Toto - Stranger in Town

David Paich, Steve Lukather and the Porcaro brothers (Jeff, Steve and Mike) were session musicians whose credits included Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Michael Jackson, Cheap Trick, Peter Frampton and The BeeGees.  In 1977, Paich and Jeff Porcaro started to talk about forming their own band, and in short order they put a group together.  Supposedly, they wrote Toto on their initial recordings to differentiate themselves from the other bands in the studio and the name eventually stuck.

While Toto's first album was successful, the next two LPs were commercial disappointments.  The band's fluid style migrated between pop and arena rock due to the competence and diverse styles of the members, but this was not a recipe for broad commercial success.  Toto responded with Toto IV, a crafted pop album that reached #4 and went triple platinum in 1982.

Unfortunately, the band's next album, 1984's Isolation, returned to the arena rock style and did not resonate with their audience (who were expecting more songs like "Rosanna" and "Africa").  Part of the change may have been influenced by a change in vocals, as lead singer Bobby Kimball left the band and was replaced by Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen.

Ironically, the one hit off Isolation was a song that could have fit in on Toto IV -- "Stranger in Town."  This is underscored by David Paich's vocals (he also sang lead on "Africa.")  The song was inspired by the 1961 British film Whistle Down the Wind, about a group of schoolchildren who discover an escaped convict and mistake him for ... well, watch the video; you'll see.  Helped by some airplay on MTV, the song reached #30 on the charts (one of 9 top 40 hits for the band).

Although the band's popularity faded after the late 1980s, they have more or less remained together to the present day, with some personnel changes (sadly, Jeff Porcaro died in 1992).

Cool trivia fact: "Stranger in Town" was directed by Steve Barron, who also directed Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean, A-Ha's "Take on Me" and Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing"  and many, many other 1980s videos.

Tommy Tutone - 867-5309/Jenny

Tommy Tutone was a solid, straight-ahead rock band who came up with the killer single that most bands dream about.  That song, "867-5309/Jenny" shot to #4 on the charts and helped make Tommy Tutone 2 a #20 LP.  Interestingly, that was not Tommy Tutone's only top 40 hit (although they are often considered a one hit wonder) ... but more on that later.

The Northern California band was led by lead singer Tommy Heath and guitarist Jim Keller.  The group was originally called Tommy and the Tu-tones; this eventually was shortened to Tommy Tutone.  While there is some mythology around the song, it was simply a made-up story as there was no Jenny.  The song was co-written by Jim Keller (Tommy Tutone) and Alex Call (who also wrote "Perfect World" for Huey Lewis and the News and "Little Too Late" for Pat Benatar).

As alluded to before, Tommy Tutone had a minor hit in 1980 with "Angel Say No," which was our first choice for the blog.  However, it does not appear that a video was ever made for that song, so we put up an audio clip on the ERV Facebook page.  "Angel Say No," from Tommy Tutone's 1980 self-titled debut album, peaked at #38.

Unfortunately, the band's third album, 1983's National Emotion, barely broke the top 200 album charts and the group broke up.  Jim Keller remained in the industry, while Tommy Health apparently left the music business for a time.  They both have occasionally recorded and performed, and we believe that Tommy Heath has a version of Tommy Tutone together as of this writing.

Cool trivia fact:  The actress in "867-5390/Jenny" is Karen Morton, Playboy's Playmate of the month for July 1978.  For those who are interested, there is an interview with her on the Noblemania blog.

The Police - Don't Stand So Close to Me

One of our favorite aspects of researching ERV is encountering a video so rare that even we haven't seen it.  The unreleased Guns N' Roses video for "It's So Easy" (previously featured on ERV) would be one such example.  And the first Police video (below) for "Don't Stand So Close to Me" is another.

The Police released five strong albums over a six year period, and are one of the few rock bands who did not release a bad album, in your author's opinion.  While we favor the first three LPs, even the weaker Police material is extremely strong.  The band successfully combined elements of punk, new wave, traditional rock, jazz and even reggae into their songs.  In addition, they became huge stars, and have sold some 50 million units.

"Don't Stand So Close to Me" was off the superb third Police album, 1980's Zenyatta Mondatta.  Recording between tours, the album was completed in roughly four weeks.  Subsequently, the band has criticized the album as being rushed, but many critics (including the folks at ERV) believe that it is one of the strongest rock records ever made.

The first (rare) video was recorded at the same time as the video for "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da."  The recording took place in late November 1980 in Grey Rock, Quebec.  Although the vid was shown on the BBC's Top of the Pops around the same time, it has since become almost totally forgotten.

The second video of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" is the standard video, and it was recorded later.  We remember seeing this one on HBO's Video Jukebox, probably in 1981.  It features Sting in his Beat (English Beat to Americans) t-shirt.

