song of the day – “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money)” | PET SHOP BOYS | 1986.

One of the first things I learned about WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine when I started my little 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s, there in 1996 was the Begathon.  WMPG gets approximately 1/3 of its funding from the University of Southern Maine, approximately 1/3 from underwriting, and approximately 1/3 from listener donations.  A large chunk of the latter comes from the Begathon.  What started out as a 2-week pledge drive in which volunteer radio hosts would “beg” to raise money for the station is now split up into two 1-week pledge drives, one in the Spring and one in the Fall.  It’s come a long way since my first Begathon in the Fall of 1996.  My very last Begathon for WMPG will be on Sunday, 9.25.2016.

One of my favorite “money” songs (at any time of year) is the second worldwide single for London’s Pet Shop Boys – “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money).”  From their debut album, PLEASE, “Opportunities” was the follow-up to their global No. 1 hit, “West End Girls.”

“Opportunities” was written and recorded in 1983, before their big break a couple years later.  The re-recorded version (for PLEASE) was produced by super-producer (and Portland, Maine native) Stephen Hague. It debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in late May 1986, when “West End Girls” was still in the Top 15.  “Opportunities” would go on to spend a week at No. 10 in early August 1986.  It was the band’s second of five Top 10 hits in America.

From the original video for “Opportunities.”

Around the globe, “Opportunities” reached No. 2 in New Zealand, No. 3 on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart, and the Top 20 in the U.K., Ireland and Spain.  There were two videos for the song.  The first version (included in the link below) is my favorite of the two, is a bit haunting and darker, and features the song’s original spoken outro ending: “All the love that we had / And the love that we hide / Who will bury us / When we die?” 

The second video version of “Opportunities” was directed by renowned Polish director,  Zbigniew Rybczyński (and MTV Video Vanguard recipient), who has directed memorable videos like “Close (To The Edit)” by The Art Of Noise, “The Original Wrapper” by Lou Reed, “Time Stand Still” by Rush (featuring Aimee Mann of ’til Tuesday), and Simple Minds’ “Alive And Kicking” and “All The Things She Said”(the latter of which used a technique that was used again in the second “Opportunities” video, where Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe appear duplicated over and over, passing to each other symbols of different statuses they represent, like a top hat, a trophy, a brick, and a sledgehammer).

From the second video for “Opportunities.”

“Opportunities” might not be as well-remembered as other Pet Shop Boys hits like “West End Girls,” “Always On My Mind” or “It’s A Sin,” but I’ve loved this song since the first time I heard it.  If you need a refresher, take this, um, opportunity and check out the video link below.  I can’t guaRONtee you’ll make lots of money, but I hope you’ll enjoy it just the same…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di60NYGu03Y

song of the day – “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” | a-ha | 1986.

Over the course of the 20 years I’ve been on the air with my little 80s radio show, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG-FM community radio in Portland, Maine), I’ve advocated for those many recording acts who had the one big hit in America and continue to be labeled as “one-hit wonders,” though they had more than one chart hit on the BILLBOARD Hot 100. 

There were nearly 500 artists during the Fall of 1979 through the end of 1989 who really did hit the Hot 100 only the one time.  I call them “(real) one-hit wonders of the 80s,” and I like to try and feature one every week on the blog. 

There are several recording artists remembered for the “one BIG hit” here in the U.S. who actually had more than one Top 40 hit on the Hot 100 and are STILL considered one-hit wonders (thanks to folks like VH1), including Eddy Grant, The Outfield, John Waite, Information Society (who had 2 Top 10 hits), General Public, Quarterflash, ’til Tuesday, Neneh Cherry (another artist with 2 Top 10 hits) and the Oslo, Norway band, a-ha. 

Vocalist Morten Harket, keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and guitarist Pål Waaktaar-Savoy formed a-ha in 1982, and on their first album, 1985’s HUNTING HIGH AND LOW, and their second attempt at making the song “Take On Me” into a hit, their lives as they knew it would never be the same again.  “Take On Me” was a massive hit in Norway and beyond, reaching No. 1 in 10 countries worldwide (including the U.S.), and the Top 10 in another 8 countries, and parent album, HUNTING HIGH AND LOW, was a global hit as well.

