REO's label kept them for nine years without a national hit because the kids in the Midwest were buying enough of their albums to make up for the rest of the country's indifference. A two-disc best-of package was a smash in these parts in 1979, well before "Hi Infidelity," and the band played a tour full of sold-out dates behind it.
I saw Air Supply in 1982 or 1983--and it was one of the loudest shows I've ever been to. I wasn't expecting that at all, and neither were a lot of the 30- to 40-year-old couples in the audience, some of whom hurried their children out of the arena lest they get the hell rawked out of them.
DwDunphy
· 2 months ago
You're right about those REO Midwest sales, but the underlying point is that the record label still cared about Midwest sales. Today, you have to debut at number one in New York and LA or you're off the company roll. The rest of the country is as meaningless to the labels as is the age of Tommy Mottola's next wife, whoever she will be.
I've slagged Cronin several times for his over-pronunciation but, man, Cetera nearly rivaled him on "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" - "Aff-tur-rrrrhall that-a-we've bin thah-roo..."
EightE1
· 2 months ago
Plus it took years for me to figure out the "We can help one another be strong" line in "Keep the Fire Burnin'." No over-pronunciation there. No siree.
Rob EightE1
JonCummings
· 2 months ago
OK, you know what? I wasn't gonna go after Jason on this, because I didn't want to get all 5th-grade-teacher on him. But now that I can take out THREE of you bitches at once:
It's ENUNCIATION when you're talking about whether someone makes his words sound more or less clear. You can't over-pronounce a word.
Class dismissed. Have a nice weekend. I'm gonna give Jason's address to my son to give to Cronin's daughter (her locker is still just a couple away from his this year) to give to him, and he's gonna come poke out your eyeballs with his spiky bleach-blond hair.
David_E
· 2 months ago
I pronounce you the winner.
Or enunce you. Whatever.
EightE1
· 2 months ago
Dunphy made me do it! I knew it was enunciation! I did! I knew it all ...
Aw hell. You got me, Jon.
Though, you do bring up an interesting side-idea -- if Kevin Cronin were a superhero, perhaps his power would be poking out villains' eyeballs with his spiky bleach-blond hair. What would Tommy Shaw's super power be?
DwDunphy
· 2 months ago
Rebuttal: you ain't no boss'a me.
Michael Parr
· 2 months ago
Christine and I watched Summer Lovers last year, it's absolutely awful but does feature quite a bit of naked Daryl Hannah trouncing around and was filmed in Santorini, Greece (so the scenery is breathtaking).
zandria1
· 2 months ago
That list brought back a lot of memories!!!
MatthewBolin
· 2 months ago
"....bringin’ the balls to the Supply"
Jason, Jason, Jason. How could you write something that leaves you so open & vulnerable to one of Jeff's "your mom" jokes?
DwDunphy
· 2 months ago
Judging from most of that music video, Graham and Russell seem to bring 'em to each other.
KellyStitzel
· 2 months ago
A couple of things:
1. I think Mirage is such an underrated Fleetwood Mac album. It came out when Buckingham and Nicks were embarking on solo careers and I think it just gets forgotten, even though it has some really fantastic songs, like "Hold Me," "Love in Store," "Only Over You" and "Empire State."
2. My uncle gave me a cassette copy of Eye of the Tiger when I was five and I would listen to the title track over and over. I was obsessed with it for a good month before I kicked it to the curb in favor of Neil Diamond's "America." I was a very strange child.
DwDunphy
· 2 months ago
I think, around this time, people were burned out on The Mac. Radio was still playing almost the entire Rumours album, you had "Tusk" and "Think About Me" also circulating, and folks who bought Tusk on the weight of those two songs were in for a shock. Maybe they thought the rest of Mirage would be just as out-there beyond "Hold Me".
Jason, now that you've pointed out that "Eye Of The Tiger" was rhythmically based on "Another One Bites The Dust" I'm going to have that mental mash-up in my head for the rest of the day.
KellyStitzel
· 2 months ago
I forgot to mention that Henry Rollins is my secret boyfriend.
JohnHughes
· 2 months ago
That is impossible, since he is my husband and he would never, ever cheat on me.
KellyStitzel
· 2 months ago
That's why it was a secret...well, until I spilled the beans.
He was so smitten with you, he spilled something down the front of his fleece.
