song of the day – “It Must Be Love” | MADNESS | 1983.

When it comes to music, anyone who’s known me for any period of time knows my love for terrestrial radio, 80s music and my stance on (real) one-hit wonders.  Being a singles chart nerd here in America for 40 years (most of my life), I classify a (real) one-hit wonder as an act who has reached the BILLBOARD Hot 100 only once.  Throughout the three-and-a-half year history of this blog, I’ve often featured (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s, and I’ll feature another one soon.  There were nearly 500 of them; it will take awhile. 

But, as much as I’ve loved radio for the past 40 years, there are aspects of radio I’ve never cared for.  As outlined in one of my very first blog posts back in 2016 (“wouldn’t it be good,” after the 1984 song by (real) one-hit wonder, Nik Kershaw, https://foreveryoung80s.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/wouldnt-it-be-good/), I hit upon this very subject of radio stations and media outlets like VH1 “determining” what songs are worth remembering, and what songs get left behind, despite any imprint the songs that got left behind may have had on the singles chart.

10 years ago, VH1 did a bullshit show on the “Greatest One-Hit Wonders Of The 80s,” and if memory serves me right, nearly 75% of the list was inaccurate.  In response to this list, I put together a show called “Why I Wasn’t A One-Hit Wonder” on my STUCK IN THE 80s radio program. 

Not long after my “Why I Wasn’t A One-Hit Wonder” program aired in October 2009, I had the honor of interviewing the voice of The English Beat and General Public, Dave Wakeling (whose hit 1993 cover of The Staples Singers’ “I’ll Take You There” appeared on the show), we talked about this very topic, and I asked Dave if it bothered him that General Public, according to VH1, was referred to as a one-hit wonder (General Public was ranked No. 77 on VH1’s list, because of “Tenderness”):

“[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!’”

My god, I love sharing that story.  It’s fucking beautiful, and it’s nice to know there are artists like Dave Wakeling who appreciate similar views of what does and does not determine a (real) one-hit wonder.  I imagine Barry Scott, legendary host of the long-running radio show, THE LOST 45s, would tend to agree.

Take another successful British act, Madness (on that 2009 VH1 list at No. 28, with “Our House”).  Between 1979 and 2008, the Ska/Popsters hailing from the Camden Town part of London) reached the Top 40 of the U.K. singles chart 29 times with 26 songs, with 15 songs reaching the Top 10 (one of them in two different chart runs; I’ll come onto that in a bit), and one No. 1 song – “House Of Fun,” which spent two weeks at No. 1 in the Spring of 1982.

Over here in America, Madness wasn’t as popular, but still managed to hit the BILLBOARD Hot 100 three times: “Our House,” which went to No. 7 in the Summer of 1983, “It Must Be Love,” and “The Sun And The Rain,” which reached No. 72 in early 1984.  In fact, “Our House” was part of a chart-setting record on the BILLBOARD Hot 100.  On the chart dated July 16, 1983, British acts shattered an 18-year-old record, by placing HALF of the Top 40 songs on the Hot 100 that week (the original 1965 record was 14).  And, out of those 20 songs on that July 16, 1983 chart, seven of the Top 10 songs that week were by Brits.  “Our House” was No. 8.  Absolutely impressive.  The Second British Invasion was in full swing, and Madness was a part of that.

The original 1981 U.K. single release of “It Must Be Love.”

In late November 1981, Madness (then featuring seven members) released a gorgeous stand-alone single called “It Must Be Love,” which later appeared on their No. 1 U.K. compilation, COMPLETE MADNESS, in April 1982.  “It Must Be Love” is actually a cover of a soulful, mainly-acoustic Pop song by British singer / songwriter / musician / poet, Labi Siffre.  It reached No. 14 in the U.K. in 1971.

10 years after the original, the Madness version of “It Must Be Love” reached No. 4 on the U.K. singles chart, becoming their eighth-consecutive Top 10 hit there.  In 1983, in an attempt to get the U.S. further interested in Madness after the No. 7 Hot 100 success of “Our House,” Geffen Records released a compilation with some of their more popular U.K. songs released from 1979 through 1982 (oddly enough, one of their most-famous songs, “One Step Beyond…” was not represented).  Though the compilation was well-reviewed, had some success on the BILLBOARD album chart, and I happily bought the album, it sadly did not have the effect the band was hoping for.

