(real) one-hit wonder of the week – “I Don’t Want A Lover” | TEXAS | 1989.

Between late 1979 and the end of 1989, there were nearly 500 (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s that reached the BILLBOARD Hot 100 just one time, a list that includes Soft Cell, Gary Numan, Timbuk 3, The Church, Bronski Beat, Nik Kershaw, The Buggles, The Waitresses, Ultravox and two different bands named The Silencers.  Once a week, I’ll highlight a (real) one-hit wonder for you.  

One quirky thing about the 80s (and maybe for other decades, too) is that certain (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s actually had more than one hit.  How do you do the math on that, you ask?  Well, it’s when you’re NOT a (real) one-hit wonder somewhere else.  In the 80s, the amazing Boomtown Rats just had one hit on the BILLBOARD Hot 100, as did frontman (and Band Aid co-founder and Live Aid co-organizer), Bob Geldof (with 1979/1980’s “I Don’t Like Mondays” and 1986/1987’s “This Is The World Calling,” respectively).

Soft Cell’s 1981 12″ single of “Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go” (also the first 12″ single I ever owned).

Soft Cell was one of the biggest (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s here in America with “Tainted Love,” and singer Marc Almond was also a (real) one-hit wonder with his 1989 college hit, “Tears Run Rings.”  But over in the U.K., Soft Cell had 13 Top 40 hits between 1981 and 2018, and Marc Almond had 9 solo Top 40 hits.

Altered Images, 1981.

The name Johnny McElhone might not ring an immediate bell for most music fans here in the U.S., but along with Bob Geldof and Marc Almond, he’s a (real) one-hit wonder of the 80s twice here as well.  The Scotsman was a bassist for the three albums by Altered Images in the early 80s (that’s his bass you hear on “Happy Birthday”).  In the U.K., Altered Images scored three Top 10 hits, though no American hits (but a noteworthy appearance in the 1984 John Hughes classic, SIXTEEN CANDLES).

Hipsway, 1987.

From the ashes of the 1983 breakup of Altered Images was another Scottish band featuring Johnny McElhone: Hipsway.  In 1987, they scored a Top 20 U.S. hit with “The Honeythief,” Hipsway’s only American hit single.  But, a year before the success of “The Honeythief,” a busy Johnny, along with Scottish vocalist and guitarist Sharleen Spiteri, formed another Scottish band — Texas, a four-member Alt-Rock / Pop-Rock band who got their name from the 1984 Wim Wenders film, PARIS, TEXAS, which starred the late, great Harry Dean Stanton.  Texas even modeled their original band logo from the poster.

30 years ago this month (March 1989), the debut album by Glasgow’s Texas, SOUTHSIDE, was released to much acclaim across the globe.  Within three weeks of its release, SOUTHSIDE had reached No. 3 on the U.K. singles chart and was already certified Gold in the U.K. for selling more than 100,000 copies.

The album’s first single, “I Don’t Want A Lover,” was released in late January 1989, in advance of the album.  The five-minute gem starts off with this gorgeous bluesy slide guitar, and after a half minute, a sweet drum beat kicks in, followed by the strong and infectious vocals of Sharleen Spiteri.

It didn’t take long for “I Don’t Want A Lover” to catch on in the U.K. and other parts of the globe, reaching No. 3 in Switzerland, No. 4 in Australia (a Gold single there), No. 8 in the U.K. and Ireland, and the Top 20 in France, Germany, New Zealand and Spain.

It, did, however, take awhile for Americans to embrace the song from a band with the namesake of one of its own 50 United States.  But, perseverance won out, and “I Don’t Want A Lover” finally debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in early September 1989 at No. 96.  It was unlike anything on the chart that week, whose Top 5 included Richard Marx, Warrant, Gloria Estefan, Paula Abdul and New Kids On The Block.  Yikes.

Naturally, with a song so good and so original and unlike the sound of the songs in the upper realm of the chart, “I Don’t Want A Lover,” debuting at the bottom realm of the chart, didn’t match the chart feats here like the other countries around the globe.  Three weeks later, it spent a week at No. 77 and six weeks total on the Hot 100.  Texas wouldn’t grace the BILLBOARD Hot 100 again.  They did,  however, have a following on college stations here in America, and “I Don’t Want A Lover” reached No. 11 on BILLBOARD’s Modern Rock chart.

