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

[Cain N Moko]

AMERICA

 

America was a light folk-rock act of the early '70s who had several Top Ten hits, including the number ones "A Horse With No Name" and "Sister Golden Hair." Vocalists/guitarists Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley met while they were still in high school in the late '60s; all three were sons of U.S. Air Force officers who were stationed in the U.K. After they completed school in 1970, they formed an acoustic folk-rock quartet called Daze in London, which was soon pared down to the trio of Bunnell, Peek, and Beckley. Adopting the name America, the group landed a contract with Jeff Dexter, a promoter for the Roundhouse concert venue. Dexter had America open for several major artists and the group soon signed with Warner Bros. Records. By the fall of 1970, the group was recording their debut album in London, with producers Ian Samwell and Jeff Dexter.

"A Horse With No Name," America's debut single, was released at the end of 1971. In January 1972, the song -- which strongly recalled the acoustic numbers of Neil Young -- became a number three hit in the U.K. The group's self-titled debut album followed the same stylistic pattern and became a hit as well, peaking at number 14. Following their British success, America returned to North America, beginning a supporting tour for the Everly Brothers. "A Horse With No Name" was released in the U.S. that spring, where it soon became a number one single, pushing Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" off the top of the charts; America followed the single to the top of the charts. "I Need You" became another Top Ten hit that summer, and the group began work on its second album. "Ventura Highway," the first single released from this collaboration, became their third straight Top Ten hit in December of 1972. In the beginning of 1973, America won the Grammy award for Best New Artist of 1972.

 

Homecoming was released in January of 1973, becoming a Top Ten hit in the U.S. and peaking at number 21 in the U.K. America's essential sound didn't change with this record; it just became more polished. However, the hits stopped coming fairly soon -- they had only one minor Top 40 hit in 1973. Hat Trick, the group's third album, was released toward the end of 1973; it failed to make it past number 28 on the American charts. Released in the late fall of 1974, Holiday was the first record the group made with producer George Martin. Holiday returned America to the top of the charts, peaking at number three and launching the hit singles "Tin Man" and "Lonely People." "Sister Golden Hair," pulled from 1975's Hearts, became their second number one single. That same year, the group released History/America's Greatest Hits, which would eventually sell over four million copies.

 

Although America's 1976 effort Hideaway went gold and peaked at number 11, the group's audience was beginning to decline. After releasing Harbor to a lukewarm reception, Dan Peek left the group, deciding to become a contemporary Christian recording artist. The group continued as a duo; their last Martin-produced record, Silent Letter, was released in 1979 to little attention. America returned to the Top Ten in 1982 with "You Can Do Magic," an adult contemporary pop number that featured synthesizers along with their trademark harmonies. "The Border" became their last Top 40 hit in 1983, peaking at number 33. After releasing America in Concert in the summer of 1985, the group continued to tour successfully into the '90s, resurfacing in 1998 with Human Nature

[j4yth4ng]

1983 - May Single Hand In Glove 124

1983 - October Single This Charming Man 25

1984 - January Single What Difference Does it Make 12

1984 - February Album The Smiths 2 150

1984 - May Single Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now 10

1984 - August Single William 17

1984 - November Album Hatful of Hollow 7

1985 - February Single How Soon Is Now 24

1985 - February Album Meat is Murder 1 110

1985 - March Single Shakespeares Sister 26

1985 - July Single That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore 49

1985 - September Single The Boy with the Thorn in his Side 23

1986 - May Single Bigmouth Strikes Again 26

1986 - June Album The Queen is Dead 2 70

1986 - July Single Panic 11

1986 - October Single Ask 14

1987 - January Single Shoplifters of the World 12

1987 - February Album The World Won't Listen 2

1987 - March Album Louder Than Bombs 38 63

1987 - April Single Sheila Take a Bow 10

1987 - August Single Girlfriend in a Coma 13

1987 - September Album Strangeways Here We Come 2 55

1987 - November Single I Started Something 23

1987 - December Single Last Night I Dreamt 30

1988 - September Album Rank 2 77

1992 - August Single This Charming Man (Re-release) 8

1992 - September Album Best I 1 139

1982 - September Single How Soon is Now (Re-release) 16

1992 - November Single There is a Light 25

1992 - November Album Best II 29

1995 - February Single Ask (Re-release) 62

1995 - May Album Singles 5

2001 - June Album The Very Best Of

[j4yth4ng]