However, the success of “Our House” in America did not stop the success of Madness here.  While still in the Top 40 with “Our House,” “It Must Be Love” debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in late August 1983 at No. 85.  About a month later, “It Must Be Love” became the second American Top 40 single by Madness.  It spent five weeks in the Top 40, peaking at No. 33 for two of those weeks in October 1983.  Madness would reach the Hot 100 one more time, in early 1984 with the aforementioned “The Sun And The Rain.” 

Back in the U.K., Madness continued to be successful, so much so in fact that their 1992 compilation album, DIVINE MADNESS, also reached No. 1 on the U.K. album chart, and got the band back together after a six-year break.  It also brought back reissues of three of their Top 10 hits, the most-successful reissue being “It Must Be Love,” which this time reached No. 6 on the U.K. singles chart 11 years after the original release hit No. 4.

The 1992 U.K. reissue of “It Must Be Love,” featuring a still from the music video on the cover.

Formed in 1976, Madness is still together today, with their 12th studio album, CAN’T TOUCH US NOW, released in October 2016, and their most-recent compilation, 2017’s FULL HOUSE: THE VERY BEST OF MADNESS.  Both albums were certified Silver in the U.K.

The full album cover art for 2016’s CAN’T TOUCH US NOW.

Maryhope and I have loved Madness for a long time, with “It Must Be Love” a lovely favorite we treasure.  And though the last time I heard “It Must Be Love” on terrestrial radio was either on my WMPG radio show or Maryhope’s, I’d like to think that it’s being played somewhere on the dial where Madness is not regarded as an American one-hit wonder.  And if there is such a place like that in America which exists besides the community radio confines of Portland, Maine, well, it must be love, right?

The cover art for the U.S. release of “It Must Be Love.”

“As soon as I wake up / Every night, every day / I know that it’s you I need / To take the blues away / It must be love, love, love / It must be love, love, love / Nothing more, nothing less / Love is the best…”

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

Madness, 1983.

song of the day – “Rock Me Amadeus” | FALCO | 1986.

Through the course of music history, not many foreign-language songs have reached No. 1 here in America.  In fact, from the inception of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in August 1958 through today, out of the 1,061 songs that have reached No. 1, only six (6) songs in a foreign language have reached the top of the U.S. singles chart: “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare),” Domenico Modugno (Italian; 1958); “Sukiyaki,” Kyu Sakamoto (Japanese; 1963); “Dominique,” The Singing Nun (French; 1963); “Rock Me Amadeus,” Falco (English / German, 1986); “La Bamba,” Los Lobos (Spanish; 1987); and, currently the seventh-biggest song of all-time on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (whether you like it or not), “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” by Los del Río (English / Spanish, 1996 for 14 weeks).

From that handful of No. 1 foreign-language hits on the Hot 100, on this date (3.29) in 1986, Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus” started its three-week stay at No. 1.  The late, great Vienna, Austria-born singer / songwriter / rapper had charted on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart, when his 1981 original version of “Der Kommissar” (a No. 5 Hot 100 hit for British group After The Fire in 1983) peaked at No. 10. 

But, despite the global success of “Der Kommissar” (it was Italy’s No. 1 song for all of 1982), and the release of several other singles between 1981 and 1984, Falco did not have any luck on the American singles chart.

Well, that all changed when, in June 1985, Falco released his tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – “Rock Me Amadeus” – inspired by the Academy Award-winning film from the year before, AMADEUS.

The cover for the American version of FALCO 3.

“Rock Me Amadeus” was originally recorded in Falco’s native German language.  A number of English / German language versions were recorded, with my favorite versions being the four-minute “Canadian Edit” and the eight-minute “Saleri Mix,” found on the original American version of the album, FALCO 3, which gave you a history lesson-of-sorts on all things Amadeus:

1756: Salzburg, January 27, Wolfgang Amadeus is born.

1761: At the age of 5 Amadeus begins composing.

1773: He writes his first piano concerto.

1782: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart marries Constanze Weber.

1784: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart becomes a Freemason.

1791: Mozart composes The Magic Flute.

On December 5 of that same year, Mozart dies.

1985: Austrian rock singer Falco records “Rock Me Amadeus”

Falco (sort of) channeling Mozart for the music video of “Rock Me Amadeus.”

