The Toy Box: 1987

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Retro Spins: Simply Red - Men And Women

Did you know that Holding Back The Years wasn't initially performed by Simply Red? Rather, while written by lead singer, Mick Hucknall, it was added to the catalog of his first band, The Frantic Elevators. However, it would be the success of that song which would lead to them breaking up in 1984, and Hucknall forming Simply Red, though first as World Service, Red and then Dancing Dead before settling on the band's name.

The initial lineup consisted of Hucknall on vocals, David Fryman on guitar, Tony Bowers on bass, Fritz McIntyre on keyboards and additional vocals, drummer Chris Joyce, and multi-instrumentalist Tim Kellett on brass and live backing vocals. They quickly garnered the attention of Elektra Records, but after recording just one track for them, Fryman quit, replaced by Sylvan Richardson. With their core in place, their debut, Picture Book was released in 1985.

It would be a massive success, charting in multiple countries, receiving multiple sales certifications, ranging from gold to 5X platinum, becoming their first of non-stop consecutive top ten album in the UK. It would also spawn two Billboard Hot 100 hits, the number one chart topper, Holding Back The Years, and Moneys Too Tight (To Mention), which would peak at twenty-eight. Simply Red is probably the only band I've come across to date that has had every single album they released chart in the top ten in that country. That's thirteen albums between 1985 and 2023.

The follow-up, 1987's Men And Women, their second number two album in the UK, and with it came the Billboard single, The Right Thing, which peaked at number twenty-seven. A fun fact of the album would be that a handful of tracks were co-written by Hucknall, and legendary Motown veteran, Lamont Dozier. When putting the credits in the album jacket, it was noted as Hucknall/Dozier/Hucknall, a nod to the Motown writing team of Holland–Dozier–Holland.

Admittedly, it took me a bit longer to get into their sophomore album. It starts off with the aforementioned hit, which didn't really resonate with me. I got a little worried, as this continued through the first 1/3 of the album.

However, once I Won't Feel Bad came around, I started to get some material I was digging. While this didn't stay consistent for the remainder of the album, there were other standouts, which included Love Fire, Move On Out, and Shine.

Men And Women definitely wasn't better than its predecessor, but it did (eventually) offer some good stuff up. It also continues that mixture of pop and soul, with a hint of jazz. This makes it a very unique offering from the 80's, and I am happy to see that there was indeed something I was missing out on back in the day, not that I would have appreciated it back then. Not with all the hair and metal bands I was into at the time.

Upon its release new guitarist Richardson would leave, citing disillusionment with the industry. He'd be replaced by Heitor TP. Additionally, Ian Kirkham, who provided saxophone to Men And Women, would be officially added to the fold.

The band would venture into the studio between 1988 and 1989 to release their final album of the decade, A New Flame. However, following its release, the foundation of Simply Red would be shaken, eventually leading to a non-stop rotation of members, and Hucknall being the only remaining original member. That unfolds and wraps up tomorrow.

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Retro Spins: 10,000 Maniacs - In My Tribe

With the departure of co-founding member, John Lombardo, remaining members Natalie Merchant, Robert Buck, Dennis Drew, Steve Gustafson, and Jerome Augustyniak would continue on as a five piece, seemingly undeterred. While one would expect the absence of Merchant's co-writer on the majority of their material to be a potential problem, instead, 1987's In My Tribe would serve to be the band's biggest album of all time.

Having said that, it's not like the singles from the album were burning up the charts. Rather, Like The Weather, and What's The Matter Here? would only turn out to be moderate hits, peaking at sixty-eight and eighty, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. Mainly, the group continued to find a strong foothold amongst the college radio scenes.

The overall sound continues the hipster trend which started with 1985's The Wishing Chair. It's a style I would definitely say I'm not the biggest fan of, but that it's okay in moderation. What I will say is that I found myself flipflopping back and forth. Either I would like a song for its solid instrumentation or Merchant's unique vocals, but usually never at the same time. This was incredibly prevalent for In My Tribe.

What I was definitely surprised about was the number of songs I did enjoy. There were quite a few; What's The Matter Here?, Hey Jack Kerouac, Like The Weather, The Painted Desert, Don't Talk, My Sister Rose, and A Campfire Song. The latter, I immediately picked up on the co-vocals of R.E.M.'s Michal Stipe, making it all the more enjoyable.

Look, I'm not going to call myself a fan of the band, but I will say that of the four albums, this was certainly the most enjoyable for me. Does it make me want to hear more from them? No, not necessarily. However, I will give them a nod of 80's approval.

Merchant, Buck, Drew, Gustafson, and Augustyniak would remain the 10,00 Maniacs until 1993 when Merchant would quit in a vain push for a solo career, to work with other musicians, and have full creative control. While part of this discography includes the 1989 album, Blind Man's Zoo, as noted in my post about their debut album, I've already played through that one for a Retro Spin.

The aftermath of Merchant leaving the band was Elektra unceremoniously dropping them from their label in lieu of signing directly with Natalie. The remaining members, Robert Buck, Dennis Drew, Steven Gustafson, and Jerry Augustyniak would reach out to previous member John Lombardo and his new bandmate, Mary Ramsey to join the band. Initially, they didn't have the rights to use the band's name, and as a result, started out as the long winded, John & Mary, Rob, Steve, Dennis, & Jerry. However, once they reobtained the name, they released two albums between 1997 and 1999.

