Now I always thought the band Kansas sounded a lot like the group Boston in this 1976 monster hit, “Carry On Wayward Son”. From the guitars, to the keyboards, to bass, drums and vocals (harmonies)…..it’s easy to see the similarities. Coincidently, Boston’s debut album was released in 1976.
The song was written by Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren. According to Livgren, the song was not written to express anything specifically religious, though it certainly expresses spiritual searching and other ideas. People have attributed all sorts of alternative meanings to it, but he suggests taking the song as it is.
This is one of those classic songs I can just sit back and listen to a million times and never get tired of it. Even though it’s 35 years old, it still rocks!
What’s funny is that I didn’t realize Rubeus Hagrid was actually in this band!
By the time I moved to Colorado from Texas in 1997, I still had never been to an NHL Professional Hockey game. It would be a year later when I would finally have the opportunity to go see the Colorado Avalanche play against the Detroit Red Wings. The Avalanche had won the Stanley Cup in the ‘95-’96 season so the city was crazy for these guys.
I remember sitting there on the 5th row by the glass watching the team play as a hockey puck flew up and over somehow landing underneath my chair! I couldn’t believe it didn’t hit me!! That was INSANE!
But what was more INSANE than that?
During the end of the 2nd period, the score was tied when all of a sudden, what comes blaring through the huge speakers in the auditorium???????
None other than the incredible famous rock anthem intro to,"The Final Countdown!" Oh yeah!!
I practically jumped up 4 feet in the air pumping my fists so hard to this song I must have looked like a total freak! In fact, I did because the next day at work, I found out that a co-worker had been sitting on the upper deck behind me and happened to look down and said, “Who is that freak jumping up in the air pumping his fists in the air!!! Hey….wait…I think that’s Frank!!”
"The Final Countdown" is the most recognizable and popular song by Europe. Who I didn't realize until now were a Swedish band. It was written by their lead singer, Joey Tempest and was the first single released from their third studio album, The Final Countdown, in 1986.
The song was based on an old keyboard riff that Tempest had written while he was in college (as early as 1981–82). The song's lyrics were inspired by David Bowie's song "Space Oddity”.
In 1985, their bassist suggested that Tempest write a song based on that riff.So, Tempest recorded a demo version of the song and played it for the other band members. At first the members expressed mixed reactions to it. The band thought it was way too different for a rock band.
Guitarist John Norum remembers stating: "When I first heard the synth intro to 'The Final Countdown', my reaction was: 'No, this is nuts. We just can't use this.” Later he recalls, "Thank Goodness they didn't listen to me!!”
Originally the band had never planned to release the song as a single. "The Final Countdown" was written and intended only to be a crowd pleasing opening song for their fans in concerts, and they never thought it would be a hit. But when their record company Epic Records suggested that it should be the first single, the band decided to release it.
After all these years, it’s still such an amazing song and gets me going everytime!!
I guess it did exactly what the band intended it to do. To communicate with the audience wherever it’s played!
I remember growing up in Corpus Christi Texas watching my favorite news program, KIII TV Channel 3 News with Anchor icon Joe Gazin, Sportscaster Dan McReynolds and Weatherman Tom Nix. These guys all had the coolest 70s hairdo that transitioned right in to the 80s.
I’ll never forget Tom Nix’s “Barney” cartoon character that he would show wearing the appropriate outfit that would best fit the weather for the following day. If “Barney” was wearing shorts, I knew I was wearing shorts.
The most memorable moments on KIII for me was watching the end of the news program where they did this cheesy music video featuring many Corpus Christi residents holding up their index finger in the "we're number one" salute to the slightly altered lyrics “we’re still having fun, and we’re still the one!”
"Still the One" is a song co-written by founding member John Hall, of the 70s band Orleans, and Hall’s wife, Johanna Hall. It was released in 1976.