History of the Smiths

Formed in the spring of 1982 in Manchester, England when guitarist Johnny Marr (John Maher, October 31, 1963) author of reviews for Record Mirror and former guitarist in unsuccessful bands was looking for a lyricist and suggested the idea of forming a band to Morrissey (Stephen Patrick Morrissey, May 22, 1959). By September, the duo had settled on the name "The Smiths" as a reaction against all bands who chose complicated names to emphasise their music, and recruited Marr's schoolmate Andy Rourke as their bass player and Mike Joyce as their drummer. The Smiths made their live debut late in 1982 and their live appearances were sporadic. At this time they had already rejected a record deal with the Mancunian Factory Records. At the seventh Smiths gig ever in the University of London Union, a group of Rough Trade Records watch the band and invited them to sign a one-off single, "Hand In Glove". "Hand in Glove" became an underground sensation in the UK, topping the independent charts, which critics referred to as the finest love song in recent years. When they released the second single "This Charming Man," in October 1983, the Smiths had already been the subjects of controversy and scandal over their songs "Reel Around The Fountain," and "Handsome Devil" as possible vehicles for the diffusion of child abuse. In February of 1984 the Smiths released their eponymous debut "The Smiths" the album became a best seller acclaimed by critics and reached number 2. A couple of months later, the band invited a veteran sixties popstar, Sandie Shaw, to sing some of the smiths songs "Hand In Glove" which reached number 27, "Jeane" and "I Don't Owe You Anything". The second single "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" reached number 10. At the end of the year, "William It Was Really Nothing" became a Top 20 hit and the compilation "Hatful of Hollow", a collection of B-sides, BBC sessions and non-LP singles went to number 7. Meat is Murder, the band's second proper studio album, entered the British charts at number one in February of 1985. By the time the non-LP "Shakespeare's Sister" reached number 26 in March 1985. "The Boy With the Thorn In His Side" reached number 23 was followed in June of 1986 by their third album, "The Queen Is Dead". Considered by the critic as one of masterpieces of the decade peaked at number two on the UK charts, "The Queen Is Dead" also expanded their cult in the US, cracking the Top 100. Shortly before the album was completed, the band's line-up goes through a rather unstable stage, Andy Rourke quits for drug addiction and Craig Gannon, an ex Aztec Camera joins the band and became the rhythm guitarist. After a short time, Rourke returns and Gannon was fired. In latte's 1986 the singles Panic and Ask are released. Johnny Marr begins his extra Smiths collaborations, taking part in Billy Braggs' album "Talking With The Taxman About Poetry". The Smiths may have been at the height of their popularity in early 1987, with the singles "Shoplifters of the World" and "Sheila Take A Bow" reaching number 12 and 10 respectively and the singles and B-sides compilation The World Won't Listen for the English market and "Louder Than Bombs" for the American one. Marr was growing increasingly disenchanted with the band and the music industry, over the course of the year, Morrissey and Marr became increasingly irritated with each other. The new album "Strangeways Here We Come" is the band's last. In August, Johnny Marr confesses to have abandoned the band, the official split is however in September, Morrissey disbanded the group shortly afterward and began an inconstant solo career. Marr played as a sideman with a variety of artists, including The The and Electronic with New Order frontman Bernard Summer. Andy Rourke retired from recording has played with Sinead O'Connor and Joyce became a member of the reunited Buzzcocks in 1991. The live album "Rank" recorded on the Queen is Dead tour, was released in the fall of 1988. It debuted at number two in the UK top. A much criticised, two-part Best of compilation was released in 1 992; the praised Singles compilation was released in 1995. Despite this short history, "The Smiths" were and will be one of the best bands ever.

[hitman531ph]

LOVERBOY

 

LOVERBOY is one of Canada's most sucessful Rock groups to date.The group was formed in 1979, when Mike Reno (formerly of Moxy)met up with Paul Dean (formerly of Streetheart) in a Calgary club owned then by their manager Lou Blair..The clubs name was The Refinery Night Club.Mike Reno happened to be out back of the club and heard Paul playing in a warehouse...they jammed most of the night and continued for the next couple of weeks.Doug Johnson (formerly of Foster Child) joined up with the two...in these jamming sessions "TURN ME LOOSE" was made.Matt Frenette (formerly Streetheart) and Scott Smith also joined and Loverboy was born.

 

In 1980 their first self titled album was released(LOVERBOY). Singles of this record included The Kid Is Hot Tonight, Prissy Prissy and Turn Me Loose..The album went gold.

 

Get Lucky was released in 1981, hits such as Working For The Weekend, Lucky Ones, Jump, When It's Over also reached gold status.

 

1983 brought out Keep It Up and yes this too went gold with hit Queen Of The Broken Hearts and

Hot Girls In Love.

 

No surprise 1985..Another gold album...Loving Every Minute Of It...with a heavier sound and a song co-written by Johnathon Cain of Journey. This Could Be the Night..other singles Steal The Thunder, Loving Every Minute Of It, and Dangerous.

 

1987 was the last of the 80's albums with Wildside.. singles were Notorious and Break It To Me Gently.

 

After the release of Wildside Loverboy decided to part and go their seperate ways..Mike and Paul recorded and released solo efforts...Scott Smith went on and became a deejay for CFOX in Vancouver and was also a booking agent for the Sam Feldman agency. Doug Johnson took to writing TV and radio soundtracks while Matt Fernette joined forces with Tom Cochrane and also helped reform Streetheart in 1996.

 

1995 Loverboy rejoined forces and with their return a brand new album, their sixth one called..SIX (VI) This was their first release of all new songs in 11 years.Six includes singles Big Picture, Waiting For The Night, and ballad Secrets. The band toured constantly from 98-99.

 

In late November 2000, Tragedy struck the group and music world when bassist Scott Smith was swept overboard his boat on the Coast of California. His body has never been found.

Edited November 29, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

CARE

 

By the time an album was released from the British duo Care, the group had been defunct for more than a decade. Care formed in Liverpool, England, in 1983. Featuring singer Paul Simpson (ex-keyboardist for the Teardrop Explodes) and guitarist Ian Broudie (of Big in Japan and Original Mirrors), Care blended Simpson's enchanting, heartbroken vocals and pensive lyrics with Broudie's shimmery riffs and gleaming synthesizers. Care's first single, "My Boyish Days," introduced the band's new wave style: sparkling keyboards, chiming guitars, and Simpson's dreamy, depressed croon. Care's next release, the lovelorn "Whatever Possessed You," sounded like the missing link between Echo & the Bunnymen and Joy Division. "Flaming Sword" landed on the British Top 50 in 1983; however, Simpson departed from Care before they could complete their Love Crowns and Crucifies LP. At the time, Simpson was involved in a self-destructive relationship with a female musician who was contributing to the album. Furthermore, Broudie's taste for gleeful commercial pop scraped against Simpson's need for darker, more serious fare. Consequently, the recorded tracks for Love Crowns and Crucifies were shelved. Simpson then re-formed the Wild Swans, while Broudie created the Lightning Seeds.