The music video for “Rock Me Amadeus” featured the all-German version of the song, and the video blended mid-1980s style with 18th Century style.  (I’m almost sure that Mozart did not ride an 80s motorcycle.  But, it did look like Falco and Co. were having a fun time!)

“Rock Me Amadeus” was a massive global hit in both 1985 and 1986, reaching No. 1 in Austria, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the U.K., No. 2 in Belgium, Canada, Holland, Italy and Switzerland, No. 6 in Norway and No. 15 in Australia. 

The American version of the 12″ single for “Rock Me Amadeus.”

Sadly, Falco is oft-labeled as a one-hit wonder here in America, led by folks like VH1, where Falco and “Rock Me Amadeus” appeared on their early 00s bullshit list of “VH1’s 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders.”  I’ve actually brought this very subject up in one of my first blog posts in 2016.  I get it.  Radio stations want you to conform to remembering just the one big hit, even if they had more than one.  They don’t want you to remember that Falco actually did reach the Top 20 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 one more time, when the cool “Vienna Calling” peaked at No. 18 in June 1986.  So, technically, here in America, Falco was a TWO-HIT wonder.

After “Vienna Calling” reached the Top 10 in at least seven countries around the globe, Falco’s global music career held on for a couple more years, with “Jeanny” (the third single from FALCO 3), reaching No. 1 in at least five countries.  In 1987, Falco even teamed up with actress Brigitte Nielsen for a No. 1 song in New Zealand – “Body Next To Body.”

Between 1988 and 1998, Falco continued to chart songs in some European countries, but in his home country of Austria, he was music royalty.  And, I think, in a way, he still is.  Just 13 days before he turned 41, Falco, on a trip in the Dominican Republic, died when his car collided with a bus.  It was revealed he was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine at the time.  When my late, great friend and world traveler, Adam Towne (who also passed away far too early; from cancer), visited Vienna back in 2009, he photographed Falco’s grave (located in Vienna’s Central Cemetery) for me, knowing I wouldn’t think of it as morbid, but that I would appreciate the sentiment.  I still do.

One of my favorite versions of “Rock Me Amadeus” is the symphonic version from the album and DVD appropriately-titled, SYMPHONIC.  It was recorded live in 1994 with the Wiener Neustadt orchestra, and was released nearly 10 years to the day after his death, and of course, it went to straight to No. 1 in Austria. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8niNHOs_kU

Maybe some folks reading this thought of “Rock Me Amadeus” (and maybe even Falco himself) as a novelty, but I think “Rock Me Amadeus” was not only a pretty cool music history lesson set to a drum-machine beat, but it was just a downright fun song. 

I know at the time of his death, he was planning a comeback, but at the very least, his legacy lives on, and despite what some folks (like VH1) say, I’ll never think of Falco as a one-hit wonder, mainly because, well, he wasn’t.  And, like in the English translation of “Rock Me Amadeus,” Falco “was a superstar, he was dynamite and whatever he did seemed to be alright…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVikZ8Oe_XA

song of the day – “Save It For Later” | THE ENGLISH BEAT | 1982.

If my math is correct, tonight (9.7.2016) will mark the seventh time I’ve seen The English Beat perform in Portland, Maine since they started coming here a week after my interview with Dave Wakeling in November 2009.  I’ve never seen a recording act perform as many times.  It’s funny, because I never saw The English Beat (let alone knew about them) when they were around in the late 70s and early 80s.  Now, I couldn’t imagine being without their music and not seeing them every chance I get.  Last year was the only time I’ve missed their Portland show, and that’s only because I found out about it too late.

The English Beat (as they are known here in America) started out in Birmingham, England in 1978, as a New Wave / Ska band, but with a marriage of Pop, Soul, Punk and Reggae.  Pretty impressive.  The band was well-represented with the wonderful Dave Wakeling (vocals and guitar), Ranking Roger (vocals), Andy Cox (guitar), David Steele (bass), Everett Morton (drums) and Saxa (real name Lionel Augustus Martin) on, of course, saxophone.

Oddly enough, there’s been more compilation albums released with The English Beat’s music than actual studio albums, but I tell you, all of their original studio albums – 1980’s brilliant I JUST CAN’T STOP IT, 1981’s WHA’HAPPEN? and 1982’s SPECIAL BEAT SERVICE – are all pretty damn special.

I can’t remember if it was the 1997 John Cusack film, GROSSE POINTE BLANK (with “Mirror In The Bathroom” featured in a pivotal scene in the film) that reignited my interest in The English Beat, but I do know from there, they and their music were always welcomed on the show. 