The band’s disappointing chart performance in America didn’t deter the band; very much quite the opposite.  The band released two more albums in the early 90s, MOTHERS HEAVEN in 1991 and RICKS ROAD in 1993, but it wasn’t until 1997’s WHITE ON BLONDE that propelled the band into superstardom.  The album was the first of three consecutive No. 1 U.K. albums for Texas, and went six-times Platinum there.  It also gave them their biggest hit to date, the big Pop hit, “Say What You Want,” which reached No. 3 in 1997, while a Hip-Hop reworking in 1998 featuring Method Man and RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, “Say What You Want (All Day, Every Day),” reached No. 4.

Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man and Texas’s Sharleen Spiteri gracing the December 1997 cover of THE FACE magazine.

NERDY FUN FACT: Texas co-founder, vocalist and frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri was a hairdresser who was still cutting hair when Texas released SOUTHSIDE in 1989.

I have long-adored “I Want A Lover” and SOUTHSIDE.  I think it’s one of the best, solid debut albums ever for any genre.  Oddly enough, somehow after MOTHERS HEAVEN, I kinda lost touch with Texas and their music.  But writing this blog post makes me want to rediscover them again.  They truly are worth a listen.  You should definitely start with SOUTHSIDE though; it’s absolutely brilliant.

Since 1989, Texas has released nine studio albums, 38 singles, an EP, a live album and three compilations.  Their most recent studio album is 2017’s JUMP ON BOARD, a Top 10 album in the U.K. and France.

As of 2017, the band has sold over 40 million albums.  Not bad for a band that was a (real) one-hit wonder here in America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaMT5Fbc8UA

Texas in 1989, from L to R: bassist Johnny McElhone, vocalist and guitarist Sharleen Spiteri, guitarist Ally McErlaine, drummer and vocalist Stuart Kerr.

 

song of the day – “One Vision” | QUEEN | 1985 / 1986.

Today, 1.21.2019, is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the United States, an annual holiday to remember the life and legacy of the nonviolent activist, civil rights leader and American Baptist minister.  Cities and states across America started celebrating holidays to Dr. King (born on January 15, 1929) as early as 1971, three years after he was assassinated in Memphis.  He was just 39.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during his “We Shall Overcome” speech, 3.17.1966.

In 1983, Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law, and was first observed three years later, on January 20, 1986.  Not all states were on board at first, and it took 14 years for all 50 states to observe and recognize MLK Day as a federal holiday, with South Carolina being the last.

A couple of months before the first officially-recognized MLK holiday here in America, over in the U.K., Queen released the first single from their forthcoming twelfth studio album, A KIND OF MAGIC: “One Vision,” a song either inspired by their triumphant performance at Live Aid four months earlier, or inspired by Dr. King, and the extraordinary things he did in his far-too-short lifetime.  I’d say “One Vision” was truly inspired by both.

Thanks to the film BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY and the phenomenal award-winning performance by Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, Queen had an incredible year in 2018.  Queen was everywhere from commercials to sporting events to the BILLBOARD Album chart, where the soundtrack to BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY reached No. 3, and to the BILLBOARD Rock Songs chart, where 10 songs from the soundtrack made appearances for (at least) the first time.  Several songs even reached the Top 5 on that chart: “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Another One Bites The Dust,” “Somebody To Love,” and outside the soundtrack, seven other songs charted as well, including “We Will Rock You” and “Don’t Stop Me Now” reaching the Top 10.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY gave more insight on how they came to play at Live Aid.  The band wasn’t interested in performing at first, as they had just come off an extensive Spring 1985 tour for their 1984 album, THE WORKS.  But, at almost the last minute (the band wasn’t even listed on the Live Aid poster), Queen was finally convinced by Live Aid co-organizer and Boomtown Rats singer / songwriter, Bob Geldof to perform. 

Queen’s Freddie Mercury, embracing the Live Aid crowd at Wembley Stadium, 7.13.1985.

Their 21-minute, six-song set not only breathed new life and inspiration into the band, it was hailed by many as the greatest performance in the history of Rock and Roll.  I also believe Queen’s late entry into Live Aid was the reason Howard Jones performed only song at Live Aid — “Hide And Seek” — on Freddie Mercury’s Steinway grand piano.  I’m sure HoJo was more than happy to oblige and so very happy to be involved with the event.

Howard Jones, performing at Live Aid, 7.13.1985, on Freddie Mercury’s Steinway grand piano.

Howard Jones, performing “Hide And Seek” at Live Aid.

