"did you ever wake up in the middle of a dream / and scream out loud?"
I shouldn't have to tell you Pete Shelley was in one of the most important punk bands ever, The Buzzcocks, should I? Of course not, you knew that. You also knew that as the Buzzcocks soldiered on, they evolved into a more "post-punk" sound, combining their claustrophobic noise with pure pop hooks. I'm sure you're also aware that when Pete left the Buzzcocks, he went into full-tilt synth-pop, creating classic, historically important singles such as "Homosapien" and "Telephone Operator".
But did you know about his third solo album, an even more mature and synth-melded piece of work created with über-synth producer Stephen Hague called "Heaven and the Sea"? And that it spawned his one and only charting single in America, the tense and desolate "On Your Own"? And did you know that this CD is extremely hard to find and goes for big bucks when you can find it?
Of course you did. You're so smart.
"On Your Own" peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart in 1986.
“ink and paper / the broken heart in black and white”
Allow me to get something off my chest first, if I may: Modern English’s “I Melt With You” was not a hit back in the day. No matter how many former cheerleaders at your high school reunion squeal when it comes on, I am here to tell you those people not only did not like that song when it was released, they never even heard of it. The popular kids were not digging Modern English in 1983 – they were more about Loverboy, Def Leppard and Michael Jackson. It wasn’t until years and years later that revisionist history kicked in and suddenly everyone loved that song, even the jocks whom regularly beat up the “fags” in Duran Duran t-shirts back when the single was struggling to its peak of #78 on the Hot 100.
Not that I’m bitter or anything.
I bring this up because of conversations I have with people I went to high school with when I go back to small town Elyria, Ohio. Oh, I’ll be at the local mall with my nieces and nephews and someone will invariably stop me at the food court, “Hey John, is that you??” (and I’m always amazed they recognize me, since I’m nearly 70 lbs. larger and have zero hair). I’ll give a weak smile and that I-totally-don’t-know-you “Heyyyy!” and my sister will jump in and work the stranger’s name into the convo. Invariably, the conversation will veer to music and this person, who I barely remember save only for being on student council or some other A-list high school activity will say something to the effect of “Do you still listen to all that ‘punk rock?’”
Now, I did like some true punk rock, but I rarely listened to it around people in my high school – I knew better. But back in 1983, Modern English were easy to lump into “punk rock” if you were Sally McTreasurer who dated Trent Von Linebacker. It was “fag music”, but you were trying to be nice. So it became “punk!” Tee hee! So yeah, I still harbor some residual anger that “my” music has been co-opted by the cool kids and say, Burger King, over the decades. Oh, well. They’re all still fatter and older looking (possibly due to said Burger King).
ANYHOO…
“Ink and Paper” was even more obscure than Modern English’s first two American “hits” (“Melt” and 1984’s exquisite “Hands Across the Sea”, which we’ll get to another day). It didn’t even chart, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. The band seemed so desperate for another hit, they even ripped off the “ohh, ohh, ohh” refrain from Springsteen’s “Born to Run”, for God’s sake. A grab for green doesn’t get much more red, white and blue than that. Yet, “Ink and Paper” is still a fondly remembered song for me – 1986 was a pretty big year for me (graduation and all), and the “Stop Start” LP this came from what was a fairly solid effort I wore out quite a bit that year.
Modern English limped along to re-record “I Melt With You” in 1990 (that version didn’t chart much higher, either) on an otherwise new album called “Pillow Lips”, then one final gasp in 1996 with “Everything Is Mad”. But massive airplay of the hit that wasn’t has probably led to a quite comfortable life for the lads.
Just don’t stop me in the mall and tell me how much you loved it back then, liar.
"High is the risk of striking out, the risk of getting hurt…"
Taking a break from the New Wave casualties of the ’80s (and there are more to come), let’s get something truly decent and sadly Lost in the ‘80s…former Undertones lead singer Feargal Sharkey’s debut solo single, “A Good Heart.”
