Popdose: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 5
jack
· 1 year ago
Wow, the lesser half of Wham! is with one of the two members of Bananarama who didn't leave to join Shakespeare's sister and marry the guy from Eurythmics.
We live in a wonderful world!
Rich
· 1 year ago
Okay, we're in the B's, so I think I know the friend of INXS. Can we guess what the Least Fav Song is? Is there an ampersand involved?
steed
· 1 year ago
No ampersand present.
MatthewBolin
· 1 year ago
Oh man, I know what the Least Fav is from your website, and I can't wait to hear it for the first (and probably last) time! The description of it-hell the title alone-are near-jaw-dropping!
steed
· 1 year ago
Dude - I listened to it three more times just to get the venom going, and I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit more each time.
scrumble
· 1 year ago
An ongoing Babys/Bad English would've been a better use of the two Journey guys' time than propping up a Steve Perry tribute act the past 10 years (even if they claim to have found the right guy now).
There was a drum and bass production team called Bad Company, is that what you came across online?
Badfinger were on a lousy record label (Radio Records, home of "Stars on 45"), I believe this was addressed here a couple weeks ago?
Don't discount the ongoing success of "Easy Lover" as making it tricky for the Phils to get a follow-up hit going at the time.
Anita Baker, in hindsight, was fairly ridiculous--all the reviews dwelled on her "authenticity" much like they now do for Erykah Badu. Guess if you're too old to be packaged as a tart...
You're selling the ridiculousness of that Balance song short, considering the lead singer's lineage from the "We Ain't Got Nothing Yet" by the Blues Magoos.
So, if Jefferson Starship had a "boring period" just before dropping the "Jefferson", what would you call the subsequent period?
The repackaging of Bananarama into something slicker sounds like a tragedy, although the fact that the women have continued their act in that watered-down Stock-Aitken-Waterman vein suggests that's where the money was, even if they started out as something that would be closer to Blondie or the B-52's. (Not in sound but in spirit.) Then again, people say the same about Madonna.
Joe
· 1 year ago
'So, if Jefferson Starship had a "boring period" just before dropping the "Jefferson", what would you call the subsequent period?'
Horrifying.
steed
· 1 year ago
"Horrifying" is a pretty solid word for it.
DP
· 1 year ago
What... no love for "No Way Out"? That's a great pop/rock song, IMHO. Seriously.
steed
· 1 year ago
Ah - that would explain the line on the Bad Company website! Thanks for that insight scrumble.
jabartlett
· 1 year ago
After the Babys figured out how to make their lovers' angst (see "Isn't it Time," one of the best examples of raging against the dying of the light you'll ever hear) rock, they became one of the hottest-sounding bands on the radio. I remember because I was there, playing them on our college station, which was an album rocker at the time. "Back on My Feet Again" was a superb radio song, and "Head First," title song from that same album (IIRC) should have been a ginormous hit, too. As much as I like "Missing You" (I admit it), John Waite never did anything remotely as good as the stuff he did with the Babys around 1980. Got no use for Bad English, though.
Eric S.
· 1 year ago
As bottom feeders go, this is the strongest grouping so far: - Two of my favorite songs from one of my favorite artists, The Babys - These songs aren't the best of the "Bad" trio of artists, but their Top 40 work was what defined them - I loved that first Balance album, but have to agree that "Falling In Love" was a weak spot - Finally, I'm not sure any artist got less of the recognition they deserved than Russ Ballard. Along with the hits you listed, he wrote Santana's "Winning", Head East/Rainbow's "Since You Been Gone" and Roger Daltrey's "The Fire Still Burns". As for "On The Rebound", Uriah Heep did a more rock and roll version in 1982 that was also pretty good, but apparently it didn't chart at all
steed
· 1 year ago
I do have to admit this is the best set of 20 since the first post.
JonCummings
· 1 year ago
This is indeed an awesome post. Have to argue with your Babys preferences, though--I absolutely LOVE "Turn and Walk Away." The dramatic build-up! Those screaming high harmonies in the last choruses! The way the song ends on the downbeat "We're gonna turn our backs on love"! It's my fave Babys song--with one of the best dumb-ass lines in history ("Survivors always live").
JonCummings
· 1 year ago
Also, "On the Rebound" is the first song you've posted that I had once loved, then completely forgotten about. So thanks for that.
I see from my weekly cursory glance at Top Pop Singles that you have not one, but two Stars On 45-clone medleys coming next week. Fantastic!
steed
· 1 year ago
You are good, sir. I do have two Stars on 45-ish songs on the way.
jeff
· 1 year ago
love the babys. love em'. very nice post this week....
Matt Wardlaw
· 1 year ago
Wait. So Andrew Ridgely isn't gay?
Shock.