 

In 1990, Simpson and Broudie collaborated again on the Wild Swans' second full-length, Space Flower, but it was a short-lived reunion. Broudie immediately began recording another Lightning Seeds LP, while Simpson disappeared from the music scene until his Skyray project in the mid-'90s. Care were on the brink of fading into obscurity; however, a cult following in Japan and the Philippines, where Care's songs were more popular than they were in England, kept the group's memory afloat. Noticing the demand for Care records on the Internet, Camden released Diamonds and Emeralds in 1997, a compilation of the duo's singles, B-sides, and tracks intended for Love Crowns and Crucifies. Collected without permission from either Simpson or Broudie, Diamonds and Emeralds nevertheless finally presented Care's majestic work on CD

 

Nowadays, though, the song "Chandeliers" is a much talked about song in the Philippines as it was plagiarized by a Philippine band for a theme song of the local version pf a Big Brother show. The band tried to pass it off as their own composition but was discovered by new wave enthusiasts and fans of Care

Edited November 30, 2005 by hitman531ph

[Diecast]

na shock ako yung sa FLL ah.. they were really good.. peero sa Philippines lang talaga sila naging super sikat?? I checked out their official website and ayun.. ayos talagang special sila sa Philippines.. pero di ko maintindihan kung bakit di sila okay sa ibang bansa!

[SanMigLight]

kiss on my list and walking on sunshine

 

i like these particular songs from the 80's

[hitman531ph]

CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT

 

They appeared out of nowhere, as if they were transported from a parallel universe wherein blue-eyed soul was seen as rock & roll's salvation in the late ‘80s. Likeminded groups like Johnny Hates Jazz, Waterfront, Living in a Box, and Curiosity Killed the Cat all debuted and disappeared at the same time. Of the four Curiosity Killed the Cat leaned more towards the teen girl population that hung “Smash Hits" posters on their bedroom walls. The band's lightweight funk and photogenic looks rewarded them with mainstream acceptance in their native England but America didn't budge. Curiosity Killed the Cat was formed in 1984 by Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot (vocals), Julian Godfrey Brookhouse (guitar), Nicholas Bernard Throp (bass), Michael Drummond (drums), and Toby Anderson (keyboards). While in art school Volpeliere-Pierrot met Throp, who was then in a post-punk group called Twilight Children with the other future members of Curiosity Killed the Cat. After inviting him to sing Volpeliere-Pierrot became the band's new lead singer. They recorded a track entitled “Curiosity Killed the Cat" which caught the interest of businessman Peter Rosengard, who eventually renamed the band after their song and became their manager. In 1985, Curiosity Killed the Cat was signed to Phonogram, and the group began making their first LP. However, producers Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare were taken off the project, replaced by Stewart Levine; as a result, the album was delayed for nearly a year. The toe-tapping single “Misfit" was released in July 1986, but it was not successful. The band gained much attention after Andy Warhol became a fan; he even did a cameo for the “Misfit" video. In early 1987 “Down to Earth" became a Top-10 hit in the U.K. Two years later the group shortened their appellation to Curiosity. 1992's “Hang On In There Baby" peaked at No. 3 on the British charts, and the band disappeared from the music scene until they joined the ‘80s nostalgia Here and Now tour in 2001

Edited December 3, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

ICEHOUSE

 

Though it has had varying personnel, Icehouse is essentially a vehicle for the work of Australian Iva Davies (b.May 22, 1955). Davies formed the first version of the band under the name Flowers in 1980 and began scoring hits in Australia with the group's first single, "Can't Help Myself." Icehouse was the name of Flowers' first album, but the group changed its name as it went international, to avoid conflicts with another band. They first reached the U.S. charts in 1981 with "We Can Get Together" and a US Top 40 hit "No Promises", but did not score a substantial hit until 1988, with "Crazy" that went to the US Top 10. This was followed by another US Top 10 hit "Electric Blue," which was written by John Oates, and a minor hit "Key to the Kingdom". Icehouse did not return to the charts after.

Edited December 3, 2005 by hitman531ph

[TheTruthAboutMan'sLove]

BACK TO THE 80's by CHICO GARCIA....

 

MADONNA is the BEST

[hitman531ph]

UB40

 

Named after a British unemployment benefit form, pop-reggae band UB40 was formed in a welfare line in 1978, and its multiracial lineup reflected the working-class community its members came from. The band consolidated its street credibility with political topics appealing to dissatisfied youth and got a boost from fans of the waning 2-Tone ska-revival movement. Brothers Robin (lead guitar) and Ali Campbell (guitar, lead vocals) formed the centerpiece of the group, which also included bassist Earl Falconer, keyboardist Mickey Virtue, saxophonist Brian Travers, drummer Jim Brown, percussionist Norman Hassan, and toaster Terence "Astro" Wilson. The band purchased its first instruments with compensation money Ali Campbell received after a bar fight, even though few of the members knew how to play them. But by the end of the year, the group was invited to tour with the Pretenders. Their "Food For Thought" single reached the U.K. Top Ten in 1980, beginning a long streak of chart appearances. Signing Off and Present Arms were big sellers in Britain, if not America, and addressed the political issues of the day in songs like "One in Ten," a Top Ten hit blasting Margaret Thatcher for the country's unemployment rate. 1983's Labour of Love, an album of reggae cover songs, gave the group its first chart album in America and first number one U.K. hit with Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine." Several albums of original material sold well in the U.K., but only respectably in the U.S., where the group's biggest hit was a Top 30 cover of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" featuring the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde.