Buck would take a short break in 1998 but return to the band the following year. Unfortunately, shortly after, he would pass away from liver failure, prompting the remaining members to take a break. Gustafson, Drew, and Augustyniak would regroup in 2002, and decide to carry on. However, upon learning that they'd hired a new guitarist, and singer, Jeff Erickson, and Oskar Saville, respectively, Lombardo quit the band again. This iteration would tour through 2004.

In 2006, Saville left, leaving room for Mary Ramsey to rejoin. This lineup released two more studio albums, with 2015's Twice Told Tales being their last. This would also feature Lombardo, who returned to the band. Since then, lineup changes continued to occur, with both Ramsey and Erickson departing, replaced briefly by Leigh Nash, and Matt Slocum. As of 2024, the band has consisted of founding members Dennis Drew, Steven Gustafson, as well as long standing members, Jerry Augustyniak, John Lombardo, and Mary Ramsey. Since her initial departure, Natalie Merchant has enjoyed a solo career and appears to have no intensions of ever reuniting with her former bandmates.

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Retro Spins: Squeeze - Babylon And On

With the release of 1985's Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, Squeeze found themselves needing another keyboard player to recreate the layers of sounds produced for the albums tracks in a live setting. For this, they would bring in Christopher Holland, brother of keyboardist Jools. While Christopher would support the band during their promotional tour, he had his sights set on a solo career, prompting him to eventually depart. He would be replaced by Andy Metcalfe.

Now as six members, featuring Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook, Jool Holland, Andy Metcalfe, Keith Wilkinson, and Gilson Lavis, Squeeze returned to the studio to record and release 1987's Babylon And On. This would be the album, or rather the song, but better stated, the music video, which would introduce me to the band. Its quirkiness, and overall fun tone captivated me, cementing the song in my mind, and making the album a must have when I began building my massive CD collection.

Babylon And On would spawn the only US top forty hits for the band with Hourglass and 853-5937, peaking at fifteen, and thirty-two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. Both would receive music videos, and see a decent amount of airplay on MTV. Aided by all of this, the album would become silver certified in the UK, which on the surface may not seem like much, but for Squeeze was a major achievement. To date, it was only their fourth album to receive such a status, and would also be the last. Further, it would also be their last album to spawn any Billboard hits.

The comical side to the phone number based song was that it was actually Tilbrook's home number. The tune would come to life initially as a jingle on his answering machine. Naturally, many listeners would call the number, driving the lead singer crazy with how often his phone started ringing. Sadly, you won't reach him at his London number these days.

What I noticed in playing through it was how pulled back the bassline was. This was counter to previously released Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti which seemed to want to showcase new bassist Wilkinson by making his parts very prevalent.

Along with the two hits noted above, tracks Footprints, The Prisoner, Trust Me To Open My Mouth, Some Americans, and Striking Matches resonated with me. In fact, Striking Matches may be among my favorites from the band now. I enjoyed it so much that I actually went back to it for a second listen after I wrapped up all the tracks. I think it's the backing vocals of Pam Baker, and Chris Difford taking lead that makes it stand out. Here, have a listen.

Overall, this was a good listening session, and pumped me up to jump into their next release.

Metcalfe would depart in 1988, leaving Difford, Tilbrook, Holland, Wilkinson, and Lavis to record their final album for the decade, 1989's Frank. It would also be their last with long time label, A&E, who had released every album from the band since their 1978 debut. However, that would be far from the end for them. We'll pick up there tomorrow.

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Retro Spins: Michael Monroe - Nights Are So Long

When we last left Michael Monroe, you know, yesterday, he was fronting the band Hanoi Rocks. Much like that 80's discography the solo efforts of Monroe were not on my want list. Nor did I know of him until digging into the band itself. While I initially wasn't going to pick his two CD's up from the decade, I came across a listing on ebay that had both of them together, and reasonably priced. Story of my life when it comes to buying music.

If you recall from yesterday, shortly after the death of their drummer, Razzle, Hanoi Rocks called it quits. Nasty Suicide would ditch the stage name, picking up his life as Jan-Markus Stenfors, finished school, and become a pharmacist for a drug company. Sam, who was the first to actually leave, continued to work in the music business, joining up with several bands. Andy McCoy would also work with several bands but also spent time painting. Then there was Michael Monroe, who of course went on to a solo career.

Michael would go solo, releasing his first album, Nights Are So Long in 1987. To date, he's released thirteen. Andy, on the other hand, created several new bands, none of which took off. When not performing, he spent his time creating art as a painter.

Then there was Michael Monroe. He'd venture out on to a solo career, if you hadn't figured that out already by this post. First, however, he would join his friend Stiv Bators, to work on the Sun City charity project. They would not only contribute backing vocals but appear in the music video. His first solo effort would be 1987's Nights Are So Long, an album which consisted mainly of covers, and released by Yahoo!

It's a decent listen, but one thing I immediately noticed was the change in vocal style. Whereas Hanoi Rocks featured a higher pitch and sometimes screechy Monroe, his solo effort brought the range down to a deeper, and raspier one. Both are good, but it still caught me off guard. I guess I was expecting more of the same from him, but it's great that he's not a one trick pony and could mix it up.

Despite the overall listening session being a good one, I only ended up pulling two tracks for the old shuffle list. Those were Shake Some Action, and Nights Are So Long.

