Supergroup:Supertramp

Although their most successful album was technically released in March of '79, the Brittish group Supertramp reaped the benefits of that album throughout the early 80s. The album was called Breakfast in America and spawned 4 Billboard Top 40 Hits; 'The Logical Song', 'Take The Long Way Home', 'Breakfast In America' & 'Goodbye Stranger'. The album also had sold over 19 Million copies by 1990.  Supertramp was a progressive art rock band marked by the use of spiritual and philosophical lyrics and the distinctive voice of co-founder Roger Hodgson.

They were also well known for their prominent use of the Wurlitzer electric piano. Personally, This is one of my favorite groups from the 70s & 80s. I love their simplistic happy-go-lucky songs and Hodgson has one of those voices that just makes me envious.

After the release of their 1982 album 'Famous Last Words', which included the hit 'It's Raining Again', and a hugely successful tour in 1983, Hodgson parted ways with Supertramp to spend more time with his family and pursue solo opportunities. Supertramp has remained together with various lineups, sans Hodgson, since then and continues to make music and perform.

 

 

Michael Stanley Band

Michael Stanley Gee graduated from Rocky River High School (Ohio) in 1966. After a brief stint in the band Silk, Stanley graduated with a bachelor's degree from Hiram College in 1970. At Hiram he was a disc jockey for WHRM, the school's radio station, and was elected to the Student Senate.


Stanley released his first solo album, Michael Stanley, in 1973. The album, and its follow-up Friends & Legends were produced by Bill Szymczyk and featured contributions from Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren and David Sanborn. In 1974 Stanley formed the Michael Stanley Band and released eleven albums through the mid 1980s.


His highest charting singles with the Michael Stanley Band were "He Can't Love You" (#33) in 1980 and "My Town" in 1983 (#39), which both got decent nationwide airplay. In fact, "He Can't Love You" was the 45th video ever played on MTV. MSB also had 5 more Hot 100 hits in the 80s. The Michael Stanley Band was such a huge sensation in its home area that it still holds attendance records at Cuyahoga Falls' Blossom Music Center. Additionally, The Ohio State University Marching Band uses "My Town" as one of their premier stand tunes.


Stanley's song "Let's Get the Show on the Road" was covered on the 2000 album Live in the Classic City by Widespread Panic. "My Town" was covered by Little Texas on their album Big Time. "Rosewood Bitters" was covered by Joe Walsh on his 1985 album The Confessor.
Stanley was the co-host of PM Magazine on WJW Channel 8 from 1987 to 1990 and its follow-up Cleveland Tonight until 1991. He also appeared on The Drew Carey Show, playing himself. Since 1990, Stanley has been the afternoon drive disc jockey for classic rock radio station 98.5 WNCX in Cleveland.

Above LP cover was from an album issued regionally in Northeast Ohio,

which contained several of their popular hits from the 80s.

 

45th video ever played on MTV. Day one, August 1st, 1981.

Maybe Not Royalty, But....

The 80's seemed to be a decade dominated by royalty.
The top two most successful acts of the 80's were enthroned by a king (Michael Jackson: The King of Pop) & a queen (Madonna: The Queen of Pop). The number 4 most successful act was (a) Prince. In the midst of all the royalty was the number 3 most successful act of the decade, although not royalty, they may be considered a treasure to say the least.

Hall & Oates, formed in 1972, had already amassed 7 Top 40 hits in the 70's, including a #1 hit with 'Rich Girl' in '77. They are the most successful 'duo' in american recorded history and actually charted more Top 40 hits (22) than both MJ (18) & Madonna (19) in the 80s!

From Wikipedia: They specialized in a fusion of Rock & Roll and Rhythm & Blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul." Critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and J. Scott McClintock write, "at their best, Hall & Oates' songs were filled with strong hooks and melodies that adhered to soul traditions without being a slave to them by incorporating elements of new wave and hard rock."

Although my favorite track by Hall & Oates is 'Sara Smile' from '76, 'Maneater' was always a favorite from the 80s.

Oh, and by the way... Elton John gets a royalty honorable mention for being the #8 most successful act of the decade. Sir Elton was actually knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in February of 1998!



On this day in music history: The 80s

1980: Paul McCartney was jailed in Tokyo for possession of a half pound of marijuana. He spent ten days behind bars before being kicked-out of the country by Japanese authorities. The remainder of his tour was canceled.

1987: The Beastie Boys become the first band to ever be censored by American Bandstand. They still performed on the show, just not live. They were forced to 'lip-sync' and had to 'tone it down' a bit. Couldn't find much info on why except for it had something to do with Dick Clark apparently determined Adrock's mid-song crotch-grab was just too much. 



 Beastie Boys on AB.




1988: Tina Turner gave herself a place in the record books when she performed in front of 182,000 people, the largest audience ever for a single artist, in Rio De Janerio.

Abducted by the 80s: Wang Chung releases double EP

The new double EP by Wang Chung was released last June and can be purchased from their website http://www.wangchung.com/. Check out all the tracks below!

80s Spotlight Artist: Howard Jones

Howard Jones kinda flew under the radar for me in the 80s, although you heard his songs all the time. He amassed 8 Billboard Top 40 hits between '84 and '89 and one more in '92. He scored 10 Top 40 hits as well in the UK during this time period. His songs were very 'radio friendly' in that when they came on the radio, you really wouldn't change the station like you might with others. His highest charters were 'Things Can Only Get Better' (#5 in '85) and 'No One Is To Blame' (#4 in '86).

From Wikipedia: "Jones is an accomplished singer-songwriter who was a regular chart visitor in the mid 1980s with his brand of Synthpop". "Jones was one of the defining figures of mid 1980s synthpop. His music merged the technology intensive sound of New Wave with the cheery optimism of hippies and late 1960s pop.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Jones_(musician)

Olivia Newton John

Olivia Newton-John is an English-born, Australian-raised singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles. In 1981 She had the biggest hit of the year with 'Physical'. The song spent an amazing 10 weeks at the top spot! It also went on to become the Billboard #1 song of the entire decade!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz9VN40nCA&ob=av2el

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_Newton_John

Start at the beginning...

Although it is subject to ones own opinion as to what the 'first' 80s song was, for me it was actually a song that came out in 1979. There were several artists that year that could be credited with creating some the sounds we would be accustomed to hearing over the next several years, such as Blondie, The Buggles, The Knack and others, but for me, this is the tune that started it all! While Disco was still dominating the charts, this was something totally different. It caught on quick and went to #1 on the Billboard charts in November of '79.

It's 'Pop Muzik' by Robin Scott & 'M' (or M Factor)

Want to see it?
Youtube: M - Pop Muzik Video



Wikipedia:
Robin Scott: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Scott
Pop Muzik: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Muzik

Welcome! First post!

Welcome to the 'Visual Soundtrack To The 80s' Blog

Being a child of the 80s, I have a vested nostalgic interest in many things to do with that era.

Mostly the music! The music of the 80s was like no other era before or after. We saw the inception of 'New Wave', new forms of 'Electronica', 'Bubblegum pop', to 'Glam Rock'. The fashions were outrageous and self-expression & creativity was taken to new levels.

This site is just a site to have fun with where people can share their interest in the music, the cover art and designs of 45 record sleeves and anything else 80s related. The 45 sleeves are just really cool to me and I have gathered hundreds of them from around the web. I will post them every so often and maybe post a small description and some info about the band/artist and let everyone else make comments as well.

I hope you enjoy this blog and check back with it when you are feeling a bit nostalgic!

Mr80sMan