Back in 2009, I was the longtime Music Director for WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine (in addition to hosting my volunteer radio show, STUCK IN THE 80s).  I got word that The English Beat’s upcoming appearance to Portland and the opportunity for an interview with Dave Wakeling (the voice of The English Beat and General Public) came up, and I, of course, was very interested.

Dave Wakeling, photographed for ROLLING STONE in 2012.

Dave and I spoke on Monday, November 16, 2009, for nearly a half-hour on subjects from Margaret Thatcher, the 1981 British documentary DANCE CRAZE, I.R.S. records, the late, great John Hughes and his massive record collection, VH1 and much more.

The “much more” part of the interview included a conversation on covers, a subject I’m fascinated with.  The English Beat has released a number of successful cover songs, from their U.K. Top 10 covers of Smokey Robinson and The Mircales’ “Tears Of A Clown” (No. 6, 1979) to Andy Williams’ “Can’t Get Used To Losing You” (No. 3, 1983; their biggest U.K. hit), and General Public released their 1994 cover of The Staple Singers’ No. 1 hit, “I’ll Take You There” (No. 73 U.K., No. 22 Hot 100, No. 6 BILLBOARD Modern Rock, No. 1 BILLBOARD Dance).

I asked Dave if there were any covers he hadn’t covered yet but would like to, and he almost instantly mentioned “Here Comes My Baby,” a song written and recorded by Cat Stevens in 1967, but was popularized by the English band, The Tremeloes, that same year.  That version reached No. 4 in the U.K. and No. 13 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100.  Dave even sang a little bit of the song during the interview, and I’ve been waiting for him to release a version ever since.  I may get my wish – I believe it’s included on the upcoming album by The English Beat featuring Dave Wakeling – HERE WE GO LOVE – scheduled for release sometime in 2017.  Maybe he’ll sing it tonight!

The U.S. version of the single.

We also talked about covers other artists have done of songs by The English Beat or General Public, like Pete Townshend’s 1985 cover of  “Save It For Later” (from The English Beat’s 1982 album, SPECIAL BEAT SERVICE), and I asked Dave what that is like for him:

“It’s got to be about one of the proudest moments you could ever have, you know?  I used to sit and thrill to The Who when I was a kid.  So, to have somebody of that stature cover one of your songs – and Pearl Jam covered a bit of [“Save It For Later”] in their ‘Better Now,’ because it’s basically the same song, I believe, and Robert Plant had it as his song of the year, which was stunning to me.  Johnny Marr had it as his favourite song of the 80s, which I still haven’t recovered from that one.  So, those sort of things do mean a lot, especially when they’re artists that had really affected you, you know.”

Well, Dave Wakeling and The English Beat have really affected me.  As I’ve mentioned on the bloggy thing here before, there’s just something about being at an English Beat show that moves me – the energy, the skanking, the music – and when they play “I Confess” (prolly my favorite song of theirs), I close my eyes and somehow I feel a peace I can’t really describe in a blog post, and I don’t feel it anywhere else but their live shows.

After that first show in 2009, I got to meet Dave Wakeling on the tour bus, and at the time, I was 80 pounds heavier and wearing a wool sport coat, black shirt and a two-tone (black and white checkered) tie.  Dave loved the look of the tie, and I said, “I’ll tell ya what I’m gonna do – I’m going to give you the tie right off of my shirt.”  Dave appreciated the gesture, signed everything I brought with me (including a flier for the show that was signed, “Save it for later Ron!”), and gave me the T-shirt I’m wearing to the show tonight. 

Dave Wakeling (who makes his home in California these days) is the kind of guy who doesn’t forget his friends or his fans.  All these years later, he still hasn’t forgotten.  The love between Portland, Maine and The English Beat featuring Dave Wakeling is quite mutual and then some.  “Save It For Later” wasn’t one of their biggest hits, but it’s truly one of their best, and like the Dave and the band, it’s aged well, and is one of many songs I’m looking forward to skanking to tonight…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bM0wVjU2-k

(real) one-hit wonder of the week – “Video Killed The Radio Star” | THE BUGGLES | 1979.

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 Waitresses, Ultravox and two different bands named The Silencers.  Once a week, I’ll highlight a (real) one-hit wonder for you.