The Undertones scored a few UK hits from 1978 through their breakup in 1983, most notably “Teenage Kicks,” a song famously championed by the legendary DJ John Peel. After the band’s dissolution, Feargal provided the vocals for The Assembly’s “Never Never,” a one-off collaboration with Depeche Mode/Yaz/Erasure muso Vince Clarke. 1986 saw Feargal’s first proper solo album, a nicely produced affair with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart. “A Good Heart” was a fine choice for a lead-off single, an excellent tune written by Lone Justice’s Maria McKee which nicely showcased Feargal’s soaring, warbly singing style.
While “A Good Heart” topped the charts in the U.K. and Australia, it sputtered in the States, an audience nearly completely ignorant of the Undertones and Feargal’s overseas chart pedigree. The follow-up single, “You Little Thief,” made even less a splash.
Sharkey went on to release one more album, 1988’s “Wish”. Since then, The Undertones have reformed and re-recorded without him and he’s been relatively quiet. Seems a good band these days is hard to find.
“A Good Heart” peaked at #74 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986.
"distant lands I love so far away / I don't know why we don't go"
Another Lost in the ‘80s oddity…there’s not much biographical info or background floating around about The Other Ones, a Scandinavian-ish group who put out a single, self-titled album in 1987, and had a good-sized hit with “Holiday,” most definitely not the Madonna song.
I came across “Holiday” and the actual first Other Ones single “We Are What We Are” on a Virgin Records promotional cassette my sister got from her job as an assistant manager at Coconuts Records. In 1986, Virgin launched an American version of their UK imprint, and they had a heady roster out of the gate, including the Cutting Crew, a by this point limping along Killing Joke, Public Image Limited, and some spunky newcomer named Paula Abdul. To spotlight all these new artists, Virgin US issued this promo cassette packed with two songs each from these artists, including The Other Ones.
The Other One’s songs stuck with me for months and finally radio and MTV latched onto the album’s second single, “Holiday,” a bright, sunny romp that pretty much lives up to its title. I remember seeing some interviews with the band and gathered they were very European and foreign-y. They even had a strange bald guy who would talk over certain parts of the song, sort of ruining the whole thing with his ramblings, a move the Sugarcubes would perfect a short year later.
“Holiday” did its time on the chart, the album even charted briefly and then…Lost in the ‘80s. Years later, some surviving members of the Grateful Dead took the Other Ones name and consigned them to the dustbin for pop eternity.
”Holiday” peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. “We Are What We Are” peaked at #53 on the Billboard Hot 100. “The Other Ones” LP peaked at #139 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart.
"well, I was born in a house with the television always on"
Speaking of Talking Heads...
The band reconvened in 1986 to record a sort of soundtrack for David Byrne's directorial debut, True Stories. I say "sort of", since the album mostly consisted of the Heads covering versions of songs from the film, but in the movie they were actually performed by the actors. Only three songs from the soundtrack were performed by the band in the movie - "City of Dreams", the album's big hit, "Wild Wild Life" and the opener, "Love For Sale".
A recitation of commercial catchphrases set to a driving beat, "Love For Sale" was also the album's second single, showcasing a more rocking Heads than we'd heard in quite a few years. The song is built around a stinging guitar hook, not exactly what the group was best known for, which may be way it fared so poorly. Also, the commercial taglines as romantic come-on may seem clever at first until one asks, what exactly is Byrne's point? Is it an indictment of commercial culture? No, he never gets there. Is it just a random idea that is funny at first but doesn't hold up under closer scrutiny, like the last five seasons of Friends? Probably. To be fair, the song works in the context of the movie, as it's immediately followed by a commercial where John Goodman's character advertises for a wife.
The video is a hoot, though, successfully marrying clips from real commercials with footage of the band inserted. As far as the movie goes, the promo was featured in a sequence where Swoozie Kurtz's bed-bound TV addict watches it while flipping aimlessly through channels as an automated machine feeds her.