Matt
· 2 months ago
It STILL bugs me when radio stations cut off "Get Away." Any time I'm flipping around the stations and find that song, I listen specifically to see what they'll do. One station in particular plays Get Away about 50% of the time, but besides them I'd say that stations play it no more than 20% of the time at most. Which is a shame in my book.
Ray
· 2 months ago
It still bugs me that radio stations still play this song incessantly, never mind that most of them cut off the ending. After all, this song (along with America';s SISTER GOLDEN HAIR) has rightfully earned the title as "LITE ROCK SONG FROM HELL!!!!!!!!"
jmbuckingham
· 2 months ago
Wow...nostalgia! Great review and fun, thanks.
drcastrato
· 2 months ago
No snark on Cetera's "Tux-with-no-shirt" outfit? I guess, though, once you start down that path, there's way too much about him to criticize, such as the robotic un-blinking eyes and brick of hair. Good song though.
I think I've mentioned this before, but both John Cougar and John Mellencamp have been banned from my home and car radios. Family rule. He's not the worst artist ever or anything, he's just disliked.
Thanks for the great Attack!
MichaelFortes
· 2 months ago
Jason, perhaps part of the reason "Take It Away" sounds so much like Wings to you is that, originally, the album that became Tug of War was intended as Wings' follow-up to Back to the Egg. The band was actually rehearsing songs that ended up on both Tug of War and Pipes of Peace up until Lennon was murdered. The following January, Paul formally disbanded Wings and, voila, it's a new solo project.
jasonhare
· 2 months ago
...and there's the answer! Thanks!
Brian
· 2 months ago
A chicken turns into a baby...it's like the opposite of MASH.
VAsmacky
· 2 months ago
The final line-up of Wings actually rehearsed some of the songs that ended up on "Tug of War." It was supposed to be a Wings album, but McCartney finally said "Screw this" and dissolved the band.
Matt
· 2 months ago
Another good one. Your Mellencamp commentary was hysterical.
EightE1
· 2 months ago
I remember having to look up the word "impresario" in the dictionary the first time I heard "Take It Away." It means "a promoter or manager." In McCartney's case, though, it probably also meant "weed dealer."
Best chart week ever. Not a bad song in the bunch. My inner 12-year-old is dancing. And my inner 12-year-old can get DOWN, yo.
JPH
· 2 months ago
"Not that it matters, but “Wasted On the Way” was their final Top 40 appearance."
Wasn't "Southern Cross" actually the follow-up to "WOTW"? Thus, making "Southern Cross" their final Top 40 appearance?
jasonhare
· 2 months ago
You are absolutely correct. Wikipedia had those two switched, and I didn't cross-check with my huge Billboard spreadsheet. Damn you, Wikipedia! Thanks for the correction.
rob
· 2 months ago
"The Onion" recently had a hysterical headfline recently about Wikipedia celebrating the countr's 750th anniversary.
I thought I'd add that for no good reason.
And Jason? I'll get you back for another one of your Steve Miller digs. Mark my words. You will kneel down one day and pay your respects to the "Gangster of Love"
twostepcub
· 2 months ago
Thanks Jason, for a great trip back on a stormy Friday night here in New Jersey. It pulled all the strings, since last week was my birthday and 1982 was the year I started buying music and listening religiously to Casey Kasem (I think I would've had a heart attack then if I heard the now-famous expletive rant he went on about his long distance dedications).
I had no idea about Dennis Wilson possibly being the inspiration for "Hold Me". Christine was always my favorite Mac'er, and she was missed when I saw them last spring in Philly.
"Abracadabra" may have been inane, but it still was miles above the rest of the album (cassette, in my case).
I actually was fond of "Vacation", probably because I bought that album at the time. I didn't get BATB till I was an adult.
When I was younger I thought Kevin Cronin was some crazy Irish guy who fronted a rock band.
And in my day I could rock my Lowery organ with both "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" AND "Get Away"...that is SOOO sad.
Thanks again.. Cheers!
JonCummings
· 2 months ago
This chart dovetails nicely with a little colloquy Dave Steed initiated in his comments on Wednesday, about when '80s music "started" and "ended." He said he had seen a blog theorizing that the '80s didn't start musically until '83--and this chart is full of the kind of stuff that got shunted aside later in the decade. Consider that seven months after this chart, the top three would be "Billie Jean," "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" and "Hungry Like the Wolf"--and the next #1 song after that was "Come on Eileen." Now THAT's '80s.
