Retro Video of the Week: "Loverboy" by Billy Ocean

As happens when one goes on vacation, as I did last week, this week has been hellishly busy at work.  On an entirely unrelated note I have had Billy Ocean's "Loverboy" in my head the last day or two, so that will be this week's Retro Video of the Week.

Co-written by Ocean, Keith Diamond, and legendary producer Mutt Lange, "Loverboy" was the second single released off of Ocean's breakthrough, multi-platinum 1984 album Suddenly.  Though he four Top 20 hits in his native UK in the late '70s, prior to the Suddenly album, Ocean's only Top 40 hit in the U.S. was 1976's "Love Really Hurts Without You."  Suddenly changed all that, as the first three singles from the album all reached the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 -- "Caribbean Queen" (#1), "Loverboy" (#2), and the title track (#4) -- and the fourth single, "Mystery Lady" went to #24.  Ocean's international chart successes would continue throughout the rest of the '80s.

"Loverboy" not only hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it was also #1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart and on the South African pop chart (for 11 weeks), as well as #15 on the UK pop chart and Top 10 on the pop charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, and New Zealand.

The video is great.  It's like a version of the cantina in Star Wars, with aliens fighting each other in a cave bar along the coast, Jawa-like beings watching it all and dancing, and some robots with TVs for heads.  Some balding, but with side dreads, goat-fish-lizard-headed dude gets the girl in the end, and that's all that matters.  He's her loverboy.

Hair Band Friday - 6/16/23

1.  "Nothin' But a Good Time" by Poison

2.  "Please Dear" by Faster Pussycat

3.  "To the Fire" by Bon Jovi

4.  "Slip of the Tongue" by Whitesnake

5.  "Purple Haze" by Winger

6.  "Still Waitin'" by Lita Ford

7.  "Fistful of Diamonds" by W.A.S.P.

8.  "Out With the Boys" by White Lion

9.  "Fire Your Guns" by AC/DC

10.  "Contagious" by Y&T

Retro Video of the Week: "Brimful of Asha" by Cornershop

For reasons that are unclear to me -- since I haven't heard this song in well over a decade -- I've had British alt/indie pop band Cornershop's 1997 song "Brimful of Asha" in my head, so that's what I'm choosing for this week's Retro Video of the Week.

Until today, I've never known what the song was about.  It's an homage to Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle, who sang over 12,000 songs for Indian films that were then lip-synched by the actors and actresses.  I also never realized until today that the popular version of the song isn't the original version.  The song was originally released in 1997, and while the album and song were received well critically, the song didn't do much on the charts.

Then, in 1998, Norman Cook -- who we all know and love as Fatboy Slim -- remixed the song, speeding it up and adding his flavor (or flavour, as it were).  The remixed version was a huge hit, reaching #1 on the UK pop chart and the Scottish pop chart and reaching the Top 10 on the pop charts in five other countries, as well as #16 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

I've always enjoyed the video, which has a young girl in a super '60s mod living room rocking out while spinning 45s, as superimposed images of the band members playing their instruments and singing show up on the 45 covers.  Also, I love the line "everybody needs a bosom for a pillow."

CoronaVinyl Day 465 (M): No Strings by Chris Mancini

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "M," and I listened to Chris Mancini's 1983 album No Strings.

I got this album as a part of a box of records my neighbor gave me, and he used to work in the music industry, which is why this is a promo copy of the album.  This is, I believe, the first time in the 3+ years I've been doing CoronaVinyl that the artist doesn't even have a Wikipedia page and the album isn't on Spotify.  This was both frustrating and extremely intriguing.

From what I can gather from internet sleuthing, Chris Mancini -- who is not to be confused with the actor, writer, and podcaster of the same name -- is the son of famed composer Henry Mancini, and this appears to be the only album he released, though he has apparently continued to work in the music industry as a producer, singer, musician, and publisher, including work on multiple soundtracks and Academy Award and Grammy shows.  The "No Strings" name now makes more sense, as a nod to his father's composing background.

I had never looked at the album in any meaningful way before today.  The back of the album gave me some pretty solid hope, as it lists the musicians who played on the album, aside from Mancini (who played guitar and some synthesizers, and obviously sang).  The album was produced by E Street Band keyboardist -- and one of the keys (pun intended, motherfuckers!) to Bruce Springsteen's iconic sound.  He also plays keyboards on No Strings, and check out this list of other musicians who play on the album:

• On drums:  former Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, and Rod Stewart drummer Carmine Appice; KISS collaborator and future Late Night with David Letterman band drummer Anton Fig; and Toto drummer and session wunderkind Jeff Porcaro
• On guitars:  Rick Derringer; session guitarist and co-writer of many TV theme songs, including "Believe It Or Not" from The Greatest American Hero, Stephen Geyer; and session legend Waddy Wachtel
• On bass:  Rose Royce bassist Lequeint "Duke" Jobe; and Toto bassist and session wunderkind Mike Porcaro

All in all, the album fell a little flat, given the talent.  It's a pretty standard early '80s melodic rock album.  Don't get me wrong, there are some good songs on the album.  I guess I should have tempered my expectations, given the dearth of information about Mancini and that this was his only album.