The lyrics of the song are of a husband describing his feelings for his wife whom he has a long lasting relationship with and all the reasons why she is "Still the One" for whom he has feelings.
John Hall explained that the song came to be written because a friend of theirs was going through a divorce and asked Johanna (Hall's wife and lyricist) to write a song about a married couple staying together. So she did, and she handed John the finished lyric on the back of an envelope and said, 'Do you think you can do anything with this?'
John wrote the music in ten minutes. Now that’s talent!
Another tidbit. Did you know that John Hall is currently the U.S Representative for New York's 19th congressional district, serving from 2007 to 2011? Now you do.
To my wife Vikki! You’re “Still the One” after 19 years!
One of my favorite movies in 1987 was “La Bamba!” It’s about the life of 1950s rock & roller Ritchie Valens. The song “Sleep Walk” appears prominently at the end of the film during Ritchie Valens' funeral and the subsequent tear jerker scene of his brother, Bob, screaming Ritchie's name to the heavens (that scene gets me everytime!). It also appears at the beginning of the film in the initial dream sequence up to the point where the two planes collide over the playground.
I have to admit, for years, I thought this song was recorded by Valens, but Ritchie died some months before it was written. By the way, if you haven’t seen the movie, rent it!
"Sleep Walk" was actually written, recorded and released in 1959 by the Italian-American rock and roll duo from Brooklyn, brothers Santo & Johnny Farina.
Santo and Johnny’s father was inspired to have the boys learn how to play the steel guitar after hearing one played on the radio. Their father found a music teacher from Hawaii who gave the boys steel guitar lessons.
Within two years, Santo was performing in amateur shows and by the age of fourteen, Santo was composing songs. When Johnny was twelve, he started to accompany Santo on guitar. They formed a duo and became rather popular in school, eventually performing at events in the New York boroughs. They added their uncle Mike Dee to the line up on drums and the trio started to appear at local dances and parties, performing both original compositions and some Hawaiian standards.
Then, in 1958, “Mike Dee & The Mello Tones” (as they were officially calling themselves) recorded a self-penned instrumental which they called "Deep Sleep"(which ultimately became "Sleep Walk”). The brothers came to the attention of a music publishing company and signed a song writer's contract and then eventually a music contract with Canadian-American Records. Their first release, "Sleep Walk”, was released and became huge hit! It was the last instrumental to hit number one in the 1950s and earned Santo & Johnny a gold record.
One other cool fact you might not know is that Santo & Johnny actually wrote lyrics for "Sleep Walk", but they never recorded a lyrical version.
At present, Santo is semi-retired and Johnny currently tours and records new material with his own band. Johnny is also the president of Aniraf, Inc., an international record company based in New York.
Back to “La Bamba!” WHEN you rent it, make sure to have plenty of tissues when you get to the scene with this song!
You can’t think of the 80’s and not think of this hit! When "C'est La Vie" hit the charts in 1987, I loved this song almost immediately!! This song is a beast!
It was co-written by singer/songwriter Robert S. “Robbie” Nevil from his self–titled debut album released in 1986.
A little history on this guy.
Nevil was born in Los Angeles, California and began playing guitar at age 11 and played in a series of cover bands. He began performing his original music and signed a publishing deal in 1983, writing songs for the Pointer Sisters, El DeBarge, and Earth, Wind & Fire.
It was 1986 when he received his first recording contract, signed with Manhattan Records and released his debut Album with much success. In 1988, he released his second album but failed to build on that success and released his third album in 1991with poor sales.
Did he let that stop him? No sir! Even though Nevil's days as a recording artist were numbered due to'80s pop music taking a back seat to hip hop and grunge music, he turned his complete focus to writing and producing. As a result, he was able to successfully write for acts like Babyface, JessicaSimpson andDestiny's Child.
In 2006 he collaborated with Matthew Gerrard of the group, “Smash Mouth”. Gerrard had been writing for Disney for some time and their work eventually led to a great partnership working on such notable Disney projects including The Cheetah Girls, High School Musical, and the Hannah Montana franchises.