Nights Are So Long, the album, would be a moderate success, and attract the attention of Mercury Records, who would release his second studio album, Not Fakin' It. That's where I'll pick up tomorrow, and wrap up my latest journey through Hanoi Rocks, and their lead singer, Michael Monroe.

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Retro Spins: Warlock - Triumph And Agony

Your name is Doro Pesch. You've clawed your way into the annals of heavy metal, becoming one of the few female vocalists to carve out a niche for yourself amongst the boys. You're respected, you've broken borders, reaching US shores with your music, and you've just played some of the biggest shows of your life at Monsters Of Rock, while also opening for W.A.S.P. and Judas Priest. You are the face of Warlock, one of the greatest heavy metal bands of the 80's. But it's all about to be taken away from you.

In 1986, Doro took her band to the United States, where she immediately fell in love with the country, and the great experiences it brought with it. By 1987, the band fired long time manager, Peter Zimmerman, and instead signed with Alex Grob. This led to the release of their 1987 album, Triumph And Agony. It would be their first to chart in multiple countries, including Germany (23), Switzerland (30), UK (54), and USA (80). It would also become their first, and only album to reach a sales certification of gold (in Germany).

They supported the album by touring with Dio in Europe and opening for Megadeth alongside Sanctuary in the USA. Warlock would also headline several of their own shows. Though this would result in further lineup changes when Michael Eurich and Niko Arvanitis quit after the tour and were replaced by Bobby Rondinelli and Jon Levin. With their departure, Doro would be the only remaining original member, and the only German in the band.

Tommy Bolan would also leave the band, but not of his own volition. Instead, as they were growing more and more in the USA, the label would demand lineup changes, which would see him as the first to be dismissed.

But I am getting a bit too far ahead at this point. Before going any further, let me pop in the album itself, and make my way through it.

The album kicks off with the thunderous drumming anthem, All We Are, and immediately grabs your attention. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold it. At least it didn't hold mine.

By the end of it, I had all but given up, only to be greeted by the final two tracks, Cold, Cold World, and Für Immer ('Forever'). I won't say they salvaged an otherwise lackluster listening session, but at least they were decent tracks to end on.

Overall, Warlock has been pretty hit or miss. While I came out of the gate really impressed with their 1984 debut, Burning The Witches, their 1985 follow-up, Hellbound, pretty much faltered completely. Things turned around with 1986's True As Steel, but then here we are again with another "meh" album in 1987's Triumph And Agony. Though I'll take the pros over the cons, as a whole, the band is deemed relatively inconsistent in my mind. That alone may serve to render them forgettable to me.

While Doro was enjoying her new life in the United States, behind the scenes, Zimmermann was playing a sinister game. He filed suit against Warlock in 1988, winning both their name, and rights to merchandise. In 2011, after 23 years of legal battles, she finally won the rights back to the name of her band.

In the interim of that Doro would pivot releasing albums under her own name. This would begin with 1989's Force Majeure, and continue through her latest, 2023's Conqueress – Forever Strong and Proud.

Since winning her suit, Doro has continued performing under her own name but did reunite with members of Warlock to perform at a festival under the banner, Warlock 1986. In retrospect, it makes me wonder why she would fight so hard for the name of her band back, but then ultimately not use it. Doesn't make sense to me, but I suppose it also doesn't have to.

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Retro Spins: Grim Reaper - Rock You To Hell

You're Grim Reaper, a metal band from the 80's, making a solid name for yourself among the likes of Metallica, Dio, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Judas Priest, and so on. While you're not as popular as the others, you're still managing to hold your own. You're released two albums the peaked on the Billboard Hot 200 and have music videos in steady rotation on MTV. Then your label cuts a deal with another to release your second album. Then the problems start.

The matter surrounded RCA, who had paid Ebony considerably for the licensing rights to their second album, Fear No Evil (1985). However, Ebony would not pay anything to the band themselves. The guys would attempt to sever ties with the label, and in retaliation, stopped paying Ebony for their third album. As litigation ensued from Ebony against Grim Reaper, this halted the release of their third album, Rock You To Hell.

By the time the album sees release in 1987, the world of metal has moved on. The style of Grim Reaper's more pop oriented metal has been replaced by thrash and speed metal. To further blur the lines, hair bands have emerged as the new kings of hard rock. There's no place for Grim Reaper in all of this. It's so bad that even with major label distribution, and a popular title track music video on MTV, none of this can help. The band is yesterday's news, and the album doesn't chart.

The band has a habit of starting their albums off with the title tracks, which in retrospect, is kind of a good move. It's like showing the title before a movie. The song itself is pretty okay.

As a whole, it was a better listening experience than their sophomore released, Fear No Evil. Whereas the previous lacked many interesting tunes, Rock You To Hell provides a handful of standout tracks, Lust For Freedom, When Heaven Comes Down, and Suck It And See. Further, where songs fail to click, they still deliver massive and intriguing guitar solos which kept me engaged. Overall, it was a good, but otherwise unintended ending to the band.

Despite the lackluster reception of their third album, RCA put into production the band's fourth album, which was to be called, Nothing Whatsoever To Do With Hell. However, this momentum would be derailed when further litigation from Ebony ensued. The continued financial strain left the band no alternative but to break up in 1988.

