This week’s song looks back to 1984 and was the third and final single from Twisted Sister’s landmark album Stay Hungry. I talked about the album to help lead off my celebration of 1984’s 40th anniversary. The song has its origins in the album prior, 1983’s You Can’t Stop Rock n’ Roll, as we’ll soon get into.
The Price did not have the same singles success that the other two songs from Stay Hungry did – it would get to 19 on the Top Rock Tracks chart and 24 on the long defunct Radio and Records chart, but it did not crack the Billboard 100, only hitting 8 on the Bubbling Under chart. It was a different style and theme to the prior singles, with We’re Not Gonna Take It and I Wanna Rock being balls-out rockers. The band cites a lack of a radio mix from producer Tom Werner as a factor, Werner was not given enough heads up to do up a radio edit of the song the same way he did for the two other singles. Not necessarily related but worth noting is that Dee Snider has been critical of Werner’s production (and Werner has fired back at Snider and all of his various critics).
On our hands today is a ballad, and one with more lofty concerns than the typical love song. It is an existential question of whether or not it is worth it to carry on, as the powerful chorus asks. This song doesn’t answer the question – it’s up to the listener to come to their own conclusions. There’s nothing over the moon about the song’s music but the basic approach fits this one very well.
Dee Snider was inspired to write this one while away in Europe recording the previous album. He relays the story in this 2016 interview with Carl Wiser on Songfacts. Dee and the band were holed up recording their album with not even money to make phone calls back home. Jay Jay French’s sister-in-law called to the band to check on them and Dee relayed that he was missing his family, the reply was “I guess that’s the price you have to pay.” Dee gave the phone to Jay Jay, then went into the bathroom and began working on the song.
The Price really does raise those kinds of questions, and well beyond the specific scope of if it was worth it for Twisted Sister to be pushing for their career. The grind can be a tough one, trying to figure out how to “make it” or even how to just get by in life. This song resonates, sometimes as encouragement and sometimes as a point of reflection, on that journey.
While The Price wasn’t a hit in the same way the other singles from Stay Hungry were, this one did become a fan favorite. It’s the band’s sixth most-played song live and Dee frequently played the show on his long-running House of Hair radio show, speaking highly of the track that many fans have listens to in order to help them pull through. Especially in tough times like these, it doesn’t hurt to have some encouragement.
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Yesterday I had a look at the first ten songs that hit number one in the year 1984. Today I’ll finish the list with the other ten. Part One is back this way if you want to catch up.
Prince And The Revolution – When Doves Cry
Right off the bat we get to the other song to stay on top for five weeks during the year. We also get to what was crowned the single of the year in many contexts, including being the best seller. It was also a soundtrack song to the film Purple Rain, landing Prince the rarity of having the number one album, song and movie all at the same time. Only Elvis and The Beatles can also brag about that.
When Doves Cry is a masterpiece of a song. Equal parts pop, synth and funk, this track has all the emotions in it. It’s fairly complex lyrical fare, revolving around a complicated childhood and a love affair. It’s considered one of Prince’s greatest tracks and it is the reigning winner, with a few qualifications to discuss later, of 1984.
Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters
Up next is yet another soundtrack song, and no we’re not done with those. Movies and music were huge business in the 1980’s. Ray Parker Jr. got a lot of mileage off of his hit theme song for the smash movie, it stayed on top of the charts for three weeks.
Here is where I get to save a lot of time – I talked about this song earlier this year and I can just link that post here. Needless to say I love the song, I don’t often write about songs I don’t like in full posts. But I’m sure it will happen someday.
Tina Turner – What’s Love Got To Do With It
And now it’s on to a much deserved comeback and career-defining achievement. Tina Turner’s only number one hit came from her 1984 album Private Dancer and logged three weeks on top in September of ’84. This song also cleaned up at the Grammys, being the huge winner for 1984 songs at that awards show.
The song is smooth and deceivingly upbeat musically as the subject matter is pretty complex and a bit down. For Tina it was a smash success, the second best-selling single of the year, and launched her into a new phase of superstardom that was well-earned after all she’d been through. Quite the triumphant story here.
John Waite – Missing You
When I first looked over the list I honestly couldn’t remember this song, but it came back pretty quickly when I pressed play. This song occupies a unique spot on the 1984 number one list – it was the only song to be in the top spot for only one week. It would be John Waite’s only number one as a solo act – he would score another as the singer for Bad English a few years later on.
After looking back on it I don’t mind this song. I’m not all that into it, it’s a bit too soft rock for my tastes really. I’m literally writing about Exciter’s Violence And Force album for a future album post so this here isn’t totally my cup of tea. But it’s ok and a bit better than what I was expecting going in.
Prince And The Revolution – Let’s Go Crazy
Prince logs his second number one of the year, the only artist to pull that off in 1984. This spent two weeks on top and gave Prince the most weeks at number one for the year. The song is fun and fast and, like the title and its creator, crazy.
Stevie Wonder – I Just Called To Say I Love You
One of the world’s most innovate musicians took a career turn in the ’80’s to more commercial accessibility, and this song was the ultimate payoff. Crafted as a song for the movie The Woman In Red, this spent three weeks at the chart’s top. It didn’t just go number one in the US either – the world charts show bunch of 1’s in the chart positions list.
