Covered in '80s

In this ongoing series, we highlight 80’s cover tunes or ‘80s songs that have been covered by other artists. Sometimes it’s a win-win: an 80’s song covered by another 80’s artist! Which version is your favorite?

Today the spotlight shines on the song "I Found Someone". Most of you will associate this tune with Cher, who took it to the top 10. The song appeared on her self-titled 1987 record and got a ton of airplay.

While no one took this song higher on the charts than Cher, she was not the first to cover it. Laura Branigan did a version of "I Found Someone", which came from her album, "Hold Me". Her version stalled at #90 on the charts in 1986.

Which brings us to the original writers of this song, Mark Mangold (of the grossly underrated band Touch, which was featured in our "You Were Robbed" post yesterday) and Michael Bolton. Bolton came full circle on this song by producing Cher's version. Here is Mangold's band Touch performing "I Found Someone":

And finally, Michael Bolton performing it:

You Were Robbed – Touch

"You Were Robbed" features artists and bands that should have gotten much more recognition and fame than they did. Check them out now...better late than never!

The late 70s/early 80s AOR band Touch was an outgrowth of an earlier band called American Tears. Touch, led by Mark Mangold, released their self-titled debut in 1979 with their singles gracing rock radio as the decade transitioned. At the forefront of the AOR genre, the band oscillated between straight up melodic rock like Survivor or Journey to prog rock like Triumph or Styx. A little ahead of their time, the first single “Don’t You Know What Love Is” stalled at #69 on the Billboard charts.

Another classic cut off this immaculate debut record was “When The Spirit Moves You”:

“Yes – You Need To Rock N’ Roll” proved to be a great anthem for the band and fans alike:

To round out our sampling of “Touch”, give a listen to “Last Chance For Love”:

A great deal of turmoil between the band members and management prevented the formal release of the follow up record, “II”, which was produced by none other than Todd Rundgren. Fortunately, you can hear it today on sites like Spotify. Mangold would move on to become a respected songwriter, most famously for his collaboration with Michael Bolton to pen the hit “I Found Someone”. The debut by “Touch” didn't get the respect it deserved back in the day, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying it now.

80's movie bullies: Where are they now?

Ever wonder what happened to your favorite movie bullies? A nice little list can be found here, featuring several classic bullies from the 80's. Can you guess which bully was a viking in those Capital One credit card commercials?

Classically Rewound - 1983

On Memorial Day weekend, Sirius XM’s Classic Rewind ran a great special called “The Top 30 Cassettes of 1983.” Here's their list:

30 Modern Romans - The Call
29 Speaking In Tongues - Talking Heads
28 Keep It Up - Loverboy
27 Money & Cigarettes - Eric Clapton
26 Bent Out of Shape - Rainbow
25 In Heat - The Romantics
24 Tour de Force - 38 Special
23 State Of Confusion-The Kinks
22 Kihnspiracy - Greg Kihn Band
21 Lick It Up - KISS
20 Midnight Madness - Night Ranger
19 Album - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
18 Mental Health - Quiet Riot
17 Cuts Like a Knife - Brayn Adams
16 Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan
15 Let's Dance - David Bowie
14 Sports - Huey Lewis & The News
13 The Wild Heart - Stevie Nicks
12 The Distance - Bob Seger
11 Undercover - The Rolling Stones
10 Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
9 The Principle of Moments - Robert Plant
8 90125 - Yes
7 Frontiers - Journey
6 Genesis - Genesis
5 Uh-Huh - John Mellencamp
4 Synchronicity - The Police
3 Pyromania - Def Leppard
2 War - U2
1 Elimintator – ZZ Top

A solid list, no doubt. But as I looked it over a few things started to bother me.

First off, The Call? Talking Heads? Thinking back to 1983, I don’t remember either being all that popular on radio or even MTV. I think both caught on “after the fact.”

Second, the albums that didn’t make the list were shocking (most notably Asia’s “Alpha”).

