Del Amitri - Kiss This Thing Goodbye

Although they were stars in the UK, Del Amitri never quite broke through in the U.S., through no fault of their own.  The band's strong pop-rock songs, with folk, roots rock and even country influences, were melodic and catchy.  In spite of this, they only had 3 top 40 hits in the U.S., and only 1995's "Roll to Me" really garnered a significant amount of air play.

The band formed in the early 1980s in Glasgow, Scotland, and was named after ... well, perhaps a film producer.  It was a Scottish interpretation of the name Dimitri, and ended up sticking.  The group released a self-titled debut album on Chrysalis in 1985, but it did not gain traction, and they were subsequently dropped by the label.  Their second album, 1989's Working Hours (on A&M), did make an impact, reaching #6 on the album charts in the UK.

Del Amitri released 3 more LPs in the 1990s, all of which broke the to 10 in the UK, and had 13 top 40 singles, as well.  In the U.S., only Working Hours even broke the top 100 on the album charts.

For the blog, we went with the first single off Working Hours, "Kiss This Thing Goodbye."  It's a fine example of the band's catchy songwriting.  Interestingly, the song was released in 1989, and reached #59 on the UK charts.  A re-release in 1990 did better, reaching #43 in the UK and #35 in the U.S.

Del Amitri went on hiatus (broke up?) in 2002, but has subsequently re-formed in 2014, and seem to be active as of this writing.

ABC - When Smokey Sings

ABC burst onto the music scene as a dashing New Romantic act in 1982.  Their debut album, The Lexicon of Love became a big hit in 1982 and made them MTV favorites for a time.  While that album remains the pinnacle of their success, they continued to release well-crafted pop songs for most of the decade.

The band formed in Sheffield and was originally called Vice Versa.  Interestingly, Stephen Singleton and Mark White (both synthesizer players) met Martin Fry (also a synthesizer player) when he interviewed them for his Modern Drugs fanzine (which may have been about synthesizer players).  Fry was asked to join the band, the name was changed and before too long they had a recording contract.

By 1987, the band had been through several ups and downs.  Singleton left the group in 1983 due to their lack of touring, and Fry spend several years in the mid-1980s being treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma.  Their '87 album release, Alphabet City (named after the area in NYC when Fry and White lived for a time) became a modest success, and featured one of our favorite ABC songs, "When Smokey Sings."

Upbeat and nostalgic, "When Smokey Signs" would go on to be a hit, reaching #5 on the U.S. charts and #11 in the UK.  The Alphabet City album would also do well, reaching #7 in the UK and #48 in the U.S.  Unfortunately, this marked the end of the band's major commercial success, and they broke up in 1991.  Fry resurrected the name in 1997 (White has left the industry) and remains active as of this writing.

Cool trivia fact:  "When Smokey Sings" is of course about Smokey Robinson, whose song "More Love" was covered by Kim Carnes (and featured on ERV in December 2012).

Heart - Even It Up

The early 1980s were a difficult time in the music industry.  While the disco and punk movements had somewhat faded from prominence, New Wave was now in full swing, and the classic rock acts of the 1970s seemed outdated by many listeners.

For Heart, this transition was compounded by the changing personnel in the band.  While the Wilson sisters (Ann - vocals and Nancy - guitar) remained the constants, guitarist (and Nancy's longtime boyfriend) Roger Fisher left Heart in 1979.

Undeterred, Heart soldiered on, releasing the Bébé le Strange LP in 1980.  This is a fascinating album, as the band's music is all over the place - to my ear, this sounds like a group working to rediscover what their sound is.  In the midst of this experiment is a great straight-up rock song, "Even It Up," with a cool early video to boot.  Particularly noteworthy are sailor Nancy (who seems to really like her Stratocasters), and the sax trio.

Bébé le Strange went gold and peaked at #5, while "Even It Up" reached #33.  Heart's greatest hits album was released later in 1980, and marked the end of their first period of mainstream success.  We suspect that most listeners and critics at the time would have viewed this as the likely end of the band.  Improbably, Heart re-positioned themselves as a pop/hair band in the mid to late 1980s, ushering in a period of commercial success that was even greater than their 1970s heyday.

Heart has remained active for many years, but appears to be on hiatus as of this writing.

Kool & the Gang - Misled

This is  Kool & the Gang's second appearance on ERV, as "Get Down On It" was posted back in 2013 (and has a solid if brief summary of the band).

Unlike the funk and R&B that characterized most of Kool & the Gang's work, "Misled" is a catchy pop gem with an excellent guitar hook.  Additionally, the video is the perfect stealthy Halloween type that we love at ERV.  From the creepy guys in robes to the Indiana Jones-inspired later scenes, the whole thing is steeped in pure 1984 awesomeness.  The ghostly white dancer and that amazing blue jacket round out the major characters in the video.

The song ended up being a big hit, and reached #10 on the charts, which surprised us.  To be fair, the 1984 Emergency LP also spawned "Fresh" and "Cherish," so it isn't as if there wasn't a lot of Kool on the radio back in the day.  However, we don't remember seeing the video on MTV, which is kind of a shame.

While Kool & the Gang did have a few hits after "Misled," they had mostly faded from view by the late 1980s.  However, they remain active in the industry as of this writing.