Boy and how! I do love that the final version really emphasized the stomp, which is a bit lost in the demo.
Ironically, the two acts who - arguably more than any others - paved the way for the sound of the '80s with their work during the '70s (and right at the turn of the decade) would have #1 hits back-to-back here in 1983. Bowie was one of them. We're about to hear from the other.
I can’t say for sure but one instance where he went the opposite direction was enlisting a long since popular Peter Frampton on the ill fated Glass Spider tour in ‘87. The tour did so poorly that programs from it were being given away at his subsequent Sound and Vision Greatest Hits shows in 1990!
I never liked Let's Dance, in part because the "sound" is much too close to this song from a year or so earlier, which I really do like - Hambi and the Dance, Standing in the Rain:
The next one is more given the producer, right? I know we're going to be discussing it in a few days, but while the artist in question has a few undisputed classic theme songs, I wouldn't think of her (who was essentially a much lesser Donna Summer) as a big titan of the 80s the way Bowie was a massive influence, but the producer of the song on the other hand....
Well, Nile Rodgers was already a household name before he produced the "Let's Dance" album. And, Bowie plays guitar too.
Well in that instance, Bowie and Frampton had been friends long before either of them had become famous as they grew up in the same neighborhood, so this tour and album was Bowie pretty much throwing a bone in his favor just like when he worked with Iggy Pop in the 70s and then covered songs he co-wrote with him on his mid-80s albums (China Girl, the next single, would be a perfect example, it originally appeared on Iggy's "The Idiot") as a favor because Iggy was going through some hard times financially in the early/mid 80s and Bowie was in a position that doing his own takes of those songs would ensure some nice royalties for him.
in the metal world: Whitesnake/David Coverdale: Ritchie Blackmore, Tommy Bolin, Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden, Mel Galley, John Sykes, Adrian Vandenburg, Vivian Campbell, Steve Vai, Trevor Rabin, (1 studio song), Jimmy Page, Warren DeMartini, Doug Aldrich, Reb Beach, Joel Hoekstra...plus two Bowie alumni (Earl Slick and Reeves Gabrels, at least in the studio) Ozzy Osbourne Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, etc. Steely Dan-lots of guys on a session and/or live basis But you're right...Bowie is up there with the greats who knew how to pick and use talent.
Also on the charts around this time, but nowhere near the top (peaking at #58) was one of the first of many "out of left field" one hit wonder type acts that were helped by MTV. Always liked it, surprised they essentially imploded as the song was current (half the band including the lead singer quitting at the same time) because I think they could've been a popular act in the college rock scene at the time
Oh, Channel 61 loved "Mexican Radio", and so did all of us. Another one for the playlist! Stan Ridgway seemed tipped for big success, and then...
Oh boy, I loved "Mexican Radio"! I never got into the album much, but perhaps I will spin it considering I have a bit of time. It was a top 20 hit of here making it to #18 for a week in late May; it made a lengthy climb taking 9 weeks to get there once cracking the top 50, but its decent was quick taking a mere 2 weeks to drop out of the top 50.
I had the single - played it all of the time. Quirky and catchy - right in my wheel house. “I wish I was in Tijuana, eating barbecued iguana...”
"Mexican Radio" didn't get any top 40 airplay in my neck of the woods but I recall hearing it on CBC at the time.
Beat It This is the only song from Thriller I like. It's not my favorite song in the world, but I dig that Jackson (or Quincy or whoever) decided to do something genuinely innovative by combining r&b with rock like they did. Eddie Van Halen does a fine job injecting rock attitude into the song, and MJ keeps the grunts to a minimum. Well done! The video, however, is another story. I recall back in the day that my friends would howl at the notion of Jackson being a 'tough guy'. The other gang members in the video have the vibe of a college production of West Side Story; they look more prepared to attack a snack bar than each other. By the way, Eat It > Beat It. That was one of the Weird Ones's best. Interestingly, the funniest bits (for me) are the little grace notes he throws in. For some reason, I always crack up when Al sings 'Oh lord' in the chorus exactly like Jackson does in the real song. It somehow helps to bring the stupidity of some of that stuff into focus. The fact he also wears a reasonable facsimile of the Jackson outfits from the video, and looks ridiculous doing it, is a better takedown of Beat It than any number of satirical lyrics.
What's great about Beat It, somewhat like Billie Jean, is the way it fuses and crosses over genre boundaries. These songs don't neatly fit in a category. They're dance music and pop and soul and rock fused as seamlessly as anyone has ever done. The "Thriller" album deserved its success.
"Up until one century ago there lived In the Zi Duang province of an eastern country A glass-like spider." LOL. Not exactly 'Changes', is it? (or even Blue Jean).
No. More like something out of Spinal Tap's history of the Druids. (But in any case, a jumping ahead.)
I think he was trying for an updated Future Legend/Diamond Dogs with it, except it was just a total disaster
Yep. MJ completely shattered genre boundaries and made an album practically for everyone with a taste of popular music at the time I think Billie Jean/Beat It as a one-two single punch is one of the greatest ever
It was a killer back-to-back pairing. And the album had a slew of additional single-worthy tunes...all of which got released as singles.