Popdose - Latest Comments in Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

aaaaa — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:38:23 -0000

Rupert HOlmes bubbled under the Hot 100 with Blackjack in 1981.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Shane — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:03:54 -0000

Did the files get removed? I can't download them. Really wanted Hotel's Half Moon Silver.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

luffy66 — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:48:44 -0000

MTV played it almost constantly, so I was surprised too.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Leon — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:04:35 -0000

House of Lords music video - 3:10 mark - Intense microphone flip

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Ray — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:28:10 -0000

Hard to believe that Roger Hodgson track didn't crack the nationwide Top 40. I remember it getting quite a bit of airplay on the rock stations in Chicago at the tail end of 1984 (pretty sure it cracked the Top 20 on WLS, too!).

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

drcastrato — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:43:06 -0000

Uh, I didn't think the Hot Chocolate song was THAT bad. I mean, bad, yes, and certainly not good. But I'd listen to it over Dan Hill or a lot of previous entries in this series if only because it reminds me of You Sexy Thing. And I could picture myself strutting around the bedroom singing it to my wife. "Are you gettin enough - HAPPINESS?!?!"

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Chris X — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:46:30 -0000

Pretty sure the one I'm getting is from 87 at the Tower, right off the soundboard. I'll get you a copy once it's in my possession.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Eric S. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:19:02 -0000

I have to agree that The Hooters blew a golden opportunity. I appreciate "One Way Home" now, but when it came out it was too different from what originally got them airplay. As a result, the album got ignored and the band never got the credit they deserved.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Keith — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:02:32 -0000

Apparently there is much love for Honeymoon Suite, and I'm right there with ya. I remember "Bad Attitude", also from The Big Prize, being big on the local AOR station. I confessed a couple of weeks ago that I kept my own chart of favorites during the early to mid 80's. In addition, I would "release" album tracks as singles as I deemed necessary, allowing them to chart as well. So, I can appreciate the Def Leppard comparison, as The Big Prize spawned several singles which charted for me. The most notable was a track called "Wounded" which peaked in my Top 10. I imagine economics dictated how many singles would be released from albums, but I never understood how so many killer album tracks would go unreleased back then. Some of my all time favorite songs were never singles. I always thought I could do a better job at that.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

The Man I Used To Be — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:21:05 -0000

Chris X - I respect them for doing just what you said but, I personally felt that the folk sound they created was over done for the follow-up. The leap in sound from Amore to OWH is alarming. I would think that a balance of Mandolin Rock with classic guitar rock would have paid off nicely for them. My case in point would have to be REM's Out of Time and Automatic For The People. Those albums have that balance that I am speaking of. I am not comparing REM to the Hooters here (I think we know which band is more influential) just their evolutions. OWH would have benefited from a little bit more Nervous Night and a little less Chieftains that's all.

BTW - I think they did this with the Albums Zig Zag and Out of Body. It was just 2 albums too late. To paraphrase Carl Wilson, OHW was a bunt single when the Philly audience was looking for a home run.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Chris X — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:42:17 -0000

I think you'd have to respect them more for doing their own thing instead of churning out a by-the-numbers rock record for mass consumption and critical success.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

The Man I Used To Be — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:02:33 -0000

Wow - "Wave Babies" thanks for the reminder, what a great cheesy mid-80s track.

I have to say that the first 30 seconds of "Every Little Kiss" is splendid. That piano intro has been on a constant loop on my iPod for the past 24 hours.

Surprised no one is with me on the "One Way Home" mis-step by the Hooters. They could have jumped to the next level with a more straightforward Rock effort as the follow-up of Nervous Night. The crutch of that mandolin sound killed them. I remember watching them perform during the Amnesty International tour (between albums) and they had the audience in the palm of their hands. If memory servers they did a surreal cover of "Lucy In The Sky" which sounded like "Where Do The Children Go" during those shows and they seemed poised to take off. Then they delivered a bloody Chieftains album to the rock masses. Bad times....

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Chris X — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:05:14 -0000

I think One Way Home is just as good as Nervous Night. Unless you just mean commercially, in which case you're obviously right. But come on, some of the songs on OWH are pure gems, and some of the best tunes they ever wrote: "Satellite" "Johnny B." "Karla with a K" (I will say, I prefer the original reggae/ska version of "Fightin On the Same Side" from Amore though) I'm actually in the process of acquiring an old live set, direct from the soundboard, I'll gladly hook you up with a copy once I get it; shoot me an email (and if you come across any others, I'd love to get a copy-heck, even of your old cassettes!)

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Chris X — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:57:59 -0000

thoughts on this week's list, or "Chris X drools over the Hooters for several paragraphs, and maybe says something about one or two of the other songs"

I absolutely cannot believe "All You Zombies" charted so low. I feel like it got just as much, if not more, airplay as "And we Danced" and "Day By Day." I mean, you ask the average dude to rattle off the first 3 Hooters songs that come to mind, that's gotta be the holy trinity, right? When I saw it on the Bottom Feeders list, I was prepared to read that the original Amore version charted so low, and then the Nervous Night redux came back and ruled the top 10 for many weeks. Imagine my surprise. My perspective on all things Hooters is probably skewed by the fact that I am from Philly, and thus heard a lot more of them than the folks in other markets(except maybe Germany, they have Hooters tribute bands over there and everything!) But I mean, I remember some of their songs getting so much airplay back then that didnt even make the Bottom Feeders cut("Hangin' On a Heartbeat" and "Where Do the Children Go" come to mind, and I remember them being played more than I ever remember hearing "Johnny B.", "Satellite", or "500 Miles"), so I'm assuming it was only the local airwaves they were dominating.

