Midnight Oil - The Dead Heart

In 1986, Midnight Oil embarked on the Blackfella/Whitefella Tour with the Warumpi Band and Gondwanaland (both Aboriginal rock bands).  The resulting experience of playing before some of the most remote and impoverished Aboriginal communities in Australia led to the 1987 concept album Diesel and Dust.

In retrospect, the tour and resulting LP were a logical continuation of the path that Midnight Oil had blazed since their 1978 debut album.  The band was known for their progressive political views; they were one of the first Australian political rock bands.  Led by the tall, bald Peter Garrett, Midnight Oil looked and sounded unlike other bands and built a loyal following through the 1980s.

The Diesel and Dust album is generally regarded as Midnight Oil's finest effort.  Rolling Stone ranked it as the 13th best album of the 1980s, and it routinely shows up at or near the top of many lists of the best Australian albums ever.  The album was also a huge success, reaching #21 in the U.S. (it was the band's second of four consecutive #1 albums in Australia).

While "Beds Are Burning" was the biggest U.S. hit from the LP, we went with "The Dead Heart," a haunting pop song written from the Aboriginal point of view.  It was a #4 hit in Australia  but did not break the top 40 in the U.S., peaking at  #53.

Midnight Oil disbanded in 2002, as Peter Garrett wanted to devote more time to his political career, although they have re-formed from time to time since then.  Garrett has been a Labour MP (Member of Parliament)  since 2004.

Cool trivia fact:  Midnight Oil is a U.S. one hit wonder, as only "Beds Are Burning" (#17) broke the top 40.

Great White - Rock Me

Part of the appeal of rock and roll is that it is an escape from the real world, but every once in a while, the real world crashes the party.  Few bands know this better than Great White, as their story includes one of the most tragic chapters in rock history.

Of course, we are referring to the February 2003 fire at The Station nightclub in Rhode Island.  As most folks will recall, pyrotechnics lit by the band's touring manager ignited soundproofing foam and led to a fire that killed 100 people and injured another 200.  It was the fourth deadliest fire in U.S. history.  Among the dead was Great White's guitarist, Ty Longley, and WHJY DJ Mike "The Doctor" Gonsalves (who was MCing the show).

In the aftermath of the show, Great White toured to support the Station Family Fund, before the band split into two factions.  Lead singer Jack Russell continued to tour, using the name Jack Russell's Great White, while several other original members played shows using the Great White name.

All of this was a far cry from the band's successes during the late 1980s / early 1990s.  Their brand of blues-rock led to three straight top 25 albums, and two top 40 hits.  Great White's biggest hit was their cover of Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," but they had a second hit with "The Angel Song." (Nope, not sure we remember that one either.)

For the blog, we went with their breakout hit, 1987's "Rock Me" from the Once Bitten ... LP.  While the song peaked at #60 on the charts, it introduced the band to a wider audience, helped by the video below.  By the way, the woman in the video is Tracy Martinson, who appeared in a bunch of Great White videos, but left the industry years ago.

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

The Joy Division story is among the more tragic rock and roll tales, and is only compounded by the band's innovative and visionary sound.  Joy Division formed in 1977 in Manchester (UK) and were originally called Warsaw.  They changed their name in 1978 to differentiate themselves from Warsaw Pakt, an on-the-rise UK punk band.  The Joy Division name came from the 1955 novel The House of Dolls -- it was the prostitution section of a Nazi concentration camp.

While they came out of the vibrant UK punk scene, the band quickly migrated to a different sound that was moody, dark and atmospheric; the band was one of the originators of goth.  Their innovative approach earned them the respect of several industry insiders and critics, including the influential John Peel of the BBC.  Although their first LP only reached #71 on the UK charts, they were a band on the rise.

Unfortunately, their growing success and touring schedule was placing a strain on lead singer Ian Curtis.  In particular, Curtis' epileptic seizures became difficult to control and his marriage was failing.  In May 1980, just before the band was to leave for their first American tour, Curtis committed suicide.  He was 23.

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" was written as an ironic response to "Love Will Keep Us Together," a 1975 hit for Captain & Tennille.  In retrospect, the lyrics seem autobiographical, as the song was written during a difficult time in Curtis' life.  The video was shot by the band themselves, during the recording of the song.

As many readers will know, the remaining members of Joy Division stayed together and renamed themselves New Order.  They would go on to have significant success, and were featured on ERV last December for "Bizarre Love Triangle."

Cool trivia facts: NME rated "Love Will Tear Us Apart" as the greatest single of the past 60 years in 2012.

Rolling Stone ranked the Closer LP as the 56th best album of the 1980s.

The song has charted 3 separate times in the UK -- in 1980 (#13), 1983 (#19) and 1995 (#19).  It never charted in the U.S.

The title of this song is inscribed on Ian Curtis' tombstone.

Jermaine Stewart - We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off

It's funny how capricious the charts can be.  While ERV is filled with one hit wonders, there are also some lesser-known bands who landed more than one top 40 hit -- as well as some great acts who never broke the top 40.  Apparently, the music gods have a sense of humor -- how else can you explain the fact that Roxy Music and the Psychedelic Furs are one hit wonders, while Chilliwack and Stacey Q aren't (they have 2 top 40 hits each).

At any rate, this brings us (in a roundabout way) to Jermaine Stewart.  Stewart got hist start as a Soul Train dancer before joining Shalamar as a backup dancer.  Touring with Shalamar led to a meeting with Culture Club's bass player, Mikey Craig, who helped Stewart put together a demo tape that helped him secure a recording contract.

The anthemic pop / funk smash, "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" was off Stewart's second album, 1986's Frantic Romantic.  The song was written by master songwriters Narada Michael Walden and Preston Glass.  Walden wrote or co-wrote (among other hits): "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" (both with the songwriting team of Boy Meets Girl and both for Whitney Houston), along with songs for Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin.

"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" hit #5 on the charts, while the Frantic Romantic LP reached #34.  As savvy readers might have guessed from the introduction, Stewart had a second top 40 hit with "Say It Again" (#27) in 1987, as well as two songs that peaked just outside of the top 40 ("The Word Is Out," #41 and "Jody," #42).

Sadly, Jermaine Stewart died of an AIDS-related illness in 1997.  He was 39 years old.

Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane

"Go Insane" came out during a difficult time in Lindsey Buckingham's life.  He has recently broken up with his long time girlfriend Carol Ann Harris and his band (Fleetwood Mac) was in the middle of a 5 year break.  Perhaps as a result, the album was viewed as somewhat inconsistent by critics, but the better material on it is still quite good, bolstered by Buckingham's studio prowess.

Buckingham's career began in the early 1970s with his folk duo Buckingham Nicks (with then girlfriend Stevie Nicks), but he rose to fame as the guitarist and in-band producer for Fleetwood Mac.  While his first LP with Fleetwood Mac was a resounding success, the second one (Rumours) was a blockbuster.  Rumours remains the sixth best selling album in the U.S. ever -- it was a epic commercial and critical success.

Unfortunately, the commercial success of Fleetwood Mac did not alleviate the band's problems.  In fact, it may have added to the issues.  In addition to rampant drug use and breakups, Buckingham felt creatively constrained by the standard pop format, and started exploring more interesting sounds.  For Fleetwood Mac, this led to the Tusk LP, and it meant that Buckingham's solo work in the early 1980s was creative and interesting.  As is often the case, though, this also led to less commercial success.  The Go Insane album peaked at #45, while the single of the same name reached #23.