This is another one I remember being all over the place back then, no real getting away from it. I won’t call it my favorite song in the world but I do enjoy hearing it again, it does take me back to that glorious time.
Billy Ocean – Caribbean Queen
Billy Ocean would land the first of a handful of number one hits with this track. The funny thing was this song bombed originally in Europe with a different name, then won over the same audience after the reworked Caribbean theme caught hold in the US. This had two weeks topping the chart.
This may seem odd but I’m honestly enjoy Billy Ocean’s music quite a bit. There’s something maybe a bit more accessible or fuller about his songs and I’ve always had an ear for when he had a song on radio or TV. I clearly wasn’t the only one, Billy caught on with a hell of a lot of people given his solid run through the years.
Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
It was now go-go time for Wham!, as George Michael would kick off a stellar career with, well, a pretty goofy song and an extremely goofy video. It hung out at the top of the chart for three weeks and was the start of a run of three number one songs for the group as Michael morphed into a solo artist in the next year.
This song is, well, it’s certainly a song. I don’t mean to dump on it as it was intentionally crafted to be bubblegum pop as opposed to a song like Careless Whisper that has something deeper going on with it. The video might call for actual eye bleach depending on just how ’80’s you wanna get and it was an outlier even then. But overall I do enjoy Wham! And I can even jam out to this one now and again.
Hall and Oates – Out Of Touch
The dynamic pop duo would land their sixth and final number one hit with this snazzy dance number toward the end of 1984. The song got two weeks at the top.
I can again save a lot of time here since I wrote about this one not too long ago, so here’s that post.
Madonna – Like A Virgin
The year wrapped up with one hell of a bang, as Madonna landed the first of 44 singles at the top of the Billboard chart. Yes, 44. The Queen of Pop had arrived. Like A Virgin held the spot for one actual week in 1984 though the calendar shows two – Billboard didn’t do a last-week chart so positions were frozen for the holidays. It held on to the top spot for four weeks in 1985, so it matched When Doves Cry and Jump with five weeks at the top of the chart.
Even with such a long line of hits, Like A Virgin is extra iconic. It was both a catchy song and a provocative statement, the open sexuality of the song being a massive topic of conversation. 1984 went out with one hell of a bang and one of music’s biggest stars was on the big stage.
That does it for the number one songs of 1984. When Doves Cry is generally hailed as the “winner” of the year, though Madonna has a hell of an argument for that title. Tina Turner also came away with a ton of accolades for her signature song. There were a few last-time number ones, a few first timers and a hell of a lot of soundtracks.
1984 was curious chart-wise for a few reasons. When I did the top albums list that was one short section, with only five albums when other years see over twenty. The songs were a stable rotation of stuff up and down – many other years see songs bounce in and out of the top spot but that never happened once in 1984.
And none of these can be considered one hit wonders. Everyone had other hits on the charts and many of these folks had other number one hits. It was a true hit maker’s parade at the top of the Billboard in 1984.
That does it for this post. I will continue my year-long celebration of 1984 with more album and song discussions as the second half of the year winds along, and probably a few more special looks at other things from the year. Enjoy the ride, because we’re not ever getting the 1980’s back again.
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It’s time to have a look at the songs that hit number one on the Billboard charts during 1984. It’s a pretty memorable selection overall so this will be fun to go through. There is a fair bit of trivia and whatnot to go through and it cuts through a fair cross section of music, while of course being mainly oriented toward pop.
There were twenty total number one songs so that makes it easy for me to divide this into two parts. Part two will arrive tomorrow.
Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson – Say Say Say
Up first is one of three holdovers from 1983. This song comes from Macca’s 1983 album Pipes Of Peace. The album itself wasn’t fawned over but this song was a massive hit, hanging out on the top of the chart for six weeks, two of those being in 1984. It of course doesn’t hurt that it had Michael Jackson on it, who had cemented himself as the King of Pop after the world-conquering run Thriller had been on.
Say Say Say is a pretty simple pop track, there isn’t a whole hell of a lot to it. I don’t find it all that interesting, though Jackson does add some spice to the song and is the worthwhile part of it. It honestly sounds more like a Jackson song that McCartney showed up on rather than the other way around. Nothing really wrong with it, but it was number one because of Michael and everyone knows it.
Yes – Owner Of A Lonely Heart
This next song from 1983 became the one and only chart topper for the progressive rock act. There’s a whole story behind this song but it’s too long and windy for here. Basically the band got back together with a few new members, one being Trevor Rabin, who brought this song with him. The band fussed over recording it for several months before finally nailing it down.
This is a really cool song that I remember fondly from back then. It has the fit of a nice synth rock track from the era, though it does incorporate some noisy zaniness as well. I’m not familiar with Yes’s initial era so I didn’t feel “burned” by their pop turn, hell I wasn’t even alive for most of their 70’s stuff. So I can enjoy this one with no reservations about the band’s changes. This one held down the top spot for two weeks.
Culture Club – Karma Chameleon
This is the final song from 1983 on the list and also the only number one US hit for the British pop merchants. This song was massive and sold millions of copies, both of single and album. Culture Club were a relatively brief phenomenon and Boy George’s tabloid presence long outlived the music itself, but this band sold records like hotcakes back in the day. I’m sure one thing helped the other there, of course.
