Where The Hooters an overlooked/underrated band ?

Well, I listened to All You Zombies and I was going around the house singing it. I still think it's a great song. I think the biblical references are well done, the atmospherics are good, the keys, the guitar, the percussion, it's all good.

 

I just spent a couple of hours listening to Hooters music on youtube, both studio and live. Previously I was only familiar with "Zombies" and "And We Danced". I like 'em! Strong songs, solid performances, EXCELLENT! guitar sounds. What's not to like?? I'm impressed that they can incorporate 3 electric guitars and keyboards and not sound cluttered - that's a testament to their arranging skills. I don't find them to be, as some here claim, "bland" or "middle-of-the-road" at all. This is the kind of stuff I like most: guitar-based pop-rock. This is proof that the '80s was not all schlock.

Their visual presentation and some of their production choices date them obviously square in the '80s, but the songs themselves are timeless. I'll hunt down an album or two, and if they ever play up in this neck of the woods, I'll try to go see them.

So, the answer to the original question is, yes, the Hooters "where" under-rated... by me, at least.

 

Eric Bazilian produced a great album recently by one of my favorite artists Dave Hause - Bury Me In Philly. He also played on a few songs.

 

?? The thread title requests an open critique. ;-)

 

First of all, they have written many excellent songs, including teaming up with Cyndi Lauper to write "Time After Time".

Secondly, while they're very popular in their hometown of Philadelphia, they have a great following in Europe, and tour their every summer.

 

If the Hooters are as solid as Glass Tiger, they're definitely underrated.

The only song I know is And We Danced, which I heard somewhere, liked a lot, found out the title, filed the info away but never followed up on it, perhaps because I perceived the record as a huge hit therefore there was no particular rush, it would always be available. I just listened to it again, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've done so since it was out (and I didn't realize it was '85, I thought it was '90s at least).

I'm currently listening to All You Zombies, which isn't too bad either. So on the basis of a very small sample size, I would hazard an opinion that yes they are underrated. I don't think they were overlooked in their day however.

 

Funny that on the 4th page of this thread people are still sampling the same two 80s hits.
Try "Johnny B." Instead, their most popular song here in Germany or a more recent song like the great show opener "I'm Alive". Try "500 Miles", "Private Emotion", "Time After Time" and the cover version of "The Boys Of Summer."

I'm on my cellphone, otherwise I would post some youtube links.

 

Saw them in '87 in my college field house, great show

 

One of the great American bands (for me, at least). Folk rock of the highest order!

One Way Home is my favourite, Satellite (their only U.K. hit) is a barnstorming opener & the quality remains right up there all the way through to the final track Engine 999. However, all of their albums are strong. Their most recent studio release, 5x5 contains their own versions of Time After Time and One Of Us along with the rip roaring tribute to Germany, Pissing In The Rhine. Great stuff!

If you get the chance, catch them live. They're a force of nature.

 

I was a Hooters fan. I personally don't lump them into the same bag as Mr Mister and Glass Tiger.

I think the Hooters were a great band and I enjoyed their records in the 80s a lot. But did they make a masterpiece of a record in the same league as U2 or Prince at the time? No I dont think so. They were a band that was good and good writers and musicians -- but they would have needed much more to make it much bigger. I never saw them live so I dont know how great their shows were. I think putting of extremely good show is probably what separates the mediocre and the great artists of the era.

 

I second everything Carlwm says. I have never seen them live. I can say that the live version of Boys of Summer (as a ballad) is a gem.

 

They and Tommy Cowell and The Young Tumblers were huge in University of Deleware and Philadelphia region

 

The Hooters' version of Boys Of Summer is a thing of real beauty, to be sure!

 

Great band. I love this song and video.

The Hooters - And We Danced.

 

Here in Europe they had more airplay than they should. I even had one of their CDs as a birthday present (was it Nervous Night?). Fortunately this was stolen when my car was broken into some years ago. I do not feel the need to reexamine this pop crap.

 

In your opinion.

In mine, one of the best bands to come out of America.

Your pop crap is my aural nirvana.

 

They got good press in France in the 80s. They had a good melodic, energetic sound with a kind of Mellencamp/Steve Earle thing going on. I only bought the album Zig Zag and it gets a spin every 5 years or so. A good band but not underrated. They're in their right place.

 

A guilty pleasure of mine, which is odd since I certainly didn't listen to them during the 80s! I was too busy listening to "serious" music like Black Flag, or The Flesh Eaters. lol

In the same vein I now like The Outfield, The Fixx, Mondo Rock, and a few others that I can't recall off the top of my head. Emphasis on the word like. I'm not a fanatic about them, nor will I ever be. I admit it is pure nostalgia factor. When I listen to pop radio friendly music from this era, I think of my teenage years - a memory of borrowing my dad's car to go hang out with my friends; driving at night... that first girlfriend... this kind of music just captures that era perfectly.

 

Didn't read all of the replies but being in Philadelphia and of a certain age these guys were pushed hard out of all of the many local bands of the their era. Personally I had a bit of Hooters backlash at the time and would have been very much in the overrated/overplayed/over-gigged line of thought. That being said I warmed up over time and I quite appreciate their later records. I don't think they are/were great but certainly enjoyable. They could be entertaining live (certainly the energy of the crowd was special) but I did see them play some real clunkers. I've caught Brazilian a number of times as a solo act or part of an old ensemble and he is good and personable. All that being said it's still hard to see them as a national band... they will always be local to me.

I still spin Zig Zag and One Way Home. Nervous Night and Amore.... not so much.

 

This is my favorite song by them. I was never a big fan but I can still give this an appreciative nod.

 

I'm not saying a certain member of a certain band mention above never returned a certain album or two...

 

I really liked them in their early days when they were more Ska influenced. I lost interest after 1983 or so.

 

Great song

 

I enjoy their Greatest Hits every once in awhile! Especially "All You Zombies".

 

Hooters and Robert Hazard and the Heroes caught some NYC-area airplay on WNEW, perhaps due to their sister station WMMR in Philadelphia.