Popdose - Latest Comments in Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

aaaaa — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:36:44 -0000

Heart bubbled under hot 100 with Bebe Le Strange. Ditto RObert Hazard's Chain Reaction. Jody Watley was up for Best New Artist in 1987, despite being known for being in Shalamar(and to a smaller degree on SOul Train where they got their start) for nearly a decade before.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Frank — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:48:30 -0000

No one commented on "Keep It Confidential" by Nona Hendryx. Awesome song. It was out when I starting working at the record store where I worked in college. She was quite the genre-spanner - kinda R&B, kinda rock, kinda cool. As a bonus, '60s songwriter extraordinaire Ellie Greenwich sang background vocals on it. :)

I also remember HATING the Headpins song because it was screamed. Ugh. :)

I saw Heart in concert twice in the last two years and Ann and Nancy still rock. Ann's vocals are as powerful as ever. I don't know if I have a preference for pre-85 or post-85 music - they're just different. And I always think, while the post post-85 music was definitely more commercial and more slick, if they hadn't made that change, we might not still be talking about Heart today.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Ray — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:37:57 -0000

Also like the Heaven 17 song, but even better is their song Temptation.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

The Man I Used To Be — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:22:07 -0000

I am geared up for next week.....Hooters, Hornsby and Honeymoon Suite!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

steed — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:23:33 -0000

Well, technically "Dirty Laundry" went to #3 while "Boys of Summer" hit #5. Yeah, you'd think "Boys" would have been the bigger hit. I still hear "Dirty Laundry" whenever I listen to the radio too...so I have to think even now they aren't that far apart in popularity.

AOR fluff - it's what the decade is all about!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

steed — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:20:50 -0000

See, that's the thing about "Just One More Time". With a different singer I really think I'd like the song - it is kind of catchy. I just can't get past the screaming.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Michael — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:00:03 -0000

Or, how about a remake of a Gene Pitney song ?

I know I heard that song growing up & it wasn't Dan Hartman's version..

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Michael — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:46:11 -0000

Isn't Dan Hartman's “It Hurts to Be in Love” — 1981
a remake of a Buddy Holly song or a Neil Sedaka song ?
..

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Chris X — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:42:09 -0000

I will never stop laughing at your burning hatred for Corey Hart. It's not a disdain I share, but still.

I never paid any attention to Dan Hartman other than "I Can Dream About You" (which I absolutely love, and is the kind of song I will hang around a department store for a few extra minutes for when it comes on over the PA) although apparently he has some songwriting and production credits to his name for other artists.

Colin Hay is a fantastic songwriter, and I would argue that his solo efforts showcase this fact better than Men At Work. Don't get me wrong, I adore Men At Work, and always get happy when listening to their songs, but there seems to be a happy pop sheen over all those songs that take away from the structure of the songs(see his solo reworkings of the Men At Work hits for further clarification) He is also a fantastic live act. Half of his set comes off as stand up comedy, he is an absolute riot in between songs, and a great storyteller.

Would you call "Dirty Laundry" Henley's biggest hit? I'd think "Boys of Summer" would hold that title, or did "Laundry" actually chart higher? If anything, "Boys" is the one that most people know, and that still gets "several times daily" airplay on the radio these days.

As for Heart, I also prefer the older stuff. Seriously, "Barracuda"..."Magic Man".."Crazy On You"...that stuff is badass. "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You", "Never", "Alone"..pop radio AOR fluff. Mind you, it's GOOD pop radio AOR fluff, but there is a definite dropoff point in the band's recorded output.

That Heaven 17 song is a true gem, and I play it almost everytime I spin at my weekly DJ gig.

I will always have a special place in my heart for Robert Hazard, you can read my drooling fanboy rant in the comments of Jon's column from last week.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Chris X — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:28:37 -0000

I know you're out there! Let's see you!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Eric S. — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:14:33 -0000

Have to weigh in on this week as it hit a number of hot buttons.

First is The Hawks. "Right Away" is certainly nothing special, but they did have a great song, "It's All Right, It's O.K." It's more representative of their sound, which was more pop rock than today's entry.
http://eschorn.home.comcast...

have to agree with your comments on the Headpins lead singer. However, I love the "Just One More Time" and bought their greatest hits (hit?) on a Canadian CD just to get this song.

Finally, I couldn't agree more about Heart's "How Can I Refuse". I'm actually surprised this made it to #44, as it never seems to get played on classic rock radio anymore. "Passionworks" was definitely a transition album as they moved toward a more middle of the road sound, but "How Can I Refuse" really stands out (I don't mean to pile on, but if Ann has "lost a ton of weight", then she was two tons before the surgery).