Lead singer, Steve Grimmett, would go on to front Onslaught, replacing Sy Keeler with their 1989 album, In Search Of Sanity. However, this would be his only album with them, and he'd depart and join Lionheart. Meanwhile, lead guitarist Nick Bowcott would become a music writer, and later staff contributor, for publications like Circus and Guitar World. He would also worked with Marshall Amplification's United States division and performed in the band Barfly. Not much is known about what happened with bassist Dave Wanklin, or drummer Marc Simon.

However, in 2006, someone by the name of Eddie Trunk announced on the show, Metal Mania that the band was reuniting, sans Bowcott. Together, they performed at a series of festivals, including the infamous Play it Loud IV in Bologna, Italy. While the promoter of the event pulled out, and cancelled it, despite tickets already being sold, Grim Reaper, along with several other bands, would still show up, and provide a night of entertainment for ticketholders.

Nick Bowcott returned briefly for the band's first show int he USA since 1987 but departed shortly thereafter. Steve Gimmett's iteration of Grim Reaper would release 2016's Walking In The Shadows, and 2019's At The Gates. While a new album was announced in 2022, sadly, Grimmett passed away that August.

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Retro Spins: Breakfast Club - Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club. No, not the soundtrack, the band.

Though they only released one album in 1987, the band would actually have its roots all the way back in 1979, going through several iterations before their album would eventually be released. One such iteration in the early 80's even included future Queen of Pop, Madonna, on drums, with bassist Angie Smit, and the brothers Dan and Ed (who also provided vocals) Gilroy on guitars. Madonna would leave, forming the band Emmy And The Emmys.

By the mid 80's the band consisted of the Gilroys, Gary Burk (bass), and Stephen Bray (drums), the latter two having left Madonna's above noted band to join Breakfast Club. They'd sign with ZE Records, and release the non-charting single, Rico Mambo.

When their debut finally came out, it spawned the Billboard Hot 100 hit, Right On Track, which peaked at number seven. The album as a whole would peak at number forty-seven on the Billboard 200, and they'd be nominated by the Grammy's for Best New Artist.

Knowing the history of Madonna in the band, it changes the perspective of the record itself. You can literally hear the mirroring styles of music which she turned into a goldmine for herself. Can you imagine how different things would be if between True Blue (1986), and Like A Prayer (1989), there was Madonna: Breakfast Club? Ah, the alternate timelines that could have been.

Standing on its own merits it's a relatively forgettable album. While I bought it for Right On Track, I did find a couple of new tunes for the old shuffle list. These included Never Be The Same, and Rico Mambo.

Though the group would return to the studio and record a follow-up intended for release in 1988, it would be rejected by ZE, and shelved. They would disband shortly thereafter. Bray would go on to work with Madonna, writing tracks for her, and in 2005 write and compose music for the Broadway adaption of The Color Purple, which he won a Tony for. Dan Gilroy would turn his attention to acting, but not really make any big splashes. His most notable work was for the kids shows, Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Rhyme, and “Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. As for Ed Gilroy, and Gary Burke, not much is known about what they went on to do after Breakfast Club.

An EP was released in 2016, entitled Percolate, which apparently included some of the previously recorded unreleased tracks. Additionally, a digitally released docudram, Madonna And The Breakfast Club came out in 2019. Beyond that, not much gets said about Breakfast Club. They came and went in the blink of an eye, relatively lost to the decade of excess, with the only tie keeping them relevant being their involvement with Madonna.

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Retro Spins: Alice Cooper - Raise Your Fist And Yell

Today I'm wrapping up my tour of duty through Alice Cooper's 80's discography. Not because 1987's Riase Your Fist And Yell was his last entry of the decade, but rather because I've already played through 1989's Trash. It's been an interesting journey with highs and lows, changing styles, and a complete resurgence in his career.

As noted in yesterday's post, Cooper entered 1987 with an appearance at WrestleMania III, joining Jake "The Snake" Roberts in his corner for his match against Honky Tonk Man. This was followed by a cameo appearance in the film, Prince Of Darkness, playing a vagrant. Cooper would also contribute the title track song for the movie, which would later be included on his 1987 album.

The release of Raise Your Fist And Yell continued to comeback success of Cooper, with the album peaking at number seventy-three on the Billboard 200. To support the record, he embarked on the controversial Live In The Flesh Tour. Though all theatrics, the act was deemed so violent and gory that Germany would force him to remove elements, and members of Parliament in the UK would unsuccessfully attempt to ban it all together.

From the opening riff, it's a much louder album than any of his predecessors have been. It has a vibe of Ozzy Osbourne's No Rest For The Wicked. The opening song, Freedom, appears to serve as the title track, incorporating "raise your fist and yell" into the chorus. It's a decent song for sure.

With track two, I got the sense that intros were the name of the game. Whereas Freedom had a slick guitar lick opening, Lock Me Up thundered across an eighteen second solo drum roll.

The intros fell to the wayside from there, but the heavy metal sounds kept coming. Guitarist Kane Roberts was not only dishing out satisfying solos but adding flourishes here and there that made for a unique listening experience. This was all kept in time with the thundering bass of Kip Winger (later to be known for his own band, Winger).

Step On You was probably the last song I heard which I would consider adding to a shuffle list. From there, the rest of the album just continued to be loud and mediocre. Not bad, just not memorable.