Buckingham would return to Fleetwood Mac for their 1987 album, Tango in the Night, before leaving the band.  He then returned in 1997 and has been with the band since then.

Cool trivia fact:  One of the guitarists who replaced Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac was Billy Burnette, whose song "In Just a Heartbeat" was featured on ERV in February 2012.

Jefferson Starship - Find Your Way Back

The history of Jefferson Airplane / Jefferson Starship / Starship is a long, meandering stroll down rock and roll lane.  As many readers will know, the band started as Jefferson Airplane in San Francisco in 1965, and was an early psychedelic rock band.  In addition, Jefferson Airplane is notable as one of the first rock bands to feature a female lead singer -- the charismatic Grace Slick.  By the by, Jefferson Airplane was the model for the Dutch band Shocking Blue, who recorded the original version of "Venus" (featured along with the Bananarama cover last January).

In the early 1970s Jefferson Airplane effectively broke into two bands -- Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship.  Jefferson Starship evolved to become a successful arena rock band in the 1970s and early 1980s, before personnel changes (and a dispute over the name) led to the band becoming Starship in the mid 1980s.  ERV readers should not worry, though, there is no way that a Starship song will ever show up on the blog (with apologies to any fans of "We Built this City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now").

"Find Your Way Back" was from the 1981 Modern Times album.  It was the second album to feature lead singer Mickey Thomas, who joined the band after Marty Balin and Grace Slick quit.  Slick actually rejoined the band late in the recording session for Modern Times and was not in the original promotional materials (this is why the picture of the band at the end of the video does not include her).

The video is loaded with early 1980s goodness, including some sci-fi effects, one really skinny tie (mostly tucked in), and a cool double neck guitar.  We really do enjoy the song and video, in spite of (or perhaps because of) these elements.  Lastly, the song did turn out to be a decent FM hit -- the single hit #29 on the charts, while the Modern Times LP reached #26.

Note that Jefferson Starship's weird video for "No Way Out" was featured on ERV during our All Hallows Even celebration in 2015.

Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane

Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian alt folk band who have been together since the mid 1980s.  The band consists of three siblings (Margo, Michael and Peter Timmins) along with bassist Alan Anton.  While they are something of an underground band in the U.S., they had a string of hits in Canada and remain together to this day.

Their cover of The Velvet Underground's classic, "Sweet Jane" was their biggest hit in the U.S., but it did not crack the top 100 on the Billboard charts.  In fact, they never had a charting hit in the U.S., although they have scored 9 top 40 hits in their native country.  "Sweet Jane" did hit the U.S. Modern Rock charts in 1989, reaching #5 and the video generated some views on MTV at that time.

"Sweet Jane" was from the 1988 album The Trinity Session, which was recorded in Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity in one night, using one microphone.

Regular readers of ERV will recall that we featured The Velvet Underground's Lou Reed last September ("Dirty Blvd.").  There is a bit on VU there and we would recommend it -- The Velvet Underground were brilliant and ahead of their time.  They are one of those bands whose impact was materially greater than their record sales.  "Sweet Jane" was originally from the VU album Loaded, from 1970, and is now widely regarded as a masterpiece.

Cool trivia fact:  the Timmins other sibling, Cali, was an actress on Ryan's Hope from 1983 - 89.

The Cure - In Between Days

Led by the unique (and intentionally unkempt)  Robert Smith, The Cure produced some of the more interesting and creative pop songs of the 1980s and 1990s.  Indeed, while a casual observer might view The Cure as a goth band, the reality is much more complex.

The Cure formed in England in 1976, and emerged during the English post punk/new wave scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Although their early music mostly fits into the goth genre, there was always a strong pop and alternative sensibility present.  By the time the band released their 1985 album, The Head on the Door, they had clearly transitioned to a more pop oriented sound that was somewhat unique.  This led to huge success in the U.K. and Europe, and modest success in the U.S.  For instance, The Cure has had 22 top 40 hits in the U.K., but only 3 in the U.S. ("Just Like Heaven, "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm In Love.")

"In Between Days" is a good example of their work, as it features a strong uptempo melody with introspective lyrics.  The song hit #15 in the U.K., but peaked at #99 in the U.S. -- although it did gain some traction on college radio.  The Head on the Door was a top 10 album in Britain, but only reached #60 in the U.S., though it was the first Cure LP to go gold in America.

Of course, The Cure would go on to have continued success globally and the band remains active in the industry as of this writing.

Cool trivia fact:  early incarnations of the band were called Malice and Easy Cure before becoming The Cure in 1978.

Note that "Pictures of You" appeared on ERV in September 2014, while "Lullaby" was part of ERV's All Hallows Even celebration in 2020.

Saraya - Love Has Taken Its Toll

Saraya were a New Jersey based hard rock band, named after their female lead singer (Sandi Saraya).  [As an aside, ERV previously featured a song from a different female-led hard rock band -- Femme Fatale's "Falling In and Out of Love" last May.]  The band formed in 1987, and originally was called Alsace Lorraine.  After some lineup changes, Saraya scored a recording contract, and their self-titled debut came out in 1989.

Unlike many other bands of this era, Saraya had a strong voice, and the music was influenced more by old school rock (Heart, Pat Benatar, etc.) than hair metal.  The album hit #79 on the charts, with both "Love Has Taken Its Toll" (#64) and "Back to the Bullet" (#63) charting, but not breaking the top 40.  While Saraya never quite found its audience, we were fans, and think that the first album, in particular, is very solid.

The band released a second album, 1991's When the Blackbird Sings (which did not do as well) before breaking up in the early 1990s.

Cool trivia fact:  Sandi Saraya was married (at one time) to Brian Wheat, the bass player for Tesla.

Kool & The Gang - Get Down On It

Although they started as a jazz band in 1964(!), Kool & The Gang are best-known as a funk and R&B outfit from the 1970s and 1980s.  The group was led by siblings Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell  and released their first album in 1969.  In an industry where few acts have any longevity, Kool & the Gang remained successful for the better part of two decades, helped by their willingness to evolve as musical tastes changed.

The band actually had two successful stretches -- a funk period from 1973 to 1975 or so best illustrated by "Jungle Boogie," which hit #4 in 1973, and a smooth R&B period from 1979 through the mid 1980s.  The R&B sound was helped by the new leader singer James "J.T." Taylor, who joined the band in 1979 (and parted amicably in 1988 to focus on his solo career).

"Get Down On It" was a solid hit for the band, and peaked at #10.  It was the 5th of 15 top 40 hits that the band would have between 1979 and 1986.  They also had 4 top 40 hits during their earlier funk period, with a multi-year dry spell in between.  While the song was a hit, the video remains rare, partly due to the blurred images and partly due to the fact that early MTV was not friendly to R&B acts -- hence, its inclusion on ERV.

While there have been some personnel changes, Kool & the Gang remain active in the music industry to this day.

"Misled," a damn catchy gem from 1984, was posted as part of ERV's All Hallows Even celebration in 2018.

Jeff Healey - Confidence Man

John Hiatt has already appeared twice on ERV -- once for "Slow Turning" and a second time for Bonnie Raitt's cover of his song, "Thing Called Love."  Astute readers may now be wondering what this has to do with Jeff Healey ... and we'll get to that in a moment.

Canadian Jeff Healey saw significant success with his first album, 1988's See the Light.  The LP reached #22 on the charts, helped by "Angel Eyes", which hit #5.  [In typical ERV style, we are going with "Confidence Man," the first single off the album, which did not chart.]  Healey was also a unique guitarist in two regards -- first, he was blind, and second, he played the guitar laying flat on his lap (almost like a steel guitar).

