One Hit Wednesday

Tracey Ullman is an English-born stage and television actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, screenwriter and author. In 1983, her debut album featured her cover version of Kirsty MacColl's 'They Don't Know' which went to #8 in Feb. of '84. Tracey Is probably best known as a 'Sketch Comic' and for her numerous television appearances, both in the UK and US. She had her own variety show from '87-'90, in which the hit series 'The Simpsons' was spun-off from. She also had a hand in launching the career of Paula Abdul as Abdul was Ullman's choreographer on her television show. Abdul used alot of her own music on the show for the dance numbers.

Nena (Both her name and the name of her band) is a German singer and actress who released her debut album in 1983. The album yielded the song '99 luftbaloons' which became a #2 hit here in the US. And Although an 'english' version was released and went to #1 in the UK, it was the original German version that charted here in the US. Both versions were played frequently on US radio. With numerous album releases and hit singles in Germany, this remains Nena's only hit in the English speaking world.



Agnetha Faltskog is a Swedish recording artist and entertainer
best known as the lead vocalist for the super group ABBA. In 1983 she released a post-ABBA solo album which produced her first, and only, Top 40 hit in the US. The song 'Can't Shake Loose' hit #29 in August of 83. All-in-all Agnetha has released eleven solo albums including 4 post ABBA. Although she has yet to re-chart in the US, she has numerous hits in other countries. She re-joined ABBA when the band re-united in 2004 and is still performing with them today.


Charlene  was an American R&B singer who originally released the song 'I've Never Been To Me' in 1976. The song charted at #97 and did not fair well initially. After leaving the music business all-together in 1982, a Florida radio DJ began playing the song at his girlfriends request. The song gained popularity and quickly caught on around the nation. It eventually would peak at #3 here in the US and would become a #1 hit in the UK. Several covers have been done over the years and VH1 considered the song the number 75 one-hit wonder of all time in 2002.


Toni Basil is an American singer-songwriter, actor, filmmaker, film director and choreographer. She recorded her first songs in 1966 including a track called 'Breakaway' for the movie of the same name. In 1982 she released 'Mickey' which became an international hit and was #1 in the US. The song is actually a cover of a song called 'Kitty' which was recorded by the UK band 'Racey' in 1979. With some slight modifications to the arrangement and the addition of the 'Oh Mickey you're so fine' chant, Toni had herself one of the biggest one-hit songs ever. The song ranked as the #6 one-hit wonder of the 80s by VH1 in 2003.

One Hit Wednesday

Baltimora were an Italian New Wave dance outfit active in the mid to late 80s. They released 2 albums and broke up shortly after the second one. The song 'Tarzan Boy' was a world-wide hit and placed #13 in '85 in the U.S. The song re-surfaced in '93 and charted again at #51, due to its appearance in a Listerine commercial and the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.

Andy Taylor is best known as a member of Duran Duran and The Power Station. He was also a prominant songwriter and producer. In '86 he released a solo single called 'Take It Easy' which charted at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100. He went on releasing many more solo singles and albums as well as performing with, and writing and producing for many other artists. He rejoined Duran Duran in 2001 but again parted in 2005. He released an autobiography in 2008.



Dennis De Young is best known for being a founding member, and lead vocalist, of the rock band Styx. DeYoung left the band briefly in '84 during a time when the band wasn't 'doing much'.
He released a solo album during this period called 'Dessert Moon'. The title track from that album went to #10 in September of '84. He released a second album and contributed a couple of songs to movie soundtracks before rejoining Styx in '90. DeYoung departed the band once and for all in 1999 and has done numerous appearances and shows as a soloist since.



Talk Talk  was an English band, active from 1981 to 1991. They released 5 albums during that period, charting four singles in the Hot 100, but only one hit the top 40. The song "It's My Life" hit #31 in '84. The group 'No Doubt' covered the song and took it to #10 in 2003.




Bobby McFerrin is an American vocalist and conductor.
Best known for his hit song 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' from '88. The Song hit #1 in July of that year and was a feature track in the movie 'Cocktail'. One of McFerrin's claim-to-fame is his ability to perform both the main melody and the accompanying parts of songs. He also makes use of percussive effects created both with his mouth and by tapping on his chest. He's won numerous Grammy awards mostly in the Jazz Vocalist categories and still continues to conduct and perform today.
McFerrin has the rare distinction of being a #1 one-hit-wonder.
And although I say rare, it actually happened 11 times in the decade.