A couple other points: Jason, if you've heard nothing off "Press to Play," you have to at least go hear "Stranglehold": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL3xivMu6Jc. And "Take the Money and Run" is frickin' "War and Peace" compared to "Abracadabra." I have no idea how I talked myself into leaving "Abracadabra" off my worst-#1s-of-the-'80s list. It must have been the last song onto the lifeboat.
"Summer Lovers" is truly, stupendously awful, but it must have one of the longest listings in the "Bare Facts Guide," so that's a plus.
:::theroux
· 2 months ago
I think Jane Weidlin was giving us the business in that there interview. It's hard enough to water-ski, but to water-ski drunk?
slappyfrog
· 2 months ago
I love how Graham is rawking out with the acoustic in the background of the live Air Supply clip....would LOVE LOVE LOVE a hard rock cover compilation of Air Supply tunes, that'd be awesome!
DwDunphy
· 2 months ago
That is the most ridiculous, insane, retarded thing I've ever heard. I LOVE IT. Could we get a reformed Winger to do "The One That You Love"?
(And I mean it - this is an incredibly bad idea, but I would be first in line to get that CD)
slappyfrog
· 2 months ago
I'd buy two if it had Winger on it.
I have a theory that the only difference between a lot of 80s pop (Air Supply, Chicago) and 80s hard rock is the speed of the guitar playing and the mixing where guitars are buried in one, put in front on the other.
To my untrained ear, much of the music sounds very similar.
To me that sounds like ironic hipster douchebag....I want straight, legit covers: Winger, Jani Lane-era Warrant, Trixter, could you imagine Bon Jovi's histrionics?
I also enjoy how the "band" Hair Supply has lost control of their domain. ^rolls eyes^
The ironic cover band is big in my area, but, irritates the cripes out of me because they sound NOTHING like the originals....there's a popular Police cover band (Stung) that I saw at Slim's and they were a three piece playing Police songs but weren't even trying to get the vocals to sound close. Blech.
DwDunphy
· 2 months ago
"This isn't Beatlemania. This ain't even Crapplemania!"
slappyfrog
· 2 months ago
Assuming that was a pop culture reference I didn't recognize, I utilized The Google but got no results...I did get this suggestion: "Did you mean: "This isn't Beatlemania. This ain't even Grapplemania!" "
Which I found both humorous and vaguely disturbing, just like the proposed cover album. Circle of life or something like that?
DwDunphy
· 2 months ago
You have to understand that I'm not that existential. I was inferring that a crappy tribute band would be more Crapplemania than Beatlemania.
I know, it's not terribly funny, but whenever I get the chance to use the word "crap", I'm on it!
slappyfrog
· 2 months ago
Oh, it was funny, just figured it was something I missed.
Slappy's rule #17: "If one is given more credit than one deserves, one should graciously accept and hope no one figures it out"
LOL
Maxus
· 2 months ago
Face it, Hare... the awkward question: “What’s a band?”
MatthewF
· 2 months ago
Is this the most soft rock top 10 ever?
We must never lose our yearnin' to keep the fires burnin'!
Sweet merciful jesus.
Rick
· 22 hours ago
"Hurts So Good" is a blatant rip of the Stones' "Start Me Up", which was a big hit the year before.
All Comments
REO's label kept them for nine years without a national hit because the kids in the Midwest were buying enough of their albums to make up for the rest of the country's indifference. A two-disc best-of package was a smash in these parts in 1979, well before "Hi Infidelity," and the band played a tour full of sold-out dates behind it.
I saw Air Supply in 1982 or 1983--and it was one of the loudest shows I've ever been to. I wasn't expecting that at all, and neither were a lot of the 30- to 40-year-old couples in the audience, some of whom hurried their children out of the arena lest they get the hell rawked out of them.
I've slagged Cronin several times for his over-pronunciation but, man, Cetera nearly rivaled him on "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" - "Aff-tur-rrrrhall that-a-we've bin thah-roo..."
Rob
EightE1
It's ENUNCIATION when you're talking about whether someone makes his words sound more or less clear. You can't over-pronounce a word.