There are many Queen classics solely written by one or two members of the band, but “One Vision” was credited to all of them; the band as a whole.  That’s the way they wanted it.  And it paid off.

The album, A KIND OF MAGIC, wasn’t even finished when “One Vision” was released in November 1985 (and wouldn’t be released until June 1986).  “One Vision” was well-received in the U.K. and Ireland, reaching Nos. 7 and 5, respectively, and reached the Top 40 in at least six other countries around the globe, as well as the BILLBOARD Rock chart.  On the BILLBOARD Hot 100, it debuted in early December 1985, but stalled for a couple of weeks at No. 61 in mid-January 1986 and was on the chart for just 10 weeks.  The song was also featured in the film, IRON EAGLE, starring Louis Gossett, Jr.

“One Vision” may not be one of Queen’s most-remembered hits, but thanks to Live Aid, it gave the band the renewed energy to head back into the studio for the first time in about two years, record and release “One Vision” before the end of the year (guitarist Brian May is even sporting his Live Aid T-shirt in the song’s video).  And, in the process, Queen’s vision was back on track, and at the same time, they were able to pay tribute to the great Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision, in their own way…

The MLK Memorial, Washington, D.C.

“I had a dream / When I was young / A dream of sweet illusion / A glimpse of hope and unity / And visions of one sweet union / But a cold wind blows / And a dark rain falls / And in my heart it shows / Look what they’ve done to my dream, yeah…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OGd4gplxQM

Queen, L to R: Roger Taylor, Brian May, Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, for Live Aid, 7.13.1985.

xmas song of the day – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” | BAND AID | 1984 / 1985.

Happy Holidays!  Since it’s the first year of my blog, and since it’s the last year for my Annual Holiday Show on my little 20-year-old 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine), I wanted to present to you THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS, or, 31 of my favorite 80s holiday musical treats.

The song for Day 30 of THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS is prolly the biggest holiday song of my generation, written and spearheaded by Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats and Midge Ure of Ultravox, in response to the TV reports of famine in Ethiopia – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid.

Bob and Midge first got together about this project in early November 1984, and knew they had a limited time frame to work with, if they wanted to get the song ready for the holiday.  They put the song together, and then started recruiting many of the biggest recording stars in the U.K. and Ireland at the time (save for Chicago’s Jody Watley and Jersey City’s Kool & The Gang, who happened to be on the same record label as The Boomtown Rats and who happened to be in there when Bob Geldof pitched the idea to the label). 

Bob Geldof (in his “Feed The World” T-shirt) and Midge Ure.

They then asked famed producer Trevor Horn (Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Art Of Noise) if he would produce, but he told Bob and Midge that he would need at least six weeks to do it, which wouldn’t get the record ready in time for Xmas.  Though Trevor Horn wasn’t able to produce the original single, he did offer a studio for them to use free of charge for 24 hours on Sunday, November 25, 1984, and he later produced and remixed the 12” single for a 1985 re-release.

Nearly 40 recording artists, including members of Duran Duran, U2, Culture Club, The Boomtown Rats, Bananarama, Spandau Ballet, Ultravox and Status Quo, as well as folks like Sting, Paul Young, George Michael, Phil Collins (who played drums on the song) and Paul Weller of The Style Council, participated on the benefit record.  Artists who weren’t able to be there but who sent in recorded messages were David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Big Country.  These messages were included on the single’s B-side and as part of the 12” extended mix.

It took only a week after recording ended to release “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”  The single had 250,000 advance orders and that number swelled to a million less than a week after its release.  Phonogram (who put out the single in the U.K.) had all five of its European factories working on pressing that one single to help meet demand.

On December 15, 1984, just 12 days after its release, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” spent the first of its five weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart.  It was the fastest-selling single in U.K. chart history and sold three million copies in the U.K. alone by the end of 1984.  Until Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997” 13 years later, it was the biggest-selling single of all-time in the U.K.

Around the globe, the response to “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was phenomenal.  It also reached No. 1 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Over here in the U.S., the video for “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was played often throughout the holiday season on MTV, and the single was released on December 10, 1984 on Columbia Records.  A few days before Xmas, it debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 at No. 65.  For the first chart in 1985, it shot up to No. 20.  But, despite the fact it was outselling Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” (the No. 1 single then) by a four-to-one margin (selling nearly two million copies in its first eleven days of release), the lack of airplay prevented it from charting any higher than No. 13.  It was gone from the Hot 100 after just nine weeks, departing in mid-February.