This one is a fun, upbeat new wave number with just a small twinge of country in it. The music video is also fun, filled with vibrant colors that catch attention. It’s probably fun to watch the video while on certain drugs but I wouldn’t know. The song spent three weeks at number one though it was a cultural moment that hung around for quite awhile after its run at the top. I also can’t imagine what people a lot younger than me think of it, especially the video, but hey it was the 1980’s and this is what we did.
Van Halen – Jump
And now we’re on to one I’m very, very familiar with. Van Halen turned gears a bit for their 1984 album and Eddie used synth lines to full effect, including as a foundation for this song. The recipe was a successful one and Van Halen rode this to their one and only number one single.
Jump hung out on the top of the chart for five weeks. Only one other song did five weeks at number one in 1984 and one other did six weeks bleeding into 1985, both obviously will be covered tomorrow.
I personally love this song. Van Halen and specifically this album got me really into rock music at a young age so this is kind of where things really kicked off for me. It’s easily my favorite of the number one list, though there are plenty of other worthy songs to go over.
Kenny Loggins – Footloose
This is the first of two songs from the film soundtrack that hit number one. It hung out on top for three weeks as soundtracks took over the top spot for awhile in this period of the year.
I don’t have a ton to say about this one. I honestly was never into the movie and I have no affinity for it. I do like Kenny Loggins’ music though and this song is fine, I get why it caught on like it did.
Phil Collins – Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)
Up next is a song from a different soundtrack, as Phil Collins cut a song for a film of the same name. The song was Phil’s first US number one hit, he would go on to have several more. This one did what seems to be a standard run of three weeks at the chart’s peak.
I only very, very vaguely recall the movie and I can only recall that I think it sucked. The song isn’t nearly that bad although it’s also maybe a bit meh. I’m not down on Phil Collins like a lot of people can be, I’m pretty sure he’s taken so much shit that it makes Nickelback hate look like child’s play. I even like some of Phil’s stuff, both with Genesis and his solo songs. But this one doesn’t quite move me the same way as other songs of his. It’s ok but not one I’d playlist or anything.
Lionel Richie – Hello
We get a brief respite from soundtrack songs as Lionel Richie jumped into the number one fray for two weeks with this slow jam. Richie was becoming quite the megastar during this time, by 1985 he’d be pretty well on top of the world and solidified himself as one of the best-selling artists of the 1980’s. He was all over the place back in the day and this was a time when there were only like three real TV channels, not the wall-to-wall coverage like we have today.
Hello is a quiet, soft ballad in the style Richie had taken up for his solo run. It was one of his biggest hits so obviously he got it right. He put together quite the concept piece for a video too, with full on acting and an actual story as opposed to just flashy images and clothing.
Deniece Williams – Let’s Hear It For The Boy
Back to the Footloose soundtrack here for the other number one hit from that record. This was Williams’ second of two number one hits and this one did two weeks on the top. Also of note are backing singers George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who would go on to form the writing and performing duo Boy Meets Girl. They would craft a pair of Whitney Houston’s number one hits a few years down the road.
Again not a whole lot to say here. It’s a fun, upbeat track and I remember this being on radio and TV all the time. A very easy, inoffensive song to play for most any occasion.
Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time
Up next is this pop ballad from Lauper, who found her first number one with this and kept the spot for two weeks. She would hit the top again but not for several years, though she had a lot of other hits that were not far off of the top. And she’s an artist that many people might not realize is as successful as she truly is, she’s had quite the career.
This is a song I do really like and one again I remember fondly from 40 years ago. It’s a nice ballad with some tempo and atmosphere to it and it’s a very sweet and affirming message. Always nice to hear this song.
Duran Duran – The Reflex
We’ll close out part one of the list with one of two songs to go number one for the iconic British new wave group. The song spent the customary two weeks on the chart before giving way to what became the single of the year. This was also part of a two-song “block” that prevented Bruce Springsteen from having a number one single, a feat the Boss hasn’t accomplished with work he has performed to this day.
The Reflex is a crazy ass song, in fact this is a dance remix that is different from what is on the studio album. This isn’t my favorite Duran Duran song but I don’t have anything bad to say about it, just not my cup of tea really.
That wraps up part one. Tomorrow I’ll kick things off straight away with the top song of 1984, a few other titanic cuts including Tina Turner’s massive comeback and Stevie Wonder’s best-charting song, and also what actually counts as the most successful charting song of 1984. Oh, and after nearly three years of writing this blog, I’ll finally get to talk about Wham! Looking forward to it.
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Today I keep rolling with my mini-concept of visiting a song from the years ending in 4. Today I head back to 1994 and I’m finally going to address a song I’ve been dying to write about for awhile now. This was the song from the debut album that really got the ball rolling for England’s revered (and reviled) Oasis.
Live Forever was the third single from the 1994 debut Definitely Maybe. The album is cited for selling over 8 million copies, though no telling how much of that was the white-hot success of the follow-up record. The single did great business, earning Oasis their first UK top 10 hit and also placing at number 2 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart, as well as 10 on the Mainstream Rock chart in the US. The single is double platinum in the UK for sales of 1.2 million.
