Martinex1: Books, novels, authors, movies, directors,auteurs, actors, genres, music, albums, bands, singers, comic books, characters, powers, story lines, food, culture, collectibles, television... what's it going to be today? Let's
Follow the Leader and find out! Somebody get us started!
28 comments:
I've been thinking of recording artists from the 1970s that found new life in the 1980s. I suppose John Lennon may have gotten the ball rolling with 1980's Double Fantasy album. But other acts who'd gone silent for a few years and suddenly returned to the charts (and made their presence felt on MTV) include Aerosmith and Heart.
Thoughts on these or other artists showing off a renewed energy?
Doug
Good topic, Doug!
You're right about Aerosmith thanks to Run-D.M.C.
Marvin Gaye had fallen completely off the radar until "Sexual Healing" was released in '82. Who knows what more we could have got from him if not for his untimely death a couple of years later.
This is kinda tricky, since album releases could be so far apart, a normal gap in production in the late 70's could be viewed as leading to a come-back album in the early 80's, y'know? Although I don't have a specific example to cite. But, like, Queen-- one of the HUGEST bands of the 70's-- never really went away, did they? At least until Freddie died? 'Course, they did stop producing hits for the most part. . .
David Bowie, perhaps? Ziggy Stardust 70's to ULTRA-cool, well-tailored new-wavey/hipstery 80's icon? Hmmm-- so entrenched in the Beatles, me, that I lose track of everyone else's career arcs. . .
HB
Yes. There was a hiatus between their rather low-key album Drama in 1980 (which was preceded by the band almost breaking up anyway) and their comeback album in 1983, 90125.
King Crimson. There was a longer hiatus from 1975 until 1981, when Robert Fripp reformed the band - which, to be fair, he didn't initially want to call King Crimson - and they released the album Discipline, followed by Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair. Notable members of the new line-up were guitarist and singer Adrian Belew and former Yes drummer Bill Bruford.
Billy Ocean. Had a brief period of popularity in the mid 1970s then disappeared without trace before hitting it big in the mid 1980s.
In Britain, Slade. Had Beatlesque levels of success in the early 1970s. Couldn't get arrested in the second half of that decade and then had a major revival in the early to mid 1980s that even saw them managing to get a couple of Top 40 singles in America where they'd had no chart success at all in the 1970s.
Hmmm, interesting question. I can't think of too many that fit your criteria exactly, but there were a few artists who started in the 70s and got more well-known later ... AC/DC, Judas Priest, Tom Petty. And what about artists who re-invented themselves? HB mentioned Bowie, but how about David Johansen, who morphed into Buster Poindexter (for better or worse) in the 80s?
HB:
Here in the US, from 1985-89 Queen was effectively blackballed on radio due to their willingness to continue to perform concerts at Sun City, South Africa, during the height of anti-apartheid. After some minimal success with movie scores (Iron Eagle, Highlander), it wasn't really until the bitter end that they started getting airplay again.
Yoyo
Yoyo, that's interesting. In Britain, it's always claimed that it was wearing drag in the video to I Want to Break Free that got Queen blacklisted by the broadcast media in large parts of America.
This is incredibly interesting, fellas. I had NO idea about an apartheid-related unofficial blacklisting of the group. It's kinda hard to resolve the fact that a group of gay men would be willing to turn a blind eye to the oppressions by the S. African gov't and happily play there. But then again, it's show business-- and even at the top of the food chain there'll always be some level of "A gig's a gig" thinking.
Perhaps it's both? I know that, somehow, none of my high school pals ever gleaned the fact that the members of the group were gay until well into the 80's. And it hit those rural mid-westerners HARD at the time. I can certainly believe some stations quietly pulling them out of rotation for cross-dressing-- I wonder if that really happened?
HB
Edo - I enjoyed the new King Crimson. Adrian Belew played often in Champaign, IL where I went to school. Good example - and the “two” bands could not sound more distinct.
Totally changing gears - surely the Monkees revival in the mid ‘80s counts. I think MTV caused that resurgence somehow.
