Eddy Grant--Electric Avenue (1983)

     Eddy Grant was born in 1948 in Guyana and in 1960 him and his parents immigrated to England, where the youngster became influenced by the new sounds of r&b influenced rock and roll that was beginning to happen. Several years later, he formed a group called The Equals in 1965 which was one of first interracial groups in that country, and soon gained a reputation for strong live performances.  They had some major peaks and valleys on the charts but one song of note was, "Baby, Come Back" in 1968 which was a number one song at home, and even reached  the top 40 here in the states.

     He began his foray into reggae music with the opening of a record company, Torpedo in 1970, but the work with the company, plus his hectic schedule with The Equals took a toll. Despite Grant being a teetotaler, and a vegetarian to boot, he succumb to a heart attack at the age of 23 in 1971. He quit The Equals and sold the record company. Grant then bought a record studio and began to focus on recording other artists. When he did appear again on record, with 1977's, "Message Man", it was a totally different personality on record, with a much stronger (and bitter at times) message politically. It was also the beginnings of what is now known as soca, which was a hybrid of Calypso and Soul. Some, especially fans of Lord Shorty will dispute this, but either way this album was one of the first to fuse the two.  
     His star continued to rise as a solo artist in Britain as his mix of Caribbean influences and Soul began to make waves all through Europe, finally making an impact here with the release of, "Electric Avenue" in 1983 off of the album, "Killer on the Rampage" reaching number 2 in the spring/summer of 1983. The next year he reached the top 40 again with the theme from the movie, "Romancing the Stone" which was his last hit here in the states.
     His influence however continued to grow around the world. Although he continues to write and record, he has spent much of his time recording reggae legends, mentoring new artists, and developing a new reggae hybrid called, ringbang.

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The Fixx--One Thing Leads To Another (1983)

     The Fix began life as The Portraits in 1979. Founded by vocalist Cy Curnin and drummer Adam Woods, the brought in Rupert Greenall (keys), Tony McGrail (guitar) and Charlie Barret (bass) to round out the lineup. The band released a couple of singles that went nowhere at which point McGrail left and Jamie West-Oram in mid-1980. About that time they changed the name of the group to The Fix, and a few of their recordings were picked up by the BBC. This higher profile led to a major label contract with MCA who were concerned about the drug connotations of the band's name and an extra "X" was added on to the name.
     The band's first success here in the states came with the 1982 release, "Stand or Fall" off of the album, "Shuttered Room". However, the big hit came in 1983 with the song, "Saved By Zero", then "One Thing Leads To Another" later that year. It was the only song they released that reached the top 10 anywhere (#4 here, #1 in Canada). North America was where they found their biggest success reaching the top 20 as late as 1986 ("Secret Seperation").
     They still tour regularly here in the states and have recently released an album with their classic lineup. You can read more about the album an the group here: http://www.thefixx.com/

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Thomas Dolby--She Blinded Me With Science (1983)

     Am not sure why, but when I think of Thomas Dolby, Food Network personality Alton Brown comes to mind. It just be the mad scientist that both give off. Of course, in both cases, the men are somewhat quirky, but much more than what we see.
     In Dolby's case, he has shown a brilliance in technology that far exceeds his contributions as an artist, although those are quite significant. With little musical training, he taught himself guitar and later piano, when he discovered synthesizers. From that point on, he plunged head long into music and the studio side of music. As a teen, he worked in a studio as a technician, songwriter and engineer. You can hear his keyboards on recordings from Joan Armatrading, Foreigner, and Def Leppard.
     His first recording, "The Golden Age of Wireless" produced his only top ten hit in the US, "She Blinded Me With Science". The song, took off under the power of the video which highlighted Dolby and Dr. Magnus Pyke (who played the doctor). You can also hear producer "Mutt" Lange on the recording as well.
     He never appeared on the US top 40 again, but had another hit in the UK in 1984 with, "Hyperactive". He spent much of the rest of the 80's in the role of musician, but by the 1990's he began working more on business pursuits. The chances are that if you have had a cell phone over the last 10 years, the ringtone on your phone at some time or other had been developed by Dolby.