The John Hiatt / Jeff Healey link is this:  Hiatt wrote both "Confidence Man" and "Angel Eyes."  It is somewhat ironic that Hiatt (who never has had a top 100 hit in the U.S.) wrote the songs that helped to launch two separate artists' careers.

In any event, Healey's commercial success peaked with his first album.  While he remained successful (particularly in Canada), he did not have another top 40 hit in the U.S., making him an official one hit wonder.  Later in his career, he transitioned to jazz, and even played trumpet and trombone on his albums.  Sadly, Healey died of cancer in 2008.

Coll trivia fact:  The Jeff Healey Band was the house band in the 1989 film Road House (staring Patrick Swayze).

Todd Rundgren - Hideaway

Todd Rundgren is a fascinating artist who has crafted a long and diverse career both in front of and behind the microphone.  Rundgren's career began with Nazz in the late 1960s, but really took off with his 1972 double album Something/Anything.  That LP was a huge success, featuring two top 20 hits in "I Saw the Light" and "Hello It's Me."  However, instead of continuing to write pop songs, Rundgren moved into progressive rock and became more involved in production and engineering.

For much of the 1970s and 1980s, Rundgren recorded music, both as a solo artist and with his band, Utopia.  He also worked behind the scenes with artists including Badfinger, The Band, Patti Smith, Meat Loaf, Grand Funk Railroad, the New York Dolls, and XTC, among others.  His work is notable for his craftsmanship, strong technical expertise and varied styles.  As a result, he is favorably viewed by critics and his fellow musicians but he did not achieve significant mainstream success as a performer (although he does have a loyal following as something of a cult artist).

"Hideaway" is from Rundgren's 1982 album The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect.  The album marked something of a low point in his career, as he viewed the release as a legal obligation to his label, Bearsville Records.  As a result, the songs are a bit more pop sounding and less complicated -- there have been rumors that he just wanted to finish the album quickly.  However, his talent still shines through.  The best-known song from this album is "Bang the Drum All Day," which has become something of a pop classic.  Instead of going with that, we opted for "Hideaway," a relatively unknown pop gem with a cool video to go with it.  "Hideaway" never charted (the LP peaked at #66) and received only a modicum of airplay, but is well worth a listen.

Rundgren remains active in the music industry to this day.  Additionally, Rundgren's band Utopia was posted on ERV in March 2014 for "Feet Don't Fail Me Now."

Men at Work - Overkill

Most ERV readers will remember (or have heard of) Men at Work -- the Australian band that seemingly came out of nowhere to become international recording stars in 1982.  The combination of catchy songs and Beatles-esque videos drove their debut album (Business As Usual) to the top of the charts all over the world.    In fact, as of this writing, they are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and single in the U.S.

Of course, we are not going to feature anything off of this massively successful album.  Instead, we are highlighting "Overkill" from their 1983 Cargo album.  While Cargo was not as big a success as Business as Usual (what was?) it did reach #3 on the U.S. charts, and "Overkill" also peaked at #3.  Additionally, "It's a Mistake" reached #6, giving the band 4 top 10 singles in 2 years.  Sadly, they would never have another top 40 album or single, as the follow up to Cargo, 1985's Two Hearts, did not do as well, and the band broke up soon afterwards.

Several of the member of the band remained in the industry, most notably lead singer Colin Hay, who has had some success in recent years with a more folk driven sound.  In addition, Hay and original member Greg Ham (keyboards, saxophone, flute) performed at reunion concerts prior to Ham's death in 2012.

The original video:

By the way, is it just me, or is this a surprisingly reflective and sad song for a band who just sold a gazillion copies of their debut album?

The outstanding acoustic version of the song (by Colin Hay) was featured on the TV show Scrubs, and appeared on Hay's cleverly titled 2003 solo album, Man @ Work.  It is a great reinterpretation of the song, and well-worth a listen:

Cool trivia fact:  Men at Work is yet another band that may have been jinxed by the "best new artist" curse, as they won the 1983 Grammy for Best New Artist.  For more on this, check out previous posts on the BoDeans and Michael Penn.

Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child (Wild One)

Often called the godfather of punk, Iggy Pop is a true musical innovator who helped change the course of rock.  Unfortunately, this influence did not lead to a ton of commercial success, making him akin to Lou Reed, who was featured on ERV last September.

Iggy Pop is best-known for being the frontman of the Stooges, who are often viewed as the proto-punk band.  While they were not hugely successful, their stripped down, high velocity songs and energetic live performances (which included the innovation of stage diving) were years ahead of their time.  The Stooges first album was released in 1969 and the band broke up in 1974.  At that time, substance abuse derailed Pop's career, a problem that would haunt him for years.

While Pop recorded some music during the 1970s and early 1980s, it was inconsistent, almost as if he did not know what direction to turn towards after the Stooges.  Additionally, his addiction problems undoubtedly impacted his work (and led to several breaks from the industry).

His 1986 album Blah Blah Blah, co-produced by old friend David Bowie, saw something of a return to form, and the album was a modest commercial success -- reaching #90 on the charts.  Although his cover of  Johnny O'Keefe's "Wild One" did not break the Hot 100, it did chart on the Mainstream Rock Charts.  [As an aside, I'll bet that there are a bunch of folks that heard the song and did not realize that it was a cover.]  The success helped re-launch Pop's career, and he has continued to perform (and act a little) to this day.

His version of "Real Wild Child (Wild One):"

And, of course, the original "Wild One" by Australian Johnny O'Keefe from 1958:

Cool trivia fact:  The O'Keefe song was the first rock song to hit the Australian national charts, and the song's release date, July 5, 1958 is often considered the birthday of rock and roll in Australia.

Boy Meets Girl - Waiting For a Star to Fall

Long time readers will know that we like to feature lots of different types of music on ERV, including well-crafted pop songs.  While "Waiting For a Star to Fall" would be more at home on VH1 than MTV, it is an excellent example of 1980s lite rock and has a cool backstory to boot.

Boy Meets Girl was the songwriting team of George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam.  The married (at the time) couple met at a wedding, and became a personal and professional couple.  While they released an album in 1985, they were best-known as the songwriters behind the Whitney Houston hits "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)."

"Waiting For a Star to Fall" was inspired by an actual shooting star that Rubicam had seen at a Whitney Houston concert.  The song was originally offered to Houston, but her team passed, as they were moving in a more R&B direction.  The song was then offered to Belinda Carlisle, who made a demo recording, but decided not to release the song.

As a result, when Boy Meets Girl released their second album, 1988's Reel Life, they were able to include the song.   "Waiting ..." would go on to become the duos' signature song and biggest hit, reaching #5 on the charts, while the Reel Life album peaked at #50.

Sadly, the couple then went through a rough patch -- their third album, 1990s New Dream was not released by their label, and they divorced in the early 2000s.  However, their professional collaboration continues to this day, we believe.

Cool trivia fact:  The blonde girl in the video is the couple's daughter

Cool trivia fact #2:  Boy Meets Girl is not a one hit wonder, as "Oh Girl," from their self-titled 1985 debut, hit #39 on the charts.

As an added bonus, here is Belinda Carlisle's demo recording of the same song:

BulletBoys - Smooth Up In Ya

BulletBoys are your basic late 1980s pop metal band, and we'll admit that we have a soft spot for them, even if they did come off as a mimeographed Van Halen.  The band formed in LA (of course) in 1987, and were led by Marq Torien, who had previously been a member of Ratt and King Kobra.

