The Music Of The 80s - Favorites, Classics And Rarities

[hitman531ph]

REAL LIFE

 

The Australian new romantic band Real Life formed in the early '80s with a new wave-influenced sound similar to Duran Duran. Comprising vocalist/guitarist David Sterry, drummer Danny Simcic, bassist Allan Johnson and keyboard player Richard Zatorski, the group gained a hit in Australia during 1983 with "Send Me an Angel," from their debut album Heartland. The single became an international success by the end of the year, and settled at number 29 on the American charts. Real Life returned to the Top 40 early in 1984 with "Catch Me I'm Falling," but lost its Australian contract two years later after second album Flame was a commercial and critical disappointment.

The group remained on Curb/MCA in America though, and had their biggest hit in 1989 when a remix of "Send Me an Angel" reached number 26. With the addition of new keyboard player Steve Williams, Real Life recorded Lifetime, but it too failed, and the band found themselves with no contract at all. After a five-year hiatus, the group returned in 1996 with a self-released EP titled Like a Ghost.

Edited October 19, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

FALCO

 

Falco was the most internationally successful pop artist ever to come out of Austria, best known for his 1986 chart-topping hit "Rock Me Amadeus." Born Johann Holzel in Vienna on February 19, 1957, he was a classically trained child prodigy, but after graduating from the Vienna Conservatoire, he relocated to West Berlin and began fronting a jazz-rock band. Rechristening himself Falco in honor of the German skier Falko Weissflog, he returned to Vienna in time to play bass on the punk outfit Drahdiwaberl's 1979 album Psycho Today, penning their best-known song, "Ganz Wein." Falco began his solo career in 1982 with the LP Einzelhaft; his "Der Kommissar," which fused techno-pop with rapped German lyrics, became a major European hit and a club favorite in the U.S., with a cover version by the group After the Fire reaching the Top Five in 1983. The follow-up, "Jeanny," was banned outright by radio as a result of its theme of prostitution, but nevertheless went on to top the German charts. While 1984's Junge Roemer attracted little attention, in 1986 Falco issued Falco 3, highlighted by the single "Rock Me Amadeus," a campy blend of classical music and synth pop which topped both the American and British charts. While the follow up single "Vienna Calling" was a Top 10 hit, Falco's subsequent efforts, including 1986's Emotional and 1988's Wiener Blut, fared poorly; he had been long out of the spotlight when he died in a car accident on February 6, 1998 at the age of 40

Edited October 19, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

BILLY IDOL

 

Along with Duran Duran, Billy Idol was one the first pop/rock artists to achieve massive success in the early '80s due to a then brand-new U.S. television network, MTV. Mixing his bad-boy good looks with an appealing blend of pop hooks, punk attitude, and a dance beats, Idol quickly rocketed to stardom, before hard living derailed his career and almost proved fatal. Born William Michael Albert Broad on November 30, 1955, in Middlesex, England, the youngster relocated with his family for a brief spell to New York, before returning back to England. After a stint at Sussex University only last a year, Broad found himself as part of a group of teen punk rockers who befriended and followed the Sex Pistols, known as "the Bromley Contingent" (a member of this colorful group of characters was Siouxsie Sioux, eventual leader of Siouxsie & the Banshees).

It wasn't long before Broad realized that he too could be the frontman of a punk band, and assumed the name Billy Idol shortly thereafter. After a stint playing guitar in a group called Chelsea didn't pan out (interestingly, the group featured future Clash guitarist Mick Jones and future Damned guitarist Brian James), Idol put down the guitar and picked up the mic, and recruited bassist Tony James, drummer John Towe, and guitarist Bob Andrews, forming Generation X in 1976. Named after a 1960s paperback book, the band signed a recording contract with Chrysalis shortly thereafter (Towe was replaced with new skinsman Mark Laff) -- resulting in such releases as 1978's self-titled debut, 1979's Valley of the Dolls, and 1981's Kiss Me Deadly -- before splitting up.

 

Disappointed with Generation X's demise, Idol relocated to New York City, where he pursued a career as a solo artist. Hooking up with Kiss manager Bill Aucoin, Idol issued the 1981 EP Don't Stop (comprised of a cover of Tommy James' '60s hit "Mony Mony" and a pair of remixed Generation X tracks), which helped the singer score another record deal with his former band's label, Chrysalis. Idol found the perfect collaborator and partner in guitarist/Johnny Thunders look-alike Steve Stevens, and issued a self-titled debut in July of 1982. A pair of eye-catching videos for the tracks "White Wedding" and "Dancing With Myself" (the latter a remake of a Generation X composition) scored major air time on MTV, with both clips focusing in on Idol's spiky, peroxide blonde hair and Elvis-like sneer. The debut eventually obtained gold certification, and set the stage perfectly for Idol's big commercial breakthrough, 1984's Rebel Yell.

