The template for this - one of them, anyway - would have been the O'Jays' 1972 album Back Stabbers (Philadelphia International KZ 31712). All but two of the tracks on this LP ("When The World's At Peace" and "(They Call Me) Mr. Lucky") were released as singles in the States, to wit: - "Back Stabbers" / "Sunshine" (ZS7 3517) - "992 Arguments" / "Listen To The Clock On The Wall" (ZS7 3522) - "Love Train" / "Who Am I" (ZS7 3524, #1) - "Time To Get Down" / "Shiftless, Shady, Jealous Kind Of People" (ZS7 3531) Then, Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water (Columbia KCS 9914, 1970), which had eight of the album's 11 tracks in single format in the U.S.: - "The Boxer" / "Baby Driver" (4-44785) - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" / "Keep The Customer Satisfied" (4-45079, #1) - "Cecilia" / "The Only Living Boy In New York" (4-45133) - "El Condor Pasa" / "Why Don't You Write Me" (4-45237) With Thriller, though, Jackson had two toppers: "Billie Jean" and "Beat It." So in that sense, he had both S&G and the O'Jays beat.
Rumours also got a slew of singles: Go Your Own Way Dreams Don't Stop You Make Loving Fun And "The Chain" got so much radio play it might as well have been a single. Ditto "Gold Dust Woman", which was oddly picked as the B-Side for "You Make Loving Fun". I've always thought it should have been a single on its own.
You may find this hard to believe, but Mexican Radio might be my favorite song of 1983. The lyric of the year for sure: 'I wish I was in Tijuana/Eating Barbecued iguana'. And the moment in the video where lead singer Stan Ridgway's face bursts out from a pot of baked beans is truly unsettling and indelible. Not only did I love these guys, so did my brother, and my best friend, and even my mom. We played their albums Call of The West and Dark Continent often on car rides. It's odd that a relatively obscure band like this would hit such a chord with so many people I know. I love the off kilter instruments and the bizarre lyrics. Stan must be some kind of mad genius, and his voice is perfect for the odd tales he spins; a twisted Jimmy Dean for the eighties. Their best stuff has this wonderful Ennio Morricone vibe that reminds me of small Southwestern desert towns where they don't trust strangers. You can practically feel the dust and heat. Call of the West, the title song from their 1983 album, is a good case in point.
It got to be a bit of a joke after a while how many singles they milked from Thriller. I think it was in the 20th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper special, where George Martin talked about how the Beatles would often release songs as singles, then omit them from the following album because they thought it would be ripping fans off to "make them" buy the same songs twice. That's why Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane were not included on Pepper. At the end of this segment, Martin concluded by saying, 'Tell Michael Jackson that, please'. He knew everyone would get what he meant.
Let's Dance At this point in time, I had not yet bought any David Bowie albums, but I had several friends very into him, and so I was somewhat familiar with his early to mid-seventies highlights. I also knew the Cat People theme and Under Pressure. But he was still somewhat of an enigma to me. So I was very excited when I first saw Bowie's newest video on MTV. To this day I go back and forth on this one. As I've heard more and more of his work, Let's Dance has faded to the middle of the pack for me. On the other hand, I can't deny that I looked forward to seeing the video. And occasionally I even find this song genuinely great. I mostly like the lyrics, and the song is very punchy. Bowie sounds a little tired at times, but that works to give the song a world weary quality I like. There isn't much of a melody, but that wasn't the intention. My favorite bit is the Twist and Shout lift, but that ends in perhaps the worst line in the song, the bit about trembling like a flower. Sometimes his odd images hit, and sometimes they don't. Was this a sell out move? Most definitely. His very first instruction to his team at the start of the project was to get him some hits, and boy, did they deliver. But as sellouts go, it's fairly benign. Yes, his 'pop star' look and radio friendly numbers are a far distance from Warsawa, but he maintains enough of his unique world view and style that it goes down fairly smoothly. It could have been far worse. And it would in fact get worse over the next few albums as he tried to maintain his run with increasingly limited success. Bottom line: it's great to see Bowie on top again, and even if it isn't my favorite Bowie, it's still more than good enough.
I can't stand the part where right after the "tremble like a flower" it abruptly shifts to that Latin beat.
I didn't mind buying the same songs twice if there were differences in the single versions, and there usually were. the singles "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", "Thriller" were different enough to warrant another purchase. Same with the last album. At least three of its singles were different enough from the album versions to make me buy them.
And if you go back to 1976 again, Boz Scagg's "Silk Degrees" album yielded four singles, and two popular album cuts. The singles are in bold: It's Over Lowdown What Can I Say We're All Alone Georgia "We're All Alone" became a hit for Rita Coolidge" at the end of 1977.