The band's self-titled debt and early videos tried to duplicate the Van Halen formula, right down to Torien doing his best David Lee Roth impression.  It didn't hurt that their first three albums were produced by Ted Templeman, who also produced Van Halen's first 6 albums.

Drafting off the huge popularity of pop metal and Van Halen, BulletBoys found their audience, and the debut record hit #34 on the album charts, while "Smooth Up In Ya" (#71) and a cover of the O'Jays "For the Love of Money" (#78) both broke the top 100.  The band's second LP charted, but changing tastes and weaker material consigned them to working band status, were they continue to this day.

Coll trivia fact:  BulletBoys did a surprisingly solid version of Tom Wait's "Hang On St. Christopher," on their 1991 album, Freakshow.

Vanity 6 - Nasty Girl

Long time reader and commenter Sam requested Vanity 6, and we figured: why not?  I mean who doesn't like your basic story about sex and drugs and rock & roll, with ties to Prince and The Time.

The Vanity 6 story begins in the early 1980s with Prince.  By this point Prince is a star on the rise (note that ERV has previously featured "Dirty Mind" and "Controversy," which are great examples of his early work).  He is also a prolific songwriter, and starts working on side projects to manufacture additional creative outlets.

The first project is The Time, featuring vocalist Morris Day.  While The Time was an actual band, Prince (using the pseudonym Jamie Starr) wrote the songs and recorded all of the parts (except for the vocals).  This gave Prince a different band, but one where he had total creative control.

Around the same time, Prince decides to create a female band (called The Hookers) to perform hyper-sexual songs while wearing lingerie.  (Early 1980s Prince was way into sex and about as subtle as artillery about it.)  The original band (with three of Prince's lady friends) progressed to the point of making demos when Prince met Vanity (given name: Denise Matthews) a Canadian model and B movie actress.  Prince was smitten, he and Denise became an item and Denise eventually was renamed Vanity.  Prince then made Vanity the lead singer of his female trio and named them Vanity 6 (after the number of breasts in the band ... seriously).  The backup singers from The Hookers (Brenda Bennett and Susan Moonsie) remained in the band.

Vanity 6 goes into the studio (with his Purpleness, of course) and emerges with their 1982 self-titled debut album.  The LP hits #45 on the charts, while "Nasty Girl" becomes a dance hit but does not break the top 100.  Vanity 6 (with The Time backing them up) tour with Prince and the Revolution during their 1983 1999 tour, but Vanity eventually breaks up with Prince and develops a major drug problem.  She then leaves Prince and the group to go out on her own.

Prince re-creates the band as Apollonia 6 for Purple Rain, using the same backup singers, and new music that was originally intended for Vanity 6.  Eventually, Prince and Apollonia break up, and it seems that Prince's interest in designing a girl group also fades over time.  Vanity ends up as an addict, nearly dies, and becomes a religious Christian.  She has gone back to her given name and left the industry.

So there you go -- the Crib Notes version of Vanity 6.  The video is a bit NSFW, and we went with the extended version because it is rarer, but it also has some additional NSFW dialog at the end.

Phil Collins - I Missed Again

Phil Collins has to be one of unlikeliest rock stars ever.  As many readers will know, Collins started as the drummer in Genesis, then became the lead singer when Peter Gabriel left (and the band couldn't find anyone better to sing).  Over time, Genesis transformed from a progressive rock band to a pop band and became enormously successful.

While the band's commercial success continued to grow, Phil Collin's personal life was deteriorating; he actually took a leave of absence from Genesis to work on his marriage.  Unfortunately, things did not work out and his (first) wife filled for divorce in 1979.  Collins then did what many artists would do under similar circumstances: he poured himself into his work.  The result was a bunch of new songs, some of which appeared on Genesis' 1980 album Duke (most notably,  "Misunderstanding").  Eventually, his record label got word of the material, and offered Collins a solo contract.

Work on the Face Value album began in 1979 and took two years.  While the material was primarily based on  the failure of his marriage, Collins softened the approach over time, and the result was a tremendously successful album.  The Face Value LP hit #7 on the charts, and went on to sell 5 million units in the U.S.  Interestingly, both "In the Air Tonight" and "I Missed Again" peaked at #19 on the U.S. charts.

Collins would go on to have more top 40 hits in the U.S. than any other artist during the 1980s.  He also is one of only three artists to have sold more than 100 million units both as a solo artist and as a member of a band.  The other two?  Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson.  On the personal front, things have not been quite as smooth; Collins was divorced from his third wife in 2008.  Sadly, Phil Collins announced his retirement from music in 2011.

A special shout out to ERV reader Sean, who requested this one a while back.

Below is original video, with Collins playing all of the instruments, air style.

As a special extra, we also have an audio of the demo track of the song, with the original lyrics.  Note that the original title of the song was "I Miss You, Babe."  It is also worth pointing out how much more downbeat the original demo was.

'Til Tuesday - Coming Up Close

While 'Til Tuesday started out as a new wave band, they quickly evolved into folk-rock artists, shaped by the strong songwriting of bassist/lead singer Aimee Mann.  As many readers will know, the band is best known for their 1985 hit "Voices Carry," and is often (incorrectly) though of as a one hit wonder.  In fact, they had two top 40 hits (1986's "What About Love" being the second) and three additional top 100 songs, including "Coming Up Close."

'Til Tuesday formed in Boston in 1982, and started to really gain traction when they won the WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble in 1983. [WBCN was the major rock station in Boston, and the Rock & Roll Rumble was essentially a battle of the bands.]  This led to a recording contract with Epic and the band's debut album, 1985's Voices Carry, became a top 20 album, while the eponymous single broke the top 10.

From there, the band's success steadily waned, primarily due to their musical shift to a more folk-driven sound.  Interestingly, critics were generally supportive of the new direction, something that has followed Aimee Mann throughout her career.  The band's second LP, 1986's Welcome Home peaked at #49 and their 1988 album, Everything's Different Now topped out at #124.  The band broke up soon afterwards, although Aimee Mann has remained active as an independent musician, releasing critically acclaimed albums that sell well, but do not break the top 30.

"Coming Up Close" is a gently sad song that foreshadows the future direction of Mann and 'Til Tuesday.  The video is a simple performance piece that allows the listener to focus on the music, something that we suspect was intentional.  And with all due respect to "Voices Carry," we believe that "Coming Up Close" is the strongest song that 'Til Tuesday recorded.

Cool trivia fact:  As long time readers and music aficionados will know, Aimee Mann is married to Michael Penn ("No Myth"), who was featured on ERV in November 2012.  The "No Myth" post also discusses the dreaded Best New Artist curse (not to be confused with the Dread Pirate Roberts).

Cool trivia fact #2:  At the 1983 WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble, Digney Fignus (featured on ERV in August, 2011 and well worth checking out) was a semi-finalist.

Eddy Grant - Romancing the Stone

"Romancing the Stone" wasn't Eddy Grant's biggest U.S. hit, but we love to feature rare videos at ERV, and there is a method to our madness.  Anyhow, that's out story and we're sticking to it.  Grant, who was born in Guyana (perhaps the only artist on ERV from that country) has had a long and interesting career performing music that combined traditional Caribbean music (calypso, reggae and soca, in particular) with R&B, funk and rock.  The result eventually became called ringbang and is closely associated with Grant.