This song is a bright, positive one with a simple beat and riff that keeps things moving along. The lyrics visit the concept of wanting to shed a mundane life and finding happiness with a close friend or family member. It doesn’t wallow in the angst of being downtrodden, rather the song embraces reality and hopes for something better, coupled with the bond of friendship. While a lot of Oasis songs have lyrics that mean absolutely nothing, the words to Live Forever have a simple yet very powerful meaning to them.
This was one of the first songs Noel Gallagher started putting together, and it was the one that made him and the other members of Oasis realize they had something special. It was also the song that helped push Oasis over the edge when being offered a record deal by Creation Records. When it was released as a single just in advance of the album, music critics found something a bit more special than the average band in this song.
There a few bits of trivia here. One is that the vocal melody in the beginning was inspired by the Rolling Stones song Shine A Light. It’s not a rip off or anything like that, but there’s a link there for sure between the chorus of the Stones’ song and the opening line of this one.
Also, Noel Gallagher was inspired in part by Nirvana to write this song. Not due to any similarity in sound, it was Nirvana and grunge’s bleak outlook that caused Noel ire. Noel heard the Nirvana track I Hate Myself And Want To Die and wound up completing Live Forever. Gallagher was not offering a direct response to the down and out grunge tune – rather he fashioned an antidote.
Live Forever was played 570 times during Oasis’ run, making it their third most played song. It has also been aired out 72 times by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds since Oasis ended. That is nearly doubled by brother Liam, who has played it out 139 times as a solo artist.
I do hold Live Forever in high regard – awhile back when I ranked my 20 favorite Oasis tracks, this clocked in at third place. It’s a beautiful song that’s honestly perfect for just about any occasion. Feeling bad? Put it on and feel better. Feeling good? Put it on and keep feeling good. It can fit weddings, funerals, celebrations and tragedies of about any kind. Maybe the biggest shame of Live Forever is that Oasis kind of outdid themselves with another song on the next album that fills a similar purpose, though there’s nothing wrong with having both this song and Don’t Look Back In Anger around.
That about covers it for today. I will be giving Definitely Maybe another look on its 30th anniversary date near the end of August. I covered it in one of my first posts on this site and only three people ever read it so I guess repeating myself is ok in this case. Tomorrow I’ll be back with a song from 2004 and on that is much, much less positive and upbeat than this one. Look forward to it!
Let’s head back to 1984 and hop up to the Great White North for the song of the week. We’ll revisit the first hit of someone who became a prolific hitmaker in both the US and his native Canada.
Corey Hart had just launched his music career in earnest with his debut album First Offense, which hit shelves in November 1983. Oddly enough, Sunglasses At Night was the lead single but was not released in advance of the album or even with the full-length – it was served up as a single in January 1984.
The single did reasonably well for a debut artist – it was a top 10 hit in the US, landing at 7 on the Billboard 200. It charted at 24 in Canada and landed in fair spots in Australia and Europe as well. As a note to those unaware, Corey Hart was far from a one-hit wonder – this was only his first successful single. He would have subsequent hits that landed higher in the US and he has 30 Canadian Top 40 hits, on top of selling over 16 million albums. This is likely the song most people remember, but Corey was on top of it at several different points in his career and has done amazingly well through the years.
Sunglasses At Night is a pleasing synth-driven offering. It is at times bright but also with a subtle dark and twisted bent to it. The lyrics are vague and not out for easy meaning, but there’s a tale of a guy being cheated on here, he wears his sunglasses to hide his eyes from the truth of his unfaithful lover. It’s both a bit cheesy and also sensibly crafted for the time period, a nice pop rock hit for the era.
The actual origins of the song are very practical. Corey states in this 2019 interview with the CBC that he had bought a pair of shades while he was recording in England, but never got the chance to wear them. He joked that he’d have to wear them at night, then the idea stirred for a new song right as the record label asked for one more track. There is also an unverified story about an air vent being right over the mixing console in the studio and people wore sunglasses to shield their eyes from the forced air, but again I can’t corroborate that one. Either way, the genesis of the song was pretty simple.
The music video was put together with thought and care, and was also a vehicle to the song’s success. In it Corey is living in an Orwellian world, he winds up arrested for not wearing his sunglasses at night. He is eventually let out by the jail guard, played by Canadian TV personality Laurie Brown. The video went on to win the first ever award for Video of the Year at the 1984 Juno Awards. Corey relates in the same CBC interview I linked above that he had to borrow a suit from Rick Springfield for the awards event.
All told, Sunglasses At Night is a song that outlived its 1980’s lifespan and still gets brought up all these years later. It would lead Corey Hart to a run of success that spanned decades and the concept of sunglasses at night is something that gets brought up a fair bit, thus keeping the song in public discourse. A pretty nice outcome for something based originally on how England’s weather is cloudy.
I was talking with a buddy awhile back about canceled shows. It’s the hidden scourge of attending concerts – you show up to the venue ready to have a good time and someone’s back is out or they have the flu or a new divorce to navigate, and they aren’t playing that night. Usually these things come around in time enough to absorb, but there are times people have found out in front of the venue or even in their seats.
I’ve never personally had the worse scenario happen – I haven’t even traveled some distance only to find last-minute that the show is off. A few friends of mine have been in that predicament before, I recall many years ago texting a good friend to let him know that the band he was driving up to Kansas City to see was buried under snow in Denver. And my friend was just outside of KC, a three hour drive from here, when he found out.