Alice kicked off 1988 contributing a cover of Spirits', I Got A Line On You to the soundtrack for Iron Eagle II. He'd later use the tune as the B-side to the single for Poison from 1989's Trash. Prior to the end of the year, his contract would expire with MCA. He'd switch to Epic Records after being presented an offer that ultimately allowed him an unlimited budget, as well as no time limit to record albums.

Trash would serve as a commercial comeback for Cooper, returning him to the glory days of Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out. It would peak at number twenty on the Billboard 200 and feature a slew of guest appearances which included Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Joan Jett, and Diane Warren. But if you want more on that, please check out that specific post.

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Retro Spins: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)

Between 1985 and 1986, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers spent a lot of time on the road. This kicked off with their appearance at Live Aid, which was followed by their own world tour, and subsequent live album, Pack Up the Plantation: Live! Rather than return to the studio, the band instead took Bob Dylan up on an offer to join him on the road for his True Confessions Tour. They would then join the Grateful Dead for a few shows between 1986, and 1987. Because of this, it would be two years since his last studio album before Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) would be recorded and released.

It would receive a generally mediocre reception, with critics calling it simple and fragmented. The overall lackluster opinion of it would also translate to sales and charts, making it one of the worst in the band's career since 1978's You're Gonna Get It!

If I'm being honest, I tuned most of this album out. There wasn't much, if anything, which grabbed my attention. By track six, I couldn't even tell you what any of the previous sounded like. It was all relatively forgettable.

All the momentum Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers had built up with me on 1982's Long After Dark, had began to falter under the drastic musical change of 1985's Southern Accents, and with Let Me Up, was pretty much gone.

It's a shame. This isn't how I wanted my listening sessions to go. I wanted to walk away from it all saying that while I may have been burned out on Free Falling, that there was a reason they were a legacy band. At the end of it, I'm just not seeing the mass appeal. Candidly, I can't even say there was a standout track in it all. Everything was just sort of, blah.

Rather than jump into another studio album, Petty instead joined George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne to record the song, Handle Me With Care. It would initially be planned as a B-side to one of Harrison's singles but be deemed too good for that. The end result was the birth of The Traveling Wilburys, and their album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, released in 1988 by Warner Bros.

Petty would then release his own solo album in 1989, Full Moon Fever. While many of the Heartbreakers would contribute to the recording sessions, so to did the likes of George Harrison, Del Shannon, Roy Orbison, Jim Keltner, and Jeff Lynne. While the album was released by MCA, Petty too would shift to Warner for his next studio album, 1994's Wildflowers.

Despite his solo success, the Heartbreakers were far done. The line-up of Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, Howie Epstein, Benmont Tench, and Stan Lynch would continue through 1991's Into The Great Wide Open. Lynch would depart in 1994, citing creative issues with Petty, and the band would continue on as a four piece through 1999's Echo.

Struggling with a heroin addiction, Epstein would be fired in 2002. With his departure, the band would not only replace him with previous member Ron Blair but expand to a six-piece with the inclusion of Scott Thurston, and Steve Ferrone. This iteration would finish out the storied career of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers with three more albums; The Last DJ (2002), Mojo (2010), and Hypnotic Eye (2014). Petty would also release his third and final solo album, Highway Companion in 2006.

The Tom Petty Radio channel launched in 2015 on Sirius Radio, and by 2017, the band was embarking on a 40th anniversary tour. The tour wrapped up on September 25 of that year, and tragically, it was reported that Petty had passed away just seven days later. The worst part about it, his death could have been avoided. It was ruled an overdose from opioids and antidepressants, which he was taking to aid him with severe pain from several medical conditions, including a fractured hip.

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Retro Spins: Swing Out Sister - It's Better To Travel

Swing Out Sisters were formed by Andy Connell and Martin Jackson, who later brought in vocalist, Corinne Drewery. The band would state on their website decades later that the name was an obscure Billie Burke B-musical from the '40s and was adopted because it was the only name they could agree upon. That agreement was that they all hated it.

Connell and Jackson had been producing successful electro tracks at the time, which garnered the attention of several labels. Among them was Phonogram / Mercury Records, who ultimately signed them. Leading up to their debut album's release, the single, Break Out was released. It would climb to number four on the UK charts, and peak at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. With this momentum already in place, upon its release, It's Better To Travel reached number one in the UK, and forty on the Billboard 200.

The next single, Surrender, would only be successful in the UK, peaking at number seven. However, their third single, Twilight World would reach thirty-one in the USA. Their last single, Fooled By A Smile, would prove to be lackluster, not charting at all.

Their successful debut would garner Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group or Duo. The latter, specifically for Breakout. This popularity was amplified by the music video for Breakout being in consistent rotation on MTV.

Being on the cusp of the CD format explosion, the number of tracks you get with the album is dictated by the format you choose. For the cassette and vinyl cuts, the album contains nine tracks. For the CD, four additional songs have been added. However, these are nothing more than a mixture of remixes and instrumental versions of some of the already included tunes. Unless you're a massive fan of the group, these additional inclusions aren't really worth jumping up and down about.

As for me, I honestly wasn't a fan when they first hit the 80's scene. I remember as a kid singing, "Breakout and watch those zits come out." Which is why it was odd, but not unexpected, I suppose, that when I started building my 80's collection of CD's that Swing Out Sisters ultimately made it to the list. Though it was certainly not a high priority.

What I do appreciate in retrospect is their use of horns, and the blending of synth pop with a flare of jazz. It's unique not only for its time, but even today.