This is prolly the most-predictable blog post I’ve done so far, but I can’t help it.  For those who don’t already know, today (8.1.2016) is the 35th Anniversary of the launch of MTV (short for Music Television, when there was such a beautiful thing).

At midnight on August 1, 1981, MTV was born – a cable network (and there weren’t many of them back then) that specialized in playing short, 3-or-4-minute films set to music, or simply put, music videos.  Singers and bands had been making these short-form music videos for years, but hardly anyone ever got to see them…until MTV made its debut on cable TV boxes (almost) everywhere.

MTV moon landing, August 1, 1981, 12:00 midnight.

The powers that be at MTV thought it might be a fun choice to launch the network with a song called “Video Killed The Radio Star” by a band called The Buggles, a song that was a minor hit in America two years earlier by a London band who would no longer exist by the end of 1981.  It was prolly a hard sell at the time (or not), and in retrospect, it was THE only choice to kick off MTV.

The Buggles were a New Wave band (in the early days of New Wave) and formed in London in 1977.  The band consisted of just two members – singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoffrey Downes.  You prolly know those names from other acts, and I’ll come on to that in a bit. 

The original 1977 version of “Video Killed The Radio Star.”

Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes would release their first single, “Video Killed The Radio Star,” in early September 1979.  The song was co-written by Trevor and Geoff, along with fellow New Waver Bruce Woolley in 1977, who first recorded that year as Bruce Woolley And The Camera Club (featuring the brilliant Thomas Dolby on keyboards). 

At the time, “Video Killed The Radio Star” was a stand-alone single (parent album THE AGE OF PLASTIC wouldn’t be released until January 1980), and its cute, synthpop creaminess helped it become a massive international hit. 

“Video Killed The Radio Star” reached No. 1 in (at least) the U.K., Austria and Sweden (1 week), Ireland and Switzerland (2 weeks), Spain (4 weeks), Australia (7 weeks), France (12 weeks), and in Italy, where it spent 14 weeks at No. 1 (or, literally the entire spring of 1980).  It also reached the Top 10 in Belgium, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa.

When MTV debuted with “Video Killed The Radio Star” as the first video to air on the network, I was (and remain) glad that it’s remembered for something more here in America than its disappointing chart performance on the BILLBOARD Hot 100.  The song spent a lone week in the Top 40 at No. 40 in mid-December 1979, and was gone from the chart after 10 weeks.  In a list put out by BILLBOARD in 2015, “Video Killed The Radio Star” tied with Marvin Gaye’s 1970 version of Gladys Knight’s “The End Of Our Road” as the “Biggest Hot 100 Hit” that peaked at No. 40.

In 1980, following the release of The Buggles’ debut album, THE AGE OF PLASTIC (with “Video Killed The Radio Star”), Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes joined another London band,Yes, and recorded the album, DRAMA, after Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman had left the group.  Trevor Horn sang lead vocals and it was the only Yes album to feature him as lead vocalist.  But, despite a No. 2 chart peak for DRAMA in the U.K., the new Yes lineup was not well-received, and Yes disbanded by the end of 1980.

In early 1981, on the day The Buggles were supposed to start recording their second album, Geoff Downes quit the band to help form the “supergroup” Asia with guitarist Steve Howe (of Yes), John Wetton (bassist and vocalist bands like King Crimson, Roxy Music and Uriah Heep) and Carl Palmer (drummer for Emerson, Lake & Palmer).

Undeterred and still carrying on the Buggles name, Trevor Horn secured funds to record and release the second album, ADVENTURES IN MODERN RECORDING.  Despite Trevor’s efforts, the album was a huge disappointment, reaching No. 161 on the BILLBOARD album chart and not even charting in his U.K. homeland.

By the time of the second album’s release, you could find Trevor Horn producing THE LEXICON OF LOVE, the debut album for the Sheffield, England New Wave band, ABC.  What followed is an amazing career that continues today.  Not only did Trevor Horn rejoin Yes for their huge 1983 comeback album, 90125 (which he produced), he also teamed up with The Art Of Noise, writing memorable hits like “Close (To The Edit)” and “Moments In Love.”

From there, Trevor Horn was everywhere.  He produced Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s 2-album debut, WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME, the 12” mix of Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (the biggest-selling U.K. single of the 80s), plus music for Grace Jones, Pet Shop Boys, Simple Minds, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, and most-recently, Billy Idol’s 2014 album, KINGS & QUEENS OF THE UNDERGROUND and Seal’s 2015 album, 7 (Trevor Horn has actually produced six of Seal’s 9 albums, starting with Seal’s 1991 self-titled debut).