Of course, in addition to his diverse music, Eddy Grant also floated in and out of the charts, particularly in Britain (his family moved to London when he was a child).  He had 7 top 40 hits in the U.K. as a solo artist, plus 6 more as the main songwriter of The Equals, who were successful in the U.K. in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Grant is also known for his political lyrics, especially on the topic of apartheid.

American audiences will mostly know Grant for his 1982 hit "Electric Avenue," which went to #2 on the charts.  "Romancing the Stone" (written for the movie of the same title) was also a top 40 hit in the U.S., as it reached #26 in 1984.  Unfortunately, there seems to have been a dispute with the movie's producers, as the song was not included in the movie (except for the guitar solo) and did not appear on the soundtrack.

As an interesting aside, we would recommend Romancing the Stone (the movie).  It is a funny action adventure movie that does not take itself too seriously, and is well cast (Kathleen Turner in her prime, for instance).  The backstory to the movie is quite sad, as screenwriter Diane Thomas worked as a waitress for years while developing the script.  Her big break came when she pitched the story to a customer (Michael Douglas), which led to major success.  Sadly, she was killed in a car accident the following year, and never wrote another screenplay.

Eddy Grant made two videos for the song, as a result of the dispute with the producers.  The first video features clips from the movie (and supernatural guitars, as Grant's guitar can apparently transform from a machete and change the weather if a suitcase is thrown at him):

The second video is just Eddy and a corpse (I think).  Not sure where this idea came from, but probably not the best.

Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio

We have no idea who at MTV liked this quirky number, but somehow "Mexican Radio" went into heavy rotation for a time on the video music channel.  Helped by the exposure, the song reached #58 on the charts (the band's only top 100 hit), while the Call of the West album peaked at #45 (the band's only top 100 album).

Wall of Voodoo was a new wave band from LA., and originally formed in the late 1970s as a soundtrack company.  The band's new wave approach, laid back vocals (almost talk-singing) and unusual music has led some to compare them to Devo, which is not totally unfair.  I.R.S. Records (now who remembers them?) signed the band in 1980, and Wall of Voodoo's first EP had a cover of Johnny Cash's  "Ring of Fire" that generated some buzz.  While the band had some Western influences, their music is a bit tough to categorize; overall they were darker and more complex than one would expect from this song.

At any rate, "Mexican Radio" was the lead single from the band's second LP, Call of the Wild.  The concept for the song came from the Mexican radio stations that the band used to listen to on AM radio in their car.  In fact, the Spanish segments of the song were recorded from these stations.  Similarly, the video was shot on the cheap, in Tijuana (in retrospect, we think that this helped the video).  Overall, the video does a great job of capturing the eccentric song -- and we have to point out the "face in beans" scene (around 3:33) that was an iconic early MTV image.

Unfortunately, frontman Stan Ridgway left Wall of Voodoo in 1983, right after their appearance at the US Festival.  The band continued for a couple of years before calling it quits.  While Ridgeway did not have much success as a solo artist, he carved out a successful career scoring films.

Hilly Michaels - Calling All Girls

Unless you are a big time music aficionado, the name Hilly Michaels probably doesn't mean much to you.  This is a shame, because Hilly had a really interesting, slightly crazy career that includes 2 good hyper-bubblegum albums and a ton of jobs as a session drummer.

Hilly (given name: Michael Hillman) started drumming in the late 1960s with Michael Bolton and went on to work with Sparks, Dan Hartman ("Instant Replay"), Ellen Foley and Ian Hunter ("All of the Good Ones Are Taken"), among others.  In 1980 he released his first solo album, Calling All Girls.  Produced by Roy Thomas Baker (famous for his work with The Cars and Queen), Calling All Girls is critically acclaimed for its uptempo new wave popiness.  The album is filled with well-crafted pop songs and features appearances by Liza Minnelli (really), Elton John, Greg Hawkes (Cars) and G.E. Smith (SNL).

The "Calling All Girls" video was an early classic on MTV and it is not hard to see why.  In addition to the catchy pop song, the vibrant animation really distinguishes this video from other of the era.  In fact, "Calling All Girls" was the 93rd song ever played on MTV (the first day), and it remained an early favorite of the channel for some time.

In spite of the strong material, the album did not connect with listeners and Hilly's second album, 1981's Lumia did not fare any better.  Hilly remained active for years as a session drummer, before leaving the industry to live in the Caribbean and then Florida for a number of years.  He still performs one a somewhat unpredictable basis to the present day.

Cool trivia fact: Hilly's manager was Jake Hooker.  That name doesn't ring a bell?  Well, Hooker was the guitarist of the Arrows, famous for writing and recording the original version of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," later made famous by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.  [The link will magically transport you to the March 2012 ERV blog post featuring the original and the cover.]

Cool trivia fact #2:  Michaels was asked to join KISS twice -- in 1980 and in 1990.  He declined both times.

Keith Richards - Take It So Hard

Man, it is hard to figure out how to start a blog post about Keith Richards.  Aside from the fact the he is seemingly indestructible (from a drug standpoint, at least), we are talking about one of the greatest rock songwriters ever.  [We're particularly partial to the guitar lines in "Happy," "Brown Sugar," "Satisfaction," and "Gimme Shelter," just for starters.]

However, the mid-1980s were a difficult time for the Rolling Stones.  Mick Jagger wanted to move towards a more updated, poppy sound, and when Richards resisted, Jagger effectively went out on his own.  [Regular ERV readers will recognize that truckloads of lead singers go out on their own, almost always to the detriment of themselves and their band.]  By 1986, the situation came to a head, and Jagger refused to tour or support the Stones Dirty Work LP, instead focusing on his solo record.  At that time it was unclear if the Rolling Stones would continue as a band.

This led to Richards deciding to do his own solo record (his first); the result was the 1988 album, Talk Is Cheap.  While the songs do not measure up to the late 1960s / early 1970s masterpieces (what does?), the record produced some of the best Richards material in years.  He co-wrote the album with Steve Jordan, and set up a band (the Xpensive Winos) to record and tour.

"Take It So Hard" was the lead single and does a great job of recapturing some of the Richards magic (man, does he have a feel for great riffs ...)  The video is a shot of the band performing after a nuclear holocaust has presumably destroyed everything except Keith and the band.  (Given Richards apparent invulnerability  this seems like a shockingly plausible scenario, actually ...)

Of course, the Stones were able to get it together and have continued to periodically record and tour as of this writing.  Richards released one additional solo album, 1992's Main Offender, before re-focusing his efforts on the Stones.

The Stones dark and cool video for "Undercover of the Night" was posted on ERV in June, 2015.

Public Image Ltd - Rise

It's nearly impossible to talk about John Lydon without mentioning the Sex Pistols.  While the Sex Pistols were only together for a few years (and one studio album), they helped define the punk movement.  As the frontman for the band, Lydon (then going by Johnny Rotten) became of the most visible punk rockers in the world during the movement's heyday, making him an important and influential artist.

To his credit, Lydon did not attempt to form the Sex Pistols part two after the band fell apart.  Instead, he created a new band, Public Image Ltd (PiL) who have recorded using various interesting and eclectic styles.  Some critics have taken to calling this "post-punk," but that feels like a lazy way to characterize the music.  It seems to us that what Lydon did was take a punk attitude and try to translate it to other genres of music.  We don't think that it was always successful, but it was always interesting.