While True Stories the film is a little too Big City Art Types Look At the Country Bumpkins For Amusement, the "Love For Sale" sequence is worth seeing just to hear the Edith Massey-like non-sequiturs Kurtz's character mutters as she watches the video, such as "kissin' cookie!" and my favorite as the band is drenched in melted chocolate, "...LOVE chocolate!"
"I can still hear our screams competing / You're hissing your s's like a snake"
• Their debut album featured a #1 smash, the video of which won eight MTV Video Awards. • It eventually sold eight million copies worldwide, a million of that in the U.S. alone. • Their follow-up single hit the Top 20. • They held the world record for largest concert (198,000 people in Rio). • They are among only 19 artists to have the rare honor of being asked to record a Bond theme.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you...a-ha.
Yup. Unfairly tagged as one-hit wonders in the States, a-ha continue to sell albums and pack stadiums worldwide, their most recent album, Analogue, released a little over a year ago. But in 1986, the trio had the unenviable task of following up their debut, Hunting High and Low, with its massive single, "Take On Me". It wasn't going to be easy. Instead of merely following the synthpop template established by the first album, the group took the bold step to add more guitar-oriented rock into the mix, aggressively pumping up their sound but keeping the sweeping theatricality of songs like "The Sun Always Shines On TV". But would it work?
The result was Scoundrel Days and in preparation for its release, a-ha issued the single, "I've Been Losing You", again, a bold move since it's nowhere near as immediate and catchy as "Take On Me". With its chugging guitar riff and lyrics alluding to murder or suicide, it wasn't the ideal choice for a lead-off single - but that didn't make it any less brilliant. The incongruous video that concentrated on making the band look like teen pin-up idols rather than talented musicians didn't help:
Sadly, "I've Been Losing You" gained zero traction and a quick scramble saw the rushed release of a more traditional a-ha single, "Cry Wolf", but the damage had already been done. "Cry Wolf" stumbled into the outer reaches of the Top 50 and a-ha never charted in the U.S. again (save for a brief appearance on the Adult Contemporary Charts in 1991 with a remake of the Everly Brothers' "Crying In The Rain"). To its credit, their U.S. label Reprise stood by the band well into the '90s, issuing their albums domestically until it was no longer feasible. The rest of the world never lost step, though, and a-ha continue to be massively successful in Europe and Brazil.
"I've Been Losing You" is still one of my favorite singles from the band, right down to the fake-out ending and little "ah" exhales during the chorus. Great stuff that takes a few spins to fully appreciate. If "Cry Wolf" had been released first, who knows? We might still be seeing the trio on the U.S. charts today.
Hopefully everyone has the day off - if not, here's some commiseration courtesy of actor Bill Paxton and his art-rock/New Wave collective known as Martini Ranch - "How Can The Laboring Man Find Time for Self-Culture".
Martini Ranch was centered around Paxton and Andrew Todd. They featured a number of notable guest artists on their one and only album, 1986's Holy Cow, including DEVO's Mark Mothersbaugh on this track, which helps explain its obvious DEVO-nous. The video's good fun for playing Spot the '80s Star...how many can you name?
Martini Ranch got a bit more buzz with another single from Holy Cow called "Reach", which made the 120 Minutes playlist for a bit. After that, the duo went their separate ways, with Paxton making a much bigger splash a year later in Aliens. But he'll always be evil big brother "Chet" from Weird Science to me.
"How Can The Laboring Man Find Time For Self-Culture" did not chart.
Hey, did you know Sunday, August 12th is Vinyl Record Day? Me neither, until I was invited by the lovely jb over at The Hits Just Keep On Comin' to participate in a "blogswarm" to mark the occasion. Any regular reader of this site knows the amount of time I spend getting my fingers nice and dirty flipping thru old, musty album covers at a variety of used record shops nationwide, so how could I resist? (By the way, always bring Purell when record shopping.)