Bob Geldof had hoped “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” would raise £70,000 for Ethiopia, but instead, it raised £8 million within a year of its release.  And the support of the Ethiopian famine relief didn’t stop there. 

In early March 1985, (mostly) American recording artists teamed up as USA For Africa for the “We Are The World” single and album.  Canadian artists banded together as Northern Lights for “Tears Are Not Enough.”  The LIVE AID concert on July 13, 1985 brought musicians and fans together in London, Philadelphia and around the globe to raise money for famine relief.

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was re-recorded three times – in 1989, 2004 and 2014 – all three re-recordings reached No. 1 in the U.K. and all were charity records for Africa (the 1989 and 2004 versions went to famine relief, while the 2014 version raised money for the Ebola crisis in West Africa).

For this Xmas (and always), of course, the best gift I’d love to get is peace, love and understanding, especially for my wealth of family and friends.  I’d also love to see more support for those less fortunate than you or I.  On the 12” single for “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” David Bowie puts out a plea for support: “It’s Christmas 1984, and there are more starving folk on the planet than ever before.  Please give a thought for them this season and do whatever you can, however small, to help them live.  Have a peaceful New Year.” 

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (especially the 12” extended mix) will always have a special place in my heart.  And from that 12” single, David Bowie’s plea, 32 years later, still resonates to this day. 

In Maine, there are so many folks in need – of food, heat, medicine, shelter, and affordable health care, for starters.  I’m sure it’s like that all over the US of A, and all over the world.  2016 has been a particularly rough year for a lot of reasons, and I do hope and pray that 2017 will be a peaceful New Year.  But first, Happy Xmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you choose to celebrate, if anything – be safe, have fun and do what you can to help those who won’t have much of either this holiday season…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc8TYsYb5i0

xmas song of the day – “Last Christmas” | WHAM! | 1984.

Happy Holidays!  Since it’s the first year of my blog, and since it’s the last year for my Annual Holiday Show on my little 20-year-old 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine), I wanted to present to you THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS, or, 31 of my favorite 80s holiday musical treats.

The song for Day 2 of the 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS is a longtime guilty pleasure for me, and remains as one of the most popular holiday songs since its release in 1984: “Last Christmas” by Wham!

Wham! had a huge year in 1984, not just in their U.K. homeland, but worldwide, and upon its U.K. release (as a double A-sided single with “Everything She Wants”), “Last Christmas” was in the running for the coveted “Christmas No. 1 single” on the U.K. singles chart with Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “The Power Of Love” (from their brilliant double album debut, WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME). 

Well, on December 8, 1984, two days before “Last Christmas” was released, “The Power Of Love” did reach the No. 1 spot in the U.K., but I don’t think either act could have anticipated the reach of Bob Geldof (of The Boomtown Rats) and Midge Ure (of Ultravox), and Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, the benefit record they wrote and put together to fight famine in Ethiopia. 

With the help of many (mostly) British recording artists (including George Michael of Wham!; and on the 12” remix in a spoken word message, Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes To Hollywood), “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” not only became that coveted “Christmas No. 1” for 1984, it stayed at No. 1 in the U.K. for five weeks and became the biggest-selling single for the entire 1980s, and was the U.K.’s biggest-selling single of all-time through 1997, when Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997” claimed the title.

As much as George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley would have liked to see their “Last Christmas” be the “Christmas No. 1” in the U.K. for Xmas 1984, I’m betting they were more than okay settling for No. 2 behind “Do They Know It’s Christmas?’

On a related note, all money and royalties received for the “Last Christmas” / “Everything She Wants” single went to the Ethiopian famine relief effort.  Over the years, “Last Christmas” returned to the U.K. singles chart (between 1986 and 2015) eleven more times, reaching No. 6 in 1986, No. 14 in 2007 and No. 18 in 2015.  As of June 2016, “Last Christmas” has sold 1.8 million singles in the U.K. alone, and is the biggest-selling single in the U.K. to not reach No. 1.

Though not a hit here in North America upon its release (their first U.S. Top 40 hit, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” had finished its 3-week stay at No. 1 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 a week before the release of “Last Christmas”), it was a hit around the globe, reaching No. 2 in Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Norway and Sweden, No. 3 in Australia, Denmark, Finland and Greece, No. 4 in Austria and Germany (where it spent a whopping 88 weeks on the chart!), No. 6 in Switzerland, No. 8 in Poland and No. 9 in Spain.