"Rise" was a 1986 single off the PiL LP called Album.  Stylistically, it is almost a punk folk song, if there is such a thing.  The lyrics were influenced by the apartheid system in South Africa (not unlike the "Sun City"  previously featured on ERV).  Hence the references to skin and torture.  The song ended up becoming one of PiL's biggest hits, and reached #11 in the UK.  It didn't chart in the U.S.

Def Leppard - Let It Go

Although Def Leppard is one of the bands that defined music in the 1980s, there are some rare and semi-rare videos of them.  In this way they are a lot like Bon Jovi, who went up on the blog last September.  And like Bon Jovi, the Leppards were not an overnight success; it took a few years to find their sound.

The band formed in Sheffield, England in 1977 and emerged as part of the new wave of British heavy metal in the early 1980s, alongside such bands as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.  Def Leppard's first album came out in 1980, and it was immediately apparent that they were different from most other metal groups in terms of their melodic, pop-influenced melodies.  In a stroke of good fortune, their sound caught the ear of producer extraordinaire Mutt Lange, who agreed to work on the band's second album, 1981's High and Dry.  [Lange would continue to work with the band on the Pyromania and Hysteria albums, as well.]

High and Dry was a modest success, reaching #38 on the U.S. charts, although "Let It Go" did not break the top 100.  We have to say, High and Dry is our favorite Def Leppard album -- it was a bit rougher than the band's later stuff, but it is really good.

The video was a straight up performance filmed at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool, England.  In fact, Def Leppard shot "Let It Go," "High and Dry" and the original version of "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" all at the same time ... ah, the innocence of those pre-MTV days.

Of course, Def Leppard would crack the code of pop-metal with their 1983 Pyromania album (the catchy videos on MTV didn't hurt) and become huge stars -- Pyromania and Hysteria (1987) each sold in excess of 10 million units in the U.S.  Unfortunately, the band was also know for their tragedies as well, especially drummer Rick Allen's 1984 car accident (and loss of an arm) and guitarist Steve Clark's death in 1991.

Cool trivia fact:  The working title of "Let It Go" was "When The Rain Falls."

Cool trivia fact #2:  The dark-haired guitarist (with the Gibson Explorer) is Pete Willis, who was fired from the band in 1982 for alcoholism.  He was replaced by Phil Collen (not the one from Genesis), who remains in the band to the present day.

Pebbles - Mercedes Boy

Pebbles (born as Perri McKissack; Pebbles was a childhood nickname) had a brief but successful career as a solo artist before transitioning to management.  She is one of few artists who was probably more successful as a manager than a performer ... but more on that in a moment.

Pebbles got her start as a backup singer for Bill Summers and Con Funk Shun in the early 1980s.  In addition to singing, she began writing songs and eventually secured a recording contract with MCA.  Her self-titled first album, released in 1987, peaked at #14 and produced two top 5 hits -- Girlfriend (#5) and Mercedes Boy (#2).  Her second album, 1990s Always also did well and produced two more top 40 singles.

In 1989, Pebbles married her second husband (she has been married 4 times as of this writing), record producer L.A. Reid.  This led to the formation of Pebbitone (her management company) and Savvy Records (her record label).  More importantly, Pebbles became the manager of a new female R&B group called TLC.  While TLC became superstars, Pebbles relationship with the band deteriorated over time, and eventually TLC left Pebbitone, around the same time that Pebbles marriage to Reid ended.  Pebbles then became more religious and left the secular music industry.

"Mercedes Boy" was written by Pebbles about a high school boyfriend, and co-produced by Charlie Wilson (of Gap Band fame).  It is notable for having a strong guitar solo, which is something of a rarity for R&B (and may be one factor that helped the song cross over).

Cool trivia fact:  The male dancer is Rudy Houston, a former Solid Gold dancer who also appeared in Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" video.  In the 1990s, he apparently underwent a sex change operation (and appeared on the Sally Jessy Raphael Show to discuss it).

Artists United Against Apartheid - Sun City

The political music and concert trend of the 1980s was somewhat weird.  The whole thing started with Bob Geldof's Band Aid project "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in late 1984.  In 1985, seemingly every musician on the planet was recording an all star song or appearing at a concert.  USA for Africa, Live Aid, Farm Aid, Hear 'n Aid (yes, we kid you not, there was a heavy metal charity project) all took place within 12 months of Band Aid.

Still, Artists United Against Apartheid seemed to be a bit different.  First, it was much more blatantly political (younger readers can look up apartheid here). and second, it seemed to be more genuine.  The project was organized by Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band and included Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Bono, Pete Townshend, Peter Gabriel, Pat Benatar, Bonnie Raitt, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Run-D.M.C., Clarence Clemons, Hall and Oates, and Jackson Browne among others.

The point of the video was twofold:  to raise awareness of apartheid, and to pressure artists who were considering performing at Sun City, thus pressuring the South African regime.  This was not a totally trivial issue, as performers such as Frank Sinatra, Queen, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Julio Iglesias, The O'Jays, Linda Ronstadt, Cliff Richard, Johnny Mathis, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick and Laura Branigan had performed at the casino.

While an early version of the song named names, it was decided to take a more subtle route in the end.  In spite of this, "Sun City" was not a huge success -- the single hit #38, while the album peaked at #31.  It is likely that the blatant political message of the song, combined with the rap elements made this a little bit of a tough sell.  Still, the project did generate a fair amount of publicity, and it also raised money for anti-apartheid causes.  Overall, we think it was a solid success for Little Steven.  And this story has a happy ending, as South Africa is now a free and democratic country in the community of nations.

Cool trivia fact:  Rolling Stone ranked the Sun City album as the 100th greatest LP of the 1980s.

Bonnie Raitt - Thing Called Love

Let's face it:  not all of the stories on ERV are happy.  The blog is littered with talented artists who did not break though; in fact that is something of the point of ERV -- to highlight these musicians and their videos.  Still, there are some cool success stories here as well, including a lot of the covers posted on ERV (which is kind of the point of the covers category).

Bonnie Raitt actually fits into both categories.  For the first fifteen years of her career, she was an under-appreciated artist who then had a late career renaissance.  Raitt released 9 albums between 1971 and 1986 with some commercial success, but she did not have a top 40 single or a top 20 album.  However, her bluesy sound and slide guitar made her a trailblazer and a critical darling.

Everything changed when Raitt released Nick of Time in 1989.  Her 10th album was produced by Don Was (previously featured on the blog in Was Not Was) and contained the song that really broke her career wide open -- her cover of John Hiatt's "Thing Called Love."  (Hiatt's "Slow Turning" was posted on ERV in March 2012.)  The stars aligned and Raitt had a #1 album, one that would go on to sell some 5 million units in the U.S.  Incredibly, "Thing Called Love" did not break the top 100 on the U.S. charts, but Raitt had multiple charting singles after it, including 5 top 40 songs.

The video of "Thing Called Love" features Dennis Quaid, (a friend of Raitts') who is basically there to flirt with her.  In subsequent interviews, Raitt recounts that she was somewhat uncomfortable shooting videos, and thought that having an actor friend there would help the process.

And of course, the rougher but still excellent John Hiatt original:

Cool trivia fact:  Rolling Stone ranked John Hiatt's Bring the Family album (with his version of "Thing Called Love") as the 53rd greatest album of the 1980s ... and they ranked Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time as the 492nd greatest album ever.

Face to Face - 10-9-8

Face to Face (no relation to the 1990s punk band) was a Boston-based new wave band fronted by lead singer Laurie Sargent.  In their heyday, they were often compared to 'Til Tuesday for obvious reasons (Both were Boston-based new wave bands with a female lead singer).