I remember it as if it were yesterday. The year was 1978. I was 12 years old. That’s when I saw the movie “The Buddy Holly Story” at the theatre starring Gary Busey as Buddy Holly.
I was so obsessed with that movie and the music that Buddy Holly created that I quickly bought Buddy Holly’s Greatest Hits that year and played that record every single day! That’s what initially inspired me to want to play the drums. My parents couldn’t afford a drum set so I made a makeshift drum kit out of a couple of padded kitchen chairs, a couple of bicycle rims and a sawed off old broom stick handle that I made and used as my drum sticks.
Wow! Those were the days! I eventually gravitated to teaching myself how to play the bass guitar because I always appreciated the sound of the bass and would ALWAYS hum/sing the bass lines to every song I heard.
Yes. Buddy Holly was a major musical influence on me. It’s hard to believe his success lasted only a year and a half before his death in 1959 in an airplane crash.
“Rave On” was one of Holly’s last hits during his lifetime and one of my favorites. Although the song wasn’t written by Holly (co-written by his manager Norman Petty), he recorded it in January 1958 at Norman Petty's New Mexico studio where Holly laid down most of his hits. Petty wanted to give it to another act, but Holly protested and persuaded the songwriters to let him record it.
Holly is described as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll.” His works and innovations inspired and influenced later musicians, notably The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, and had a profound influence on popular music. Holly was also among the first group of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Holly #13 among "The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time".
This is a song I have actually sung to my wife. This has been one of my favorites for many years! It’s one of those songs that gets played at many a weddings and I can understand why. It is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard!
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" was actually written by songwriters Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio and was a 1967 single released by Frankie Valli. The song was among Valli's biggest hits until 1975 when he released "My Eyes Adored You" and then followed by “Grease” in 1978 (which was actually written by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees).
“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” is a very popular song throughout the world. It has been covered by some 200 different artists over the years and has become one of the the top ten most-played songs in history.
A good friend of mine (Thanks Brian!) reminded me of this classic 1988 hit, “Under the Milky Way”, by the Australian rock band, The Church.
These guys formed in Sydney Australia in 1980. They were initially associated with New Wave and the Neo-Psychedelic sound of the mid 80s, but their music later became more reminiscent of Progressive Rock, which is when I got into this group.
The name of the band, supposedly, was chosen as the name was unclaimed at the time, but later allusions to spiritual interests by founding member, bassist and lead singer Steve Kilbey hint that it was less coincidental.
“Under the Milky Way" was written by Steve Kilbey and his then-girlfriend, Karin Jansson. What made this song so unique was the featured 12-string acoustic guitar melody along with a “bag pipe” solo composed with an EBow on a Fender Jazzmaster Guitar.
The song was written about an Amsterdam Music and Cultural Venue called Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way"), which Kilbey used to frequent. Interesting note. At 3:47 of the song, you can actually hear someone laughing on the track.
It was the band's only international hit. The song could have stayed dormant over the years but thanks to you awesome parents who grew up in the 80s, you’ve done an outstanding job of keeping the 80s alive through your kids. Rock on! Also, movies like 2001’s “Donnie Darko” have helped to keep this tune main stream.
In 2008, readers of The Australian voted “Under the Milky Way” the best Australian song for the last 20 years. In response, Kilbey said, "It's not really about anything at all. I just wanted to create an atmosphere and I didn't even put a lot of thought into that. History has given it something that it never really had.”
If I was hearing this song for the first time, I would think it was The Cure, starring Michael Hutchence from INXS...........close your eyes while you listen to it...........pretty eerie, huh?
Mickey Thomas, was the new kid on the block when he joined Jefferson Starship in the summer of 1979 and immediately started working on the Freedom at Point Zero album. Mickey says that “Jane” was always the song of “Firsts”. The first song he rehearsed with the band, the first song they recorded and the first song they released which was a #1 debut for the group.