FUNNY TRUE STORY:  This, um, last Christmas (Xmas 2015), an Austrian radio DJ was disciplined when he intentionally played “Last Christmas” 24 times in a row.  The guy barricaded himself in the studio, away from his co-host and producers so they couldn’t change the song.  If he played the Pudding Mix of the song, which is 6-and-a-half minutes long, for example, those radio listeners heard 2-and-a-half hours of “Last Christmas” back  to back to back.  Good times.  This marathon-of-sorts started at 8:00am and stopped a couple hours later when the DJ’s four-year-old daughter called to complain.  Can’t please everybody.  As a result of his little stunt, this DJ had to work Christmas and New Year’s Eve. 

Since its release, “Last Christmas” has been covered dozens of times, from the likes of Coldplay, The Puppini Sisters, the GLEE cast, Savage Garden, Manic Street Preachers, Carly Rae Jepsen, Arctic Monkeys, Metro Station, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Richard Cheese, whose version is more of a parody.  From his 2006 album, SILENT NIGHTCLUB, his 20-second cover begins “somewhat” normal, but ten seconds in, he says, “We were gonna do a swingin’ lounge version of ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham!, but that song sucks.  Next tune!” 

While I do consider “Last Christmas” to be a longtime guilty pleasure, my tolerance level for the song is way better than that of Richard Cheese.  I’ve often played it on my annual holiday shows, and may play it one more time, for this “Last Christmas” show…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI

song of the day – “July 13th 1985” | JOHN WESLEY HARDING | 1988.

Today marks the 31st Anniversary of LIVE AID, the 1985 worldwide concert event to raise funds to help the famine in Ethiopa. 

The U.K. poster for LIVE AID…

I don’t have many regrets in my life, but one I have was not going to Philadelphia to see the U.S. portion of the concert event.  Yeah, it would have been amazing to be there – I was just out of high school, healthy, I could have handled standing up for hours on end in the insane heat, I could have been there with a couple of friends, but, it is what it is.  Now, if Doc Brown really does have a time machine somewhere in the form of a DeLorean hanging around, sure as sure I’d be there in a hot second (or as long as it takes to get up to 88 MPH), and I’d see both the U.K. and U.S. portions of LIVE AID, but in reality, I did get to watch it on TV and I do have the DVD, so at least I have that.

On November 5, 1988, 3 years and 3 1/2 months after LIVE AID, British Alt-Folk singer / songwriter John Wesley Harding recorded a live solo show with just him and his guitar in West London, and it ended up being his first album, titled, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT.

From that album was a brilliant, fun little ditty about Bob Geldof and LIVE AID, titled “July 13th 1985.”  He dedicated the song to “Mr. Liberal X, who videotaped LIVE AID so he could watch the edited highlights at Christmas and didn’t have to feel guilty about not giving money.” 

“July the 13th 1985 was the day we watched LIVE AID / The Global Jukebox came alive / We fed the world that day / Yeah, we fed the world that day…”

Wes is one of those rare breeds of recording artists who, without pretty much any difficulty, can whip up these incredibly smart, sharp lyrics that make you think.  And enjoy.  And enjoy some more.  (“Well, the powerful voice of pop music, solve the problems, feed the world / So what if there weren’t any blacks involved, there was Everything but the Girl…”)

Sure, Wes was poking fun at “Saint Bob,” Paul McCartney’s microphone failing, and even “that great Cars song, ‘Drive’.”  But, as much as I really enjoyed LIVE AID, to quote “July 13th 1985” itself, the song is “fucking brilliant” and so right on it’s freakier than Joe Piscopo introducing Rick Springfield, Run-D.M.C. and Simple Minds at the Philadelphia concert.

The artist formerly known as John Wesley Harding is back to using his given name, Wesley Stace.  Since 1988’s IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, Wes has released (at least) 3 EPs and 17 albums, most-recently with 2013’s SELF-TITLED.  He’s also written four novels, including 2014’s WONDERKID. 

When he isn’t making music or writing novels, Wes is also a university teacher (at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA), and tonight, you’ll prolly find him singing this song where he’s performing in nearby Chestnut Hill, PA. 

Wes makes his home in America these days, so one day I hope I get to see him perform and maybe he’ll even dig up this gem of a song he wrote about the concert of my generation…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmgF4ElzP9A