So, where do you find the good vinyl? Depends on what you're looking for...if you have a specific want list, you can't go wrong with good 'ol eBay or GEMM, but it's gonna cost ya. If you're patient and you enjoy the thrill of the hunt, there's a used record shop or thrift store in just about every town. Since I'm lucky(?) enough to live near Los Angeles, trips to Amoeba Records are a regular monthly thing for me.
As you can see from this shot taken from the DVD-centric second floor, Amoeba LA is huge. Huge. This very hugeness also results in huge crowds, competing for the same scarce vinyl goodies. While the selection here is immense (and is just as big at their Berkeley and San Francisco/Haight locations), it does tend to be much of the same stuff, mostly mainstream, not too tough to find things like, say, the original 12" of Bronski Beat's "Hit That Perfect Beat" as opposed to a 12" of "Why". That said, I don't think I've ever paid more than $3.00 for a single album from Amoeba, so they definitely beat auctions for value.
Plus, you can find things like the second English-language Nena album:
...or a classic from Homo Picnic (I dunno, either):
I prefer to treasure hunt in more obscure Mom & Pop record stores, which seem not only to have survived this post-Napster/file-sharing music biz, but are thriving. Some are pretty shoddy - records filed any which way with no rhyme nor reason, lazy clerks who glare at you for interrupting their texting session, etc. But there are some gems, like Dizzy on Vinyl in Long Beach (my hood!), where the owner, whom I know only as "Hey, guy!" keeps a snappy, well-organized shop, complete with separate "80s" and "80s 12-inches" sections. Talk about playing to the crowd. I'd link to his site, but he doesn't have one, he's so old school!
It's at Dizzy on Vinyl where I can get lost for hours, flipping thru bin after bin of vinyl, wearing my knees out from squatting down to flip thru milk crates of records on the floor. And it's in these less-traveled locales, you'll find unparalled treasures like the electro-hip-hop classic from 1986, "Vanity, I Want To Be Your Bodyguard":
Yes. Oh, yes. Find THAT anywhere else. And yes, it's exactly what the title says it's about. A guy (credited as Fabulous Freddie Star on the label) with a hard-on for Vanity. It may be safe to assume that will never make it to CD. Viva vinyl!
Speaking of never making it to CD, Dizzy on Vinyl is where I also found this little diamond:
That's right, Garrett Morris' 1980 debut LP, Saturday Night SuiteSweet. I say "debut" jokingly, since there was never a follow-up. One listen reveals why. On this coke-y, freebase-driven trainwreck Garrett "sings" over a variety of already-dated disco, lame-ass funk and even reggae with fucking BURNING SPEAR (seriously) as his backing band. The coup de grace is a "funny" song called "I Wanna Be A Cowboy (But I'm Too Short)" that's about...well, wanting to be a cowboy, but being too short. Take that, Boys Don't Cry! It's essentially Garrett rambling about the song's premise repeatedly for seven minutes and forty-one seconds. I dare you to get through it. It's sad and hilarious all at once. What's sad is the one song that Garrett has writing credit on, "Secret Place", a jazzy torch number, isn't bad at all. You have to wonder why he didn't write more of the LP, as it barely edges out Chevy Chase's LP from the same year in overall awfulness (which I own as well...it will have its time here, trust me). The entire second side is taken up with something called "The Saturday Night Suite (In Four Movements)", where Garrett is scarcely present amongst the instrumentals. I would have been careful with the using of the word "movement" when referring to this stinker.
I can't tell you about Saturday Night SuiteSweet without sharing it in its entirety. I believe suffering is lessened by numbers:
All those deaf people offended by Garrett's "News For the Hard of Hearing" bit on SNL were thanking their lucky stars for their affliction when this was released.