So, needless to say, the success of “Jane”, made life a lot easier for Mickey and the new Jefferson Starship band. The song is actually about someone who can't relate to a girl that just doesn't understand what's best for her when it comes to love.
Mickey Thomas has such an incredible voice. In this song, they kind of remind me of Kansas a bit. All around great musicianship. I could play the first 25 seconds of this song over and over. It has to be one of the best intro’s ever! Actually, now that I think about it, I bet Mickey Thomas could win American Idol in 25 seconds!
Hey, doesn’t Mickey Thomas look a lot like the late Canadian magician Doug Henning?
I heard this song the other day and I felt like Scottie beamed me right back to the 80s. I then went to my time machine called, YouTube, and played it at least a dozen times. Wow! The Saxophone and Bass parts are just the coolest! One of the most underrated bands of the 80s.
If ever there was a group that should get back together in its original line up, it’s these LA guys.
“Only the Lonely” was a 1982 hit single from The Motels' third Album called, All Four One. The album felt like the 'fourth album' to the band, because it’s mostly a re-recording of an unreleased album entitled Apocalypso.
Here’s how it came about. After the mild success of their second album Careful, The Motels went back into the studio in early 1981 to record album three. Wanting to stretch the limits as to what they could do artistically and musically, the band recorded some of its most heavy music to date. Despite having a new producer for the album, the songs were basically arranged and handled by the band. The results were mixed. While some arrangements on the tracks were outstanding rock numbers, some were a little too experimental and not as well produced ("Only the Lonely"). Neither the band nor their new producer ever submitted any of the recordings to Capitol Records while the recording process was going on. When the band submitted the final tapes to Capitol, the label rejected it stating that it was "not commercial," essentially meaning it was a dead record.
Unwilling to give up, the members went back into the studio with their producer at the controls. This time he had more liberty to mold the band's sound to a more commercial venue. Studio musicians were added to fill specific voids for several of the tracks (because their lead guitarist, Tim McGovern had left), as well as to flesh out the sound of the recordings.
The album was re-titled All Four One because the band had recorded four albums but one would not be released, and also because the four remaining members had stayed together to complete the album ("all for one and one for all!"). It was released in April 1982 on Capitol Records. The result was the biggest selling album for The Motels.
It wouldn't last.
On February 13, 1987, Martha Davis approached each member of the band to notify them that she had decided to dissolve the band and go solo.
Today, Martha Davis still performs/tours with various musicians under the name, “The Motels featuring Martha Davis”, playing new material and acoustic versions of their old hits. Although all of the members of the 1982—1987 line-up of the band reunited in 2004 for an appearance on VH1's Bands Reunited, again, it wouldn’t last.
The good news??
Martha has stated there will be more music released in the future. Lets hope it’s with the original line up to bring the magic back!
When “Under Pressure” was released in 1981, I don’t think anyone could’ve imagined that the collaboration between Queen and David Bowie would create one of the greatest songs of the 80’s. In fact, one of the greatest songs ever! I think I’m one of the few that appreciates Vanilla Ice sampling the bassline for his 1990 single “Ice Ice Baby” because it introduced more fans to the original song although, there are Vanilla Ice fans out there today that that think Queen’s “Under Pressure” is a Vanilla Ice Rip Off. Imagine that. Cuz Queen actually built a time machine, went ten years into the future and stole Vanilla Ice’s hook. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!!!!
There has been some confusion about who created the song's famous bassline. John Deacon said in 1982, that David Bowie had created it. In more recent interviews, Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have credited the bass riff to Deacon. Bowie, however, stated on his website, said that the bassline was already written before he became involved.