I can say for sure that they always were, and to this day remain one of my all time favorite bands (I just listened to the first 4 albums in their entirety this afternoon) A band I've made a point to collect their entire discography on vinyl. A band that is hands down the most fun live act I've ever witnessed - they play an annual Thanksgiving show here each year, and I've gone the past 3 years - never a letdown, and incredible setlists everytime. Their last studio album, Time Stand Still, is fantastic, as is the double live disc they just dropped(featuring one of the aforementioned Thanksgiving gigs and a live acoustic studio set) I'd encourage anyone who has not, to check out the great interview with Eric Bazilian that is on this very site!

So yeah, there were some other songs this week too, huh? Let's see. Jennifer Holliday? No thanks. I'm forever biased by that horrible, horrible cover of The A's (speaking of other great Philly bands from that era!) "Woman's Got the Power" that she spit out back in the day, and refuse to even give her a shot. Unless it's a shot in the ass while she's standing on the edge of a cliff. Dan Hill. Oh god, is "Can't We Try" not the whiniest song you ever heard? I remember being 10-11 years old when that was all over the airwaves, and I wanted to slap and/or choke that guy out even then. Come on Dan, grow a set! I vaguely recall "Never Thought" from back then too, and can safely say that when it comes to dudes named Dan with the last initial H., Dan Hartman and "I Can Dream About You" win every time! I will always have a soft spot for Bruce Hornsby, especially his first two albums (assuming The Way It Is was his first? I never heard of the guy before that; then again, I was in 5th grade when it was released, so what wold i know?) "Every Little Kiss" is a great tune, but the other two singles from that record are obviously far superior. Love his piano sound though; so much that even at a young age, the first time I heard Don Henley's "end of the Innocence" I thought it was Bruce til the vocals kicked in, and until years later when I read the credits, always said, "man, Don Henley is great, why does he need to rip off Bruce Hornsby?" haha.

Would I be correct in assuming next week's synth pop group once worked in cocktail bar? Possibly when they met you?

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Old_Davy — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:12:04 -0000

This is one of the best Bottom Feeders yet. Those Honeymoon Suite tracks are really good, as well as the stuff form the Hooters. The Roger Hodgson track is terrific (I like that whole album as well). Isn't the first Bruce Hornsby record mostly his demos that RCA felt were better than the recordings done with the Range, and so RCA put the demos on the album instead? I seem to remember a story like that. Even that High Inergy song was pretty good and I'm not a big fan of dance music.

As far as the rest of the chart, Rupert Holmes, Dan Hill and Hotel are all pleasant but snoozers, and the rest really suck it.

I'd definitely nominate that cover of "Not Fade Away" as the worst song of the week. Man, that one is a real stinker! It sounds like a demo record of what sound effects he can get out of his new Casio keyboard.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

WHarrisBullzEye — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:23:01 -0000

You know, I had no idea Tom Villard had died...though, to be fair, I hadn't thought about Tom Villard in years until the other day, when I was writing up something about "We Got It Made" for Bullz-Eye.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Eric S. — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:48:56 -0000

There's a 1985 Tower show at Wolfgang's Vault. There are two songs I don't recognize, "Trouble In Paradise" & "Who's That Girl", plus their famous Cyndi Lauper song, Time After Time".

http://concerts.wolfgangsva...

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

steed — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:23:11 -0000

"Where Do The Children Go" - peaked at #38.
"Wave Babies" was the single right before "Feel it Again" and it only charted in Canada it seems.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Eric S. — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:17:10 -0000

That collection of Honeymoon Suite and Hooters songs is probably the strongest back to back pairing of the series so far.

I thought "Wave Babies" by Honeymoon Suite and "Where Do the Children Go" by The Hooters were both singles. Did they not chart? I don't remember them being big enough to be Top 40.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

jefito — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:36:26 -0000

He's tried. Rick Davies is a cock.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

MarlboroTestMonkey7 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:06:43 -0000

The featured song sounds ABBAish to me. If you are going to see him, ask him to return to Supertramp.
Thanks

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Dominion — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:31:35 -0000

Roger Hodgson is performing in Lima, Peru today!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

wardo — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:03:35 -0000

Wow...the letter H had a lot going for it back then. Except for Rupert Holmes of course. Thanks for sharing these!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Pete — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:06:55 -0000

Opinion is definitely relative, as I find "All You Zombies" a real snooze....but then again, I never got into the Hooters back then either.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 40

Malchus — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:50:40 -0000

"What'll It Take" will always remind me of John Cusack and Demi Moore falling in love while Bobcat Goldthwait and the late Tom Villard looked on. Ah, that really was one crazy summer, huh?