 

In 1988, the group performed "Red Red Wine" at a Nelson Mandela tribute concert, and a Phoenix radio station trotted the single out for a second go-round. Listener response was far more enthusiastic, and "Red Red Wine" re-entered the charts and went all the way to the top. Finally having hit on a way to conquer the lucrative American market, UB40 responded with another covers album, Labour of Love II, which produced Top Ten singles with versions of the Temptations' "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and Al Green's "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)." The group scored a huge hit in America with Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love," which was initially featured in the Sharon Stone film Sliver and spent seven weeks at number one. By this time, UB40 had largely abandoned its trademark left-wing politics and was concentrating more on perfecting its reggae oldies covers than its original material; however, the gimmick has thus far resulted in huge sales figures in both the U.S. and U.K., with Promises and Lies reaching number six and number one, respectively. In the spring of 1998, UB40 released Presents the Dancehall Album in the UK. A third Labour of Love collection followed a year later. In fall 2002, UB40 bounced back with yet another collection. The Fathers of Reggae, which appeared on Virgin in November, highlighted the band's roots in reggae in a selection of classics

[Cain N Moko]

WHITNEY HOUSTON

 

Whitney Houston is inarguably one of the of the biggest female pop stars of all time. Her accomplishments as a hitmaker are extraordinary; just to scratch the surface, she became the first artist ever to have seven consecutive singles hit number one, and her 1993 Dolly Parton cover "I Will Always Love You" became nothing less than the biggest hit single in rock history. Houston was able to handle big adult contemporary ballads, effervescent, stylish dance-pop, and slick urban contemporary soul with equal dexterity; the result was an across-the-board appeal that was matched by scant few artists of her era, and helped her become one of the first black artists to find success on MTV in Michael Jackson's wake. Like many of the original soul singers, Houston was trained in gospel before moving into secular music; over time, she developed a virtuosic singing style given over to swooping, flashy melodic embellishments. The shadow of Houston's prodigious technique still looms large over nearly every pop diva and smooth urban soul singer -- male or female -- in her wake, and spawned a legion of imitators (despite some critics' complaints about over-singing). Always more of a singles artist, Houston largely shied away from albums during the '90s, releasing the bulk of her most popular material on the soundtracks of films in which she appeared. By the end of the decade, she'd gone several years without a true blockbuster, yet her status as an icon was hardly diminished.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born in Newark, NJ, on August 9, 1963; her mother was gospel/R&B singer Cissy Houston, and her cousin was Dionne Warwick. By age 11, Houston was performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at her Baptist church; as a teenager, she began accompanying her mother in concert (as well as on the 1978 album Think It Over), and went on to back artists like Lou Rawls and Chaka Khan. Houston also pursued modeling and acting, appearing on the sitcoms Gimme a Break and Silver Spoons. Somewhat bizarrely, Houston's first recording as a featured vocalist was with Bill Laswell's experimental jazz-funk ensemble Material; their 1982 album One Down placed Houston alongside such unlikely avant-gardists as Archie Shepp and Fred Frith. The following year, Arista president Clive Davis heard Houston singing at a nightclub and offered her a record contract. Her first single appearance was a duet with Teddy Pendergrass, "Hold Me," which missed the Top 40 in 1984.

 

Houston's debut album Whitney Houston was released in March 1985. Its first single, "Someone for Me," was a flop, but the second try, "You Give Good Love," became Houston's first hit, topping the R&B charts and hitting number three pop. Houston's next three singles -- the Grammy-winning romantic ballad "Saving All My Love for You," the brightly danceable "How Will I Know," and the inspirational "The Greatest Love of All" -- all topped the pop charts, and a year to the month after its release, Whitney Houston hit number one on the album charts. It eventually sold over 13-million copies, making it the best-selling debut ever by a female artist. Houston cemented her superstar status on her next album, Whitney; despite the unimaginative title, it became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one, and sold over nine-million copies. Its first four singles -- "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (another Grammy winner), "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "So Emotional," and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" -- all hit number one, an amazing, record-setting run of seven straight (broken by "Love Will Save the Day"). In late 1988, Houston scored a Top Five hit with the non-LP single "One Moment in Time," recorded for an Olympics-themed compilation album.

 

Houston returned with her third album, I'm Your Baby Tonight, in 1990; a more urban-sounding, R&B-oriented record, it immediately spun off two number-one hits in the title track and "All the Man That I Need." But the quality of the material was generally viewed as, overall, much weaker than her previous efforts, and following those two hits, sales of the album tapered off quickly, halting around four-million copies. Nevertheless, Houston remained so popular that she could even take a recording of "The Star Spangled Banner" (performed at the Super Bowl) into the pop Top 20 -- though, of course, the Gulf War had something to do with that. In retrospect, the erratic quality of I'm Your Baby Tonight seemed to signal Houston's declining interest in making fully fleshed-out albums. Instead, she began to focus on an acting career, which she hadn't pursued since her teenage years; she also married singer Bobby Brown in the summer of 1992. Her first feature film, a romance with Kevin Costner called The Bodyguard, was released in late 1992; it performed well at the box office, helped by an ad campaign which seemingly centered around the climactic key change in Houston's soundtrack recording of the Dolly Parton-penned "I Will Always Love You." In fact, the ad campaign undoubtedly helped "I Will Always Love You" become the biggest single in pop music history. It set new records for sales (nearly five-million copies) and weeks at number one (14), although those were later broken by Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" and Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day," respectively. Meanwhile, the soundtrack eventually sold an astounding 16-million copies, and also won a Grammy for Album of the Year.