Seal’s 2015 release, 7, produced by Trevor Horn.

Geoff Downes has released 13 albums with Asia since their monster 1982 debut to their 2014 album, GRAVITAS.  He also rejoined Yes (along with Trevor Horn) for the 2011 album, FLY FROM HERE.

There have been impromptu Buggles reunions here and there over the years, and in a statement I thought I would never, ever see, according to the BBC, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes reunited in the studio earlier this year “for more Buggles activity.”  I look forward to that.

In 2013, Heather Phares of allmusic.com said “[Video Killed The Radio Star] can be looked on as a perfectly preserved new wave gem [and] still sounds as immediate as it did when it was released, however, and that may be the song’s greatest irony.”

Speaking of irony, today (8.1.2016) also marks the demise of the wonderful VH1 Classic (famous for playing great 80s videos) and the debut of MTV Classic, highlighting (mostly non-music) programming from the 90s and beyond.  Sure, the new network was scheduled to rebroadcast the first hour of MTV from August 1, 1981, but don’t count on MTV Classic to bring you many more music videos.  While they will have I WANT MY 80s, 120 MINUTES and some old BEHIND THE MUSIC episodes, I’m betting they’ll be concentrating more on re-airing shows like THE REAL WORLD, TOTAL REQUEST LIVE and MTV CRIBS, shows I could really give two shits about.

MTV may be turning 35 today, but it’s hardly cause for celebration, as the once-great network for actual music television has, ironically enough, killed the video star (although to be fair, you can see pretty much every video known to man and woman somewhere on the interwebs).

MTV opinions and peak chart positions aside, I always liked “Video Killed The Radio Star.”  It is a quirky, fun song that, for awhile, I kinda thought was some sort of cool extension of ABBA.  Over the years, it’s been covered by the likes of The Presidents Of The United States Of America (for the 1998 Adam Sandler film, THE WEDDING SINGER), Pomplamoose, Pentatonix, Erasure, Ben Folds Five and even Alvin & The Chipmunks. 

I’m glad the song has endured for nearly 40 years now.  In fact, I’m betting it will outlast MTV.  Maybe Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes are working on a follow-up titled, “Video Killed The Radio Star, and MTV too.”  Guess we’ll have to wait to find out later for sure and just continue loving that original New Wave treasure…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ

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 – “Face The Face” (video mix) | PETE TOWNSHEND | 1986.

Back in 1985, way before you could instantly check out a video on YouTube and the Interweb, there was just MTV and VH1.  I was in my first of 2 semesters of the (then) 1-year program at the (then) New England School of Broadcasting (now the New England School of Communications, or NESCom), and you could find the dorm lounge TV frequently set on to MTV.  It was one of those times where I caught a video for a song that turned me on to the song itself, as opposed to hearing it on the radio.  The video was for the new Pete Townshend song, “Face The Face.”

This video was no ordinary video.  It was directed by Richard Lowenstein, who is famous for directing many INXS videos), and recorded live with Peter’s short-lived Deep End band, featuring a horn section, 2 backup singers, a upright bassist, drummer, harmonica, er, smokestack harp provided by Peter Hope Evans of the British band, Medicine Head, and additional vocals by Pete’s daughter, Emma.  There were about a dozen people on the stage performing this song.  Pete Townshend also jitterbugs during this song, while wearing a gold lamé, forties-style tuxedo.  You can’t miss it.

I think if they had released the video mix as the single version, it might have charted higher than No. 26 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in January 1986.  Instead, the single version was edited from the version that appears on Pete’s 1985 concept album, WHITE CITY: A NOVEL.  Those aren’t bad versions, but they don’t have the energy of the version from the video.  During my first trip to New York City in April 1986, one of the record purchases I made whilst there was the 12” single for “Face The Face,” which I was pleased to find out included the live video version.

In 1985, ROLLING STONE referred to “Face The Face” as an “urging to pursue idealism despite ‘the ghosts of failures spray-canned up on the wall’.”  For a long time I didn’t know what the crap “Face The Face” was about.  I just knew I loved the song, especially its video; maybe because, through the video, I could “face the face,” so to speak…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgN2uhVxhzs

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…