 

Rebel Yell became the singer's best-selling album of his career (eventually going double platinum), spawning such big-time MTV/radio hits as the album's anthemic title track, "Eyes Without a Face," and "Flesh for Fantasy," establishing Idol as an arena headliner stateside. But with massive success came its many distractions, which prevented Idol from issuing a new studio album until three years after Rebel Yell. 1987's Whiplash Smile was another sizeable hit on the strength of such hits as "To Be a Lover" and "Sweet Sixteen," but failed to live up to the lofty expectations set by his previous releases. Stevens jumped ship shortly thereafter to launch his own band, Steve Stevens' Atomic Playboys (and eventually was a member of Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil's solo band), leaving Idol to fend for himself.

 

An eight-track best-of set, Vital Idol, was issued later the same year, spawning one of the year's most heavily played MTV videos -- a live version of the previously recorded cover of "Mony Mony" -- which helped keep Idol in the spotlight. Idol spent the next few years working on his fourth studio release, but reappeared in the summer of 1989 as part of an all-star rendition of the Who's Tommy, with Idol playing the role of the sadistic character Cousin Kevin. Around the time of Idol's next release, 1990's Charmed Life, the singer was involved in a serious motorcycle accident (in which he almost lost his leg), forcing the singer to walk with a cane for a period of time; the video for the album's lead-off single, "Cradle of Love," featured the singer filmed from the waist up. The ploy worked, as the single (which was also used as the theme song in the failed Andrew "Dice" Clay movie, Ford Fairlane) was another smash hit, making Charmed Life the fourth Idol album in a row to achieve at least reach platinum sales.

 

Expectedly, several years passed before the release of Idol's next album, during which time he tried his hand at acting with a bit part in Oliver Stone's motion picture The Doors. By the time 1993's Cyberpunk surfaced, Idol had dropped his spiky peroxide hairstyle in place of dreadlocks, and experimented with techno beats. The move proved to be an unwise one, as the album tanked and sank from the charts. At the same time, Idol was knee deep in drug addiction, resulting in another close brush with death when he overdosed and had to be treated in a Los Angeles hospital in 1994. Not much was heard from Idol until 1998, when he made a cameo appearance (as himself) in the hit Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore comedy The Wedding Singer, which resulted in renewed interest. Idol teamed up once again with Stevens, was the subject of a VH1: Behind the Music special (as well as a Storytellers episode for the channel, which was ultimately issued as a CD), and issued a more extensive Greatest Hits set in 2001; the latter of which sold 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone

Edited October 19, 2005 by hitman531ph

[Barenaked-NoMre]

Most of the songs/artists featured on 93.1 (Weds) & 89.9 (Fridays) reflect my elem & HS days!

 

Really DOES bring me back in time! ;-)

 

Cool info Hitman.

[hitman531ph]

VANDENBERG

 

Led by guitarist Adrian Vandenberg, this Dutch hard-rock band also included singer Bert Heerink, bassist Dick Kemper, and drummer Joe Zoomer. The band had one minor hit in 1983 called "Friday Night". After failing to break through, the band broke up, with Adrian Vandenberg joining Whitesnake for the release of its self-titled multi-platinum pop breakthrough

Edited October 22, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

Hate them or not, Menudo was part of the 80s as well...

 

MENUDO

 

Formed around a cast of lovable teenage Puerto Ricans (each of whom were forced out once they reached the age of 16), Menudo was the first Latin group to gain success around the world. The initial lineup formed in 1977 around brothers Carlos, Oscar and Ricky Melendez plus Nefty and Fernando Sallaberry, but the first replacements were installed before the end of the 1970s. Menudo made a medium-sized splash in America during the mid-'80s -- though all of the original members had long since passed -- with the 1984 LP Reaching Out, which included English-language versions of their biggest hits.