So like any OCD chart geek, I dipped into my trusty “Joel Whitburn’s Rock Tracks” to determine what really were the “30” rock albums that were on everyone’s mind that year. With way too much free time on my hands, using the peak position of every song that charted on the Billboard Rock tracks, I calculated a points system for each album. Compared to the original list, exactly half still made the cut.

So here is my “Top 30 Rock Albums of 1983” (with the charted rock songs from each album along with their peak position as well as the chart position of the album if it made the Classic Rewind chart):

30 Duran Duran - Duran Duran
3 Is There Something I Should Know
19 Girls On Film

29 INXS - Shabooh Shoobah
2 The One Thing
17 Don’t Change

28 The Motels - Little Robbers
1 Suddenly Last Summer
18 Little Robbers

27 The Tubes - Outside Inside
1 She’s A Beauty
16 The Monkey Time

26 The Pretenders - Learning To Crawl
4 Back On The Chain Gang
11 My City Was Gone

25 Quiet Riot - Metal Health (18)
7 Cum On Feel The Noize
32 Slick Black Cadillac
37 Bang Your Head (Metal Health)

24 The Fixx - Reach The Beach
2 One Thing Leads To Another
9 Saved By Zero
13 Red Skies

23 Huey Lewis and the News - Sports (14)
1 Heart & Soul
7 I Want A New Drug

22 Neil Young - Trans
12 Little Thing Called Love
14 Mr. Soul
42 We R In Control

21 Duran Duran - Rio
1 Hungry Like The Wolf
5 Rio

20 Red Rider - Neruda
11 Human Race
13 Power (Strength In Numbers)
39 Crack The Sky (Breakaway)

19 The Kinks - State Of Confusion (23)
16 Don’t Forget To Dance
17 Come Dancing
26 State Of Confusion

18 The Rolling Stones - Undercover (11)
2 Undercover Of The Night
14 Too Tough
38 Too Much Blood

17 Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
7 Not Now John
8 Your Possible Pasts
31 The Hero’s Return

16 Loverboy - Keep It Up (28)
2 Hot Girls In Love
11 Queen Of The Broken Hearts
23 Strike Zone

15 Sammy Hagar - Three Lock Box
3 Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy
6 Remember The Heroes
24 I Don’t Need Love

14 Genesis - Genesis (6)
5 Mama
10 Just A Job To Do
16 It’s Gonna Get Better

13 Triumph - Never Surrender
2 All The Way
3 A World Of Fantasy
23 Never Surrender

12 Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - The Distance (12)
2 Even Now
11 Boomtown Blues
13 Roll Me Away

11 Jackson Browne - Lawyers In Love
4 Lawyers In Love
7 For A Rocker
18 Tender Is The Night
37 Cut Away

10 ZZ Top - Eliminator (1)
2 Gimme All Your Lovin’
8 Sharp Dressed Man
18 Got Me Under Pressure
38 TV Dinners

9 Men At Work - Cargo
3 Overkill
12 Dr. Heckyll And Mr. Jive
23 High Wire
27 It’s A Mistake

8 U2 - War (2)
2 New Year’s Day
7 Sunday Bloody Sunday
12 Two Hearts Beat As One
27 Surrender

7 Bryan Adams - Cuts Like A Knife (17)
6 Cuts Like A Knife
21 Take Me Back
21 This Time
26 I’m Ready
32 Straight From The Heart
44 The Only One

6 The Police - Synchronicity (4)
1 Every Breath You Take
1 King Of Pain
9 Synchronicity II
9 Wrapped Around Your Finger

5 Stevie Nicks - The Wild Heart (13)
2 Stand Back
8 If Anyone Falls
12 Enchanted
19 Nothing Ever Changes
35 I Will Run To You

