MTV Playlist, Light Rotation, May 1983

A few days back, I posted a MTV Playlist as part of a look back at May 1983. As I glanced at that playlist, one band in particular caught my eye: Rail. I noticed them not for their band name or song ("Hello"), but rather for their label - they didn't have one. And down the rabbit hole I went. In my mind, I constructed a scenario in which a regional band makes their own video, submits it to MTV unsolicited, some MTV exec likes it, there's some under-the-table payola and yada yada yada, it makes the MTV playlist.

But then I watched the video and at the end appears the lovely Martha Quinn talking about The Basement Tapes. The Basement Tapes! I'd completely forgotten about that thing.

Unsigned bands would submit videos and viewers would vote by telephone. Rail was the first winner of Basement Tapes and that's why they're on the playlist. Anyhoo, here's an annotated/linked copy of the above playlist. Some big hits and some bigger misses in this pile as well and at least one hit that should have been a miss. (apologies to Bonnie T. - it's not you, it's me). And at least five songs I have no memory of ever hearing before today.

Artist	Clip	Album	Pop	Rock	AC
Iron Maiden	Flight of Icarus	Piece of Mind		8
Jim Capaldi	That's Love	Fierce Heart	28		3
Gary Myrick	Guitar, Talk, Love & Drums	Language (EP)
Bonnie Tyler	Total Eclipse of the Heart	Faster Than the Speed of Night	1	23	7
Rank & File	Rank & File	Sundown
Todd Rundgren	Bang on the Drum All Day	The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect	63	29
Ric Ocasek	Jimmy Jimmy	Beatitude
Rail	Hello	Arrival
Pete Shelley	Telephone Operator	XL1
Sylvester	Hard Up	All I Need
Joan Armatrading	Drop the Pilot	The Key	78	33
ABC	All of My Heart	The Lexicon of Love
Culture Club	Time	Kissing to be Clever	2		6
Tears for Fears	Mad World	The Hurting
Kix	Body Talk	Cool Kids	104
Dexys Midnight Runners	Celtic Soul Brothers	Too-Rye-Ay	86	143
New Models	Stranger in Disguise	Sight and Sound (EP)		143

I would have sworn ABC's "All of My Heart" had been a single here in the US, but I would have lost that bet. Good new discoveries for me were the Sylvester and New Models tunes.

MFD Not-So-Random Five #1

In which I select five songs from 1976-1985 based on an arbitrary theme. (Not to be confused with this blog's Random Five feature, another exercise in arbitrariness). Today's theme: Song titles that are girls' names.

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1. "Sara" by Starship (1985, Grunt/RCA)
   Starship's mid-80's oeuvre has been widely criticized, but with three #1 hits over the span of three years, somebody must have liked the tunes at the time. I think "Sara" is the best of Starship's output. I don't like the way the over-echoed drums are pushed to the front of the mix and there's not much to the verse, but the guitar solo is pretty good and there's something about the flatted chord in the chorus that gets me every time.  Bonus points for featuring Rebecca De Mornay in the otherwise poor video.


2. "Joanna" by Kool & The Gang (1983, Polygram)
   In the late fall/early winter of 1983, I was briefly interested a girl named JoAnn. She was a couple of years younger than me and, in her father's opinion, too young to go on a "car date" so that relationship never got off the ground. Other than the similar names, the girl and the song have nothing to do with each other. However, I'm always reminded of JoAnn when I hear this tune. (A few years later DeBarge did something similar with "Who's Holding Donna Now"). I can't think of any K&TG song I dislike. The trombone solo, the sappy lyrics, the constant eight note electric piano motif - it all works for me.


3. "Alison" by Elvis Costello (1977, Stiff)
   If this isn't the best tune Costello ever penned, it's certainly in the discussion. I didn't hear it until about 5 years after its original release and that was perfect timing for me as I wouldn't have understood it at age 11 but the angst certainly was on the mark for me as a 16 year old in love with anything in a skirt. I love the noodling guitar, the classic chorus melody, and the fade out for the last minute of the cut. My aim is true.