But I have had a few cancellations in various circumstances. I figured I’d run through them today just for something different to do.
Megadeth
The first one is also the most recent one. Megadeth planned a huge tour with Lamb Of God, In Flames and Trivium and included little ol’ Springfield on the original routing. Well, this was early 2020 when the shows were announced, and we all know that COVID hit not long after. The tour was pushed to 2021 and Springfield was dropped entirely.
I wasn’t surprised, the show was being held in our 10,000 seat college arena and I was very skeptical that Megadeth was going to even come close to filling that. And they didn’t – tickets weren’t moving much at all, so they quietly threw our show into the bin when re-routing the tour.
And one person really made out like a bandit over it – me. I excitedly hopped on to buy tickets as soon as I could dig up a pre-sale code and I used the seat map to buy two awesome seats right on the aisle. Only problem was the seat map was oriented weird and I bought seats in the upper most row of the section instead of closest to the stage. I bought the two tickets I intended to buy so I was on the hook for four tickets at $125 a pop. When the show canceled and I got all my money back I felt a lot less stupid, I wasn’t gonna have to try and sell expensive tickets to a show people weren’t lining up to attend.
Oh, and that wasn’t all – I had bought the two closer seats under some kind of package deal involving Lamb Of God. A few months later when they released a new album, that record showed up to my doorstep, signed by the band. I can only assume that was part of the deal I bought as I didn’t order a signed record on my own. Or maybe it was a quiet kind of make-good thing after the tour got postponed and later canned. Either way, thanks.
Deicide
This goes back to 2004 and doesn’t involve a whole show cancellation but rather just one band. The tour package was Superjoint Ritual, the post-Pantera outfit of Phil Anselmo. Deicide were opening the show along with someone else. I wasn’t ever into Superjoint but I was happy for the chance to see Deicide, I do love my old school death metal.
Well, Deicide did what they often did in those years and didn’t show. I got to the front of the venue and there was a sign saying that they canceled. I hadn’t bought a ticket so I turned around and left. Deicide would jettison their troublesome members not long after and go on a run of more stability. This one didn’t really bother me too much, Deicide canceling shows was not out of the blue back then and they were the only reason I was going so it was a free evening for me.
Merle Haggard
This next one goes back to early 2016 and, if you know Merle’s life story at all, you already know the tragic reason for this one.
Merle had booked a tour with Willie Nelson, with Jamey Johnson opening. You talk about a chance to see two legends under one roof, this was it on a silver platter. And Jamey was no slouch either, he was running high around this time.
Well, sadly Merle wouldn’t make it. He came down with pneumonia and wasn’t able to shake it. He canceled his participation on the tour fairly early, and then died on April 6. This was only two days before the show was set to hit my town.
Willie and Jamey went on with their sets, both paying homage to Merle. It was a fantastic show but it’s sad that Merle passed away and couldn’t be a part of it as well. But it’s one cancellation I’d have a hard time complaining about. Totally understandable.
Slayer
These last two are inter-related. At some point in 2004, Slayer announced a tour for later in the year that was to include our humble little village. I had never seen Slayer live so I was very much looking forward to it.
Well, fast forward 20 years, and I’ve never seen Slayer live.
This one was pretty simple – just as the tour started, Tom Araya was having some kind of issues, I think with his throat but I’m not sure. The band postponed the first few shows, of which ours was one. A bit later they announced the rescheduled dates, and our show was not among the new dates. No official word was given but the rumor mill indicated that soft ticket sales were the reason.
I was disappointed by this one but not much I can really do about it. The saddest part of all is that it might have played a role in a gig we never got.
Cradle Of Filth
This final one is not an officially canceled gig. Nothing was ever booked and no tickets were sold. And all of the info I’m about to give is all second-hand information that I can’t confirm, and also it was 20 years ago so my own memory might not be the best on it all.
But the premise was this – Cradle Of Filth were looking to book US shows and somehow got in touch with a booker here. The band’s fee was huge, which is understandable as they were the most successful extreme metal band going back then. But I guess our booker was willing to play ball and everyone exchanged dates. The kink in the hose that killed the show was this – the only available date was the same night as the Slayer gig.
So we didn’t get a Cradle Of Filth show because Slayer were running town the same night. That much is understandable, as the crossover in audiences is pretty big. But, as we’ve just seen above, that Slayer gig wound up canceled. So that’s a possible double bummer, if this story is true.
I really don’t know if CoF were actually close to playing here. It’s possible that there was a low-level inquiry that didn’t pan out and then someone in the scene added a bunch of layers to the story that weren’t really there. Or it’s possible that it is all true – it’s one of life’s dumb series of coincidences that is just strange and stupid enough to happen. I kind of don’t buy it because CoF’s tour routing for the fall of ’04 doesn’t line up with Slayer’s that much but something still could have been brewing.
That about does it for the canceled shows, at least the ones I can recall. I consider myself fortunate – I never had to drive a great distance to find a show canceled at the last minute. But I’m sure many of you who read here have your own canceled gig stories, feel free to share them below. And may any future gigs go on without a hitch.
For questions, comments or concerns, either use the comment form below or head to my contact page.