Though Menudo's brand of disposable synthesizer-pop dated and faded quickly in America, the group continued to rule much of Central and South America, and ousted member Ricky Martin made a successful solo career. By the late '90s, there were over thirty ex-members of Menudo, and the then-current version of the group -- known as MDO and including Alexis Grullon, Abel Talamántez, Didier Hernández, Anthony Galindo and Daniel Weider -- included no native Puerto Ricans and none under the age of 16

 

Photo below shows a young Ricky Martin circa 1984-85

Edited October 22, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK

 

Led by former Generation X member Tony James, the new wave group Sigue Sigue Sputnik raised selling out to an art form. The concept behind Sigue Sigue Sputnik was simple: the band adopted a postmodern, ironic style and sound, and marketed it to the hilt, saturating the media with slogans and interviews. James didn't even intend the band to be musical; he recruited Martin Degville, Neal X, Chris Cavanagh, and Ray Mayhew partially because they lacked extensive musical experience. After a publicity campaign designed to solicit a record contract, the band signed with EMI; they released their first single, "Love Missile F1-11," in early 1986, and it hit number three on the U.K. charts. Sigue Sigue Sputnik sold the space between tracks to advertisers on their debut album, Flaunt It. Despite the massive marketing campaign, the album fell on deaf ears, as did the more serious follow-up, Dress for Excess (1988), which featured the slogan "This time it's music" on the album cover. The group split soon after the release of Dress for Excess. James was a member of Sisters of Mercy for a short time in 1991

Edited October 22, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

FLESH FOR LULU

 

This band was described as a Gothic and gloomy punk rock band. In its existence from 1983-89, Flesh For Lulu managed to churn out a major hit called "I Go Crazy" as it was featured in a late 80s movie Some Kind of Wonderful

Edited October 22, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

SISTERS OF MERCY

 

One of England's leading "goth" bands of the 1980s, the Sisters of Mercy play a slow, gloomy, ponderous hybrid of metal and psychedelia, often incorporating dance beats; the one constant in the band's career has been deep-voiced singer Andrew Eldritch. (There is some disagreement as to whether the group took its name from an order of Catholic nuns or from the Leonard Cohen song of the same name.) Eldritch originally formed the band in 1980 with guitarist Gary Marx and recorded its first single with a drum machine dubbed Doktor Avalanche. Guitarist Ben Gunn and bassist Craig Adams were added to make live gigs feasible, and the Sisters built a rep*tation through several singles and EPs. Gunn left the band in 1983 and was replaced by Wayne Hussey. The Sisters of Mercy recorded their first full-length album, First and Last and Always, in 1985, which led them to a new wave hit "Walk Away", but two years later, internal dissent had split them apart; Marx left to form Ghost Dance, and Adams and Hussey departed shortly thereafter. A legal dispute ensued over the rights to the name Sisters of Mercy; Adams and Hussey attempted to use the name Sisterhood, but Eldritch released an EP under the name to prevent its usage, and the two finally settled on the Mission. Eldritch chiefly utilized a corps of temporary sidemen from this point on (although former Gun Club bassist Patricia Morrison was an official member of the group for a short time) and rebounded with his two biggest-selling American LPs, Floodland and Vision Thing

Edited October 22, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

THE FALL

 

Out of all the late-'70s punk and post-punk bands, none were longer-lived or were more prolific than the Fall. Throughout their career, the band underwent a myriad of lineup changes, but at the center of it all was vocalist Mark E. Smith. With his snarling, nearly incomprehensible vocals and consuming bitter cynicism, Smith became a cult legend in indie and alternative rock. Over the course of their career, the Fall went through a number of shifts in musical style, yet the foundation of their sound was a near-cacophonic, a-melodic jagged jumble of guitars, sing-speak vocals, and keyboards. During the late '70s and early '80s, the band was at their most abrasive and atonal. In 1984, Smith's American wife Brix joined the band as a guitarist, bringing a stronger sense of pop melody to the group. By the mid-'80s, the band's British following was large enough to result in two U.K. Top 40 hits, but in essence, the group has always been a cult band; their music was always too abrasive and dense for the mainstream. Only hardcore fans can differentiate between the Fall's many albums, yet the Fall, like many cult bands, inspired a new generation of underground bands, ranging from waves of sound-alike indie rockers in the U.K. to acts in America and New Zealand, which is only one indication of the size and dedication of their small, devoted fan base.

