Today, we've got one close to home.
Greg Kihn began singing while in high school in the Baltimore, Maryland area, and would go on to win first prize for a talent contest hosted by radio station, WCAO at the age of seventeen. He would move to San Fransisco in 1972, and there would work painting house, retail at a record store, all while performing in the streets.
Kihn would be signed to Beserkley Records the following year, making his debut on the 1976 compilation album, Beserkley Chartbusters Vol. 1. This same year, he would form the Greg Kihn Band, and release the band's self titled debut.
Following this, Kihn released an album each year throughout the remainder of the 70's, and became Beserkley's biggest seller. However, despite this, the group had yet to create any top ten hits. That is until 1981's RocKihnRoll.
Though it's not really referenced as such, I suppose you could call their sixth studio album the band's breakout. It features their second highest charting song to date, The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em), which would peak at number fifteen.
This is coincidentally the song that I wanted to purchase the album for. This, however, quickly proved quite difficult. Not only are CD copies extremely scarce, but they are highly expensive, costing anywhere from eighty to one hundred dollars. Ouch!
The disc sat in my Discogs want list queue for the longest time, with only one being available the entire time. Leading up to my birthday in 2021, I finally took the plunge, paying the $95.00 the seller was asking, and crossing my fingers that the juice would be worth the squeeze.
Well, today is the day to finally find out.
Early 80's, specifically 1980 to 1981, are relatively hit or miss for me. These years encompass a lot of music that was still trying to get past the prior decade, and the synthpop that would soon dominate airwaves was still in its infancy. As such, a lot of these albums tend to sound more so like disco, easy listening, or what we would call classic rock these days.
Greg Kihn Band falls into the latter.
RocKihnRoll was hit or miss for me as a result, and split me down the middle. Literally. Out of the ten tracks, I passed on five, and grabbed the other five for my shuffle list. Was it worth ninety-five dollars? Absolutely not. But, with that said, it's always fun to own something "rare" in your collection. So in that regard, I'm still happy to have it.
The bands albums are on the high end, with some only being available as imports. Bottom line, all of these are out of print, and there weren't a high volume of pressings to begin with, making supply and demand greatly unbalanced.
The band would go on to release far more albums than I want to list here, and among them would be their greatest success, 1983's Kihnspiracy, featuring the number two hit, Jeopardy. These days, the band continues to tour, catering to folks like me who can't get their heads out of the 80's.
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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS February 20, 1982 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS February 20, 1988 |
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