What’s really cool about how this song came about is that Queen had been working on a song under the title "Feel Like" but they weren’t satisfied with the result. Bowie had originally come to Mountain Studios in order to sing backing vocals on another Queen song, "Cool Cat", which ended up being edited out since Bowie wasn't satisfied with it. Once he got there, they worked together for a while and wrote the song. The final version that became "Under Pressure" evolved from a jam session the band had with Bowie at his studio in Montreux, Switzerland; therefore it was credited as co-written by the five musicians. The scat singing that dominates much of the song is evidence of the jam-beginnings as improvisation. According to Queen bassist John Deacon, the song's primary musical songwriter was Freddie Mercury — though all contributed to the arrangement. The lyrics deal with how pressure can destroy lives, but love can be the answer.
Brian May recalled in an interview in 2008. “It was hard, because you had four very precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. David took over the song lyrically. Looking back, it’s a great song but it should have been mixed differently. Freddie and David had a fierce battle over that.”
Check out this video below. This is the song that would later evolve into “Under Pressure.”
Now, if this song doesn't put you in a good mood and movin' and tappin' your feet, I don't know what will!
The Cars are one of those groups who can be credited with opening the New Wave sound up to the mainstream during music’s move from the late 70s into the 80s. This group made a huge splash on the scene during my high school years.
“Shake It Up” is a song from their 1981 album of the same name. It was actually written years earlier by lead singer Ric Ocasek, who was the principal songwriter for The Cars and composed the vast majority of the band's music. He was not only the band's lead singer, but he also played rhythm guitar, bass guitar and keyboards.
As the title track of the album, “Shake It Up” combines the hard-rock feel of the band's earlier work with synthesizers and electronic drum machines to create a futuristic dance beat characteristic of later singles. This song would go on to become The Cars' most popular song!
The song references dance moves, hair styles and having fun. However, bassist Benjamin Orr has stated the song tells the story of how important it is to make a “mark in life”, to "let people know what you really mean". Thus, the hit song has a deep meaning as well as a simple message.
During his time with The Cars, Ocasek developed a reputation as a successful producer not only for The Cars own material but for successful bands like Weezer and No Doubt!
If I were President, I would mandate we listen to this song every morning on our way to work!
Chuck Mangione is a Flugelhorn player (and composer) who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good." To this day, this is one of my favorite instrumental songs of all time.
As a trumpet player myself in middle school and high school in the 80's, I truly appreciated the musicianship and brilliant writing that went into creating this song. Chuck "The Man" Mangione's playing as well as the incredible guitar solo by Grant Geissman and Charles Meeks' groovy Bass lines were amazing! One thing you might find interesting is that drummer James Bradley Jr. was only 18 years old when he recorded this track. I'm speechless. The 9 minute original extended version has Chris Vadala's awesome sax playing! This song is like no other! It's phenomenal!
I can remember trying to play this song when I first started on the trumpet. Musically, I could only take the song so far before the notes would go extremely out of reach. This guy was so super talented! This song is a masterpiece! Chuck Mangione is like the "Chuck Norris" of music. No one can beat him! I heard this once about Chuck Mangione: "Chuck Mangione was in all 6 Star war Movies.......As the Force!"
One of the funniest tidbits of information I found out about Chuck Mangione was that in addition to music, he had a recurring voice-over role on an animated television series. In it he portrays himself as a celebrity spokesman for a grocery store chain, although his animated form appears much younger than his current age, more closely resembling how he looked in the late 1970s. In the context of the series, a recurring joke is that whatever tune he plays on his flugelhorn, inevitably shifts into "Feels So Good" after a few bars. On his final episode, Chuck Mangione plays the National Anthem which of course segues into "Feels So Good". Afterwards, Chuck states during a group therapy session that "Every song I play now sounds like 'Feels So Good'."
First, someone please tell Katy Perry to never cover any ‘Tears for Fears’ songs ever again. Second, this is one of those songs that must be played at full volume. Third, glad this song had a resurgence thanks to the very odd 2001 movie, Donnie Darko, about a troubled teenager growing up in the 80’s that’s plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident. Uhhh….ok. What’s even weirder? The bunny is named Frank.