Prior to forming the Fall in 1977, Mark E. Smith worked on the docks in Manchester, where he had auditioned and failed with a number of local heavy metal groups. Smith wasn't inspired by metal in the first place; his tastes ran more toward the experimental rock & roll of the Velvet Underground, as well as the avant-garde art rock of Can. Eventually, he found several similarly inclined musicians -- guitarist Martin Bramah, bassist Tony Friel, keyboardist Una Baines, and drummer Karl Burns -- and formed the Fall, taking the group's name from the Albert Camus novel. The band cut an EP, Bingo Master's Break-Out!, which was funded by the Buzzcocks' label New Hormones, but it sat unreleased for nearly a year, simply because the band couldn't find anyone who wanted to sign the band. The Fall were outsiders, not fitting in with either the slick new wave and the amateurish, simple chord-bashing of punk rock. Consequently, they had a difficult time landing a record contract . After a while, the group had gained some fans, including Danny Baker, the head of the Adrenaline fanzine, who persuaded Miles Copeland to release the EP on his Step Forward independent label.

 

During 1978, Smith replaced bassist Friel with Marc Riley (bass, guitar, keyboards) and keyboardist Baines with Yvonne Pawlett because they wanted to make the Fall more accessible. The new lineup recorded the band's first full-length album, Live at the Witch Trials, which was released in 1979. The Fall continued to tour, playing bars and cabaret clubs and, in the process, began to slowly build a fan base. Radio 1 DJ John Peel had become a fervent fan of the band, letting them record a number of sessions for his show, which provided the group with a great deal of exposure.

 

Before recording the Fall's second album, Smith changed the band's lineup, firing Pawlett, Bramah, and Burns, while hiring guitarist Craig Scanlon, bassist Steve Hanley, and drummer Mike Leigh; Riley moved to lead guitar from bass during this lineup shift. Scanlon and Hanley would become integral members of the Fall, staying with the band for great part of their career. The new lineup recorded and released Dragnet late in 1979. The following year, the Fall parted with Step Forward and signed with Rough Trade, where they released the live album Totale's Turns (It's Now or Never), the studio Grotesque (After the Gramme), and several acclaimed singles, including "Totally Wired" and "How I Wrote Elastic Man," in the course of 1980. Paul Hanley joined the group as a second drummer before the Grotesque album. Though several Fall recordings appeared in 1981, they were all archival releases with the exception of the Slates EP. After the release of Slates, drummer Karl Burns re-joined the group. In early 1982, the band released the full-length Hex Enduction Hour, which received some of the group's strongest reviews to date. Since the group was having trouble with Rough Trade, the album was released on Kamera Records, as was its follow-up Room to Live, which also appeared in 1982. Following its release, Riley left the band.

 

The major turning point in the Fall's career arrived in 1983, when Mark E. Smith met Brix Smith (born Laura Elise Smith) in Chicago while the Fall were on tour. The pair married within a few months and Brix, who originally played bass, joined the group as their second guitarist, replacing Riley; her first record with the group was 1983's Perverted by Language. Brix brought a more melodic pop sense to the band, as demonstrated by 1984's The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall, their first album for Beggars Banquet. By this time, New Wavers enjoyed the band's single "C.R.E.E.P." Following the Call for Escape Route EP, the Fall struck up an alliance with ballet choreographer Michael Clark, who eventually collaborated on a ballet called I Am Kurious Oranj with Mark E. Smith. The Fall wrote the music and libretto for the ballet and performed the work several times during late 1984 and early 1985; an album of the music eventually appeared in 1988. By 1985, the Smiths were collaborating with each other, resulting in more structured, melodic songs like the singles "No Bulbs" and "Cruiser's Creek." Midway through 1985, Steve Hanley had to take a leave of absence and classically trained Simon Rogers joined as the temporary bassist. Once Hanley returned, Rogers moved over to keyboards. The new lineup with Rogers recorded This Nation's Saving Grace, which was released in the fall of 1985 to terrific reviews. Rogers stayed for one more album, 1986's Bend Sinister, yet he remained involved with the Fall for several years. Bend Sinister was recorded with Burns' replacement Simon Wolstencroft and, following its release, Rogers was replaced by keyboardist Marcia Schofield, who had previously played in Khmer Rouge.

 

In 1986, the Fall unexpectedly began to have charting singles, as their cover of the Other Half's "Mr. Pharmacist" became a minor hit in the fall. Over the next few years, the group appeared in the lower reaches of the charts consistently, breaking into the Top 40 with 1987's "Hit the North" and 1988's cover of the Kinks' "Victoria," which signalled how much more accessible the band had become with the addition of Brix's arrangements. After the 1988 release of the Simon Rogers-produced The Frenz Experiment, Brix divorced Smith and she left the Fall in 1989; original guitarist Martin Bramah replaced her. The musical result of the separation was a shift back to the darker, more chaotic sound of their early albums, as shown on the first post-Brix album, 1990's Extricate. Though Extricate was well-received, Smith decided to alter the lineup that recorded the album. He fired both Schofield and Bramah while the Fall was touring Australia. Featuring new keyboardist Dave Bush, Shift-Work was released in 1991, followed by Code: Selfish the next year.