 

Once Houston had stopped raking in awards and touring the world, she prepared her next theatrical release, the female ensemble drama Waiting to Exhale. A few months before its release at the end of 1995, it was announced that she and Brown had split up; however, they called off the split just a couple months later, and rumors about their tempestuous relationship filled the tabloids for years to come. Waiting to Exhale was released toward the end of the year, and the first single from the soundtrack, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)," topped the charts; the album sold over seven-million copies. For her next project, Houston decided to return to her gospel roots; the soundtrack to the 1996 film The Preacher's Wife, which naturally featured Houston in the title role, was loaded with traditional and contemporary gospel songs, plus guest appearances by Houston's mother, Shirley Caesar, and the Georgia Mass Choir. Houston also began making headlines for what appeared to be increasing unreliability, cancelling several TV and concert appearances due to illness.

 

In 1998, Houston finally issued a new, full-length album, My Love Is Your Love, her first in eight years. Houston worked with pop/smooth soul mainstays like Babyface and David Foster, but also recruited hip-hop stars like Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, and Q-Tip. The album sold even fewer copies than I'm Your Baby Tonight, but it received Houston's most enthusiastic reviews in quite some time. Moreover, it produced one of her biggest R&B chart hits (seven weeks at number one) in the trio number "Heartbreak Hotel," done with Faith Evans and Kelly Price. She also duetted with Mariah Carey on "When You Believe," a song from the animated film The Prince of Egypt. Unfortunately, Houston was also back in the tabloids in early 2000; she was arrested in Hawaii when airline authorities reportedly found marijuana in her luggage (the charges were later dismissed). Speculation about Houston's personal life only grew when she was dropped from the Academy Awards telecast that March, officially because of a sore throat, but reputedly due to poor rehearsals and a generally out-of-it air. Later in the year, Arista released the two-disc compilation Greatest Hits, which actually featured one disc of hits and one of remixes; it also included new duets with Enrique Iglesias, George Michael, and Deborah Cox. It was also announced that Houston had signed a new deal with Arista worth 100-million dollars, requiring six albums from the singer. In late 2001, Arista released another compilation, the love-song-themed Love, Whitney

[Cain N Moko]

BEE GEES

 

No popular music act of the '60s, '70s, '80s, or '90s has experienced more ups and downs in its popularity, or attracted a more varied audience across the decades than the Bee Gees. Beginning in the mid- to late '60s as a Beatlesque ensemble, they quickly developed as songwriters in their own right and style, perfecting in the process a progressive pop sound all their own. Then, after hitting a trough in their popularity in the early '70s, they reinvented themselves as perhaps the most successful white soul act of all time during the disco era. Their popularity faded with the passing of disco's appeal, but the Bee Gees have since made a successful comeback in virtually every corner of the globe. What has remained a constant through their history is their extraordinary singing, rooted in three voices that are appealing individually and comprise so perfectly and naturally by melding together that they make such acts as the Beatles, the Everly Brothers, and Simon & Garfunkel -- all noted for their harmonies -- almost seem arch and artificial.

The group was also rock's most successful brother act. Barry Gibb, born on September 1, 1946, in Manchester, England, and his fraternal twin brothers Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb, born on December 22, 1949, on the Isle of Man, were three of five children of Hugh Gibb, a bandleader, and Barbara Gibb, a former singer. The three of them gravitated toward music very early on, encouraged by their father, who reportedly saw his sons at first as a diminutive version of the Mills Brothers, a '30s and '40s black American harmony group. The three Gibb brothers made their earliest performances between shows at local movie theaters in Manchester in 1955. Though they had been singing together at home, their intention had been merely to mime to records as a novelty entertainment act, but when the records got broken, they went on, really sang, and got a rousing response from the delighted audience. They performed under a variety of names, including the Blue Cats and (reportedly) the Rattlesnakes, and for a time, fell under the influence of England's skiffle king, Lonnie Donegan, and proto-rock & roller Tommy Steele.

 

Their early lives were interrupted when the family moved to Australia in 1958, resettling in Brisbane. The trio, known as the Brothers Gibb -- with Barry writing songs by then -- continued performing at talent shows and attracted the attention of a local DJ, Bill Gates, which led to an extended engagement at the Beachcomber Nightclub. They eventually got their own local television show in Brisbane and it was around this time that they took on the name the Bee Gees (for Brothers Gibb). In 1962, they landed their first recording contract with the Festival Records label in Australia, debuting with the single "Three Kisses of Love." The trio was astoundingly popular among the press and on television, and performed to very enthusiastic audience response. They eventually released an LP, The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs, but actual hit records eluded them in Australia. They were witness during 1963 and 1964 to the explosion of British beat music half a world away with the success of the Beatles, whose harmony-based approach to rock & roll and reliance on original songs only encouraged the three Gibb brothers to keep pushing in those directions.

 

By late 1966, however, they'd decided to stop trying to conquer the Australian music world, or to reach the rest of the world from Australia, and return to England, which, thanks to the Beatles was now the center of rock and popular music for the whole world. It was while on the boat, in mid-ocean, that the Gibb family learned that the Bee Gees had finally topped the charts back in Australia with their final release, "Spicks and Specks." Just as the Seekers before them had done on leaving Australia, the group had sent demo recordings to England ahead of them and "Spicks and Specks" had attracted the interest of Robert Stigwood, an associate of Brian Epstein. The trio was signed by Stigwood to a five-year contract upon their arrival, and they began shaping their sound anew in the environment of Swinging London in 1967. Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb alternated the lead vocal spot, harmonizing together and with Maurice Gibb. Barry played rhythm guitar as well while Maurice, in addition to his backing vocal spot, was the triple-threat musician in the core lineup, playing bass, piano, organ, and Mellotron, among other instruments. The brothers soon expanded the group with the addition of guitarist Vince Melouney and drummer Colin Petersen, whose presence turned them into a fully functional performing group. Their first English recording, "New York Mining Disaster 1941," released in mid-1967, made the Top 20 in England and America and established a pattern for the group's work for the next two years. As an original by the group, it had a haunting melody and a strange lyric; it wasn't so much psychedelic (though it could pass for psychedelia in a pop vein) as it was surreal. They had successful follow-ups with "Holiday" and "To Love Somebody."