4 Asia - Alpha
1 Don’t Cry
5 The Heat Goes On
20 True Colors
24 Daylight
25 The Smile Has Left Your Eyes

3 Robert Plant - The Principle Of Moments (9)
1 Other Arms
4 In The Mood
6 Big Log
12 Far Post
44 Horizontal Departure

2 David Bowie - Let's Dance (15)
3 China Girl
6 Modern Love
8 Let’s Dance
11 Cat People
31 Criminal World

1 Def Leppard - Pyromania (3)
1 Photograph
1 Rock Of Ages
9 Foolin’
24 Comin’ Under Fire
33 Bill’s Got A Gun
42 Action! Not Words




Some things to note:
 - Certain obvious albums, like “Uh - Huh” from John Mellencamp or “90125” from Yes, did not chart because most of their singles peaked in 1984. It also explains how some albums from 1982, like Sammy Hagar’s “Three Lock Box,” made the list.

 - Such was the power of Michael Jackson, that had I dived deep enough, “Thriller” would have placed at #91 for the year. The residual effect of his popularity allowed acts like Lionel Richie, Rockwell and Shalamar to also hit the rock charts over 1983 and 1984.

 - Yes, “Pyromania” was THAT big. I remember that in High School, no other album came close to matching its popularity at the time. They had 6 singles chart over 1983. The only other album with that kind of release power that year was Bryan Adams’ “Cuts Like A Knife.”

 - Asia’s “Alpha” and Men At Work’s “Cargo” both placed in my Top 10 yet didn’t make Classic Rewind’s Top 30.

 - What was the lowest charted album of 1983? With one single, “Don’t It Make You Feel Good,” peaking at #48 that album would be “Opus - X” from Chiliwack.

 - And finally, for you fellow chart junkies, here are the top 10 Rock Singles of 1983:

1 Every Breath You Take - The Police
2 Photograph - Def Leppard
3 King Of Pain - The Police
4 She’s A Beauty - The Tubes
5 Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - Journey
6 Owner Of A Lonely Heart - Yes
7 Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar
8 If I’d Been The One - .38 Special
9 Hungry Like The Wolf - Duran Duran
10 Suddenly Last Summer - The Motels

I hope Sirius XM does this every year. It will give me something new to obsess over every Memorial Day.

'80s memes

Covered in '80s

In this ongoing series, we highlight 80’s cover tunes or ‘80s songs that have been covered by other artists. Sometimes it’s a win-win: an 80’s song covered by another 80’s artist! Which version is your favorite?

In 1981, rock band Spider released an album called "Between The Lines" that contained two songs that would climb much higher on the charts later in the decade when covered by other artists starting their solo careers. While I am sure the members of Spider appreciate that their songs eventually became hits for others later on, it was a day late and a dollar short for this band - they split up in 1984 after releasing only two albums.

The Spider song "Better Be Good To Me" was a huge hit for Tina Turner, lifted from her debut solo record, "Private Dancer". She took the song all the way to #5 on the Billboard charts and won a Grammy for it as well.



And now the version we're all familiar with by Tina Turner:

The other tune covered from "Between The Lines" was called "Change", appearing on John Waite's first solo record,  1982's "Ignition". The single fizzled but resurfaced in 1985 on the "Vision Quest" soundtrack, this time going to #50 on the charts.

And now the John Waite version:

Back for More: Tom Keifer (Cinderella)

In this ongoing series, we catch up with artists who made their mark in the 80s. Many of them are still alive and kicking! 

Everyone knows Tom Keifer as the raspy vocalist behind Cinderella’s 1988 prom anthem, "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)". Of course, Cinderella had a string of blues-tinged rockers and ballads throughout the 80s, but then the band's fairy tale ended in the 90s. Tom Keifer is back though, with what should be the biggest comeback record of the year. You might have figured that he’d blown out his vocal chords a long time ago, but he sounds great on this record. Even better, the collection of songs comprising “The Way Life Goes” is stunning – solid lyrics, memorable melodies, and just the right touch of blues. The record doesn't sound dated at all and may rank up there among his best work. Favorites cuts include “Solid Ground”, “A Different Light”, and “Ask Me Yesterday”. If you want a sequel to “Don’t Know What You Got”, give a listen to “Thick and Thin”. Whether you were a fan of Cinderella or not, if you like straight up rock you have to give this record a trial run.