Annnnnnnnyway.
It was 1985. Tears for Fears released “Head over Heels”, the single off the Album Songs from the Big Chair.
Here’s something interesting. Bizarre, but interesting nonetheless. The band's name was inspired by a trauma-based psychotherapy process called Primal Therapy, developed by American psychologist Arthur Janov, which is used to re-experience childhood pain—(i.e.,felt ,rather than conceptual memories) in an attempt to resolve the pain through complete processing and integration--becoming "real." An intended objective of the therapy is to lessen or eliminate the hold early trauma exerts on adult life.
Never knew that till now.
The video to "Head Over Heels" is perhaps more famous for its parody version, which contains dubbed lyrics that poke fun at the video's visuals. The original promotional clip for the video (filmed at the Emmanuel College Library in Toronto, Canada)centered around Roland Orzabal's attempts to get the attention of a librarian (played by Canadian model, Joan Densmore), while a variety of characters (many played by the rest of the band) take part in shenanigans in the library. The final scene shows Orzabal and the librarian as an older married couple.
I remember back in 1977, I was 11 years old and there was this girl in elementary school I liked and we decided one day that we’d “Go Around”, or wait….maybe I asked her to circle “YES” or “NO” on a piece of paper in class asking if she wanted to be my girlfriend? Anyway, we were both really shy when we were around each other and sometimes we would get upset with each other because our friends would interfere with our time (aahhhh….all at the ripe old age of 11) and I was hoping we wouldn’t “break up”. So, everytime I would hear this song, and it came to the part in the lyrics, “And you’re looking for the answer in her eyes…..you think you’re gonna break up, then she says she wants to make up”, I would get all happy cause I knew this song was talking about us. It’s funny looking back. We eventually “broke up” when we both rode ourbikes and met at the local park to say, “It’s not going to work.” Funny what you remember!
10cc was a British band that had a string of hits in the 1970’s. The band initially consisted of four members — Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Crème.
Eric Stewart stated the following about writing the song “The Things We Do For Love.”
"This song I wrote with Graham Gouldman was originally a very bluesy song, and we actually played that to Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, and Kevin said, 'It's interesting but I think you should speed it up a bit and make it a bit more beefy.' And then they left the band. So we never got it in the studio to try it with them, but, Graham Gouldman and I did. It's biographical. I remember walking through the rain and the snow when I lived in Manchester and we didn't have a telephone. I had to go and find a phone box to ring the girl who was about to become my wife, and the phones were down, and it was snowing, and these vivid pictures are there. If you put them in a song, a lot of people identify with a similar situation."
What’s cool about this group is that 2 of its members, Kevin Godley & Lol Creme became better-known as directors of music videos in the 1980s, creating videos for acts including George Harrison ("When We Was Fab"), The Police ("Every Breath You Take"), Duran Duran ("Girls On Film"), Frankie Goes to Hollywood ("Two Tribes"), Peter Gabriel's duet with Kate Bush ("Don't Give Up"), and Herbie Hancock ("Rockit").
The band just announced a reunion tour for 2011 in the UK.
I have the Little River Band’s greatest hits CD and my favorite song from this band is ‘Reminiscing”.I can play this song over and over and over and never get tired of it. The music made such an impact on me when I was 12 (so melodic) but I wouldn’t fully understand the lyrics until I was older. It’s just such a brilliant song.
It was written by the band’s founding member and guitarist, Graeham Goble (initially spelled “Graham” but he later changed it) and was recognized as one of the most frequently played songs in the history of American radio, with more than four million plays to its credit.