As many readers will know, the Police never officially broke up, but they simply went their separate ways (for the most part) after their 1984 Synchronicity tour.  A 1986 attempt to re-record their greatest hits was aborted and only remakes of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (released at the time) and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" (rare but released later) were done.  They did re-form for a 2007 - 2008 reunion tour, but have not released any new material since 1983's Synchronicity.

Andy Taylor - Take it Easy

By 1985 Duran Duran were huge stars, but the years of recording and touring had taken their toll on the band.  The group decided to take a break to recharge, but the members' free time soon led to two side projects.  Andy and John Taylor went for a rock/dance sound with the Power Station (with Tony Thompson and Robert Palmer), while Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor formed Arcadia, which focused on more atmospheric pop.

The Power Station LP became a huge success, reaching #6 on the album charts and spawning three top 40 hits ("Some Like It Hot" (#6), "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" (#9) and "Communication" (#34).)  While Robert Palmer soon left the band to continue his solo career, the new sound interested Andy Taylor and he left Duran Duran in 1986 to pursue a solo career.

His first solo project involved working on the soundtrack of American Anthem, and he eventually contributed three songs to the film's soundtrack.  "Take It Easy" (no relation to the Eagles song) was released as a single and did well, reaching #24 on the charts.  Sadly, this would be Andy Taylor's only top 40 solo hit, as his 1987 album (Thunder) did not do terribly well.  Taylor then moved on to producing, although he continued to perform and record both as a solo artist and with Duran Duran (he officially rejoined the band from 2001 - 2006).

While American Anthem was not a huge hit, it did feature Mitch Gaylord (best known for leading the 1984 U.S. men's gymnastics team to a gold medal) and Janet Jones (best known for marrying Wayne Gretzky).  The video, blending Taylor's band with clips from the film, is a highly entertaining mid-1980s video.

Cool trivia fact:  The rhythm section for the song and video for "Take It Easy" featured Terry Bozzio on drums and Patrick O'Hearn on bass -- they both had been in Missing Persons and were now unemployed, as that band broke up in 1986.

The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance

The Pointer Sisters were a fascinating group who managed to navigate the difficult pop and R&B waters during most of the 1970s and 1980s.  They had 15 top 40 hits, and had a stretch in 1984 where they had four consecutive top 10 hits (including "Neutron Dance.")

The sisters (who really were sisters) were from Oakland, California.  In the late 1960s Bonnie and June began singing (often as backup singers) and were soon joined by Anita and Ruth.  They remained a quartet until 1977 when Bonnie left the band.  While they were versatile in terms of their musical style, they were also distinctive due to their tight harmonies and strong vocals.

"Neutron Dance" was off their 1983 smash LP Break Out.  However, the song is best known for its inclusion in the movie Beverly Hills Cop.  The song was co-written by Allee Willis (who co-wrote Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland") and Danny Sembello (the younger brother of Michael, who wrote "Maniac" from Flashdance.)  Interestingly, the song was originally written for the 1984 film Streets of Fire, but it did not make the cut.

"Neutron Dance" reached #6 on the charts and was the last of the four top 10 Pointer Sister singles (the first three were "Automatic" (#5), "Jump (For My Love)" (#3) and "I'm So Excited" (#9)).  The sisters had several more hits through 1987 and have remained active (with some personnel changes) through the present day.

Cool trivia fact:  In 1974 the Pointer Sisters became the first black artists to play at the Grand Ole Opry.

Honeymoon Suite - Feel It Again

"Feel It Again" was Honeymoon Suite's only top 40 U.S. hit, and it remains something of a guilty pleasure for me. The band originally formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Canada and chose the band's name based on the fact that a lot of couples honeymoon in Niagara Falls.

The group's big break came when "New Girl Now" helped them win a 1983 unsigned band contest held by Toronto radio station Q107.  Honeymoon Suite soon had a recording contract and released their self-titled debut album in 1984.  While they were not superstars, they had a bunch of success in Canada, with 14 charting singles, 8 of which went top 40.  The U.S. market proved tougher to crack, although they did have three other top 100 songs aside from "Feel It Again."

While we have often lumped the band together with Helix (another Canadian hard rock band), Honeymoon Suite was more polished (poppy?) and less metal than Helix.  [Helix has already appeared on ERV with their ballad "Deep Cuts the Knife," so interested readers can decide for themselves.]

The video for "Feel It Again" is awesomely cheesy, and uses some wonderfully dated special effects, which generated some airplay back in the day.  (We are particularly partial to the dog on treadmill effect at 1:06.)  The song ended up as a modest hit, reaching #34 in the U.S. (#16 in Canada) while their LP The Big Prize peaked at #61.  The band's mainstream success faded after the early 1990s, but they continue to perform and record as of this writing (though there have been some personnel changes).