I also picked up on a Sade vibe from Drewery's vocals. In a way, it was a nice added bonus and also prompted me to pick up Sade's 1988 album, which is the last of her 80's era albums I didn't currently have.

As a whole, It's Better To Travel is a pretty okay album. I think it's definitely one I would need to be in the right mood for, and I guess today just so happened to work out for it. Despite my childhood opinion, Breakout is a pretty decent song, as is the aforementioned Twilight World. Beyond that though, there weren't really any more memorable tracks.

The trio would reduce to a due when midway through the recording of their 1989 follow-up, Kaleidoscope World, Jackson would opt to leave the band. Though there's not much information on why he left, and nothing I could find which could be corroborated as fact, some have stated it was from him not liking the direction the music was going and wanting to get back to more rock-oriented music. Or you could go with what one person commented on the subject, and simply sum it up as, "three's a crowd".

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Retro Spins: Indigo Girls - Strange Fire

You can only walk past the same ninety-nine cent CD so many times before you finally, out of desperation to pick something up, grab it. That's how I ultimately ended up with not only the 1987 debut of Indigo Girls, but their second, and self-titled (1989) final album of the decade. I don't know any songs from the girl duo, nor did I honestly suspect I was going to like any when it was all said and done, but here we are.

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers met as young-ins back in Georgia, while attending Laurel Ridge Elementary School. Being in different grades, it wouldn't be until high school that they got better acquainted, and formed the band, B-Girls, before changing the name to Sailers And Ray. Upon graduating, again, a year apart, the two went to different colleges, but soon found themselves homesick. Returning home, they would both attend Emory University.

By 1985, they began performing again, adopting the name, Indigo Girls. At first, they self-published, which included their single, Crazy Game, with the B-side, Everybody's Waiting (for Someone to Come Home). This was followed by a six-track extended play in 1987. This was followed by Strange Fire, their first full studio album.

Around this time, female led folk acts were garnering attention on airwaves, typically college radio stations, but quickly transitioning to mainstream. Acts such as 10,000 Maniacs, Tracy Chapman, and Suzanne Vega, and prompted Epic Records to not only take a chance on the genre but found them actively seeking out new talent. Thus, the Indigo Girls were signed. Upon the release of their self-titled album in 1988, which became quite successful by 1989, Epic re-released their '87 album, but not before re-arranging the order, removing two tracks, and adding a cover of the Youngblood hit, Get Together. Overall, the album would not perform as well as their '89 record, but still reached a gold sales certification, while peaking at 159 on the Billboard 200.

With the opening strum of the acoustic guitar, I was already in the mindset that this album wasn't going to be for me. I'm not what one would call a connoisseur of folk, nor country music.

As a whole, the album stays well rooted in that aspect, using minimal instruments to craft each song. Don't expect to hear drums, bass guitars, or synthesizers. Rather, the girls keep it simple, acoustic guitars, and occasionally harmonicas. It's comparable to the earliest Bob Dylan stuff, pre-Highway 61 Revisited. Great if you like that kind of music, rather boring and bland if you don't. Obviously, I fall into the latter.

While I let it play, by track five I pretty much reached my limit, and ended up skipping past tracks to see if anything intrigued my ears. As expected, it did not.

Though tomorrow I'll jump into their 1989 self-titled release, I don't suspect it's going to be any type of opus for me. I'll give it a chance, but...well, we'll see. That's all I can say.

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Retro Spins: Paul KIng - Joy

Paul King isn't a name too many people seem to remember from the 80's. Truth be told, until I stumbled across the single, Love And Pride, while doing my own bit of 80's searching, I never heard it either. Paul initially started the band, King, and with them released 1984's Steps In Time, and 1985's Bitter Sweet. However, I've already Retro Spinned both albums from the band, so today, I'm jumping into Paul's solo effort.

Initially upon graduating from Coventry Drama School, King joined the West Midlands Police Cadets. He stuck with it for two years before joining rock-ska band the Reluctant Stereotypes. They released the 1980 album, The Label, which appears to be the only record they ever released, and never released on CD.

The band disbanded shortly thereafter, and Paul started the new group, Raw Screens, changing the name to King by 1983. Though they produced two gold albums, the aforementioned Steps In Time, and Bitter Sweet, by 1987, Paul opted to go solo. Joy would be his only solo album released.

I can see why in 1987 this album wouldn't impact much. That was a tough year for artists to compete. Things could easily be buried under the likes of Bon Jovi's Slipepry When Wet, Def Leppard's Hysteria, Beastie Boys' Licensed To Ill, U2's The Joshua Tree, Whitney Houston's Whitney, and not to mention, Michael Jackson's Bad. Point being, if you didn't have something massive, good luck being noticed.

It's definitely unfortunate for Joy, because as a whole, it's a really good album. Paul King is the type of artist, especially on this record, where it doesn't matter if he's swooning with a ballad, or bringing a heavy funk laid bass riff with a beat. He's delivering one hundred percent on them all, and you'd have to adamantly try to not get your ears invested.

Follow My Heart, Pass On By, One Too Many Heartaches, Star, It's Up To You, and So Brutal are all amazing tracks. Mind you, Slow Motion, and Glory's Goal aren't too shabby either. It's practically a perfect album.

