Where The Hooters an overlooked/underrated band ?

As of late i've been listening a lot to band and was suprised at the lack of success they had Only managing to score 3 top 40 hits in the US while they are basically one hit wonders over here and in Britain. So do you think The Hooters should have a bit more attention or were they simply one of these bands like Mr Mister or Glass Tiger (both of whom I'm fond of) who were here one minute and gone the next.

 

Weird tradition I have, I listen to my Hooters vinyl every year while wrapping Christmas presents. Been doing it for decades

 

IMHO, all 3 bands were cursed with silly names...

And in the age of MTV, when visual appeal was a major factor, you could interchange photos of the 3 groups, and no one would notice.

Now, let’s talk about the music...

 

I only own Nervous Night.
Great album.

 

The band recently appeared on the TV show The Goldbergs complete with 80's wigs performing as their 80's selves. It was pretty cool.

 

They got a lot of airplay at the time. So no they weren't overlooked here.

 

I was pretty excited by All You Zombies - one of the best songs of its time, I thought. I had their first two albums on CD. Some very good stuff. They kind of lost their songwriting magic after that, it seems...they're not the first or last to have that happen.

 

I have the whole catalogue. I think their songs are strong throughout. Nervous Night was a great major label debut but really of its time. It fitted into that melodic rock pop thing that was huge in 85-86. By 87 it was a crowded market and One Way Home lacked the catchiness of Nervous Night competing in reality with the rockier Bob Jovi etc and got less traction. By 89 the third album Zig zag was even more out of touch with emerging grunge/metal scene. They kept up the catchy folky rock thing but it didn’t sell. In terms of songwriting bear in mind they wrote and played on Cyndi Laupers Time After Time and Joan Osborne’s One of Us. Their later catalogue esp. Both Sides Live is terrific.
Underrated - yep.

 

In Canada, the Nervous Night-era videos got tons of airplay on MuchMusic (our equivalent of MTV), but the follow-up did not receive anywhere near the same exposure. I always liked them (just found a mint copy of Zig Zig on LP last week).

 

The only thing I really know about The Hooters was their appearance at Live Aid. They did "All You Zombies", which I had heard on the radio, and maybe one other song I was very impressed with their set, but never followed through with seeking out more. I sense that they deserved better than what they got.

 

Between "One of Us" and "Time after Time," someone made some money. The latter may be the biggest standard of the last thirty years. There's probably a karaoke singer or jazz trio or folkie performing it in your town right now.

 

I always felt Nervous Night would make a great reissue for a certain audiophile label.

 

Not in Philly where I grew up, or at the high school Eric and I went to, or at the college Eric and Rob and I went to.

 

Where the Hooters overlooked/underrated?

Nowhere - I think they got the success they deserved. They were a fairly average pop band who managed to have a few decent hits and then faded from the limelight.

Nothing about them screams "unrecognized genius"...

 

I love Nervous Night and think One Way Home is even better. Really strong writing team. They put on a great live show too. They lost me with Zig Zag.

 

I've always given them credit for covering Love's "She Comes in Colors," which was moderately ballsy for a major label band in 1985, but overall I prefer their work on She's So Unusual.

 

So many memories of playing the Nervous Night cassette while playing Zanac on the NES! Really likeable album. I'm not sure if they were properly "rated" or not, but the singles from that album are works of pop songwriting/arranging genius.

 

Let’s not forget that they performed in Roger Waters' “The Wall: Live in Berlin”concert.

 

How can they have been overlooked when they had a restaurant chain named in their honour?

 

For a hot minute in the mid 80s the Hooters sounded like the future.
Overlooked? Yes. Maybe someday melodic pop-rock of that kind - Mr. Mister, The Outfield, etc. - will be reassessed but for now time seems to have forgotten.

 

Maybe because those bands were very "of their era" and not especially original/memorable?

They created some reasonably pleasant tunes, had some hits and then faded. Doesn't seem like there's a big mystery here - bands have a smattering of hits and then vanish all the time...

 

"Reasonably pleasant" - now there's a nice left-handed compliment.

 

they weren't overlooked in australia. lots of airplay. i think they may have been over exposed for their value. some good songs though

 

Very good band and a great live act too. They are often touring here in Germany so last year I saw them for the third time.
They have lots of catchy songs, some of them originally written for other artists ("Time After Time", "Private Emotion"). I also love their cover version of "The Boys Of Summer".
I think they are probably underrated in the US because they have concentrated their activities here in Europe. American bands who do that tend to be forgotten in the US/Canada (e.g. Saga).

 

NO. THIS THREAD WILL NOT MAKE ME GO BACK AND REEXAMINE THE HOOTERS!