 

In 1993, the Fall signed with Matador Records, which provided them with their first American record label in several years. Their first release for the label, The Infotainment Scam, was recorded with the returning Karl Burns, who provided drums. Neither The Infotainment Scam nor its 1994 follow-up Middle Class Revolt sold many records in the U.S., despite good reviews, and the Fall was again left without an American label as of 1995. Not that it mattered; they retained their devoted following in Britain, where both albums performed respectively. Brix re-joined the Fall during the supporting tour for Middle Class Revolt and appeared on 1995's Cerebral Caustic. At the beginning of 1996 keyboardist Julia Nagle had joined the band for the recording of The Light User Syndrome, an album that featured liner notes from longtime supporter and BBC DJ John Peel. The band recorded their 20th BBC session for the DJ in June followed by the departure of Brix in October and Karl Burns in December.

 

By this time a steady stream of compilations and live recordings started appearing, mostly without the band's involvement and the majority on the Receiver label. 1997 saw seven of them released along with reissues of Live At The Witch Trials and In a Hole. Karl Burns rejoined the band in May for a U.K. tour and the Levitate album, which appeared in September. New guitarist Tommy Crooks was brought on board and the band headed to the U.S. in March of 1998 to support the new album. During an April gig in New York City at Brownie's, Smith was in rare form. The band played large parts of the set with Smith offstage, at one point Smith said something to Karl Burns that made him jump over his drum kit and attack the singer, and Crooks and Smith were at odds the whole show with Crooks kicking Smith and Smith flicked lit cigarettes at Crooks. Burns, Crooks, and Steve Hanley were out of the band and Smith spent a night in jail on assault charges. The live and outtake CDs kept coming and Smith released his first spoken word album, The Post Nearly Man, in September.

 

A new single, "Touch Sensitive", appeared in February of 1999. It ended up as the soundtrack to car commercial giving it extra exposure in the U.K., setting the stage for the April release of the new album, The Marshall Suite. Nagle was now more involved with songwriting while guitarist Neville Wilding, bassist Adam Halal, and drummer Tom Head rounded out the new Fall. Another batch of reissues appeared, followed by the successful "F-oldin' Money" single and more U.K. tours. In April of 2000, Smith made a guest appearance on Elastica's album The Menace and in November a new Fall album, The Unutterable appeared. The same month, Spencer Birtwistle replaced Tom Head while Ben Pritchard and Jim Watts would replace Wilding and Helal respectively in February of 2001.

 

Julia Nagle was next to leave the band and the more garage rock oriented Fall released the extremely limited single "Rude (All The Time)" in August of 2001 with the full-length Are You Are Missing Winner hitting the streets in November. The stripped-down band toured the world to support the ill received album and documented the tour on the even worse received, half-live, half-studio 2G+2, released in June of 2002. The disappointing "official" albums were now being balanced with some decent compilations for a change with Sanctuary's Totally Wired: The Rough Trade Anthology and Cog Sinister's Listening In: Lost Singles Tracks 1990-92 being the best. Smith's second spoken word album, Pander! Panda! Panzer! appeared in September of 2002, the same month his new wife Elena Poulou joined the Fall on keyboards.

 

Released in December 2002, "The Fall vs. 2003" single ushered in the next great era of the band with Poulou offering a melodic base for Smith's abrasiveness the same way Nagle and Brix had before. Jim Watts discovered he was fired when Smith held a band meeting in a bar in March of 2003 and bought everyone a drink but Watts. Bassist Simon "Dingo" Archer would take his place for a June - July American tour. An early version of the band's next album was leaked to the Internet influencing Smith to re-record and add/drop some tracks. The leak was referenced in the album's new title, The Real New Fall LP Formerly Country On The Click, released in October. A Christmas single, "(We Wish You) A Protein Christmas" appeared in December.

