Duran Duran's 1982 Hit, "Rio!"

This band is amazing!! This is one of my favorite Duran Duran songs of all time! It has such a catchy melody and the intricate bass line is awesome!!  In fact, the saxophone and bass solo on this tune is just incredible!

A few studio tricks were done to get the distinctive sound for this song.  Keyboardist, Nick Rhodes, made the sound at the beginning of the song by placing some metal rods on the strings of a grand piano in the studio, playing the instrument, then the recorded sound was reversed to create the intro. The laughter on the track was that of Rhodes' girlfriend at the time.

Also, I always wondered how they came up with their band name. It’s named after a character in the 1968 Jane Fonda movie Barbarella. In the movie, Barbarella (Jane Fonda) is assigned by the President of Earth to retrieve Doctor Durand Durand from the planet Tau Ceti in order to save Planet Earth. Dr. Durand Durand is the inventor of a weapon called the Positronic Ray.

It’s hard to believe the group has never disbanded and have recently kicked off a tour to support their latest album.  I just heard them on TV recently playing this 1982 hit and they sound just like they did in the early 80’s! I gotta see these guys!

Scandal's 1982 Hit, "Goodbye To You!"

I love this song!! The bass line really rocks! It's so funny to see Patty Smyth dance all Totally 80's "Fresh Prince" Carlton in this video! Aaaahhh. Those were the days!

What's really funny? The bass player looking a little like an 80's George Clooney!

“Goodbye to You” was written by Scandal band member/founder and guitarist Zack Smith and sung by Patty Smyth and released as a single in 1982. The band broke up a few years later but has since reunited.

Cool facts:

1. Patty Smyth was asked by Eddie Van Halen to replace David Lee Roth (after he quit).

2. The original Demo video of "Goodbye To You" was filmed in a small studio and features Bon Jovi playing guitar (was a friend of the band) and Late Show with David Letterman’s, Paul Shaffer playing the keyboards/synthesizer. In the released version, Paul actually wrote and recorded the keyboard solo and based it on Del Shannon's "Runaway". 

Check it out here:

The Motels! Their 1982 Hit, "Only The Lonely!"

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!

Billy Joel! "Allentown!"

Billy Joel is one of my wife’s favorite musicians. I had the opportunity to take her to a Billy Joel concert for her birthday in 1990 and I have to say that it was THE best show we have EVER seen! “Allentown” is one of my all time favorite songs and it was certainly one of the best he performed that night. I’ll never forget it! The only thing that could have made it even better was at the start of the song, when the whistle blows, I would’ve loved to have heard Fred Flintstone yell  "EEEEEEE Yabba Dabba Doooo!!"

All kidding aside, “Allentown’s” theme is about those coping with the demise of the American manufacturing industry in the latter part of the 20th century. More specifically, it depicts the depressed, blue-collar livelihood of Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's residents in the wake of Bethlehem Steel's decline and eventual closure.

The original idea for the song was titled “Levittown”, after the Long Island town next to Hicksville where Joel grew up. He had written a chord and lyrics for the song in the 70’s, but struggled for a topic for the song. Joel stated that the original lyrics seemed kind of bland. He felt that they would possibly be considered boring to the listeners. Some of the original lyrics included lines like: "Well we're living here in Levittown. And there's really not much going down. I don't see much when I look around. The grass is green, the trees are brown. And we're living here in Levittown." So, during the time of the upcoming studio sessions for 1982’s, The Nylon Curtain, Joel took a trip to Pennsylvania. He remembered reading about the decline of the steel industry in the Lehigh Valley, which included the small cities of both Bethlehem and Allentown.

It was there that he came up with the idea for new lyrics. At the time, he originally had Bethlehem in mind but he thought people would suddenly get the impression that the song was religious. So, he started writing down some lyrics for what later became, "Allentown."

Interestingly enough, Joel stated the following regarding his religious background:

“My parents were both from Jewish families. I was not brought up Jewish in any religious way. I used to go to a Roman Catholic church with my friends, and when I was 11, I got baptized in a Church of Christ in Hicksville.”

I think it's time for another concert!

Quarterflash! "Find Another Fool!"

I remember this Quarterflash song like it was yesterday! 1982!!
In fact, when it first released, I thought it was Pat Benatar. After listening a few times, I realized Rindy Ross’s vocal range wasn’t quite like Pat’s multi-octave range (in fact, I think Pat invented octaves). Regardless, this song still rocks!

Quarterflash was formed in 1980 in Portland, Oregon, by Rindy Ross (also played Sax) and guitarist Marv Ross. They released their 2^nd single, “Find Another Fool” off of their self-titled debut Album and 30 years later, I have still never heard a dueling saxophone and guitar that sounded this action packed! This married couple Rocked!! The dueling instruments at the end is the most intense jam ever!

They came up with the band name Quarterflash from a book they found at their producer’s house. The name came from an Australian slang description of new immigrants as "one quarter flash and three parts foolish.”

The group only released 3 Albums and Geffen Records dropped the band in 1985 (bad move!) but they reunited in 1990 and recently released a new album. The music isn’t quite like their original sound (I personally heard all the tracks), but that’s why we have YouTube! To search through the 80’s archives and find diamonds like this one!

Oh, by the way, if you squint your eyes for the first 30 seconds of this video, you just might think it’s Pat Benatar!!

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers'! "You Got Lucky!"

1982 was an awesome year and a few things really stand out for me when I look back on them. The first CD Player was introduced (retailed for $900 bucks!), the use of the “Smiley/Emoticon” was first used by a computer scientist as a way of expressing emotion in an email :-), Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was released and the cost of a gallon of gas was only $.99! Yes, you heard correctly, $.99!

Music was huge for me but even with “Thriller” hot off the presses, this little gem by Tom Petty was one of those songs that had great musical appeal and cool lyrics. I believe one of Petty's best, and most underrated songs.

He wrote the song with Mike Campbell who stated that “You Got Lucky” was written to a drum loop.  Mike had made a drum loop in his studio and put the music together. Campbell and Petty went into the studio and actually recreated another drum loop. The Drummer would go out and play, then they’d cut the tape and tape the loop together. They ran it around the room over some mic stands and through the tape heads, and then printed that for 3 or 4 minutes and then recorded the song over that drum loop. Then, Petty added the lyrics and came up with the idea for the guitar solo. He suggested they do sort of a surf guitar with a tremolo arm, like in the Clint Eastwood movie The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.

The keyboard part is my favorite! Tom has stood the test of time with his music, just awesome!