I adore “Take On Me” and its sensational and creative video, and have for many years, but it was the follow-up single, “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.,” that made a-ha a part of my life for all-time.

“The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” was the third single overall released from HUNTING HIGH AND LOW, but the second single from the album released worldwide.  It made its way onto the BILLBOARD Hot 100 the end of November 1985 and debuted in the Top 40 in January 1986.  It climbed steadily until pausing at No. 20 for a week in late February 1986, and spent 17 weeks on the chart.  The trio would make one more appearance on the Hot 100, with 1986’s “Cry Wolf,” which reached No. 50.

Though I was disappointed in the Stateside chart performance of “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.,” I took comfort in the fact it was well-received around the world, reaching the Top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the BILLBOARD Dance chart.  In Ireland and the U.K., where “Take On Me” had stopped at No. 2, “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” reached No. 1 in both of those countries, which was indeed validating, not only for the band, but also for my love of the song.

The video for “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” starts as a epilogue to the “Take On Me” video, where an animated Morten Harket realizes he can’t stay in the world of his young love interest, and heads back to the comic book world where he came from.  The video then turns into an impressive performance piece, set in a former English Gothic church (still owned by the Church of England), loaded with very interesting European mannequins (which are WAY different than your run-of-the-mill American mannequins).

The editing of this video is magnificent.  Just setting up the hundreds of mannequins in the church as an orchestra, chorus, and patrons must have taken many hours if not days.  Also validating in my love for this song and its video is that, in a year where “Take On Me” won 6 MTV Video Music Awards, the video for “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” deservedly won the band 2 more: Best Editing and Best Cinematography.  It remains as one of my all-time favorite videos.

a-ha is still around today, and in their native Norway, every studio album they released between 1985 and 2005 reached No. 1 on the Norway album chart.  And, their most recent albums, 2009’s FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN, and 2015’s CAST IN STEEL, reached No. 2. 

I know everyone has their own opinions on what or what not constitutes an artist being a one-hit wonder.  American radio stations, DJs and venues like VH1 have a stranglehold on which songs they think people should remember over others.  Luckily, WMPG is not one of those stations, and I sure as hell am not one of those DJs.  Yes, I realize there is a whole other world going on that has much more important issues than whether or not someone was a one-hit wonder.  But, in the world in which I live and breathe every day of my life – the 80s music world – a-ha is NOT a one-hit wonder.  And “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” is my proof…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ir9HC9vYg

song of the day – “The Other End (Of The Telescope)” | ’TIL TUESDAY with ELVIS COSTELLO | 1988.

It’s an oft-told music tale – a recording artist has a vast body of work, but only remembered for those one or two big hits.  Beck comes to mind, as does Radiohead, Beastie Boys and the Boston-based band, ’til Tuesday, led by the sensationally-talented Aimee Mann.

’til Tuesday released 3 albums between 1985 and 1988 – VOICES CARRY (1985), featuring the BILLBOARD Hot 100 Top 10 title track (and aforementioned “big hit”), WELCOME HOME (1986), featuring the Top 40 hit, “What About Love?” and the underrated excellent follow-up, “Coming Up Close,” and their last album, 1988’s EVERYTHING’S DIFFERENT NOW, whose title perhaps was a sign of things to come for the band.  Actually, though, it more likely put a period at the end of the relationship between Aimee Mann and singer / songwriter Jules Shear, though Aimee Mann claims that not all the songs on the album were about the relationship.

One of the highlights on EVERYTHING’s DIFFERENT NOW was a collaboration between ’Til Tuesday and Elvis Costello – “The Other End (Of The Telescope).”  Aimee Mann and Elvis Costello (under his real name, Declan MacManus) co-wrote the song, and I’m betting it wasn’t about Aimee’s relationship with Jules Shear, though there’s clearly some heavy-duty relationship hope and bitterness in there (if that makes any sense).

In 1996, Elvis Costello re-worked and re-recorded “The Other End (Of The Telescope)” for his 17th album, ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY.