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

wags — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:24:18 -0000

Heh. Loved Men at Work but never could get into Colin Hay solo. Perhaps I heard too many tracks that sounded like the one here that leave me unmoved.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Kenny Bania — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:41:00 -0000

"This was Hewett’s only solo hit in the ’80s, though he did have a gospel song that garnered him some praise."

That's Gold Dave - GOLD!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

WHarrisBullzEye — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:26:18 -0000

A few random comments:

* If you dug that Hawks song, you should definitely head over to NotLame.com and pick up a copy of "Perfect World Radio," which offers as much of a summary of their sound as can be legally found on CD. (Their two proper albums have yet to be released on disc.) There's some really great stuff on there.

* I bought Colin Hay's solo debut because I was such a huge Men at Work fan, and when it proceeded to make only the tiniest ripple, I was stunned...but I still kept buying his stuff, anyway, and I've been thrilled that more and more people are finally realizing that there's more to him than songs about vegemite sandwiches.

* "If Looks Could Kill" rocks, "Let Me Go" is awesome, and if I never heard "Shiny Shiny" again, it'll be A-OK with me.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

DwDunphy — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:08:46 -0000

That's right. It wasn't until Nirvana and the three-minute power blast that songs started regulating down again.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

JonCummings — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:49:54 -0000

That all seems about right--except to say that Nashville was much slower to adjust to the capacity of CDs, and continued to make 9- and 10-song albums the norm all the way up to the millennium. That's no surprise, considering how regimented Nashville is.

A corollary to the number-of-tracks question: My perception was that, particularly among established rock acts, song lengths expanded through the late '80s and well into the '90s to fill the extra space on CDs. They seem to have contracted a bit since then.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

breadalbane — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:45:06 -0000

Boy, Canadains are sure taking a pasting this week, with both Corey Hart and Headpins getting the deluxe treatment.

Not that I'm about to defend either act.

Surprising-but-true Corey Hart fact: Eric Clapton plays on his first album. (That's not offered as defense of Corey, by the way -- more as another signpost on the long slow road towards Clapton's total irrelevancy.)

_________________________________

Oh yeah, "Escaltor of Life" was a cult hit up here in Toronto. I know I heard it on CFNY a fair bit, although it didn't cross over to the top 40 stations. I'd put it as the best song ot this week's posts.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Chris Holmes — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:15:28 -0000

If you've not been to Bertie's web site, I highly recommend it. It's an...interesting read.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

steed — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:59:31 -0000

Haha. "Talent" - yeah, that's intereting - that didn't even hit me when I wrote it - it very well could be the first and only time I do so. Takes Bertie Higgins to cause that slip up.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

The Flyin Hawaiian UK — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:34:01 -0000

Yeah! They were the Israelites!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Gexxa — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:05:49 -0000

Bertie Higgins is the father of US Based world famous Drum and Bass DJ, Dieselboy.

Music does run in families!!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

steve — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:35:01 -0000

I own the album "Just Another Day In Paradise" as well, and I think it's fine, although the sad realization of "Port Of Call" still kind of makes me queasy.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Jeff — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:23:07 -0000

Oh, man, do I love that Colin James Hay song. I have Looking for Jack on vinyl, and have been trying to track down a copy on CD for years. A friend of mine loaned me a copy of Man at Work recently, and it is really, really good. Plus, you have to love a guy who plays a singing, guitar playing corpse on Scrubs.

I actually hear the song 'Escalator of Life; on Radioio's New Wave station on iTunes quite a bit.

And sorry, but I will never, ever like Heart.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Rob — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:21:18 -0000

What a week. Some of my absolute favorite obscurities…

When that Colin James Hay song came out, it made me realize – as if "Overkill" hadn't proved to me tht fact already – that there was a lot of talent in him. Really good stuff. He and Peter Gabriel were really ahead of their time in terms of embracing African music.

"Let Me Go" is still one of the best songs of the new wave era. I can't believe it never broke the top 40.

I remember during my freshman year in college that some Philly-area guy on my dorm floor either lent me the Robert Hazard album or played it for me. Total awesomeness. Our college station played the hell out of the album. Of course, Robert then made a fortune on "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" royalties…

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 39

Brian McCurdy — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:20:21 -0000

I agree about "Escalator of Life." I grew up in the Philadelphia area during the '80s and this song was constantly on the radio (98 FM at the time). I just assumed it was a well-known song everywhere.