 

Robert Stigwood arranged for Polydor to release the Bee Gees' records in England and Europe, and for Atlantic Records to issue their work in America. Atlantic had missed out on the entire British Invasion and now they had a group whose music resembled that of the Beatles at their most accessible. The Bee Gees' records had gorgeous melodies and arrangements and were steeped in romantic yet complex lyrics, many of them containing a strangely downbeat mood that no one seemed to mind. One curious offshoot of their appeal was that Stigwood was able to convince Atlantic Records, as part of the deal for the Bee Gees, to accept and release the recordings of a relatively unknown trio called Cream. At the time, Eric Clapton was not much more than a cult figure in the United States, more "rumor" than star (his recordings with the Yardbirds had never even appeared in America with his name mentioned on them), but Atlantic -- which recorded Disraeli Gears -- helped change that, selling millions of records in the bargain.

 

The Bee Gees single "Massachusetts" was a chart-topper in England and launched the group on their first wave of stardom. Their music was made even more attractive by the fact that their albums were unusually well put together. Reflecting the influence of the Beatles, a lot of attention was lavished on the group's LP tracks rather than relying on the presence of a hit or two to justify their existence. Bee Gees 1st, cut in early 1967, had its weaker spots, but not a throwaway track on it, while Horizontal and Idea were strong LPs filled with beautiful and unusual songs and lush arrangements (courtesy of conductor Bill Shepherd), all carefully recorded, mixing electric instruments and orchestra. What made their work even more impressive was that after Bee Gees 1st, which was produced by their Australian friend Ossie Byrne, the three Gibb brothers took over producing their own records; even more surprising, as is now known from various bootleg releases of live performances of the period, the group -- with Melouney and Petersen in the lineup -- was also able to do their music note-perfect, with spot-on vocals while on-stage, something that the Beatles had never even attempted seriously with their post-1965 efforts.

 

The group enjoyed two major hits in 1968, "I Started a Joke" and "I've Gotta Get a Message to You," both from Idea. During this period, it was easy, in listening to (and luxuriating in) the group's singles, with their lush singing and production. Whatever they out seemed to work, including the delightful psychedelic pop ode "Barker of the UFO," a B-side that is a spot-on perfect example of late '60s English "freak-beat," hardly a genre on which the Bee Gees are commonly thought to have contributed. It was easy, amid the sheer beauty of their records, to overlook the range of their influences that went into their sound -- the Bee Gees may have been making pop/rock, but their underlying sounds came from a multitude of sources, including American country music and soul music. Indeed, one of the group's biggest hits, "To Love Somebody," had been written for Otis Redding to record, but the Stax/Volt singing legend didn't live long enough to record it himself. At this point in their history, they were most comfortable deconstructing elements in the singing and harmonies of black American music and rebuilding them in their style, as the Beatles had done with the music of the Shirelles and various Motown acts.

 

It was in 1969 when the trio lost all the momentum they'd built up, ironically over a dispute involving their most ambitious recording to date. They'd just finished a double-LP set, called Odessa, a lushly orchestrated, heavily overdubbed, and thoroughly haunting body of music. The seven-minute-long title track was filled with eerie images and ideas and gorgeous choruses around a haunting lead performance and it was only the jumping-off point for the album. The brothers, however, were unable to agree on which song was to be the single and in the resulting dispute, Robin decided to part company with Barry and Maurice. They held on to the Bee Gees name for one LP, Cucumber Castle, while Robin released the album Robin's Reign, on which he was producer, arranger, and songwriter, and sang all of the parts himself.

 

Eventually, even Barry and Maurice Gibb parted company. Melouney had left at the outset of the Odessa sessions and Petersen left the two-man group behind a few days into Cucumber Castle, though not without a good deal of legal squabbling. The drummer, in a bizarre twist, at one point filed a lawsuit claiming that he owned the Bee Gees name. Without a group to tour behind or even make television appearances promoting it, the Odessa album never sold the way it might have, even with a hit coming off of it in the form of "First of May." Cucumber Castle was at least peripherally connected to a British television special of the same name -- sort of the Bee Gees' better (and funnier) answer to the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour movie -- and generated several singles that were successful in England and/or Germany, including the reggae-influenced "I.O.I.O." and "Don't Forget to Remember." Ironically, even during a period with their music partnership in tatters, the Gibb brothers were writing and recording profoundly beautiful songs -- Robin Gibb's "Saved By the Bell," with its lush, ornate multi-layered vocals, justifiably topped the British charts; and the two-man Bee Gees B-side "Sun in My Morning" was one of the prettiest songs ever issued by the group.

 

In 1970, they finally decided to try and re-form. Almost two years older and a good deal wiser, they related to each other better and had also evolved musically out of pop-psychedelia and into a kind of pop-progressive rock sound, similar to the Moody Blues of the same era but with better singing and more attractive songs. They came back on a high note with two dazzling songs: "Lonely Days," the group's first number one hit in America and their first gold record in the United States. The other was "Morning of My Life," a song originally known as "In the Morning," originally authored by Barry Gibb; included on the soundtrack to the movie Melody, it proved so popular with fans that the group was still doing it in concert several years later.

 

They enjoyed another huge international success with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" in 1971, but the accompanying album, Trafalgar, was lacking some of the variety of sounds that had made their earlier LPs so interesting. Moreover, it and the 2 Years On LP that preceded it never reached higher than the mid-30s on the American charts (and never charted in England at all), a considerable fall off from their '60s albums' sales. In 1972, the group had another Top 20 hit with "Run to Me," but their album that year, To Whom It May Concern, was forgotten almost instantly after a brief run to number 35.