One Hit Wednesday

Peter Schilling was born on January 28, 1956 in Stuttgart, Germany. He is a German synthpop musician whose songs often featured science-fiction themes. His 1983 album, Error in the System, generated his only international hit single, "Major Tom (Coming Home)", a retelling of David Bowie's classic 1969 song "Space Oddity". The song hit #14 in September of that same year.

David & David was an American rock duo composed of Los Angeles-based studio musicians David Baerwald and David Ricketts. They were best known for their debut single "Welcome to the Boomtown" from the album Boomtown. The single reached #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986 and #8 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. David & David disbanded shortly after Boomtown and Baerwald and Ricketts continued to work with other musicians.

OXO was an American new wave pop band formed by Ish 'Angel' Ledesma in 1983. Formerly the lead singer of Foxy, Ledesma formed OXO with guitarist Orlando, bass player Frank Garcia, and drummer Freddy Alwag.
Their only Top 40 hit was "Whirly Girl," which, according to Ledesma, was originally entitled "Worldly Girl." The song was written about Ledesma's wife. The song hit #28 in '83. The band broke up after just one album.

Frank Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. In May 1982, Zappa released his biggest selling single with "Vally Girl" which hit #32 on the charts. A duet with his daughter, Moon Unit, it was his only Top 40 hit. Frank passed away December 4, 1993.



Sly Fox was an American short-lived 1980s pop duo, consisting of Gary "Mudbone" Cooper & Michael Camacho.
The group's sole album Let's Go All the Way was released on Capitol Records in 1985, and the title track "Let's Go All the Way" became a Top 10 hit in both the US and UK. It peaked at #7 here in the U.S. The duo only released the one album and broke up in 1988.


 

The Bangles

There were only a few successful all-female bands from the 80s. And when I say band, I mean they were'nt just a vocal group. They all played instruments. One of the most successful, if not the most successful all-female band, would ultimately be known as the Bangles. But they didn't start out that way. Every band has their interesting start-up stories and pre-band histories. The Bangles were no different.

In 1981, recent college grad, Susanna Hoffs, placed an ad in a Los Angeles newspaper recruiting band members for a new band that she wanted to start. She already had Annette Zilinskas (bass/vocal). In the ad she cited the Beatles, the Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield as influences. Sisters Vicki (guitar/vocals) and Debbie Peterson (drums/vocals) responded to the ad and met with Susanna (guitar/vocals) to try out. Everything went well and the first incarnation of the band was born. They originally called themselves the 'Colours'. The name was then changed to the 'Supersonic Bangs' and later shortened to just the 'Bangs'.

As the Bangs, they released their first single "Getting Out of Hand" on their own "Downkiddie" label (see 45 sleeve to top left). Playing the smaller L.A. clubs, they became part of the "paisley underground,' a loose-knit collection of psychedelic and folk-rock influenced groups. Miles Copeland (brother of Stewart Copeland of the band the Police), founder of the Faulty Product record label, took a liking to the band and signed them to a deal. About this time, an east coast band, also called the Bangs, threatened legal action if the girls continued to use the same name. While sitting at dinner one night, one of the girls scribbled 'bang-less' on a napkin. The rest, as they say, is history. Within weeks, Copeland helped them re-release their previous single (see 45 sleeve below top left) and compile a 5 song EP and booked them as the opening act for the 'English Beat'.

Starting to gain popularity and airplay on west coast radio, CBS became interested in the band and offered them a deal. This was timely do to the disolvement of Copelands record label. Once signed by a major label, wanting to be a lead singer and realizing that now wasn't going to happen with the Bangles, Annette Zilinskas decided to leave the band as she was offered a position as the lead singer for another band. The Bangles recruited Micki Steele, who was the original bass player and lead singer of the all-female band the Runaways.

With new lineup in place, the Bangles went into the studio and recorded their first full album, 'All Over The Place', in 1984.
The album received good reviews from critics and the media, but did not garner alot of airplay. The video to one of the songs did feature Leonard Nimoy though which helped to generate a little publicity. They also were the opening act for Cyndi Lauper on her 'Fun' tour and for Huey Lewis as well.

This was enough to catch the attention of Prince, who would soon write their first hit. In 1986 the Bangles released their second album entitled 'Different Light', which was much more polished and commercial. The opening single was the afformentioned song written by Prince called 'Manic Monday'. The song put the Bangles in the mainstream for good. Manic Monday would reach #2 on the charts in April of '86. It was the first of 4 Top 40 hits to come from this album. The second single, 'If She Knew What She Wants' would hit #29 and their 3rd single, which would become their signature song, 'Walk Like An Egyptian', became the bands first #1. It topped the charts for 4 weeks in December of '86. The last charting single from the album was 'Walking Down Your Street', which peaked at #11 in April of '87.
The album would go on to be their biggest selling album, going triple platinum, with over 3 million sold in the U.S. It also sold over a million copies in the U.K.