Hey Dudes!
HB I have to go with Bowie's Let's Dance as the best example of a sort of famous artist becoming huge in the USA in the 80s.
I know there are a lot of Bowie fans out there especially in the the U.K. but my recollection is he was not as popular in USA?
On scales of relativity Michael Jackson went from reasonably popular in the late 70s to god-like status with Thriller in the 80s??? There was a gap on f a few years with Off the Wall and Thriller?
George Harrison comes to mind. He had a #2 hit in the US in 1981 with "All Those Years Ago," a tribute to Lennon which featured Ringo on drums and McCartney on back-up vocals (not to mention Linda & Denny Laine of Wings).
He went more than 6 years before releasing "Got My Mind Set On You" (#1 hit in several countries) and the Cloud Nine album.
Slade has some minor hits in the US in the early 70s with the original “Cum on Feel the Noise” and then hit it really big in the mid 80s with “Run Runaway”. Of course here they were kind of one-hit-wonders twice but I think they were much bigger in the UK. Could be wrong.
Actually, Martinex, Slade was more of a 2-hit wonder in the US in the '80s: "Run Runaway" was preceded by the very popular song "My Oh My."
Another artist that fits this category is Tina Turner: quite popular with Ike in the '60s and early '70s, she was in the wilderness for a while after their split in the mid-'70s, but then came back in a very big way with her album Private Dancer in 1984 - and she's been a superstar pretty much ever since.
Oh, great call Edo. Tina Turner sky rocketed into our hearts after getting free of Ike.
I do remember the Queen/ Sun City controversy, not so much the cross dressing thing.
Forgot about “My Oh My”! Cheers!
Hey Edo, Colin, Steve and others - what’s the feel with Croatia about to face England in the big WC match?!?
And as far as music - didn’t Roy Orbison make a big comeback with a he Traveling Willbury’s? Although that is probably the 60s to 80s?!??
Martinex, needless to say, the World Cup is huge news in England right now. The 22 year old English soccer anthem Three Lions (Football's Coming Home) is currently residing at Number One on the midweek singles chart and it's pretty much impossible to avoid hearing it. For anyone interested, you can hear it by clicking on this link . Somewhat bizarrely, despite its subject matter, it reached Number 16 on the German singles chart in 1996.
People seem to be pretty confident about the game with Croatia. Croatia have had a more demanding run of games than England and have had a day less rest. Having said that, it's usually when everyone's confident about England that the team totally mess it up.
I'm not sure if anyone thinks we could beat France in the final unless we had a massive dose of luck. Of course, if we get to the final, we'll all still start to convince ourselves we're going to win it, in all defiance of common sense.
Killraven, I initially misread your comment as saying, "Tina Turner sky rocketed into our hearts after getting free of Ikea."
I thought, "I know Ikea's a big store but I never knew it was so big that people become national heroes for managing to get out of it."
Steve, re: "...it's usually when everyone's confident about England that the team totally mess it up." Kind of sums up my thoughts on the Croatian team. But to answer Martinex's original question, yep, there's quite a bit of euphoria in Croatia over the World Cup - it's their best outing in a World or Euro Cup since France in 1998.
By the way, Steve, getting free of Ikea is no simple thing; all the ones I've been in, here in Croatia and also Austria, are set up like labyrinths - it feels like a real accomplishment when you finally find the checkout desks and exit doors.
Steve, I am just returning from a 3-week French vacation where it is World Cup mania. (No crazy songs though lol.). Good luck against Croatia!
Thanks, Charlie. :)
I will say this about that:
A few artists that I think had a different level of success, or a resurgence, in the 80s:
Stevie Winwood. Had gotten quiet after his late 70s early 80s solo stuff then hit it big again in the late 80s.
David Coverdale. Former Deep Purple singer went solo. Had a few strong outings but nothing like what we saw with Whitesnake.
Speaking of Deep Purple. They reformed and produced some pretty strong music in the early 80s.