Other blogs participating in Vinyl Record Day include:
"and if you feel the groove, you better start to move"
Straight outta Austria, Falco (aka Johann "Hans" Hölzel) is best known on these shores for "Rock Me Amadeus", one of the more deranged hits in a decade filled with strange pop smashes. But certainly Lost in the 80s readers are knowledgeable enough to know Falco actually broke thru a few years prior with "Der Kommissar", a rap/new wave blend that eventually found Stateside success when remade in English by After the Fire.
After "Amadeus" and its follow-up "Vienna Calling" scored in America, Falco jumped labels over to Sire Records, who put some promotional muscle behind Falco's next album, Emotional, and its lead-off, "The Sound of Musik". Not messing with a winning formula, the single mines the same German/English rap/new wave vibe...unfortunately, lightning did not strike twice, although the extended version of the single got some club play. The video is fantastic, a campy romp with just about every musical genre represented by an appropriate stereotype:
After Emotional failed to generate any heat, Sire tried again with one more album, Wiener Blut, in 1988, to even less success. From that point, Falco became a singularly European flavor only, recording a few more singles (including a duet with Brigitte Nielsen!) and albums until his abrupt death at the age of 40, when he was involved in an auto collision while vacationing in the Dominican Republic. It may sound like a grand and goofy statement, but Falco was a bit of a musical pioneer, fusing rap, rock and pop early on, leaving his mark on pop music history, as strange and left-field as it may have been.
"The Sound of Musik" peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart in 1986.
"you said we could be lovers / i just had to say the word"
Chris & Cosey's single about two cheating lovers on the sly was a pleasant pop surprise/sellout considering their prior musical pedigree as members of the early industrial combo Throbbing Gristle. "October Love Song", from the duo's 1986 EP Take Five, was an underground dance hit, prompting many a goth chick (and dude) to hit the dancefloor and "air juggle" or "catch butterflies" (stand up at your desk and mime doing either of those and you'll see what I mean).
Here's the video (possibly NSFW - is that Chris or Cosey's boobs?):
A beautiful little single - what else is there to say? Chris & Cosey have continued recording for labels like Nettwerk and Wax Trax as recently as 2004.
* All songs are for sampling purposes only. If the album is currently in print, you'll see an Amazon link to purchase it. Supporting artists is a good thing, since labels are run by soulless whores. I KEED! Sorta. Look, if you like it, and it's in print, support 'em. If you're the artist or copyright holder, a quick e-mail to me will bring the song down ASAP. But compliment my writing first.
* Don't e-mail me asking me to repost dead links or to send you a song you can't find. Believe it or not, I have a life outside my blogging. I KEED! But don't do it.
* One more, and this is a biggie -- do NOT hotlink directly to my audio files and post them on your site, big shot. That's just disrespectful, rude, and a theft of my hard-earned bandwith.
Now, get readin', get downloadiN', and play nice. I loves me some comments. Bring it!
(just be ready to pay big for the debut). However, the entire Undertones catalog 
The result was Scoundrel Days and in preparation for its release, a-ha issued the single, "I've Been Losing You", again, a bold move since it's nowhere near as immediate and catchy as "Take On Me". With its chugging guitar riff and lyrics alluding to murder or suicide, it wasn't the ideal choice for a lead-off single - but that didn't make it any less brilliant. The incongruous video that concentrated on making the band look like teen pin-up idols rather than talented musicians didn't help:
Hopefully everyone has the day off - if not, here's some commiseration courtesy of actor Bill Paxton and his art-rock/New Wave collective known as Martini Ranch - "How Can The Laboring Man Find Time for Self-Culture". 
Straight outta Austria, Falco (aka Johann "Hans" Hölzel) is best known on these shores for "Rock Me Amadeus", one of the more deranged hits in a decade filled with strange pop smashes. But certainly Lost in the 80s readers are knowledgeable enough to know Falco actually broke thru a few years prior with "Der Kommissar", a rap/new wave blend that eventually found Stateside success when remade in English by After the Fire.