 

The Sanctuary label reissued two classic albums - Live at the Witch Trials and Dragnet - in January of 2004 with much better sound than ever before and some bonus tracks were added to Dragnet. A tour of America was planned but on a visit to Newcastle Smith slipped on some ice, breaking his leg. A bystander came to help him up but Smith fell again, this time cracking his hip. Despite a metal rod running from his knee to hip, the Fall went ahead with the American tour with Smith delivering his vocals while seated at a table. In June, Beggars Banquet released the first true career spanning compilation of the band, 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong. Bassist Archer went "on loan" to PJ Harvey's band around this time and was replaced by Steven Trafford. The leftovers, live, and outtakes compilation Interim was released November 2004 in the U.K. and January 2005 in the America. The New Year also saw the departure of guitarist Jim Watts

Edited October 22, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

BIG COUNTRY

 

With their ringing, bagpipe-like guitars and the anthemic songs of frontman Stuart Adamson, Scotland's Big Country emerged as one of the most distinctive and promising new rock bands of the early '80s, scoring a major hit with their debut album, The Crossing; though the group's critical and commercial fortunes dimmed in the years to follow, they nevertheless outlasted virtually all of their contemporaries, releasing new material into the next century. The England-born Adamson formed Big Country in mid-1981 following his exit from the Scottish punk quartet the Skids, enlisting childhood friend Bruce Watson on second guitar; Clive Parker and brothers Pete and Alan Wishart completed the original lineup, but were soon replaced by bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki. Signing to Polygram's Mercury imprint, the band issued its debut single, "Harvest Home," in the fall of 1982; a series of opening dates on the Jam's farewell tour increased Big Country's visibility exponentially, and the follow-up, "Fields of Fire," cracked the U.K. Top Ten.

 

The Crossing appeared in 1983, its passionate, idealistic approach and Celtic-inspired arrangements far removed from the prevailing new wave mentality of the moment; the album not only went platinum at home but went gold in America as well, its success spurred by the Top 20 pop hit "In a Big Country." Critics raved, and in early 1984 Big Country returned to the British Top Ten with the single "Wonderland."

Big Country also made an appearance on Bob Geldof's project, Band-Aid in "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Big Country's second album, Steeltown, entered the charts at number one, but despite good reviews there were already rumblings that all of the band's material sounded much the same; charges against 1986's The Seer did little to rectify (although the single "Look Away" was their biggest hit yet). A tour of the Soviet Union accompanied the 1988 release of Peace in Our Time, but the following year Brzezicki resigned from duty, with drummer Pat Ahern enlisted for the single "Save Me." Chris Bell replaced Ahern upon completing 1991's No Place Like Home, the first of the band's albums not to receive an American release.

 

After parting ways with Polygram, Big Country signed with the Compulsion label for 1993's The Buffalo Skinners, recorded with yet another new drummer, Simon Phillips; the record launched a pair of British Top 30 hits, "Alone" and "Ships." Brzezicki rejoined the lineup in time for Without the Aid of a Safety Net, a live LP recorded in Glasgow at year's end. Why the Long Face followed in 1995, and after recording the acoustic effort Eclectic, Adamson relocated to Nashville in 1997, prompting Big Country to go on extended hiatus. The group's first new studio effort in four years, Driving to Damascus, appeared in 1999; the single "Somebody Else" was co-written by Adamson and the Kinks' Ray Davies. Adamson had problems with alcohol that contributed to his brief disappearance in November 1999 and announced his intentions to retire from touring in the spring of 2000, concurrent with the release of the limited edition Nashville Album. Later that fall, Come Up Screaming was issued on SPV. On December 16, 2001 Adamson was found dead in a hotel room in Hawaii. He had been missing for several weeks from his Nashville, Tennessee home

Edited October 22, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

EDDIE MONEY

 

Eddie Money arrived in the late '70s at the height of album rock's popularity. While Money didn't have a remarkable voice, he had a knack for catchy, blue-collar rock & roll, which he delivered with a surprising amount of polished, radio-friendly finesse. He was able to survive in the early MTV era by filming a series of funny narrative videos, something his AOR peers were reluctant to due. However, he wasn't able to resist the temptations of a rock & roll lifestyle, and his popularity dipped in the mid-'80s as he struggled with various addictions. Once he sobered up, he made a remarkable comeback in the late '80s, with singles like "Take Me Home Tonight" and "Walk on Water" reaching the Top Ten. It proved to be Money's last string of hits -- during the early '90s, his popularity faded and he retired to the oldies circuit.

Initially, Eddie Mahoney was going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Brooklyn cop. He attended the New York Police Academy during the early '70s, but at night, he sang in rock & roll bands under the name Eddie Money. After a few years, he decided to pursue rock & roll as a career and quit the academy, moving to Berkeley, CA. Money became a regular at Bay Area clubs, where he eventually got the attention of legendary promoter Bill Graham, who signed the singer to his management company. Graham also secured him a contract with Columbia Records, and Money released his eponymous debut in 1977.