The Bangles third album, 'Everything', in 1988, spawned 2 more top 10 hits including their second #1 hit 'Eternal Flame'. By May of '89 the Bangles would have 8 top 40 hits in the U.S. and 13 in the U.K.
The band broke up in '89 but reformed in '99 and is still together today. As of 2009, the band was supposedly working on a new studio album, but was only in the 'production' stages at that time.

Below are the 2 tracks from their first single release as the Bangs and the 5 songs from the original Bangles EP.

One Hit Wednesday

Buckner & Garcia is a duo consisting of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia from Akron, Ohio. Their first collaboration was in 1980, when they wrote a novelty Christmas song, "Merry Christmas in the NFL," about Howard Cosell as Santa Claus.
However, the duo is best known for the song "Pac-Man Fever", which became a large novelty hit in 1982, peaking at #9 in the United States. Later that year the duo was signed by Columbia Records and was asked to do an entire album of 'video game' songs, which they did. one was all we could take.




Boys Don't Cry were a British studio band who formed in 1983 and released 2 albums and several non-album singles before calling it quits in 1988. The song 'I Wanna Be A Cowboy' was the first single from their eponymous first album and hit #12 in 1986. Considered by most as a novelty song, it also charted high on the Dance and R&B charts as well as being a top 10 hit in several other countries. It was one-and-done for Boys Don't Cry as they rode off into the sunset ;-)

The Other Ones were formed in Australia in the mid 80s. They released one self-titled album in late '86 releasing 2 singles. The second one, 'Holiday' hit #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August of '87. The song was a hit world-wide and The Other Ones would become a trivial part of history as they were never heard from again.

Midnight Oil (or the 'Oils' to their fans) were an Australian band formed circa 1971. They have a long history and many albums to their credit. They officially broke up in 2002 so the lead singer could pursue a political career. Highly acclaimed and having won several prestigious awards in Australia, they managed to only chart one song in the Top 40 here in the U.S. 'Beds Are Burning' hit #17 in May of '87.





Scandal was formed in New York City in 1981. Fronted by female vocalist Patty Smyth, the band released 2 albums before breaking up in late 1984. 2 of the first 3 singles off their first album charted but they didn't hit the Top 40 until the first single from their second album, 'The Warrior', hit #7 in the summer of '84. Issues within the band and with the record label caused the band to dissolve following a very successful 'Warrior' tour that summer.

This Week in Music History: The 80s

03/03 1985 - Madame Tussaud’s waxworks unveiled their look-alike of Michael Jackson.

03/05 1982 - Blues Brother John Belushi died of drug overdose in the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles at the age of 33.

03/05 1984 - CBS announced that Michael Jackson's Thriller album has sold 30.9 million copies worldwide.

03/07 1985 - The song “We Are the World” was heard on the radio for the first time. 

03/07 1987 - The Beastie Boys became the first rap act to have a No.1 album in the US with their debut album, 'Licensed To Ill.'

KICK IT!

One Hit Wednesday

The Vapors were a new wave band from England that only lasted between 1979 and 1981. Due to 'lack of label promotion' the band disbanned after their 2nd album in 1981. They managed to release 7 singles from their 2 albums before calling it quits. The track 'Turning Japanese' from their first album hit #36 in the U.S. and was their only hit stateside.

As a side note, the term 'turning japanese' supposedly was a euphemism for masturbation.

If you press play, you will turn Japanese (I really think so)


When In Rome was another English band that had a short life-span. They too only lasted 2 years from 1988 to 1990. They released one album and charted only 'The Promise' at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band did re-unite in 2006 and are performing today.

Martin Briley is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist.
The list of artists that he has written songs for is staggering. As is the list of artists he has performed with, both on tour, and as a session musician. Ocassionally he has released his own albums and was fortunate with the track 'Salt in My Tears', from his 2nd album, to hit the Top 40. It hit #36 in the summer of '83.

Sylvia is more widely known as a country singer-songwriter rather than a pop star, but in 1982 she hit both pop and country charts with her song 'Nobody'. It was a #1 country hit and got all the way up to #15 on the Hot 100. She's still in the business today and has numerous country hits and accolaids under her belt.

Icicle Works were an English alternative rock band that released 5 albums between 1982 and 1990. The only track to have any success in the U.S. was 'Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)' off their first album. Actually, the U.S. version of the song was re-titled 'Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly)' and was a totally different track than the former. The U.S. version of the album was different as well. The revamped U.S. track hit #37 in 1984.