Face to Face's big break came in 1984, and for a brief period it looked like they were on their way to stardom.  Their self-titled first album broke into the charts, as did the single "10-9-8."  The band's music was also featured in the movie Streets of Fire, which was heavily marketed over the summer of 1984.  However, sales of their single and album stalled, and Street of Fire bombed at the box office.  Face to Face soldiered on for a few more years, but eventually broke up in 1988.

"10-9-8" peaked at #38, while Face to Face's debut LP reached #127.  For those keeping score at home, that does make Face to Face an official one hit wonder.  By the way, the video for "10-9-8" is not half bad -- it is something of an artistic performance piece.  And for our younger readers, that thing shown around 1:20 is called a payphone, and was used in days of yore (before cell phones).

After the band broke up, Laurie Sargent remained active in the industry, while guitarist Angelo Petraglia became a successful songwriter (mostly roots and country rock).

Ian Hunter - All of the Good Ones Are Taken

Ian Hunter's "All of the Good Ones Are Taken" is another video that fits in perfectly in the ERV neighborhood, and there are a bunch of cool factoids associated with the vid to boot.

We'll start with Ian Hunter, your basic under-appreciated musician.  Hunter started his career as the frontman for Mott the Hoople, a groundbreaking English glam rock band that never quite broke out.  Mott the Hoople are best known for their 1972 classic, "All the Young Dudes" (written for the band by David Bowie).  Hunter left Mott in late 1974 and embarked on a solo career that was critically acclaimed, but generally flew under the radar of the listening public.  In particular, Hunter's 1979 LP, You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic is viewed by many as a rock classic (and totally goes on my list of greatest album titles).

"All of the Good Ones Are Taken" comes from the 1983 album of the same name -- note that the album contained two versions of the song (fast and slow)  The video is set to the fast version of the song (the slow version can be found here, for interested readers).  It is also worth pointing out that the sax solo is performed by Clarence Clemons, who does not appear in the video.

The video is pitch perfect in my humble opinion and is notable for the presence of Carol Miller (she is the blonde with the side ponytail).  Miller is a famous NY DJ (WPLJ, WNEW-FM and now Q104.3) and one of your author's favorite DJs ever.  The butler is played by Arthur "Captain" Haggerty, a famous animal trainer and actor.  And, of course, we have to call out the presence of roller skates (!) at 1:14.  All this adds up to a fun, rare video of a good and nearly forgotten song.

Cool trivia fact:  ERV reader Corkey pointed out the Martin Briley, whose song "Salt of My Tears" was posted on ERV in October 2011 can be seen (well, the back of his head can, at least) at 0:31.

Cool trivia fact #2:  Hilly Michaels, who appeared on ERV in February ("Calling All Girls"), played drums on  the All of the Good Ones Are Taken LP, and co-wrote one of the songs on the album, as well.

The Jacksons - Can You Feel It

You have to hand it to the Jacksons -- when they went big, they really went big.  Case in point:  the 9+ minute video for "Can You Feel It" from 1981.  For an early (pre-MTV) video, this is about as big as it gets.    And while the video is dated (and just a bit over the top), it has become regarded as something of a classic in recent years.

1980's Triumph LP came during a weird period for the brothers.  While the band had remained reasonably successful in the late 1970s, Michael's 1979 solo album Off the Wall had rocketed him to super-stardom, leading to speculation that he would leave the band to focus on his solo career.  (This eventually happened, but not for several more years.)

At any rate, the video for "Can You Feel It" is particularly noteworthy for the Robert Abel's special effects.  Michael (who co-wrote the song with Jackie) came up with the concept, which portrays the Jacksons as god-like creatures who spread magical pixie dust ... really.  We particularly like that the special effects at times drown out the music.

"Can You Feel It" would go on to be a modest disappointment, peaking at #77 on the charts, while the Triumph album would do better, reaching #10 and going platinum.  Of course, in 1982 Michael Jackson would release Thriller, and go on to become one of the most successful recording artists of all time ... but you already knew that.

Michelle Shocked - Anchorage

It's hard to imagine a more extreme transition than from Accept to Michelle Shocked, and it underscores the diversity of eighties music.  [I'm not sure how many readers will actually listen to the two songs, but they are both good ... in very different ways.]

Michelle Shocked (given name:  Karen Michelle Johnston) is an indy folk artist who became a musician almost accidentally.  Her first album (The Texas Campfire Tapes) was a bootleg recording of her made on a Sony Walkman performing an impromptu set at 1986 Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas.  The recording (released without her permission) became a hit in the UK and led to a recording contract.

Her next album, 1988's Short Sharp Shocked reached #73 on the album charts, while "Anchorage" hit #66 on the singles chart, making her a bona fide indy folk star.  Shocked followed this up with a 40s style swing album (1989's Captain Swing) and a folk / old time country album (1992's Arkansas Traveler).  When she recorded a gospel album next, her exasperated label dropped her, and she has continued to record interesting music in a variety of genres (mostly folk based) since then.

"Anchorage" is a pretty, slightly sad song sung as if it were a letter.  While the lyrics are straightforward, there is a beauty to them -- and more than a hint of feminism and nostalgia.  As with many great songs, it is open-ended enough to allow many interpretations.

Note: As folks can see below, Michelle Shocked has asked that we pull the video, and so we have. 

Accept - Midnight Mover

Led by diminutive (5'6") camo-wearing vocalist Udo Dirkschneider and known for their hard and fast sound, the German band Accept put out several strong heavy metal albums in the early to mid 1980s.  While their aggressive, uptempo version of heavy metal laid the groundwork  for thrash, the band had difficulty in the U.S. market, as they were simply too heavy for American audiences of the time.

Accept formed in Solingen, Germany and slowly built a following in Europe during the late 1970s and early 1980s.  [For hard rock fans, we'd recommend "Fast As a Shark" from the 1982 Restless and Wild LP and "Balls to the Wall" from the 1983 album of the same name.]

Following the modest success of Balls to the Wall, which hit #74 of the U.S. charts, the band decided to craft a more commercial album.  They hired producer Dieter Dierks (famous for his work with the Scorpions) and focused on writing more melodic hard rock.  The result was 1985's Metal Heart, a good but unsuccessful album that alienated some of the group's core fans and did not expand its audience.  Ironically, Metal Heart is now well-regarded by many Accept fans.

While the band continued on for a few years, Udo left Accept in 1987, effectively ending their period as a premier hard rock band.  The band has continued on and off in the intervening years (including a few periods with Udo) and generally continues to have modest success, especially in Europe.

Cool trivia fact:  "Midnight Mover" is generally regarded as the first video to use bullet time, which became popularized by The Matrix movies.  As with all thing Accept, the use here is completely unsubtle, but cool, although it may cause motion sickness and / or convulsions.

Robert Hazard - Escalator of Life

Robert Hazard (born Robert Rimato) was a mainstay of the Philadelphia music scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s.  With his band, the Heroes, he performed David Bowie-influenced new wave material that was modern and catchy, and generated a sizable local following.

In 1982, Kurt Loder (then writing for Rolling Stone) caught a performance and wrote a positive article for the magazine, which led to a recording contract with RCA.  The 1982 EP (simply called Robert Hazard) won critical acclaim and reached #102 on the album charts, while the single "Escalator of Life" peaked at #58, helped by the video (which was played on your favorite video music channel).