I’m using the gig I saw just a few weeks back for a bit of further inspiration today as I look at one of the standout songs Uriah Heep played that night. Stealin’ comes from Heep’s sixth album Sweet Freedom, which hit way back in 1973. Today’s song was the lead single from the album. The song had a few low chart positions through Europe. The album did score US gold and UK silver certifications and a handful of desirable chart placements.
This was a period of transition for Uriah Heep. While they remained on independent label Bronze for their native UK affairs, the band were now distributed in the US by major Warner Bros. It also saw the band move away from prog elements and implement more conventional hard rock passages, though the guitar and organ nucleus of the band’s sound was still in tact, as it always has been.
The band’s line-up was unchanged from their prior effort. David Byron handled singing duties, Ken Hensley did keyboards and guitar, Gary Thain was the bassist and Lee Kerslake was on drums. Mick Box played lead guitar and is the only surviving member of this line-up, as well as a present-day member of Heep.
Stealin’ opens with a quiet organ while David Byron spins a tale of a guy who started more crap that what he bargained for. He hooked up with the rancher’s daughter and got chased across the land by the vengeful father. He has to run and only has his life left to save. The lyrics reach their point quite nicely with the line “I was stealing when I should have been buying,” which can be taken literally and also figuratively in the case of the girl he could have courted properly instead of seducing.
The story remains open-ended, we never find out if the guy got away from his predicament or if the pursuers caught up to him. But the song does go into a hefty jam to round everything out. It’s definitely more of an FM radio hard rock thing than the prog-minded fare UH offered up earlier in their career but it’s still a nice, groovy jam.
Stealin’ has been a staple of Uriah Heep setlists since its introduction 51 years ago. It has been played 789 times live, according to setlist.fm, and the band have a summer tour coming up with no signs of slowing down. It was a treat when they broke this one out early in the set when I saw them recently on their just-concluded tour with Saxon. I’ve included a clip from another show on the same tour below.
That’s all for today, hopefully everyone is having a fruitful life of buyin’ rather than stealin’. But it did make for one hell of a song.
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Last Friday was the big show, one that I would have never expected to book in my town. But it happened against any expectations and it was quite a night.
The venue was the Gillioz Theatre. This is a historic spot that was originally opened in 1926, then closed in 1980 and re-opened after restoration in 2006. The spot holds roughly 1,000 people. It has been an occasional hotspot for shows and I’ve seen a handful there. It is a seated venue with not a ton of room to stand around in, a point that will come up in a bit.
The show was Saxon and Uriah Heep, two long-running British rock and metal acts who are still going strong after decades. Uriah Heep started in 1970 and have been running since, and Saxon got off the ground in 1975 and released their first album in 1979.
While Saxon was the first act to play, this was a co-headliner tour where each band got equal stage time, roughly an hour and twenty minutes. No openers or anything like that, just long sets for the featured acts and straight to the point. I’m getting to enjoy this kind of show without openers who I forget about before they’re sometimes even off stage. Opening a show like this would be a killer opportunity for an emerging band, though I do also appreciate the extra spare time from not having one.
Saxon were up first and got right into it, they played the intro and then the title track from their newest album Hell, Fire and Damnation, which I conveniently reviewed the other day. In all, five songs from the new disc got into the setlist so Saxon are clearly high on this new material.
Another thing Saxon do a lot of are title tracks – including the new album, a total of seven title tracks got stage time. This ran the string from early Saxon releases like Denim And Leather and Wheels Of Steel, to the more recent Sacrifice and also stuff like Power And The Glory being somewhere inbetween it all.
Saxon celebrating after their set
The band were totally on point all night, these guys are seasoned pros and there wasn’t going to be any let down. It could be said that their intensity was greater than that of the seated crowd, who to be honest were a bit tame. This did seem to capture Biff Byford’s attention as he brought it up more than once and a fair portion of the crowd got up and put in some energy in response. I have nothing bad to say about the venue, but an open standing sort of place would have been a much more appealing venue for this show. Sadly we don’t have much of anything like that in town, at least for a show this size.
Even with the contrast between a heavy metal band on stage and a crowd all stuffed in theater seats, the show went off without a hitch. I was very happy to see Saxon as it was my first time. I don’t know why I hadn’t caught them before, they aren’t exactly shy about touring, but whatever the case I finally got another band off my bucket list.
In a bit of trivia – I have no clue if Saxon had ever played Springfield in the past, this town did get some shows in the ’80’s long before I lived here. But I do know that their most recent member, guitarist Brian Tatler, had played town just seven years prior with his main outfit Diamond Head. There’s a story or more in that show that I will tell in a post sometime down the road.
After Saxon left the stage there was a pretty quick stage turnover to get ready for Uriah Heep. Saxon were actually only occupying the front part of the stage in fairly cramped conditions, as UH already had their gear set up behind Saxon so the changeover was pretty seamless. I’ve noticed that set turnover is a very quick process these days – back in the ’90’s when I started attending shows, the change from one band to next could take an eternity.
Uriah Heep is a band I have been familiar with but haven’t spent a ton of time listening to. They’ve had a few songs in rotation on classic rock radio but I hadn’t played an album of theirs or anything. I did put together a playlist of sets they’d done at shows prior to my stop in order to familiarize myself more with their stuff, another nice convenience of the modern age.