 

There was a sense that they were losing ground, particularly as the music world was increasingly defined by albums and driven by album sales. Pop/rock was developing around them in new and harder directions and the trio's Beatlesque harmonies and Paul McCartney-like melodies were starting to run a little thin at the source. Their 1973 album Life in a Tin Can and the accompanying single, "Saw a New Morning," which were used to launch the new RSO Records label, marked a change in the group's base of operations from England to America. Despite a heavy promotional tour, however, the single never made the Top 40 and the album stalled after climbing to the mid-60s.

 

When their proposed next album, tentatively titled A Kick in the Head (Is Worth Eight in the Pants), was rejected by Stigwood, the trio knew they were in a deep creative and commercial hole. Rescue came in the form of a suggestion by their RSO labelmate, Eric Clapton, that they try recording at the studio where he'd just cut 461 Ocean Boulevard, at Criteria Studios in Miami, FL. Stigwood agreed and the Bee Gees came back in 1974 with Mr. Natural, produced by Arif Mardin. This record was a departure for them with its heavily Americanized, R&B-flavored sound. The album didn't even sell as well as Life in a Tin Can and it yielded no hits, but it got better reviews and it pointed in a direction that seemed promising. It also seemed to free up the brothers' thinking about the kinds of songs they could do.

 

The next year, with Mardin again producing, they plunged head-first into the new sound with Main Course. This was the beginning of the Bee Gees' second (or third, if you count their Australian period) era. The emphasis was now on dance rhythms, high harmonies, and a funk beat. They had a new band in place, with Alan Kendall on lead guitar, Dennis Byron at the drums, and Blue Weaver on keyboards, but spearheading the new sound was Barry Gibb who, for the first time, sang falsetto and discovered that he could delight audiences in that register. "Jive Talkin'," the first single off the album, became their second American number one single, but it was a long way from {"Lonely Days"} in style. It was followed up with the hit "Nights on Broadway" and then the album Children of the World, which yielded the hits "You Should Be Dancing" and "Love So Right." In the midst of this string of new hits, the group released their first concert LP, Bee Gees Live, which gingerly walked a line between their old and new hits.

 

Then in 1977, coming off of their recent success, the group was approached about contributing to the soundtrack of a forthcoming movie, called Saturday Night Fever. Their featured numbers -- "Stayin' Alive," "How Deep Is Your Love," and "Night Fever" -- each made number one on the charts and the album stayed in the top spot for 24 weeks, even as the film broke existing box office records. In the process, the disco era was born -- or more properly, re-born -- it had already taken root in Europe, where it had become passé, and in the black and gay subcultures in America as well, but there it had stalled out. Saturday Night Fever, as an album and a film, supercharged the phenomenon and broadened its audience to tens of millions of middle-class and working-class white listeners, with the Bee Gees at the forefront of the music.

 

Suddenly, they were outstripping the sales that the Beatles had enjoyed with their records in the 1960s, and were even eclipsing Paul McCartney's multi-platinum '70s-era popularity. It was a profound moment, joining the ranks of their one-time idols in the highest reaches of music success, if not musical or social significance. They could (and did) fill arenas across the country with their new fans, although some of their older admirers -- who were admittedly a minority in the context of the tens of millions of record sales they were enjoying in the mid-'70s -- resented the group's new sound and the disco era that it embodied.

 

Ironically, there wasn't that much difference in the group between the two eras. Apart from Barry Gibb's falsetto, the voices were the same and as good as ever, and they had a superb band and all of the production resources that a recording act could want. And amid the dance numbers, the group still did a healthy portion of romantic ballads that each offered a high "haunt" count and memorable hooks. They'd simply decided, at Arif Mardin's urging, to forget the fact that they were white Englishmen -- or the reticence that went with it -- and plunged head-first into soul music, emulating, in their own terms, the funkier Philadelphia soul sounds that all three brothers knew and loved. Luckily for them, they had the voices, the band, and the songwriting skills to do it convincingly, so much so that by 1977, the Bee Gees were getting played on black radio stations that were normally unwilling to run any white acts. What's more, "Nights on Broadway" or "Love So Right" were no less beautiful songs or records than, say, "Melody Fair" or "First of May," and if one accepted Dennis Byron's and Maurice Gibb's driving beat on "You Should Be Dancing," it was impossible not to be impressed with the vocal acrobatics and the sheer panache of the song. In one fell swoop, the group had managed to meld every influence they'd ever embraced, from the Mills Brothers and the Beatles and early-'70s soul, into something of their own that was virtually irresistible. The worldwide sales of the 1979 Spirits Having Flown album topped 30 million and was accompanied by three more number one singles in "Tragedy," "Too Much Heaven," and "Love You Inside Out." As a side-light to the group's success, a fourth Gibb brother, Andy Gibb, was enjoying massive chart success during this same period as a singer, working in a slightly lighter-textured dance vein.

 

By the end of the '70s, however, the disco era was on the wane, from a combination of the bad economy, political chaos domestically and around the world (leading to the election of Ronald Reagan), and a general burn-out of the participants from too many drugs and profligate sex (which would precipitate an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases and herald the outbreak of AIDS in the United States). There had already been an ad-hoc reaction against the group's dominance of the airwaves with mass burnings of Bee Gees posters and albums at public forums spurred on by DJs and ordinary listeners weary of the dance hits by the group that seemed to soar effortlessly to the top of the charts; meanwhile, some radio stations began looking askance at new releases by the group after 1979. The group itself helped contribute to the end of the party with their own excesses, in particular their participation (at Stigwood's insistence) in the film Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "inspired" (if that's the word) by the Beatles' album and songs. The movie was a box office and critical disaster and an embarrassment to all concerned; the accompanying soundtrack LP was a $1.99 cut-out only six months after its 1978 release, lingering in bargain bins and warehouses for years afterward.

