That makes more sense. I wondered if the clip posted earlier was actually from her Physical era. It did seem a touch too "modern" for 1980.
It's Still Rock n Roll to me isn't good, Billy has way more songs worthy of going #1, the fact this is his first to do it is...yeah, no. Magic is fantastic and Olivia was in fine form here, as always.
Into The Night If one is willing to get past the lyrical content, this is a well written song where all the parts fit together nicely. I love the build before the verses.
"Into the night" was also a lyric in another one-hit wonder's song that peaked round this period . . . Robbie Dupree's "Steal Away": . . . another textbook example of the stereotypical West Coast "yacht rock" sound.
Robbie Dupree wasn't a one-hit-wonder. He had 2 chart hits in 1980. Hot Rod Hearts cracked the Top 20 that year.
Ah, but "Steal Away" was the only time he cracked the Top 10. How many heard "Hot Rod Hearts" since it pierced the Top 20? (Outside of the clip placed above.)
US Top 40 Singles For Week Ending October 18, 1980 TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak To Date) 15 15 HOT ROD HEARTS –•– Robbie Dupree (Elektra)-14 (15) 16 17 LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO ME –•– Boz Scaggs (Columbia)-9 (16) [ rest of chart blanked as it includes future No. 1s ]
True . . . but hardly any station plays that #15 record anymore. Don't think I heard it anywhere till now.
Still, doesn't matter. Doesn't matter how many radio stations do or don't play a song today. Or that the artist appeared in a VH-1 one hit wonders special. His 2nd hit wasn't No. 79 or something, a song no one remembers. I was a Top 15 hit. Which makes him no one hit wonder.
Agree. A one hit wonder is generally considered to be an artist who made the Top 40 one time; and only one time.
I remember the song well. It was a big hit and played frequently on the AC/ Top 40 FM at the time, when I was in college, in 1980.
"Magic" This was an album that sold itself to me and I hate to admit, I loved a good portion of the material. ONJ and ELO together...it was a ten year old's dream. I know it was a project that ELO fans truly thought Lynne had jumped the shark, and it is pretty over the top...even more so than "Disco-very." BUT, gosh darn it...I still like it. It's as syrupy a Lynne concoction as one can get. Oh...back to "Magic." This is a REALLY good song, and when removed from the turd-fest of the movie, stands on its own rather nicely. The opening chord sequence is pretty odd, quite spooky for a number One hit. Even though the subject matter for the title track "Xanadu" is downright stupid, the music and the melody makes me wish Olivia and Lynne could have worked together again. This album also first introduced me to the Tubes...how in the hell did they get involved in this craptastic movie? Was it just me, or was the cinematography of this movie pretty much sh***y the day it was released? I thought it looked cheap and dated even in the theater. Yep...I went and saw this blunder in the theater.
Never had the pleasure (or displeasure to see Xanadu). I had the soundtrack and at age 10 I guess that's all I needed. Like @ChrisScooter1 i enjoyed ELO and ONJ together. But this album was the first time I got that "butterfly" feeling when seeing a female. ONJ was my first crush so if I had seen the movie I'm sure my 10 year old self would've liked it just for the scenery. As an adult I am sure it is extremely dated and lame but it still has the beautiful Olivia so at least it has that going for it
I only remember seeing Xanadu as a Broadway production back when I was too young to get the jokes. I think I saw part of the movie once , but since it inspired the creation of the Golden Raspberry Awards, I'm guessing it isn't worth revisiting. The soundtrack is definitely great, though, as Magic demonstrates.
Surprisingly, the movie is so bad with what looks like low budget use of 16mm film stock, the visual appeal of ONJ gets lost. Not nearly as cinematically dramatic as her turn in "Grease." I still had a serious crush, but the optics were/are so impenetrable, it made her (and the rest of the cast) look distant and amateur, like a B movie or worse, bad porno cinematography. The static picture on the back of the album was better. If you get a chance, just watch 5 minutes of it...you will tire very quickly. It really is too bad this was Gene Kelly's last on screen work. Just found this quite amusing video made by a film professor about just such a thing: I take the 16mm film stock snub back, but I stand by the poor optics.
I liked the song as a kid - hey, sounds great, and very 1980, but not so 1980 it couldn't chart a second time later in the decade. However, the lyric combined with the way the guy looks? I mean, he just looks like the kind of guy To Catch A Predator picks up... Total creepfest. Somebody should remake it with a different lyric.
Loved, loved, loved "Steal Away". I was big on Yacht Rock, y'all! I liked the follow up almost as much as his first single. It seemed like he was going to become a pretty major pop star...and then nothing.
He wound up moving to Woodstock, NY along with most of the members of Orleans and some other acts associated with the time period and would pop into the studio of the classic rock station I did morning drive at in the 90’s on occasion. Our show was very caller driven and we would get these off the wall calls from a guy who only referred to himself as The Godfather. He was always funny and on topic and we didn’t think much of it until one day in the studio he starts doing the voice. You should have seen the look on our faces when we realized one of our most dedicated callers was actually Robbie Dupree. Still never played his songs though