The song first appeared on their album Sleeper Catcher in 1978 and Goble had to fight to have it included. Goble states:
"I loved watching old black and white movies, and I always also loved the music of Glenn Miller and Cole Porter, that whole era of writing, and it was my attempt to write a song to depict the romantic era. It came out very quickly, I wrote it in about half an hour. Even though a lot of people think it sounds complicated, on the guitar it's very simple to play. It nearly never got recorded - when the time came to record it, the keyboard player I wanted to use, Peter Jones, was out of town, so we cut the band track with a different keyboard player. It didn't work. A few days later when we tried it again with a different keyboard player, again it didn't work, and the band was losing interest in the song. Just before the album was finished, Peter Jones came back into town, the band and I had an argument because I wanted to give “Reminiscing” a third chance. Peter played on it, we cut it, and finished it, and sent the album to Capitol. Capitol said that they couldn't hear any singles on the album, and didn't know what to release. Five weeks later, someone at Capitol's New York office said 'You're all crazy, “Reminiscing” is a smash.' Capitol put it out, and it just immediately caught on fire, and became our highest chart hit."
"It's quite staggering; you don't realize you've written something like that until it happens, until it's history."
Goble also wrote "Lady" and "Take It Easy On Me".
According to Albert Goldman's biography, John Lennon named "Reminiscing" as one of his favorite songs who listened to it over and over. The legendary Frank Sinatra also regarded the song very highly, saying that it was "the best 1970’s song in the world".
When The Outfield’s first Album, Play Deep was released in 1985, I actually wore this cassette tape out from playing it 1,985 times! My musical taste was continuing to expand and I got into this band huge! My future wife and I got to see these guys in concert and it was amazing! It’s hard to pick a favorite song!
The Outfield was a British pop rock/power pop, power trio based in London, England. They began recording during the mid 80’s. They performed in and around London until a demo got them signed to Columbia/CBS Records.
What I really liked about these guys was that they made it a point to state very clear that they were a clean band and weren’t into the party scene. They were influenced early on by the Beatles and in this video, the lead singer and bassist, Tony Lewis kind of looks and acts a little like Paul McCartney.
Interesting story on the band name. They started out calling themselves “The Baseball Boys” as their guitarist, John Spinks, loved baseball and adopted the name from a teen gang in the cult classic, The Warriors, a movie that he had just seen. Although he used the name as a joke and “just to be outrageous", the record company responded favorably. Their manager, an American living in England, recommended a new band name with a similar attitude since “The Baseball Boys” seemed too "tacky" and "tongue-in-cheek". Spinks has said, "The name, Outfield, was the most left-wing kind of thing we liked."
One of my all time favorite ballads! I can say that now, but back in the day? I can remember there was a brief period back in the 80’s, when I'd be cruising in my car with my crazy metal head friends listening to nothing but heavy rock music. But, when it came time at the end of the night to drop them all off at home, and I was all alone in my car driving back home…..you guessed it. My secret is revealed! I would quickly change the radio dial to the Easy Listening Slow Jam Station where I would get my fill of smooth ballads and would always catch this awesome tune by Spandau Ballet. At the time, I wouldn’t have been caught DEAD listening to this kind of music with my buddies.
“True" is the title track from Spandau Ballet's 1983 album True, originally recorded at Compass Point Studios, Bahamas. It was composed by the group leader, Gary Kemp, and is a six-minute (in its original album version) slow pop-ballad love song that in part pays tribute to the Motown artist Marvin Gaye and the sound he helped to establish. The song was recorded before Gaye's murder a year later.
The song was a huge worldwide hit. It’s Spandau Ballet's biggest hit and their most remembered song in the U.S. You might remember hearing it in the 1984 film Sixteen Candles.
They were called 'The Makers' in the early years, but changed their name after a friend of the band, journalist and DJ Robert Elms, saw the name scrawled on a the wall of an establishment during a visit to Berlin along the lines of "Rudolf Hess, all alone, dancing the Spandau Ballet" (Rudolf Hess was the sole inmate at Germany's Spandau Prison).
So, if this song is one of your guilty pleasures, be loud and proud and enjoy one of the greatest songs of the decade!!