4. "Angela" by Bob James (1978, Tappan Zee)
   To my knowledge, this was my introduction to Bob James as this tune was used as the theme music to the TV sitcom Taxi. It's a nice enough melody but the good stuff didn't even make the TV theme version. I could do without the recorder, but there's a tasty electric piano solo by James and a sublime guitar solo by Eric Gale that's the highlight of the cut for me.


5. "Jeanette" by The English Beat (1982, I.R.S.)
   The second single release from the Special Beat Service album, this peaked at #45 in the UK and didn't make any mark here in the US. But as a young boy growing up on the coastal plains of Texas, the whole album was just what I needed. Love the accordion parts over the ska beat, then they throw in Saxa on the saxophone over some background vocals and I can't resist some chair dancing. Good stuff. I can easily listen to Special Beat Service all the way through then hit the repeat button. In fact, it placed at #7 on my list of the Top 82 Albums of 1982. (Below: your humble blogger in the mid-'80s wearing his favorite English Beat tee with the sleeves carefully cut off)
   
   

Return of the Jedi (1983)

For those of you working on my biography, please note I found employment at the local Burger King while in high school (it wasn't a difficult job to land). It was a minimum wage job, which, at the time, was $3.35/hr.  I was fortunate and didn't have to work; my parents provided me with everything I needed. However, I wanted to buy a new trumpet for college, had a burgeoning record buying habit to support, and all my other friends were working part-time jobs, so why not?

A few of the buttons I wore on my Burger King uniform, ca. 1983-84

As you can guess, it's fairly easy to move up quickly in such a turnover-rich environment. So,within a matter of months I had progressed from stock boy to cook to the choice non-management job position: drive-thru cashier.

Burger King drive-thru: The dream job of children everywhere.

What's all that got to do with Return of the Jedi? With purchase of a Coca-Cola drink, Burger King customers in late May/early June 1983 received a Return of the Jedi promotional glass like the ones below for an additional fee (I'm think it was around 50¢ but who the hell knows?). A different glass each week. I grabbed my glasses out of the boxes in the drive-thru area on my way out the door, wrapped them in newspaper, stuck them in a box and forgot about them. Until my recent move. (It's a good thing I never used them as they're allegedly tainted with lead or cadmium or some such.)

Having hauled these around for 35 years and never displaying them, I decided to unload them on eBay (I know you're wondering: I started the bidding at $4 for the set and the auction ended at $29.13. All proceeds go to the MFD Forever Home Construction Costs Foundation).

But isn't this (allegedly) a music blog?

John Williams wrote a song for the Ewoks which appeared at the end of the film:

The Meco version peaked at #60 on the Billboard chart in 1983:

Rap on this track credited to Duke Bootee, who produced and rapped on "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five in 1982.

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But there was more to May, 1983 than the release of a Star Wars movie. Here's a reminder as to what was topping the Billboard charts on May 28, 1983.

	Top LP Thriller Michael Jackson
	Hot 100 "Flashdance...What a Feeling" Irene Cara
	Soul Album Thriller Michael Jackson
	Soul Single "Save the Overtime (For Me)" Gladys Knight & The Pips
	Rock Album Cargo Men at Work
	Rock Single "She's a Beauty" The Tubes
	Dance "Let's Dance" David Bowie
	Country Album The Closer You Get Alabama
	Country Single "You Take Me for Granted" Merle Haggard
	Adult Contemporary  "My Love" Lionel Richie
	Jazz Jarreau Al Jarreau
	Inspirational Age to Age Amy Grant
	Videogame Centipede Atari
	Videocassette Jane Fonda's Workout Jane Fonda

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Here's what was playing on MTV around the time of The Return of the Jedi's release. I remember seeing the movie with some friends at a mall theater in southwest Houston, but don't think I've seen it since. Sorry, Billy Dee.