The Rolling Stones. I WENT TO THEIR FAREWELL TOUR!!! Damn band is still around. I blame Live Aid or Us Festival or Conspiracy of Hope, one of those festivals...
Tom Jones. After his pop success in the 60s, ended up in Country music. Hit it big again with Prince's "Kiss".
Linda Ronstadt. She went Broadway, Big Band, Country, Hispanic, you name it, she did it. She was way bigger at the end of the decade than she ever was at the beginning...
(Just seventeen, everything that you've seen
It's all there in her eyes
So many years of her poor mama's tears
And her daddy's sweet lies
There's nobody home
Mary-Anne's alone
Almost fully grown
And worrying the whys
Jimmy's been down, he's been out and around
And he knows where it's at
Love to be good if he thought that he could
But it isn't like that
He don't make mistakes
What he makes, he takes
Jimmy gets all the breaks
'Cause he knows how
Jimmy loves Mary-Anne
Jimmy wants to be her man
Jimmy loves Mary-Anne
She thinks it's all right
She's not alone and she picks up the phone
And she hears Jimmy say
Mother I'm beat, I'm so sick of the street
Feel like running away
There's no life here at all
The city seems so small
There's sweeter music calling us away
Let it play
Jimmy loves Mary-Anne
Jimmy wants to be her man
Jimmy loves Mary-Anne
She thinks it's all right
This big dollar town, it can drag you right down
If you go it alone
Even the strong don't survive very long
When they're out on their own
Jimmy knows it's true
Mary-Anne knows it too
They can see each other through
If they hold on
Jimmy loves Mary-Anne
Jimmy wants to be her man
Jimmy loves Mary-Anne
She thinks it's all right
Jimmy loves Mary-Anne
Jimmy wants to be her man
Jimmy loves Mary-Anne
She thinks it's all right).
Mighty late here, dealing with a failed air conditioner. But wanted to toss in Herb Alpert. Big in the 60's, then disappeared until 1979 with "Rise". Then kind of faded again until returning in the mid 80s...
GREAT call with Herb Albert, Red!
And, geeze, he's STILL out there at 83 years old!
He and his wife- singer Lani Hall- have been out there doing little tours for years and years and years. I know they pop up in our area not infrequently. And as far as I know, it would have to be purely for the love of music and performing--- 'cause I'm pretty sure Herb became a very wealthy man as the head of A & M Records 'way back when. . .
He's become a big go-to for me on high-stress work days when I'm on my own. . .
HB
And oh lord-- the side-thread on IKEA.
The College Park, MD store is about 2 miles from my house-- quite familiar with it.
Their shopping carts and flat carts are just about the biggest design fail I've ever seen, and I can't believe they've stuck with them for all these decades.
A cart with 4 swivel casters, rather than two fixed and two swivel, cannot be steered at all. Trying to turn it while moving just means the cart continues moving straight in the same direction, only askew in its position. This is one of the pettest of my pet peeves. . . !
HB again
Both 60's and 70's stars:
Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart, Leave It, Shoot High Aim Low, Big Generator
Moody Blues - Your Wildest Dreams, The Voice, Gemini Dream
Roy Orbison - You Got It, Black and White Night on HBO
Genesis - Turn it n Again, No Reply at All, That's All, Illegal Alien, Invisible Touch, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Land of Confusion, and many others
MTV seemed to help revive many older groups and present them to a new generation. Genesis really took off after Peter Gabriel left, but he also had a resurgence in the 80's.
Travis Morgan
HB - those carts are ridiculous. Makes no sense!
Travis - yes...Yes!
Edo - cheers to the Croatia team! Now to the finals with France! We should coordinate a friendly wager between you and CH 47 !
Steve, Colin, and all the England fans - I guess your cautious optimism and general prediction was correct. Cheers to the team! Sorry it didn’t play out as expected for the fans.
Holy Cats---
How about the perennially-evolving Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship-?
60's, 70's, AND 80's-!
HB
Post a Comment