 

During the late '70s, Eddie Money had a handful of album rock hits and wound up crossing over into the Top 40 with songs like "Baby Hold On" and "Maybe I'm a Fool." During the early '80s, Money began to make funny narrative videos, which became staples on early MTV and made "Shakin'" and "Think I'm in Love" hits. His career hit a slump during the mid-'80s as he struggled with various drug addictions, but he made a comeback in 1986 with Can't Hold Back. Featuring the hit duet with Ronnie Spector "Take Me Home Tonight," as well as the Top 20 "I Wanna Go Back," the album became a Top Ten smash, re-establishing Money as a successful blue-collar rocker. Money followed the album in 1988 with Nothing to Lose, which featured the Top Ten "Walk on Water." Two years later, "Peace in Our Time," taken from the 1989 Greatest Hits: Sound of Money, reached number 11.

 

"Peace in Our Time" proved to be Money's last big hit. During the early '90s, his audience slowly faded away, as both 1991's Right Here and 1992's Unplug It In were ignored. Columbia dropped him in the mid-'90s, and he spent the remainder of the decade touring the oldies circuit. He returned with a new album, Ready Eddie, in 1999.

Edited October 23, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

BRUCE HORNSBY

 

Bruce Hornsby was born in Williamsburg, VA, and grew up in that combination college town and tourist center, later attending the University of Miami and the Berklee School of Music. He then spent years playing in bars and sending demo tapes to record companies. In 1980, he and his brother (and songwriting partner) John Hornsby moved to Los Angeles, where they spent three years writing for 20th Century Fox. There Bruce Hornsby met Huey Lewis, who would eventually produce him and record his material. Hornsby finally signed his band, the Range, to RCA in 1985.

 

Their debut album, The Way It Is, was released in August 1986. It eventually produced three Top 20 hits, the biggest of which was the socially conscious "The Way It Is," which featured Hornsby's characteristically melodic right-hand piano runs. The album stayed in the charts almost a year-and-a-half and sold two million copies. Hornsby & the Range won the Best New Artist Grammy Award for 1986.

 

Hornsby's second album, Scenes From the Southside, was not as successful as his debut, though it sold a million copies and produced the Top Ten single "The Valley Road." Hornsby also began to make his mark as a songwriter for others: Huey Lewis had a hit with his "Jacob's Ladder," as did Don Henley with "The End of the Innocence."

 

Hornsby's third album, A Night on the Town (1990), found him trying to break out of his signature sound into other areas. It was less successful than its predecessors but, along with the pianist's extensive session work, it signaled his determination to tackle new musical challenges.

 

Hornsby worked extensively as a producer and sideman in the early '90s, notably doing temporary duty in the Grateful Dead after their keyboardist, Brent Mydland, died in July 1990, and producing a comeback album for Leon Russell, an idol of Hornsby's. He also became the father of twin sons. He finally turned in his fourth album, Harbor Lights, for release in 1993. This solo album, which did not feature his backup band, the Range, went gold, and Hornsby toured the U.S. and Canada through the end of the year. He followed it with a similar effort, Hot House, in July 1995, returning three years later with the double album Spirit Trail. Here Come the Noise Makers was issued in fall 2000

Edited October 23, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

MIKE + THE MECHANICS

 

While Phil Collins was pursuing his solo career in 1985, Genesis bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford formed the pop/rock band Mike + the Mechanics. Featuring Rutherford (bass), former Ace and Squeeze member Paul Carrack (vocals, keyboards), ex-Sad Cafe member Paul Young (vocals), keyboardist Adrian Lee, and drummer Peter Van Hooke, the group released their self-titled first album late in 1985. The record produced two Top Ten hit singles, "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" and "All I Need Is a Miracle," which both peaked on the charts in early 1986. During 1986, Rutherford returned to Genesis and Carrack revived his solo career. Mike + the Mechanics didn't release another album until 1988's The Living Years. The record was a greater success than the first album, spawning the number one hit single "The Living Years." After its release, the group was inactive for another few years; they returned in 1991 with Word of Mouth, which failed to duplicate the success of their first two records. Four years later, Mike + the Mechanics released their fourth record, Beggar on a Beach of Gold, which was a moderate hit in the U.K. In the spring of 1996, Mike + the Mechanics released the greatest-hits collection Hits in Britain; M6 followed four years later. Young died of a heart attack on July 15, 2000