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Dexy's Midnight Runners--Come On Eileen (1983)

     I've talked to a lot of people over the years who either really like this song, or really hate it. Either way, it is one of the most distinctive hits to come out of the 80's. The hybrid of soul and Irish music was an interesting combination that was unlike anything being played at that time.
     The "Runners" actually came from a straight up northern soul sound. Their previous album, "Searching For The Young Soul Rebels", had sparked a rebirth of the genre in the UK. Lead singer Kevin Rowland was/is a pretty idiosyncratic kind of guys, and his rules that he put on the band basically led most of them to quit on him.
      Rather than continuing on in the vein of their hit album, he put together a new band with a much more Celtic folk sound to them. The result was "Too-Rye-Ay", where they took on the roles of Irish vagabonds (Rowland like to do this kind of thing...in their previous incarnation, they dressed up like dockworkers, inspired by DiNero's "Mean Streets").
     The result was a number one song in the UK and here in the states. Interesting to note in the video that the drummer was sacked even before the video shoot was over. At the end of the clip, notice that the guy beating on his drum at the beginning was now gone. This was a pretty good microcosm of the group's history. 

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Def Leppard--Photograph (1983)

     Discussing music in general is so fun for me because there are generally no fully right answers, and it's as varied as the people who make the music. It's been my opinion that taking the 1980's as a whole, that Def Leppard was the best hard rock band of the 1980's. Van Halen, Rush, and Iron Maiden can all be in the discussion, but for my money, the boys from Sheffield defined 80's rock better than anyone.
     They began in 1977 as a trio of Rick Savage, Pete Willis, and Tony Kenning, calling themselves, Atomic Mass. 18 year old Joe Elliot tried out as a guitarist, but was the others felt he would fit much better as the lead singer. It was Elliot that suggested the name "Deaf Leopard". Kenning adapted the name to "Def Leppard" so as to appeal to the punk rockers of that day.
     By 1978, Steve Clark, and 15 year old Rick Allen had joined the band and Kenning had left. They had released a three song EP and thanks to extensive playing on the BBC by influential DJ John Peel and relentless touring developed a strong following with hard rock fans in the UK.
     Their first album, "On Through The Night", released in 1980 was a strong debut and was a bit harder sound than many of their subsequent releases. It caught the attention of AC/DC producer "Mutt" Lange, and he agreed to produce their second album, "High N' Dry". This was the where the sound that defined them began to take shape.
     It was 1983's, "Pyromania" that broke them through in a major way to US audiences on the strength of three top 40 hits, the first one being, "Photograph"

 

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Reflections on Donna Summer by her former music director.

Scott Hallgren is a friend of mine who had the privilege of working with Donna Summer for seven years. Since her death, I had been hoping to get some thoughts and stories. Hope you enjoy reading them as well. His website is:  http://scootmanmusic.com/

I had the pleasure of working with Donna 1998 - 2005; all of it on keyboards, 4 of them as her pianist, 3 as her musical director. If I'd only known as an 8 year old, driving around in my Mom's Chevette, listening to Donna on AM radio...

Ahh, the stories - WAY too many to tell, whether it was:

- the Rod Stewart impersonator we sent onstage with flowers in El Paso during "Dim All The Lights" (she'd originally written the song for Rod and talked about that every show) that made her freak out and fall off her stool laughing during our 'acoustic' segment,

- performing as the 'house band' at the reception following Sony label prez Tommy Mottola's 3rd wedding (before he was legally divorced from Mariah), and having my rig directly in front of a table - at which were seated Joe Pesci, Rhea Perlman, Rosie O'Donnell, Danny DeVito, and Michael Jackson (who planned THAT table?),

- me getting to perform with my hero Elton John's band, play his piano, and accompany him and Donna on "Enough Is Enough" for the AIDS Foundation's 2003 benefit at Elton's home, then Barry Manilow get up to join them and say, "I can't believe I'm up here with Donna & Elton - this is fuckin' great! Isn't this fuckin' great?" to the horror of many glitterati,

- or the number of times something went awry during "On The Radio", where Donna would invite 3 audience members (females, for reasons you might expect) up to sing background vocals; once, in Columbus, a girl took the mic and walked out front and sang the second verse with an astonished Donna looking on; another time, at a Sony PGA Open, only 2 females were willing to come up, so the audience begged Donna to take the guy 'in the red windbreaker'... he promptly flew up the stairs, grabbed the mic, and said, "Donna, I'm not a girl, but I do have a very small penis", just as she had taken a sip of Dr. Pepper from the cup on my piano. ***It was Adam Sandler.*** (You can imagine how long it took her to stop laughing, and us to clean off the piano!)