Class dismissed. Have a nice weekend. I'm gonna give Jason's address to my son to give to Cronin's daughter (her locker is still just a couple away from his this year) to give to him, and he's gonna come poke out your eyeballs with his spiky bleach-blond hair.
Or enunce you. Whatever.
Aw hell. You got me, Jon.
Though, you do bring up an interesting side-idea -- if Kevin Cronin were a superhero, perhaps his power would be poking out villains' eyeballs with his spiky bleach-blond hair. What would Tommy Shaw's super power be?
Jason, Jason, Jason. How could you write something that leaves you so open & vulnerable to one of Jeff's "your mom" jokes?
1. I think Mirage is such an underrated Fleetwood Mac album. It came out when Buckingham and Nicks were embarking on solo careers and I think it just gets forgotten, even though it has some really fantastic songs, like "Hold Me," "Love in Store," "Only Over You" and "Empire State."
2. My uncle gave me a cassette copy of Eye of the Tiger when I was five and I would listen to the title track over and over. I was obsessed with it for a good month before I kicked it to the curb in favor of Neil Diamond's "America." I was a very strange child.
Jason, now that you've pointed out that "Eye Of The Tiger" was rhythmically based on "Another One Bites The Dust" I'm going to have that mental mash-up in my head for the rest of the day.
I mean, look at this happy couple: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3225/2315461641_...
I think I've mentioned this before, but both John Cougar and John Mellencamp have been banned from my home and car radios. Family rule. He's not the worst artist ever or anything, he's just disliked.
Thanks for the great Attack!
Best chart week ever. Not a bad song in the bunch. My inner 12-year-old is dancing. And my inner 12-year-old can get DOWN, yo.
Wasn't "Southern Cross" actually the follow-up to "WOTW"? Thus, making "Southern Cross" their final Top 40 appearance?
I thought I'd add that for no good reason.
And Jason? I'll get you back for another one of your Steve Miller digs. Mark my words. You will kneel down one day and pay your respects to the "Gangster of Love"
I had no idea about Dennis Wilson possibly being the inspiration for "Hold Me". Christine was always my favorite Mac'er, and she was missed when I saw them last spring in Philly.
"Abracadabra" may have been inane, but it still was miles above the rest of the album (cassette, in my case).
I actually was fond of "Vacation", probably because I bought that album at the time. I didn't get BATB till I was an adult.
When I was younger I thought Kevin Cronin was some crazy Irish guy who fronted a rock band.
And in my day I could rock my Lowery organ with both "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" AND "Get Away"...that is SOOO sad.
Thanks again..
Cheers!
A couple other points: Jason, if you've heard nothing off "Press to Play," you have to at least go hear "Stranglehold": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL3xivMu6Jc. And "Take the Money and Run" is frickin' "War and Peace" compared to "Abracadabra." I have no idea how I talked myself into leaving "Abracadabra" off my worst-#1s-of-the-'80s list. It must have been the last song onto the lifeboat.
"Summer Lovers" is truly, stupendously awful, but it must have one of the longest listings in the "Bare Facts Guide," so that's a plus.
(And I mean it - this is an incredibly bad idea, but I would be first in line to get that CD)
I have a theory that the only difference between a lot of 80s pop (Air Supply, Chicago) and 80s hard rock is the speed of the guitar playing and the mixing where guitars are buried in one, put in front on the other.
To my untrained ear, much of the music sounds very similar.
http://www.myspace.com/hairsupply
To me that sounds like ironic hipster douchebag....I want straight, legit covers: Winger, Jani Lane-era Warrant, Trixter, could you imagine Bon Jovi's histrionics?
I also enjoy how the "band" Hair Supply has lost control of their domain. ^rolls eyes^
The ironic cover band is big in my area, but, irritates the cripes out of me because they sound NOTHING like the originals....there's a popular Police cover band (Stung) that I saw at Slim's and they were a three piece playing Police songs but weren't even trying to get the vocals to sound close. Blech.
Which I found both humorous and vaguely disturbing, just like the proposed cover album. Circle of life or something like that?
I know, it's not terribly funny, but whenever I get the chance to use the word "crap", I'm on it!
Slappy's rule #17:
"If one is given more credit than one deserves, one should graciously accept and hope no one figures it out"
LOL
We must never lose our yearnin' to keep the fires burnin'!
Sweet merciful jesus.