Cool trivia facts:  Honeymoon Suite won the 1986 Canadian Juno Award for Group of the Year.  The group also performed the title cut for the 1987 movie Lethal Weapon.

200!

Amazingly (to us, at least) Electric Boys "All Lips N' Hips" was the 200th video on ERV.  We have been going strong since August 2011 and have a current backlog of more than 100 videos -- which is at least another years' worth.

We would like to thank any and all readers on the site -- we enjoy doing the blog, but it is especially fun to have some regulars who email and comment (you know who you are).  For anyone else wondering how to express support for ERV, you can:  tell your friends, like us on Facebook or follow us on Blogger (or both), click on ads, comment or email us.  Or you can just lurk -- we're pretty easy around here.

As a brief interlude before we get back to the videos, we have a few station identifiers and intros to great video programs from the 1980s.  The first is a collection of MTV Identifiers:

Next, the intro theme to the wonderful USA Network show Night Flight.  We have mentioned Night Flight once or twice on ERV -- it was a collection of videos, rock movies, cult films, documentaries and art films.

Lastly, the introduction to HBO's Video Jukebox, which played videos in between movies on HBO.  We believe that this was the first place that we saw music videos, as Video Jukebox actually predates MTV.

Again, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read this, and we will have more videos up soon.

Electric Boys - All Lips N' Hips

Electric Boys were Sweden's contribution to the cool, but short lived funk metal scene.  The band was formed in 1988 in Stockholm by guitarist/vocalist Conny Bloom (Blomqvist) and bassist  Andy Christell.  Their first single, "All Lips and Hips" was released the same year, and became a hit in Sweden.  The local success of the song led to a recording contract, and in 1990, the band's debut album (Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride) was released.  [Hence, astute readers might view "All Lips and Hips" as a 1990 release, but we tend to go with the original release date at ERV.  Is this cheating?  Perhaps, but it does allow us to highlight a few videos that otherwise would not be included.]

As Allmusic points out, Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride was not funk metal the way Faith No More was, it was more funk shaded hard rock like vintage Aerosmith or early 1970s Rolling Stones.  "All Lips and Hips" cracked the Billboard charts, but only reached #76, and ended up being the only Electric Boys song to chart in the U.S.  However, the band's psychedelic gypsy-inspired videos did pick up some airplay on MTV, and it seemed as if they were well-positioned to build their audience. Then Nirvana's Nevermind happened, and the Electric Boys soon found themselves totally out of favor.

The band did release two subsequent albums in 1992 and 1994, but neither charted, and they broke up in the mid 1990s.  Electric Boys has re-formed in recent years, and even released a new album in 2011.

Jackson Browne - Somebody's Baby

While the video did not get much airplay on MTV, Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby" did become a big hit for him, hitting #7 on the charts.  In fact, this well-crafted song would end up becoming the highest charting hit of Browne's career.

"Somebody's Baby" was written for the Fast Times at Ridgemont High movie soundtrack.  The Cameron Crowe movie became an instant classic and gets ERV's highest recommendation (as does the later Crowe film, Almost Famous).  As a former Rolling Stone writer, Crowe is a true music aficionado, and his use of music in Fast Times is impeccable.

In some ways, Jackson Browne was a strange choice for the soundtrack.  While he remained successful as a singer/songwriter, his laid back folk style was somewhat out of favor by the early 1980s, as new wave and heavy metal were the next big things in popular music.  However, his haunting song fit right into the movie and retains a timeless feel to the present day.

While Browne continues to record, his releases have become less frequent over time.

Ready for the World - Oh Sheila

Ready for the World (RFTW) was an R&B act out of Flint, Michigan who had a string of hits in the mid-1980s.  The group formed in 1982 and soon had a major supporter in The Electrifying Mojo (a famous DJ on Detroit's WJLB).  This eventually led to a recording contract with MCA.

The band's self-titled 1985 debut album  reached #17 on the charts and went platinum.  It also yielded a #1 hit in "Oh Sheila," a pop funk song that sounded a lot like Prince lite, which was not a bad thing in 1985.  RFTW would go on to have seven top 10 hits on the R&B charts and three top 40 hits ("Oh Sheila," "Digital Display" and "Love You Down.")

The group released three more albums through 1991, with each one performing worse than its predecessor.  They broke up in 1991, and lead singer Melvin Riley went out on his own (without much success).  In 2005, RFTW re-formed and we believe that they still play together as of this writing.

Cool trivia fact:  Lead singer Melvin Riley came up with the name Sheila by ... well, he just made it up because it sounded good.  Apparently, the song was almost called "Oh Lisa."