Happy Father's Day

In honor of all our 80's dads out there:

Covered in '80s

In this ongoing series, we highlight 80’s cover tunes or ‘80s songs that have been covered by other artists. Sometimes it’s a win-win: an 80’s song covered by another 80’s artist! Which version is your favorite?

"Wicked Game" is the song that put Chris Isaak on the map. First appearing in 1989, it rocketed to popularity thanks to an appearance in the 1990 movie, "Wild at Heart". Oh, and that sizzling video with the topless Helena Christensen probably had a little something to do with its popularity as well.

The song has been covered a number of times by a group of very diverse artists. One of the more recent versions is this acoustic rendition by 11th American Idol winner Phillip Phillips.



A powerful acoustic cover of this song was also done by hard rocking outfit Stone Sour in 2006.



Had enough slow, acoustic stuff? Then check out this rousing rocking version by HIM, from his 2003 album, "Razorblade Romance".

One hit wonders: When In Rome "The Promise"

In 1988, a new wave group from England called When in Rome burned up the airwaves with their one and only hit single, "The Promise", from their one and only album. "The Promise" just missed the Top Ten charts, peaking at #11. But in 2004, moviegoers watching "Napoleon Dynamite" were reminded of this song.

Covered in ‘80s

In this ongoing series, we highlight 80’s cover tunes or ‘80s songs that have been covered by other artists. Sometimes it’s a win-win: an 80’s song covered by another 80’s artist! Which version is your favorite? 

Charlie Sexton is a guitarist and songwriter who has served in Bob Dylan's band and the rock band Arc Angels. But back in the 80s he cut his teeth releasing a string of solo records that have become classics among AOR fans. The closing song on his 1985 album, “Pictures for Pleasure” was called “Space”. While it didn't raise any eyebrows at radio then, the boys in Cheap Trick knew a great song when they heard it. Cheap Trick covered "Space" just a few years later on their megahit album “Lap of Luxury”.

Safe Sax in the ‘80s

There was no other decade that loved on the saxophone than the ‘80s! In this series, we present the evidence…

 

Deniece Williams is best known for her perky contribution to the iconic '80s movie "Footloose" ("Let's Hear It For The Boy"). But she continued to release more perky pop tunes throughout the decade, including this underrated sax-laden ditty, "I Can't Wait". "I Can't Wait" was written by Skylark and appeared on her 1988 effort, "As Good As It Gets".

Jacko power

The Billboard Rock Tracks chart began in 1981 and tracked the top 60 rock songs, according to airplay on AOR stations across the US. Normally, traditional "black" artists were pretty much ignored, until 1983. Such was the power of Michael Jackson, that it helped to propel many "black" artists on to the rock charts. With help from Eddie Van Halen, this one peaked at #14 in 1983.

 

 This song continued the trend, featuring Toto as his backing band. It would peak at #42 in 1984.

 

 Rockwell would take a little nepotism and some help with Michael himself up to #31 in 1984.

 

 Just denting the chart at #49 in 1984, the solo was recorded by Toto's Steve Lukather and Richard Marx provided background vocals.

 

 I cannot imagine any rock station playing this, but enough did that Shalamar took this to #41 in 1984.

 

 Not all "black" artists played dance and soul. Jon Butcher and his band played a more straight ahead AOR and would peak at #7 in 1983 with this hit.

 

 Of course there was Prince, who charted regularly on the rock charts between 1983 and 1985, but good luck finding any videos online.

Then and Now: National Lampoon's Vacation

Everyone's favorite family road trip movie remains one of the funniest films of the '80s. Follow this link to check out what the characters looked like then (1983) and what they look like now (and what they've been up to!).