This was considered a “comeback” of sorts for David Bowie (at least in the US ) but I never realized that he went away. In late 1978, my tastes starting drifting to punk/new wave and I primarily listened to my college radio station, and later, the local alternative station. They played Bowie all of the time - songs like “Ashes to Ashes,” “Scary Monsters,” and “Fashion” got considerable airplay. I assumed they were all hits in the US - it just shows how disconnected I was from Top 40 radio by then. “Let’s Dance” is a great tune, perfect for the era. But, I like “China Girl” and “Modern Love” better.
Honestly, I don't blame Michael and Epic for maxing the album's potential appeal, look where it got him compared to if the label had decided to stop with "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (the fourth single). I don't blame labels for milking it when the iron's hot. Plus, doing so also bought Michael more time away before returning with Bad. He might've been expected back by mid-1985 or so if they'd just quit early on with the album. In a sense, doing so as well made Thriller one of those albums that is almost a self-contained "Greatest Hits" of its own because 7 of the 9 songs were smash hits (and "The Lady In My Life" also received airplay on r&b stations, making Baby Be Mine pretty much the only track that wasn't pushed to radio). Michael had worked at a breakneck pace for the entire 70s that being able to sit back and milk one album for 18 months was probably relaxing given that he was recording at least 2 albums a year in his Motown days and even in the first few years with Epic was putting out an album a year whether solo or with his brothers.
I discovered the Steve Hoffman Forums in late 2018. I have seen other forums over the years and still look at a few, but I was looking for something to really catch my eye. And this one did it! Just the sheer volume of topics was mind blowing; I spent probably the first 2 or 3 months just looking at all the topics and reading a few of the comments. Eventually I decided to join up to start commenting. Much to my surprise I have at this point more likes than comments. I might use this as part of my resume in case I need a job after The 19 Virus calms down! While browsing the topics this particular one always caught my eye. I knew if I were to read all the comments starting from the beginning it would be this one despite the large volume. So starting around the Christmas holidays I began reading on weekends and some weeknights. By early March I was up to about page 150. Then when The 19 Virus really started ramping up I took the advice of my wife who is a nurse and decided to be a shut in. Reading has really made the time go by much quicker than I thought it would. So today I am finally caught up. Although I have thought of myself as being very educated about the history of this period of music you guys have ramped it up much further. I've loved nearly all the comments, rebuttals, videos to go along with the topic at the time and surprisingly got a real kick looking at all the pictures and stories behind the actual 45s that were posted. My music collection over the years was probably 95 percent albums; I did buy some of these 45s that I saw here. But what I really want to do here is thank all of you who have commented, especially the ones who have been here from the start. Finally I will say when I saw the comments for the songs just from the year 1974 I have not laughed so much and so out loud from reading since I was a faithful subscriber of MAD magazine from the late 60s to the mid 80s. PS.....Aren't you guys glad I didn't jump ahead?
Peaking at #6 the same week Bowie reached the top was a song much like "Beat It" in terms of breaking down the MTV race barrier and blurring the lines between r&b and rock (Dez Dickerson made the comment that once this song hit MTV suddenly more and more white faces were visible at the concerts to where it became an even mix). Plus, it also proved the definitive arrival of Prince to the pop mainstream after having a brush with a #11 hit in 1979 and then getting more critical buzz and hipster appeal than popularity with the masses with the next two albums that would signal a radical shift from "I Wanna Be Your Lover". All would change with this song and he would only get bigger from here
Joe Satriani, a well-known artist with fifteen Grammy nominations tackled this song in 2002. In my opinion, this is a beautifully faithful version featuring Joe on guitar, Matt and Jeff Bissonnette on bass and drums, respectively and Robert Fripp on "Frippitronic Guitars".
While I liked Thriller and its singles alright, to my ear it was Prince who was the real innovator. Jackson's stuff was impeccably produced pop, but it was immediately apparent that Prince's work was true art. And I thought his brand of weird was about a thousand times more interesting than Jackson's.
R&B. By reading your posts over time, I gather you just aren't a huge R&B fan being an 80s child. Am I close? What I mean is that much of the popular 80s sound was not very rhythmic. Or, am I getting you mixed up with another forum member? Sorry if I am.
I absolutely love this song! Did not know Joe covered it. I always enjoyed Setzer's take on it back on "Choo Choo Hot Fish" and with Brian Setzer Orchestra.
There was something magical about "Little Red Corvette". It had a fresh sound that mixed electronics, rock guitar, pop hooks. More importantly, it hit just as radio was beginning to embrace the sounds that would come to define the 80s. It's timing couldn't have been more perfect.
As far as R&B, I guess you're right...I don't have a lot of R&B in my collection. I've always been more on the classic rock/metal side.