Uriah Heep does have one remaining original member, guitarist Mick Box. In fact, Mick is the only surviving original member so it’s not like anyone else would have the opportunity to join him. Mick was joined by singer Bernie Shaw, who has been with the group since 1986. Bassist Dave Rimmer has been around since 2013, and Drummer Russell Gilbrook has been on board since 2007. Regular keyboardist Phil Lanzon was unable to join Heep for the tour, so the band landed one hell of a special guest in his place – Adam Wakeman, the son of legendary Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, helmed the organ keys for this show.
The Heep are also touring behind a recent album, 2023’s Chaos and Colour. Three songs from that album made the set, as well as one from their 2018 effort Living The Dream. The rest of the set was culled from the band’s classic early 1970’s work. I will say that the newer songs were all really good and have me eager to visit these more recent albums. It’s a tough task to catch up with the group as they have 25 total studio albums.
Uriah Heep in action
The band were in fine form as they delivered their goods. Most of the stuff was performed faithful to the original, while UH took a few liberties here and there. After shouting out Saxon, Shaw made a remark that today’s music is pigeonholed into genres, while when Uriah Heep were starting out music was mostly either good or not. Then UH showed off their own metal chops with a heavy rendition of Free n’ Easy. Russell Gilbrook especially got down hard and heavy on the song, an illustration that sometimes drums are honestly the line between rock and metal.
There were a few treats in store for those, like me, who enjoy extended live jams and departures from the original recordings. UH again struck up a heavier tone on Look At Yourself and also drew the jam out for a pretty long time. They also aired out their long ballad July Morning, a gentle reminder that ten-minute long songs existed long, long before Taylor Swift. We then got the encore, which was capped off with the band’s obvious hit Easy Livin’.
That was all for the show, it was off into the night for us afterward. It was a true honor to finally see Saxon live, a true stalwart of the NWOBHM. And it was a real privilege to see Uriah Heep and I will be working their albums into my rotation as I move along, they are far too good to not listen to. I was surprised that this show got booked here and I’m damn glad it did, my gigs these days are very few and far between and this was a true highlight of my concert going.
Photography by Susan Cummins
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It’s time to continue the 40th anniversary celebration for 1984. And today I’ll have a look at one of the big pop and dance hits of the year. If there’s anything my site is known for, pop and dance are not it, but there is no denying the song-crafting genius of Hall and Oates.
Out Of Touch hails from the duo’s twelfth album Big Bam Boom, which arrived in October of 1994. The album would hit Billboard top 5 and go double platinum and was carried mainly on the success of today’s single. Out Of Touch would be the duo’s sixth and final number 1 single. It was also their 14th consecutive Top 40 single, they would go on to have 29 total Top 40 placements.
With this song Hall and Oates were exploring new wave and dance territory. The group had worked with many different music styles over their long tenure, and by 1984 they were riding a wave of huge pop hits and were working with the sounds of the day. It was a synthesizer where the track was born, and John Oates came up with the chorus on the synth while not really knowing how to use the instrument and while also enjoying herbal supplements. He intended the song to go to Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics but a producer told him to keep it for Hall and Oates, which he did. Oates and Daryl Hall finished the track and yet another number one hit was born. Oates tells this story in pretty funny fashion during a performance for Ditty TV, I have embedded that video below.
Today’s song is not overly loud or obtrusive by any means but it is still a banger. It does the dreamy synth thing pretty well through the chorus while the verses are honestly standard pop rock. It is, just like the duo’s other hits, insanely catchy and this one hooks in right off the bat. Hall and Oates were able to maintain their precision songwriting while using a host of new music tech. It was exactly the kind of ear-pleasing pop that would turn heads in 1984 and the song has been one of a handful from the group to still hook in listeners many years later.
If the standard version of Out Of Touch is a bit pedestrian for you, well, you’re in luck. There is an extended club mix of the song too, which the music video uses a few parts of. If you like your songs harder and probably also your drugs harder, then the Out Of Touch club mix is just up your alley. I’ll toss that one down below, it’s totally worth a listen.
And speaking of the music video – it’s another total ’80’s offering. The beginning is a funny sequence that sees Hall and Oates trapped in a drum, then steamrolled and pinned on a wall. The video then goes into a more conventional performance bit after that, but the giant drum set does get some more screen time.
Not much more to say about this one – Out Of Touch is a quintessential ’80’s hit and another jewel in the Hall and Oates crown. I doubt anyone made it through the early ’80’s without hearing Hall and Oates and if they did they are much poorer for it.
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It’s time again to jump back 40 years to 1984 and revisit some of the great music from that great year. I’ve been running this site for well over 2 years now and, until today, I haven’t talked about a Kiss album yet. Well, Kiss released an album in 1984 so I guess now is as good a time as any.
Kiss – Animalize
Released September 17, 1984 via Mercury Records
By 1984, Kiss were re-stabilizing after a few ill-received albums and massive line-up turbulence. The band had not landed with Unmasked and The Elder, though Creatures Of The Night and Lick It Up did restore some shine to the Kiss diamond. But just as the music was turning back around, the line-up blew apart and in spectacular fashion.
By the time of Animalize, Kiss were comprised of Paul Stanley on vocals and guitar, Gene Simmons on bass, Eric Carr as drummer and new to the band Mark St. John on lead guitar. St. John would be the band’s third guitarist in two years and the spot would turn over again by the end of 1984.