With his solo career unsuccessful, King joined MTV as a VJ in 1989, moving on to VH1 in 1994. Eventually, he moved on to become the face of the Super Hits Of The 80's infomercials, pandering collections of hits to viewers. Just call 077-115 15 15 to order your CD today (yeah, don't call that number, I don't know where it goes these days). I'm not going to lie, I kind of want one. The track listing on those four discs is pretty boss!

Okay, I have one now. Ah...instant gratification. Well, not instant. It's coming from the UK, so maybe in a few weeks. But until then, the itch has been scratched. Now I just need to find something to listen to for tomorrow's post.

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Retro Spins: Ace Frehley - Frehley's Comet

By 1982, Ace Frehley had departed Kiss, retaining his 1/4 interests with the band until 1985 when his contract expired. Free to do whatever he wanted, he formed a band with Anton Fig, John Regan, Richie Scarlet, and Arthur Stead. The group would alter between using Frehley's name, and Frehley's Comet. Though they would record demos, and perform live shows, the lineup would change when the band ultimately singed with Megaforce Records.

Now consisting of Frehley, Tod Howarth, Regan, and Fig, their debut, Frehley's Comet would be a much-needed success and revitalization of Frehley's career. The album would peak at number forty-three on the Billboard 200, only solidifying my opinion that he was always the true talent of Kiss. The band's cover of Russ Ballard's Into The Night would also peak on the Rock Charts at twenty-seven, while the semi-autobiographical Rock Soldiers music video would see moderate rotation on MTV.

To support the album, the band headed out on tour. However, Fig, who had accepted the full time offer as drummer for David Letterman's talk show band, would only be sporadically available, leading to his departure midway through. Billy Ward would be brought in to fill his shoes and also appear in promotional music videos.

Things start out with Rock Soldiers, which is a fantastic track to set the tone of things to come. However, what I noticed with track two, is that Frehley had definitely taken a page from his previous co-workers, Paul Stanley, and Gene Simmons. Much like Kiss albums, lead vocals rotate between Frehley and Tod Howarth from song to song. Ironically, Howarth would also make a convincing Stanley. They sound very similar.

While the album as a whole is a very satisfying rock pop mixture, there are a lot of standout tracks for sure. For the Frehley sung tunes, those are the aforementioned Rock Soldiers, Into The Night, and Dolls. While Howarth has Breakout and Calling You.

Despite its success, Frehley's Comet wasn't able to maintain much momentum in the 80's. Part of this may have been a result of the ongoing substance abuses of Frehley himself. Their follow up, 1988's Second Sighting wouldn't yield any charting singles. Its correlating tour would also see the band running out of money, ultimately cancelling appearances. With a mess on their hands, a rift was inevitable, but that, as I've said many times before, is a story for tomorrow.

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Retro Spins: Twisted Sister - Love Is For Suckers

By 1986, drummer A.J. Pero had departed the band, and by 1987, Dee Snyder was focusing his attention on solo projects. He'd ultimately record the tracks which would become Love Is For Suckers. However, when presented to Atlantic Records, they refused to release it unless it was under the moniker of a Twisted Sister album. While Snyder would relent to this request, and the band credited (with exception of Pero), outside of the singer, none of the other members contributed to the album.

Snyder focused on a glam metal sound for the album, which resonated with critics at the time, but only served to cause a rift with remaining members, Eddie Ojeda, Jay Jay French, Mark Mendoza, and new drummer, Joey Franco. Having had enough, Dee would quit the band just two months after the album's release, and Atlantic would cancel their contract.

Love Is For Suckers was the very last Twisted Sister album I acquired in my collection, and it was simply for completion's sake. Leading up to today's listening session, I had heard nothing from it before. It features the single, Hot Love, which is also the only track from the record to have a music video. It's a decent track.

The "protest" song, Wake Up (The Sleeping Giants), is also relatively okay. Fun fact, for the longest time, Twisted Sister refused to incorporate any tracks from this album into their live shows. Snyder stated that he felt doing so would potentially cultivate bad memories for the other band members who weren't involved in its recording. However, as of 2012, this track has been added to shows, based on fan requests for their concerts to include material from every album.

It's a solid album, but definitely weaker than what has been delivered in the past. Especially in terms of catch hits. Among the two songs noted above, standout tracks included the title track, Tonight, I Want This Night (To Last Forever), You Are All That I Need, and Yeah Right. That's certainly a lot more than I expected.

The name Twisted Sister would fizzle out of relevance as the years went by until 1998 when something unique happened in Hollywood. Snyder would write, produce, and star in the film, Dee Snyder's StrangeLand. The movie was a based on the song, Horror-Teria (The Beginning): A) Captain Howdy B) Street Justice, from 1984's Stay Hungry, and follows the same premise of sadistic child murderer, Captain Howdy, who ultimately gets set free, only to face street justice, and return to his murderous roots as a result.

While the film would flop at the box office, it would become a cult classic. Further, it would rekindle interest in Twisted Sister, and the classic lineup (Snyder, French, Ojeda, Mendoza, and Pero) would reunite to record tracks for the film's soundtrack, Heroes Are Hard To Find. to capitalize, Spitfire Records re-released the bands entire back catalog with bonus tracks.

This would eventually be followed by a re-recording and re-release of Stay Hungry, now titled, Still Hungry. The schtick was that the band would promote it as the way the album was intended to sound, and to ice the cake, added seven bonus tracks. This was followed by the 2006 farce, A Twisted Christmas.