As far as Bananarama - A Trick of the Night is just an awesome song...still.
steed
· 1 year ago
That's the only The only one of those last five from '86 on up not written by SAW - and such a different sound than the other 4. Not my favorite, but the best of those 5, no doubt.
No One You Know
· 1 year ago
Great post.
It's true that the Marty Balin track couldn't have got by on song quality. However, in positing that it must have gotten airplay due to Balin's reputation, you've overlooked a more likely scenario: payola.
steed
· 1 year ago
Hmmm...that's certainly a very plausible scenario.
Old_Davy
· 1 year ago
I would have sworn those two songs by The Babys charted higher. They were played a lot on 1980's Kansas City rock stations.
I have always loved "Electricland" by Bad Company. The way the piano rolls with the rhythm section conjures images of the ocean. It's got a bit more blues than the average BC hit song, and I thought it was a gutsy decision to release it as a single. But when you listen to the rest of Rough Diamonds, it is easy to see why they released it. It's the best song by far on a very disappointing album that seemed to take FOREVER to be released.
Breadalbane
· 1 year ago
Hmmm... "Shy Boy" was huge here in Canada. Top 10, according to my sources. In contrast to an earlier hypothesis concerning the chart placing of Mr. Balin's work, obviously the problem in the States with early Bananarama was not *enough* payola.
scrumble
· 1 year ago
Not exactly, Bananarama were part of a crop of many (like, dozens and dozens of) U.K. acts in the first half of the '80s that broke in Canada well ahead of the U.S.
deltablues2
· 1 year ago
Oh, how I love Ramabanana. Even though a lot of their songs were nonsense they also had some great tracks besides the obvious hits. "Preacher Man" is a fabulous slice of sexified pop.
Keren refers to Andrew as "the other one from Wham!". I love her !
matt
· 1 year ago
Anyone else having trouble with the files? I cant get Shake It Up to download :(.
steed
· 1 year ago
I just checked the file and it streamed and downloaded fine for me. Bummer.
matt
· 1 year ago
yea, it keeps timing out for me. oh well, thanks anyways!
CC
· 1 year ago
Bananarama is one of my all time faves! Venus is one of the first songs I ever fell in love with.
katie_82
· 1 year ago
Bananarama is indeed amazing...and most fun to say. Just saying their name makes me want to dance and wiggle my head like a Dwight Shrewt bobblehead.
All Comments
We live in a wonderful world!
There was a drum and bass production team called Bad Company, is that what you came across online?
Badfinger were on a lousy record label (Radio Records, home of "Stars on 45"), I believe this was addressed here a couple weeks ago?
Don't discount the ongoing success of "Easy Lover" as making it tricky for the Phils to get a follow-up hit going at the time.
Anita Baker, in hindsight, was fairly ridiculous--all the reviews dwelled on her "authenticity" much like they now do for Erykah Badu. Guess if you're too old to be packaged as a tart...
You're selling the ridiculousness of that Balance song short, considering the lead singer's lineage from the "We Ain't Got Nothing Yet" by the Blues Magoos.
So, if Jefferson Starship had a "boring period" just before dropping the "Jefferson", what would you call the subsequent period?
The repackaging of Bananarama into something slicker sounds like a tragedy, although the fact that the women have continued their act in that watered-down Stock-Aitken-Waterman vein suggests that's where the money was, even if they started out as something that would be closer to Blondie or the B-52's. (Not in sound but in spirit.) Then again, people say the same about Madonna.
Horrifying.
- Two of my favorite songs from one of my favorite artists, The Babys
- These songs aren't the best of the "Bad" trio of artists, but their Top 40 work was what defined them
- I loved that first Balance album, but have to agree that "Falling In Love" was a weak spot
- Finally, I'm not sure any artist got less of the recognition they deserved than Russ Ballard. Along with the hits you listed, he wrote Santana's "Winning", Head East/Rainbow's "Since You Been Gone" and Roger Daltrey's "The Fire Still Burns". As for "On The Rebound", Uriah Heep did a more rock and roll version in 1982 that was also pretty good, but apparently it didn't chart at all
I see from my weekly cursory glance at Top Pop Singles that you have not one, but two Stars On 45-clone medleys coming next week. Fantastic!
very nice post this week....
Shock.
As far as Bananarama - A Trick of the Night is just an awesome song...still.
It's true that the Marty Balin track couldn't have got by on song quality. However, in positing that it must have gotten airplay due to Balin's reputation, you've overlooked a more likely scenario: payola.
I have always loved "Electricland" by Bad Company. The way the piano rolls with the rhythm section conjures images of the ocean. It's got a bit more blues than the average BC hit song, and I thought it was a gutsy decision to release it as a single. But when you listen to the rest of Rough Diamonds, it is easy to see why they released it. It's the best song by far on a very disappointing album that seemed to take FOREVER to be released.
Keren refers to Andrew as "the other one from Wham!". I love her !