Since the 1988 breakup of ’Til Tuesday, Aimee Mann has had a successful solo career, which has included 8 studio albums, a live album, her marriage to singer / songwriter Michael Penn, and an Academy Award nomination for “Save Me,” from the 1999 film, MAGNOLIA. 

Aimee Mann & Michael Penn, 2015.

Always had a lot of respect for Aimee Mann, and even had the pleasure of meeting her after a Portland, Maine show, in support of her 2002 LOST IN SPACE album.  I hope she begins work on a new album soon, and it’s my continued hope that people will take that look at the other end (of the ’Til Tuesday telescope) and realize that Aimee and the band had some really great music in the short time they were together, music that goes way beyond those carrying voices… 

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

wouldn’t it be good.

To borrow from Nik Kershaw’s 1984 gem of a song, wouldn’t it be good to be on your side (or my side) of the subject of one-hit wonders?  What do you think of when you think of a one-hit wonder?  You think of a band or a singer who had one big hit, and that’s it, right?  What 80s one-hit wonders come to mind right away for you?  a-ha?  Falco?  Men Without Hats?  Eddy Grant?  Information Society?  The Outfield?  ’til Tuesday?  Madness?  For the record (no pun intended), NONE of these acts were one-hit wonders here in America.  In fact, every one of the acts listed above had multiple Top 40 hits, and in some cases, multiple Top 20 hits on the BILLBOARD Hot 100. 

Well, if you’re surprised that the artists listed above had more than one hit, don’t blame yourself; most people feel that way.  It’s not at the fault of the people, it’s radio stations and media outlets like VH1 who, over the years, “determine” what songs are the ones worth remembering, and what songs get left behind, despite what imprint they may have left on the singles chart.  And I love radio.  

In 2009, VH1 did a show on the “Greatest One-Hit Wonders Of The 80s,” and I responded with a show on STUCK IN THE 80s, titled “Why I Wasn’t A One-Hit Wonder,” featuring hits by artists listed above and other artists who appeared on VH1’s list like Thomas Dolby, John Waite, Devo, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, A Flock Of Seagulls and Dead Or Alive.  I don’t know who put this bullshit list together for VH1, but if I recall, nearly 75% of the list was inaccurate.

Later that year, in advance of their first Portland, Maine show, I had the amazing opportunity to interview Dave Wakeling, the voice and force behind The English Beat and General Public.  Knowing General Public had more than one hit (“Tenderness” in 1984 and their brilliant cover of The Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There” in 1993), I had played “I’ll Take You There” on my “Why I Wasn’t A One-Hit Wonder” show, and asked Dave if it bothered him that General Public, according to VH1, was referred to as a one-hit wonder (“Tenderness” was No. 77 on the list):

“[VH1] asked me to be involved in that, and I sent them a list of [our] hits, and I was like, ‘Sadly, we can’t be involved in a one-hit wonder [show], can we?’  So, I told him that I thought they were barking up the wrong tree, and beating a dead horse, and it seems to be something, I think it stems more from VH1 than anything else, to try and marginalize or even ridicule the 80s somehow, and most of the people working on those damn programs weren’t even there; with their young sarcastic tones.  I put the guy in his place, frankly.  And, I said, ‘Even if I was a one-hit wonder, it’d be one more than you, mate, wouldn’t it?!’  Or, as my dad used to say, ‘Better to have been a has been than a never-bleeding wozzer!’”

Between late 1979 and the end of 1989, there were nearly 500 (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s.  Once a week, prolly on Mondays, I’ll feature a (real) one-hit wonder of the week.  For me, being the chart nerd I am (I have warned you of this), a (real) one-hit wonder was a artist that reached the BILLBOARD Hot 100 just one time, whether it was a No. 1 hit, like M’s “Pop Muzik,” a Top 10 hit like Soft Cell’s cover of “Tainted Love,” a Top 40 hit like Laid Back’s “White Horse,” or a song that just squeaked into the Hot 100 at No. 96, like “The Only Way Is Up,” by Yazz & The Plastic Population, a song that actually spent 5 weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom.  And with nearly 500 (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s (including the aforementioned Nik Kershaw), I could do this as a weekly feature for many years to come.  Stay tuned…