Throughout all of this, the guys would continue to tour and appear at one-off events. However, when drummer A.J. Pero passed away in 2015, the band would announce a farewell tour, Forty And F**k It, which they embarked on the following year. Their final show would take place on November 12, 2016. The band would reunite again in January 2023 for their induction into the Metal Hall Of Fame, and in 2026 announced a fiftieth anniversary tour. However, this would be without Mark Mendoza, based on "irreconcilable differences."

During all of this, Dee has continued to enjoy a solo career, releasing five studio albums between 2000, and 2021. However, none of his solo efforts have reached the success once had with Twisted Sister. Further, no album by Twisted Sister has come close to topping the massive popularity and sales of 1984's Stay Hungry.

With all that said, it's time for me to find something else to listen to. Tune in tomorrow to see where we land.

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Retro Spins: Marillion - Clutching At Straws

My journey thus far through Marillion's 80's discography is not going as expected. While I was hoping to find a hidden gem of prog rock delicacies, what I'm instead getting is bloated mediocrity. Admittedly, it's a bit disappointing.

I pick up today with 1987's Clutching At Straws. Released as the follow up to their massively successful Misplaced Childhood (1985), the band had an opportunity to capitalize, and soar into mainstream popularity. This, however, wouldn't occur.

While the album would become their second most successful of all time, in terms of the charts, this didn't translate to sales. Gone were the previous certifications of platinum in the UK and Germany, replaced with gold. Regardless, it has received quite a bit of critical praise, being noted among the greatest prog rock albums of all time.

If I didn't know any better, the voice of Fish could easily be mistaken for that of Phil Collins. This works in his favor because it keeps me a bit more invested in the music than I otherwise would have been.

What I've said before, and I suppose am going to continue to say, is that the instrumentation on the album is great. It's layered deep with texture, tempo changes, and slick riffs which keep your ears perked up. However, it once again fails to deliver anything hit worthy.

Once again, one track stood out, also a trend with their albums. This time it was the song, Warm Wet Circles. I would have actually picked a second this time, White Russian, but just as the song would take off, the tempo would drop considerably, derailing any momentum it had going for it. This same thing happened with the songs, Slainte Mhath, and The Last Straw: Happy Ending. It was with these that I realized that when I did hear songs that I liked from them, it was really only parts of it, versus the entire tune.

With eleven tracks, and a fifty-three-minute run time, it's also the longest Marillion album from their albums to date. Being their first album to be released on CD, I can't help but feel that this is simply a product of the CD era bloat. It's a trap a lot of bands fell into, wherein they felt they had to meet a runtime, versus focusing on solid structured tracks.

during this period, the band toured heavily. Not out of need or desire to promote the album, but rather because their management was taking 20% of all gross. As Fish would say, "He was making a fantastic amount of money while we were working our ***** off." To make matters worse, the singer would find a note proposing a US tour, which would leave them needing to borrow £14,000 from EMI just to support it.

Having enough, Fish would give the band an ultimatum. Either they would drop management and continue with him, or keep management, and go on without him. Surprisingly, the band voted to keep management. Fish was out. His last show occurred at Craigtoun Country Park on July 23, 1988.

Steve Hogarth, formerly of the Europeans, would be hired to replace Fish in 1989. In contrast, this was a massive change. Not only did Hogarth bring a new wave background to the band, but a completely different vocal style, and stage presence. At the time, he noted he didn't even own any previous Marillion albums. Together, they released the album, Seasons End, Marillion's last for the era, but far from their last to date.

Tomorrow wraps up my journey through the band, and candidly, I'm kind of glad.

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Retro Spins: Michael Bolton - The Hunger

By 1986, Michael Bolton was on the cusp of a breakthrough. Returning to the studio, he would shape his third album differently. Though it would incorporate hard rock elements from his prior releases, some tracks would shift in tone, taking on softer notes, hints of the adult contemporary tracks which would skyrocket him to chart success.

The Hunger would produce Bolton's first two top forty singles, That's What Love Is All About (peaking on the Billboard Hot 100 at 19), and the Ottis Reading cover, Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay (peaking at number 11). With their aid, the album would reach gold status over the course of two years, but eventually reach double platinum when his career took off in the 90's.

While the first track of the album starts out on a hard rock note, it's with track two, Wait On Love, that you can start to hear the Michael Bolton that became a household name. It's admittedly enjoyable.

The full transformation definitely comes with his rendering of Dock Of The Bay. The track is neither for me, and if I were being honest, which I will, it kind of derails things. It doesn't fit with the previous two songs.

Things continue to flip flop, first with the rocker, Gina, but then back to the crooner styled That's What Love Is All About. It kind of makes you wish he'd pick a lane and stick with it. The songs aren't bad by any means, they just fight with each other for artistic style, and mess with the flow of it all.

The song which probably amalgamates both styles together best is actually the title track, The Hunger. It gives you a bit of that rock, but also the sultry smoother side. It works well.

Despite this initial success, Michael Bolton still wasn't necessarily a superstar. In fact, when he finally began work on what would become 1989's Soul Provider, the artist was not only facing considerable financial difficulties, but exhausted. Though there were talks in the background of dropping him from Columbia Records, the label would ultimately support him and see the album through to completion and release. Smart move considering the numbers it would go on to sell. We'll pick up there tomorrow.

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