Donna never wanted to be an 'oldies' act, and struggled with the box that many tried to put her in. She could sing ANYTHING. We used to do 'Someone To Watch Over Me' as a duet, Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams', 'Nights In White Satin', 'New York, New York'. She sounded INCREDIBLE on the 2010 David Foster & Friends show (with Seal).

None of us had any idea she was sick, and I only hope that I'll be able to attend the memorial here in Nashville - she had so many real friends I don't know where they'd put everyone. The fact that she's gone too soon makes it that much harder.

She never stopped creating, was always musical, and my life is so much better and richer for having known her.

- S

Scott Hallgren
Composer/producer/pianist

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Culture Club--Karma Chameleon (1983)

     The term, "new romantics" refers to a sub culture of the new wave sound of the late 70's/early 80's. Actually they were more about fashion than music, but the music was always an important part of things as well. Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, ABC, and Culture Club were all a part of this sub-genre. Their love of fashion and distinctive visuals dovetailed headlong into MTV which gave all four bands the exposure they wouldn't have seen otherwise.
     None were more distinctive than George Alan O'Dowd or as he was known around the clubs, "Boy George". His androgynous style of dressing and use of make up became the center point about which the group swirled. People remember the group, but the mix of Caribbean, pop, and northern soul was why people still remember the music as it has held up much better than a lot of music of it's era.
     "Karma Chameleon" was a nonsensical song as was the song the proceeded it, "Church of the Poison Mind", but they were just as capable of doing songs that were deeply emotive and just downright beautiful. Try, "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me", or "Time (Clock of the Heart), for examples of that. However, "Chameleon" was the apex of their career. It's mix of different sounds, the visual of George in his coat of many colors on the TV screens singing on a riverboat was just pure fun.
     That fun belied tensions in the band that, along with George's drug addiction, couldn't keep everyone together for long. The band got together for an album in 1999, "Don't Mind if I Do", which is quite good The boys have confirmed they were recording material for release in 2012, but nothing has come of that as of yet.

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Stephen Bishop--It Might Be You (1983)

   A few days ago, we featured a song that used in the movie, "Top Gun", and mentioned how that in the 80's, music and movies were blended together in way never done before. The best known example of an artist who took full advantage of this was Kenny Loggins. One that was successful in writing songs used for movies that flew under the radar was Stephen Bishop.

    Bishop's, "On and On" was a top 20 hit in 1977, but in the 80's was best known for writing music for Animal House, Roadie, The China Syndrome, Unfaithfully Yours, and the duet, "Separate Lives" which a number one hit for Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin from the movie, "White Nights". Of all of those 80's songs, this one from the movie "Tootsie" starring Dustin Hoffman reached the highest charting at
#25 in 1983.

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Big Country--In a Big Country (1983)

     Sometimes the term "one-hit wonder" is used in music as as somewhat derogatory, when in fact some of them have provided us with the best music of a certain decade, as in this one.

      Big Country had three chart singles in the US, although their popularity in the UK continued well into the 1990's. The only song that most anyone remembers stateside is, "In a Big Country" where the use of a MXR Pitch Transposer gave the guitars the sound of bagpipes. This, like many hits from the early 80's, was helped along with the video which included beautiful scenes of their native Scotland.  

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After the Fire--Der Kommissar (1983)

     The British group, After the Fire began in the early 70's as a progressive rock band. This incarnation produced one album in 1978 (which was released in 2004), which went nowhere. After this, a change in direction to shorter, pop songs was pursued. This gave them a couple of minor hits in Britain, and the one big hit here in America.

      "Der Kommissar" (which means 'the commissioner' in German) was co-written and sung by Austrian singer Falco. (remember 'Rock Me Amadeus??) in 1981. The group released this first in the summer of 1982, and it didn't fare well at all. While working on an album in December of that year, they announced it would be the last one as the group was shutting it down. Ironically, the single released began to catch fire in the states and would eventually reach #5 in February of 1983. Despite the record company begging them to reform, the group remained dormant until 2004, when they reunited and still tour today.

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