Unfortunately, things went downhill from there, with personnel changes in the band, weaker material and problems with the label.  When Hazard's 1984 LP (Wings of Fire) did not sell well, RCA dropped the band.  However, Hazard remained active in the industry, and gradually migrated to roots rock and country music over the years.  Sadly, he passed away (pancreatic cancer) in 2008.

Cool trivia fact:  As long time readers of ERV will know, Hazard wrote Cyndi Lauper's breakout hit "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."  (Click on the link for more info, including both the Lauper and Hazard versions of the song.)

Update [January 20201] so it turns out that there was a second (and rarer) video made of "Escalator of Life." And what kind of rare video blog would we be if we didn't include it (below):

Bananarama - Venus

The song "Venus" has an interesting history dating back to 1969.  Many readers will know that the Bananarama version is a cover (hence the inclusion on ERV, even though it was not exactly rare).  The original version was recorded by a Dutch group called Shocking Blue in 1969, and became a #1 hit in the U.S.  This places Shocking Blue alongside Sinéad O'Connor as the rarest of one hit wonders, as their only top 40 hit was a #1 song.

The Bananarama version was off their 1986 album True Confessions, and their cover of "Venus" would also go on to become a #1 hit in the U.S., one of three top 40 hits for the band ("Cruel Summer" (#9) and "I Heard a Rumour" (#4) were the other two).  Amazingly, "Venus" did not hit #1 in the U.K., in spite of the band's success in their home market -- in the U.K. Bananarama had 25 top 40 singles, making them the most successful all female act ever.

Bananarama was formed in 1979 by Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin.  The band was known for its lite pop songs and the lack of harmonizing (the three singers typically sang in unison).  Sadly, creative tensions led to Fahey's departure in 1988; she would go on to form Shakespears Sister.  Jacquie O'Sullivan replaced her in Bananarama from 1988 - 1991, but when she left, the band continued on with two lead singers (which is the status to the present day).

While Bananarama were not critical darlings, they did release a bunch of solid 1980s dance pop, including "Venus:"

Amazingly (love the internet), we were able to track down a video of the original version, by Shocking Blue (Note that the volume on this one is a little loud):

Cool trivia fact:  Siobhan Fahey was married to Dave Stewart of Eurythmics from 1987 - 1996.  (Man, that guy was everywhere during the 1980s.)

Bananarama's "Really Sayin' Something" (with a g and Fun Boy Three) was posted on ERV in October 2015.

Julian Lennon - Too Late for Goodbyes

So what is it like to be the first son of a rock legend?  Well ... for Julian Lennon (son of John), it means that a drawing you did as a child became the inspiration for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."  And when you were sad during your parents divorce, a band mate of your dad's wrote "Hey Jude" for you.  Pretty heady stuff.

It also means that when you decide to become a musician, everything you do will be compared to your dad. Especially when your voice sounds like his and when your first album comes out a few short years after his death.

Welcome to the life of Julian Lennon.

In spite of this, Julian Lennon's first album, Valotte (named after the French château when Lennon had stayed) is a solid effort.  It also sold well -- the album reached #17 on the charts and went platinum, spawning 3 top 40 hits -- the title cut (#9), "Too Late for Goodbyes" (#5) and "Say You're Wrong (#21).

Unfortunately, Lennon was not able to duplicate this success.  He released three additional albums through 1991, with each LP performing worse than the previous one.  Lennon then left the industry for seven years, before releasing Photograph Smile in 1998.  When it did not sell particularly well, he again left the industry, and became involved in photography, several internet businesses and charitable work.  He has had a somewhat higher profile lately, and released another album in 2011, but has had little commercial success of late.

Cool trivia facts:  the videos for "Too Late for Goodbyes" and "Valotte" were directed by Sam Peckinpah, best-known for the 1969 western The Wild Bunch.

Special shout out to eagle-eyed viewer Corky, who pointed out that Martin Briley (featured on ERV in October 2011 for "Salt of My Tears") can be seen on the video at 0:08.  Briley was a successful studio musician and played guitar on the studio version of "Too Late for Goodbyes."

Icehouse - Crazy

"Man of Colours" was Icehouse's fifth album; the band dates back to 1977, and began as a pub rock group from Sydney, Australia.  The group was originally called Flowers, but changed their name in 1981 (after signing with Chrysalis) to avoid legal issues, as there was a signed Scottish band with the same name.  Icehouse was chosen as it was the name of Flower's debut album in Australia, which in turn was named after a song, inspired by frontman Iva Davies' flat (apparently the building was cold and in a dodgy part of town).

Speaking of Iva Davies, it is worth pointing out that Icehouse really was his band, as he was the lead singer and songwriter for Icehouse.  (He also played keyboards and guitars on their studio recordings).  The other members of the band tended to turn over every few years (with a few exceptions).  [This explains why both videos below feature Iva so much.]

As with many Australian bands, they were much bigger in their home market than they were abroad.  Icehouse had 18 top 40 hits in their homeland between 1980 and 1990; in contrast they had 2 in the U.S. -- "Crazy" (which hit #14) and "Electric Blue" (Co-written by John Oats of Hall & Oats, which peaked at #7).  By the way, "Electric Blue" was their only #1 in Australia, although "Crazy" did hit #3.  While the band's success diminished after 1990, they have remained active to this date.

Lastly, it is worth noting that the band shot two videos for the song -- the first version was the Australian music video, directed by Mark Joffe:

The second version is the U.S./International version directed by John Jopson.  If that name is familiar, it is because Jopson directed a ton of videos in the 1980s, including songs by the Hooters, Poison, Choirboys, the Outfield and John Waite:

Squeeze - Another Nail in My Heart

By taking traditional pop songs and updating them with a post-punk approach, Squeeze became a pioneer in the emerging New Wave scene in Britain.  And as if that wasn't enough, they also created a bunch of memorable, well-crafted pop / new wave songs, with catchy melodies and clever lyrics.

The band was formed in 1974 and was named after the poorly-received Velvet Underground record.  [Squeeze, the VU record was released in 1973 without any of the original members of the band, and was panned by critics and fans alike.]  The main creative force behind Squeeze (the band) was the duo of Chris Difford (lyrics) and Glenn Tilbrook (music), who wrote virtually all of the songs, including "Another Nail in My Heart."

"Another Nail in My Heart" is off the 1980 LP Argybargy [Argybargy is British slang for an argument, by the by].  As with most of the early Squeeze singles, it did not break the top 100 in the U.S., although it did reach #17 in the U.K.  In what can only be described as a crime against music, none of the early Squeeze singles charted in the U.S. until 1981's "Tempted" (#49).  The band would go on to have 2 top 40 hits ("Hourglass," which hit #15 in 1987 and "853-5937," which peaked at #32 the following year).  A less polite person that I might suggest that the relative success of these later songs could be considered signs of The Universe having a sense of humor ... or irony.

In any event, the band broke up in 1982 (although Difford and Tilbrook continued to work together and even released an album in 1984).  Squeeze subsequently reformed in 1985 and continued working together until 1999, then broke up (again) before reforming (again) in 2007.  We believe they are together as of this writing.

The video of "Another Nail in My Heart" is a solid early video with the band performing (and hanging out at the pub) while keyboardist Jools Holland pushes a piano around London.  We particularly like the way that they shot the guitar solo (starting around 0:52), which is an absolutely superb piece of musicianship.

For folks who are interested in learning more about the band, their greatest hits record, Singles – 45's and Under is highly recommended.