamboyant videos and a knack for self promotion helped the band break out.
The band's rise began in earnest when MTV put the video for the second single, "Talk Dirty to Me" into heavy rotation. Poison's debut LP would eventually go triple platinum, while the single would become the first of 10 top 40 songs.
As was the case with many pop metal acts, Posion's success waned in the early 1990s as grunge became popular, and DeVille left the group for a time (yes, drugs may have been a factor). However, the original lineup re-formed in the late 1990s and appears to be together as of this writing.
Cool trivia fact: C.C. DeVille played the guitar lick from "Talk Dirty to Me" at his audition for the band.
Cool trivia fact #2: Slash (of Guns N' Roses) auditioned for Poison, and was one of three finalists (along with Steve Silva from the Joe Perry Project) for the job.
Way back when, in 2013, we featured the excellent "Ghost Town" by The Specials as part of ERV's All Hallows Even celebration. This year, we come full circle with Fun Boy Three's "It Ain't What You Do" cover.
As savvy readers will know, Fun Boy Three arose from the ashes of The Specials, when singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple, and Lynval Golding left to form their new act. This also led to a change in musical style; while The Specials were a 2 Tone ska band (admittedly with strong pop sensibilities), Fun Boy Three was more of a straight up pop band.
"It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" was the second single that Fun Boy Three released, and it became a huge hit in the UK - reaching #4 on the singles chart. (I don't think that it charted in the U.S.) The song also introduced Bananarama to audiences and led to a second collaboration, "Really Sayin' Something," which was featured on ERV in 2015.
The creepy video has a dream-like atmosphere that fits both the song, and ERV's All Hallows Even theme.
In addition, "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" is a cover of a 1939 song originally called "'Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)." We believe that one of the first recordings was by Jimmy Lunceford, which we have included below:
Our long time reader(s) will know that we love this time of year - to the point that we have an All Hallows Even celebration every year (since 2011!) This year, we start off with a pitch perfect video - Walter Egan's "Fool Moon Fire."
Egan kicked around the music industry for years, and never quite broke through - with one exception. His 1978 song "Magnet and Steel" (written about Stevie Nicks), hit #8 on the charts, making him an official one hit wonder.
Of course, this is an eighties blog, and we are taking Halloween, so we went with 1983's "Fool Moon Fire" instead. The song did chart (#46). although the Wild Exhibitions LP did not. The video hearkens back to the days when artists spent five grand to make a video - though we find the homemade elements charming.
And we would be remiss if we didn't point out the candy apple red vintage Mustang ... and one of the best wolf man playing guitar scenes ever (around 3:23).