Cashbox, May 28, 1983, p. 17

Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #31

Albums: Ullanda - Love Zone (Ocean Ariola America, 1979), Chopper - Chopper (Ocean Ariola America, 1979), Niteflyte - Niteflyte (Ocean Ariola America, 1979)
Episode:  Season 2, Episode 8, "Patter of Little Feet"
Original air date: Monday, November 26, 1979

CD Longbox #27

Spyro Gyra - Catching the Sun (1980)

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Exclusive photo courtesy of Dirk Digglinator of the Hambonian Archives.

For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox, go visit The Legend of the Longbox.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

I'm not a big on sci-fi or aliens, but for some reason I bought a package of movie trading cards for this one:

Having hauled these around for 40 years and never looking at them, I've decided to unload them on eBay just to see if I can get 10¢ for them. But isn't this (allegedly) a music blog?

The discofied version of the John Williams theme peaked at #13 on the Billboard pop chart in 1978.

The inferior Meco disco version peaked at #25 on the Billboard chart in 1978.

Today's music education lesson: the hand signs used in the movie are the actual Solfege hand signs for the movie's five note theme motif:

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But there was more to November, 1977 than the release of the Close Encounters movie. Here's a reminder as to what was topping the Billboard charts on November 19, 1977.

	Top LP Rumours Fleetwood Mac
	Hot 100 "You Light Up My Life" Debby Boone
	Soul Album Brick Brick
	Soul Single "Serpentine Fire" Earth, Wind & Fire
	Country Album Elvis in Concert Elvis Presley
	Country Single "The Wurlitzer Prize" Waylon Jennings
	Adult Contemporary  "You Light Up My Life" Debby Boone
	Classical Album Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 London Symphony Orchestra

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Random album ad #51

Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (1978)

MFD Random Five #27

In which I click the shuffle icon on the iTunes app and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the year 1978.

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1. "Deeper Than The Night" by Olivia Newton-John (1978, MCA)
   This was the second of four singles released from ONJ's 1978 LP, Totally Hot. In an earlier post, here's what I wrote: "Of ONJ's 29 Top 40 hits, this is my least favorite.  (♥Still love ya, Olivia!♥  Call me!☎)" There's just not much to it. However, I don't need much of an reason to post this pic yet again:

   

   Any excuse to post a picture of me kissing a cardboard cutout in a Vegas gift shop.



2. "If the Kids are United" by Sham 69 (1978, Polydor)
   A fairly straight-ahead punk song that differs from the norm in two distinct ways: there's a pretty decent guitar solo and a bridge. Sing-along chorus included at no additional charge. All this makes the song closer to 4 minutes in length than the usual punk single two minutes. But even with all that going for it, it's just alright.


3. "Dance with Me" by Peter Brown (1978, T.K. Disco)
   This thing is catchy as all get-out and the background vocals by Betty Wright take it up a notch. I'm hooked from the opening guitar lick. I'm not gonna write much about this one because it's difficult to type while dancing, just know that this one gets two thumbs up from this guy.


4. "Whatever's Written in Your Heart" by Gerry Rafferty (1978, United Artists)
   I'll be honest, I didn't like this song for the longest time. However, it's simple beauty has grown on me. The piano playing reminds me of Billy Joel (in a good way) and the harmony vocals? Fuhgettaboutit. Note to self: spin City to City today.


5. "Copacabana (At the Copa)" by Barry Manilow (1978, Arista)
   I'm a confessed Fanilow and this is the song that got me there. I've told this story before but it bears repeating here: If Even Now wasn't the first album I ever purchased with my allowance money, it was certainly one of the first.  I fell in love with Copacabana after hearing it on a TV variety show about the time Can't Smile Without You was on top of the charts.  My elementary school music teacher had a copy of the album and I begged her to play Copacabana during class. And by "begged" I mean "cried like a little girl lost at the supermarket." Later turned into both a made-for-TV musical and a stage musical.