 

Photo below is Mike Rutherford

Edited October 23, 2005 by hitman531ph

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KENNY LOGGINS

 

While never viewed as an especially cutting-edge performer, Kenny Loggins (b. Jan. 7, 1947, Everett, Wash.) has managed to stay in business, integrity and sales intact, longer than almost all of his contemporaries. From country-rocking folkie to slick pop star to ubiquitous soundtrack presence, Loggins has, in the course of two decades, shifted his approach to music-making skillfully and without much noticeable compromise. Maybe he has gone the soundtrack route once too often--but consistent top 10 singles are, after all, awfully difficult to argue with.

 

Like many of his contemporaries, Loggins started out in comparative obscurity; he recorded with two little known late-'60s rock bands (Gator Creek and Second Helping) before signing a publishing deal with ABC/Wingate. As a result of that deal, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded four of his songs and scored a small hit in 1971 with "House At Pooh Corner." Columbia Records then stepped in and offered Loggins a recording contract. His first album's slated producer, former Buffalo Springfield/Poco member Jim Messina, became so involved with the recording it was credited to "Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina"--and thus began one of the more lucrative musical partnerships of the '70s. Together through 1976, Loggins & Messina recorded two platinum and five gold albums, and scored a top 5 single in 1972 with the jointly-penned "Your Mama Don't Dance" (which again hit the top of the charts 17 years later when covered by hard rock group Poison).

 

"It was one of the highlights of my life," Jim Messina said years later of his time with Loggins. "I considered my relationship with Kenny in the beginning very special, and a creative relationship. I learned a lot from him as a singer, and he helped me indirectly as a writer--in the sense that he was a very quality writer. There was a creative competitiveness there, a healthy competitiveness, that I think brought both of us up to a real special place."

 

Significantly, though, when Loggins and Messina split, it was Loggins' career that took off, while Messina's floundered by comparison. Loggins' first three solo albums each went platinum--Celebrate Me Home (I Believe in Love), Nightwatch (Enter My Dreams), and Keep The Fire, all released between 1977-79--and, maybe more importantly, Loggins was striking up musical relationships with some of the dominant musical forces of the era. To wit: Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, who sang on the top 10 single "Whenever I Call You Friend," and the Doobie Brothers' Michael McDonald, with whom Loggins had written "What A Fool Believes" (a No. 1 Doobies hit in '79) and "This is It," a top 20 hit for Loggins, among many other tracks.

 

The next phase in Loggins' career is in some ways the most controversial: A series of hit singles from film soundtracks that, despite their success, may have altered the industry's perception of the singer. The onetime album rock staple was hitting top 40 radio regularly with hits from Caddyshack ("I'm Alright"), Footloose (the title track, written by Loggins and Dean Pitchford, topped Billboard's Hot 100 for three weeks and went platinum), Top Gun ("Danger Zone", "Playing With The Boys"), Over The Top ("Meet Me Halfway"), and even Caddyshack II (top 10 hit "Nobody's Fool"). What was the downside? First, Loggins had nothing to do with the writing of either "Danger Zone" or "Meet Me Halfway"--Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock did--and secondly, few of those hits were to be found anywhere on his own albums, which had stopped their regular ascension to the top 40 with 1982's High Adventure (Heart ot Heart, I Gotta Try, Welcome to Heartlight, and a duet with Journey's Steve Perry - Don't Fight It).

 

By 1985, Loggins released Vox Humana, the title track of which scraped the bottom of the Top 40. And the album largely went unnoticed. However, a track from the album called "Forever" was a hit in the Philippines.

 

By the time Columbia issued Outside: From The Redwoods, Loggins' live career retrospective of 1993, a notation in the CD booklet mentioned only five albums that were "also available from Kenny Loggins." Curiously not listed were 1980's Alive, 1982's High Adventure, and, most surprisingly, Back To Avalon, a comparatively recent 1988 effort. Did this mean Loggins' audience was vanishing? Not likely--his 1991 album Leap Of Faith had gone gold, after all, and included well-known adult contemporary hits like "I Would Do Anything" and "If You Believe." More likely, Loggins' "adult contemporary" audience was simply growing up and away--and wisely, like other singer-songwriters of his vintage, Loggins was preparing for it. By 1996, the co-writer of "Your Mama Don't Dance" had released Return To Pooh Corner on Sony Wonder, the children's division of his label

Edited October 23, 2005 by hitman531ph