It would also be fair to present the Kiss line-up as follows for this album – Paul Stanley and Eric Carr. Gene Simmons was laser focused on making an acting career and was barely present for these recording sessions. Jean Beauvoir helped out some on bass and Stanley played the opening track. Desmond Child joined in to help write a few songs, including one of Kiss’s most enduring ’80’s hits, as well as provide backing vocals. And Mitch Weismann also joined on to help write and play guitar.
Long story short, Mark St. John did not mesh with his new bandmates and was a problem during album recording. Bruce Kulick came in to help finish guitars for two songs. Kulick also filled in for St. John when the latter cited medical issues for being unable to tour behind this album. St. John would play all of 2.5 shows with Kiss before being replaced permanently by Kulick.
Paul Stanley was able to fashion a competent and well-received record out of all the mess he had to work with, including serving as the album’s producer in addition to band leader, fill-in guitarist and bassist and composer and arranger. Easy to see why he was getting stressed out while Gene was off becoming an actor and the lead guitar slot was a revolving door.
One part that Stanley was unable to salvage was that of the album cover. The cover is credited to an advertising agency as opposed to an artist. I won’t say it’s awful but it’s also not very good – there are about a million and one other ideas that would have worked better.
Will all that background out of the way, we have an album with 9 songs and a very lean 35:42 runtime. This one has had a few remasters and re-issues but I am not aware of any bonus tracks floating around, I don’t think this album got the super deluxe treatment that other Kiss albums have.
I’ve Had Enough (Into The Fire)
The opener is a shit-hot rock track that gets the ol’ adrenaline flowing from the word go. It’s a prime, uptempo blast of rock with a message of making it against all odds, that ever-present theme of ’80’s music. This one was co-penned by Stanley and Child and is a fantastic way to kick things off. Grade: A
Heaven’s On Fire
Up next is the album’s lead single. The fire theme keeps going as here Paul is getting ready for a hook-up so hot that Heaven itself will burn. It’s another song that Desmond Child helped out on and it is impossibly catchy. The chorus is infectious enough to be classified as a disease. It’s no shock that the acronym for writing good songs is K-I-S-S for Keep It Simple, Stupid; and that is in full effect here.
Heaven’s On Fire charted modestly across several countries but did become a staple of the Kiss live set, it is one of the band’s most enduring ’80’s songs. Grade: A+
Burn Bitch Burn
One of a few Gene Simmons contributions here and thankfully he kept up the burning theme despite barely being around for the recording. Here Gene is apparently paying homage to the exchange of bodily fluids and the nasty germs that can come from such exchanges. The song is pretty good overall, very suitably heavy and all, though I could have done without the “whoo whoo whoo” in the chorus. But it’s not a major detraction and I do like this one overall. Grade: B
Get All You Can Take
This song is the result of a Stanley- Weissman tag team and is another just splendid rocking track. There are guitars everywhere and Paul really shows off his once-impressive vocal register here. It’s another one of those “go out and get it no matter what” songs, great for pumping iron or sitting back 40 years later and realizing you did no going out and getting it at all. Grade: A-
Lonely Is The Hunter
Another Gene track here, it’s a mid-paced offering that has a nice shape to it but doesn’t stray anywhere beyond its main, plodding riff. The song isn’t bad but it doesn’t leap out and grab attention in the way the other songs so far have. Grade: C+
Under The Gun
And now it’s on to a Stanley-Carr-Child offering that does absolutely come out scorching. This one is a guitar showcase and a balls-out rocker from front to back. There was no letting up on the second side of this album. Grade: A
Thrills In The Night
This was the album’s other single and it marries the heavy metal feel going on with the venerable Kiss sense of melody. A very nicely done song that sees a woman who is an office stiff during the day a but a total freak out on the prowl at night. Grade: B+
While The City Sleeps
Both of the final tracks were written by Simmons and Weissman. This one is a good, uptempo mover and shaker that’s again about finding stuff out in the night. It does a good job of keeping the album’s momentum going into the close. Grade: B
Murder In High Heels
The closer has a nice, playful riff and a typical premise about a hot woman out to take on the world. The song doesn’t necessarily go much of anywhere but is decently put together. Grade: C
Animalize was a success for Kiss, continuing their rebound from the turn of the decade. The album hit 19 on the Billboard chart and had several top 10 placements internationally. It was the first Kiss album since Dynasty to be certified platinum (Lick It Up would hit that mark later).
It was a great turnaround for Kiss, who wandered into the wilderness a bit at the start of the ’80’s but by this time had found solid footing and made themselves right at home in the new rock and metal scene. Even with all the band turmoil and this record almost being a Paul Stanley solo effort, Kiss were able to re-integrate themselves into a 1980’s rock scene that they helped influence with their early career.
Album Grade: B+
Animalize was a nice offering and exactly the shot in the arm Kiss needed. There are no real duds here, even the secondary songs offer worthwhile listening. And there are several highlights among the hard rock on full display here. The rest of the decade would be a topsy-turvy one for Kiss, but here they had put together the third in a string of solid albums that kept them from being a memory of the 1970’s.
For an explanation of the grading scale, head here.
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The Crooked Wanderer 