 

In 1981, the group's new LP, Living Eyes, was recorded after an extended lay-off in the wake of four years of hard work, but didn't even make the Top 40. Suddenly, with the disco era over and out of favor, the Bee Gees couldn't even get arrested and were being shunned for the excesses that it represented. The Bee Gees only managed to scrape the bottom of the Top 40 with songs from the soundtrack of "Staying Alive", the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. Strangely enough, the story of Staying Alive is about an older Tony Manero struggling to make his way out of the disco and into modern theater dance. The Bee Gees were also struggling thru the 80s. And the soundtrack produce one Top 10 hit by one-hit wonder Frank Stallone, brother of Sylvester Stallone who directed Staying Alive.

 

The most tragic of all was the fate of Andy Gibb. The older Gibb brothers had, at various times, struggled with personal demons such as alcohol and drug use, but the youngest sibling fell very hard when the '70s ended, eventually losing his life in 1988, five days after his 30th birthday at the end of a horrendous downward personal spiral. In America, the Bee Gees were virtually invisible as recording artists for most of the '80s. Instead, Barry Gibb pursued work as a producer for other artists, creating hits for Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross, among others; the Bee Gees had songs on the soundtrack to Stayin' Alive, the tepid sequel to Saturday Night Fever, but they were no longer taken seriously by the music press.

 

They made their first attempt at a comeback in 1987 with E.S.P., an album that got favorable reviews and sold well in every corner of the globe except the United States, yielding a number one single (outside of the U.S.) in "You Win Again." A new album in 1989, One, got a good reception around the world and even generated a Top Ten U.S. single in the form of its title track. Polygram Records, which had bought out the RSO Records catalog, struggled long and hard over the release of Tales From the Brothers Gibb, a boxed set anthology that was really aimed more at the international market rather than the United States, although it has sold well enough to remain in print in America. High Civilization (1991) and Size Isn't Everything (1993) attracted somewhat less attention, but their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 led to the release of Still Waters. In 1998, they issued the second live album in their history, One Night Only, cut at their first concert appearance in America in almost a decade, at the MGM Grand Hotel. In 2000, they participated in the making of the biographical video, This Is Where I Came In, which covered their whole history, and an accompanying album of the same name.

 

The Bee Gees remained active until the death of Maurice in January 2003. While receiving treatment for an intestinal blockage he suffered cardiac arrest and died at the age of 53. Following his death, Robin and Barry decided to cease performing as the Bee Gees.

[Cain N Moko]

PETER CETERA

 

While best known as the longtime frontman for Chicago, singer Peter Cetera also enjoyed success as a solo performer. Born September 13, 1944 in the Windy City, Cetera was in a band called the Exceptions when in late 1967 he was recruited by another aspiring group, then called Chicago Transit Authority, to play bass. By the early 1970s, Chicago was among the most popular acts in America, their brand of muscular jazz-rock spawning such major hits as "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and "Saturday in the Park," many of them featuring Cetera on vocals. In 1976 he penned the gossamer ballad "If You Leave Me Now," and when it hit number one, most of Chicago's subsequent work followed in the same soft-rock style. Although the band's fortunes dwindled over the remainder of the decade, in 1982 they returned to the top of the charts with "Hard to Say I'm Sorry"; several more smashes, including "Hard Habit to Break" and "You're the Inspiration," were to follow. Although Cetera recorded his eponymously titled solo debut in 1981, he remained with Chicago full-time until 1985. Upon quitting the band, he soon returned to the top of the charts with "The Glory of Love," the first single from his album Solitude/Solitaire as well as the theme to the film The Karate Kid Part II; that same year he scored another number one smash, "The Next Time I Fall," a duet with Amy Grant. A year later he produced Agnetha Faltskog's I Stand Alone, and upon resurfacing in 1988 with One More Story, Cetera scored with another duet, "After All," this one recorded with Cher. After a four-year hiatus, he issued World Falling Down, his final release for Warner Bros.; One Clear Voice followed in 1995. In 1997, Cetera released You're the Inspiration, a collection of past hits and new material. Cetera stepped out of the limelight for a few years to enjoy his life and his family, and returned in 2001 with Another Perfect World

[Cain N Moko]

BONNIE TYLER

 

Before her well-known collaborations with Meat Loaf producer Jim Steinman, Welsh-born singer Bonnie Tyler (born Gaynor Hopkins) performed off and on in her homeland with the R&B band Mumbles; nodules on her vocal cords prevented her from singing full time until 1976, when she underwent an operation to have them removed. The surgery left her with a raspy, husky voice that proved an effective instrument and drew notice from writers/producers Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, who became her managers. Tyler scored a number three hit with their "It's a Heartache" in 1978, but became dissatisfied as the two attempted to steer her into country music. When her contract ran out, she signed with CBS and sought Steinman out, hoping for material with his trademark epic sound. She got it with the ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart," which was recorded with E Street Band members Max Weinberg on drums and Roy Bittan on keyboards, plus guitarist Rick Derringer and backing vocalist Rory Dodd. The song spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard charts and helped the LP Faster Than the Speed of Night sell over a million copies and debut at number one in the U.K., where the title track also became a hit. Tyler then recorded "Holding Out For a Hero" for the blockbuster Footloose soundtrack, which to date has remained her last major success. She went on to work with Todd Rundgren and Desmond Child and recorded the European hit album Bitterblue in 1991 for a German label, which featured contributions from Nik Kershaw, Harold Faltermeyer, and Giorgio Moroder. In 1996, she released Free Spirit on Atlantic Records to little attention