As I mentioned before, the album isn't on Spotify.  Also, the entire album isn't playlisted on YouTube, so I just embedded the YouTube "videos" of my favorite song from each side.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Wild Eyes"
Side one ends with a nice early '80s rocker that could have easily ended up on a Journey album from the same era.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Suspicions"
The second side starts out with another Journey-esque song, with lots of "rock" synthesizers and some sneaky guitars.

Hair Band Friday - 6/9/23

1.  "The Wild Life" by Slaughter

2.  "Show Me the Night" by Black 'N Blue

3.  "Unchain the Night" by Dokken

4.  "Miracle Man" (live) by Ozzy Osbourne

5.  "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" by Van Halen

6.  "Goodbye and Good Riddance to Bad Luck" by AC/DC

7.  "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" (live) by The Quireboys

8.  "The Morning After" by Ratt

9.  "Wings of Tomorrow" by Europe

10.  "Sleeping With You" by FireHouse

Retro Video of the Week: "Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks

I've been slacking on posting this week, and for that you have my sincerest of apologies.  On Saturday, Stevie Nicks's second solo studio album, The Wild Heart, will celebrate its 40th birthday, assuming it doesn't die before then.

Produced by Jimmy Iovine, the album was a big hit for Nicks, going double platinum in the U.S., reaching #5 on the Billboard album chart, and landing in the Top 10 on the album charts in Australia, Canada, and Iceland.  The Wild Heart produced three Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100:  "Stand Back" (#5), "If Anyone Fails" (#14), and "Nightbird" (#33).

"Stand Back" was Nicks's third Top 10 song as a solo artist, though the first that wasn't a duet ("Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Tom Petty and "Leather and Lace" with Don Henley were her first two Top 10 solo songs).  The song has a great backstory.  On the day she and Kim Anderson married in January 1983, they were driving to their honeymoon in Santa Barbara and Prince's "Little Red Corvette" came on the radio.  Nicks started humming the melody, inspiration struck, they stopped and bought a tape record, and the next thing you know, she recorded a demo of the song in the honeymoon suite that night.  

When it came to recording the real thing in the studio a few weeks later, she called Prince and told him the story.  Ever generous with his time and talents, Prince played an uncredited synthesizer on the song.  And he wasn't the only amazing backing musician on the track.  Among others, Toto guitarist and session wunderkind Steve Lukather, legendary session guitarist Waddy Wachtel, former King Crimson and Bob Dylan drummer Ian Wallace, and veteran session drummer Russ Kunkel contributed their talents to the song.  I always thought the backing vocals sounded like Lindsey Buckingham (they are not), but now that I know it was recorded two weeks after Nicks's wedding, I suppose it would a little strange for her former lover to appear on the song.

Hair Band Friday - 6/2/23

1.  "I Won't Forget You" by Poison

2.  "Rock Your Heart Out" by AC/DC

3.  "Cries in the Night" by W.A.S.P.

4.  "Steal Away (The Night)" by Ozzy Osbourne

5.  "Sorrow is a Woman" by Def Leppard

6.  "Ez Come Ez Go" by Tesla

7.  "Dynamite" by Scorpions

8.  "On The Run" by Judas Priest

9.  "Kickstart My Heart" (live) by Mötley Crüe

10.  "Wasted Time" by Europe

CoronaVinyl Day 464 (L): Makin' a Joyful Noise by The Limeliters

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "L," and the only album by a non-repeating L artist I have left is folk trio The Limeliters' seventh album, 1963's Makin' a Joyful Noise.

I have no idea how or when I acquired this album, but like many others in that category, I assume it was part of a lot of larger records I bought at some point.  It's definitely a change of pace after Journey and KISS the last two days.

The Limeliters were formed in July 1959 by Lou Gottlieb, Alex Hassilev, and Glenn Yarbrough, who had been part of the nascent folk scene.  Gottlieb was an arranger for legendary folk group The Kingston Trio, and the other two performed together.  They met at a folk club in Hollywood and decided to collaborate.  Hassilev and Yarbrough owned a club in Aspen called The Limelite, and as a trio, they honed their craft there.  When they got a gig at The Hungry I in San Francisco, the owner didn't want to put up their three last names on the marquee because it would have been too long, so the trio decided to call themselves The Limeliters.

As a fan of Christoper Guest films, I can't hear music like this without thinking of A Mighty Wind.  Makin' a Joyful Noise is an album full of religious folk songs, so it's not exactly my cup of tea, but the guys did have great harmonies and kept things peppy for the most part.

Yarbough left the group later that year, and the other two brought on someone else to replace him, but then they stopped making music as The Limeliters after their record contract expired in 1965.  The reformed several times over the years, with varying lineups.  Gottlieb died in 1996 at 72, and Yarbrough died in 2016 at 86.  Hassilev retired from music in 2006 and turned 90 this past November.

Makin' a Joyful Noise is not on Spotify, but the full album is on YouTube, so I embedded that below.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Hold On"
The album starts with a peppy song about holding onto a plow that sounds like it could be the theme song of a '50s Western TV show.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Lily of the Valley"
This one is a fast-paced, shorter song about Jesus, probably.