1980s – Page 9

Thomas Dolby | Urban Tribal

“London-born Thomas Morgan Robertson had already made a bit of a name for himself as a synth wiz for hire – working with Bruce Woolley/The Camera Club, Joan Armatrading, Thompson Twins, Lene Lovich and Foreigner – before embarking on his debut solo album in late summer 1981,” (MovingTheRiver). “But, as he once said, he knew ‘too many chords’ to get any regular employment in the punk and new-wave bands of the era, so was pretty much forced to go it alone.

… Lyrically, The Golden Age Of Wireless (1982) … seemed to be a Janus-like vision of England – looking back to its WW2 past and forward to the kinds of urban dystopias explored by novelist JG Ballard.” Its international smash hit single, “She Blinded Me with Science,” became “a signature tune of the Second British Invasion” but was “somewhat of an anomaly. Much of Wireless is downbeat, enigmatic and haunting. Dolby proves himself a brilliant producer and arranger, a master of painting pictures with sound.” His retrofuturistic palette included passages of shortwave radio and marine shipping weather forecasts undergirding the music.

A bonus track from the album,”Urban Tribal,” is certainly a song in the haunting category. The modulations are solidly in the enigmatic mode, too: they don’t announce themselves clearly or proudly. Instead, they pivot smoothly and quietly underneath the gathering stormclouds of Dolby’s storytelling. The lead vocal is prominent enough that a synopsis of the song’s ultimately sad plot is likely unnecessary, but please take a moment to refer here if there’s any doubt. This live performance features a few sudden changes in volume, so please don’t adjust your set. The instrumental intro, featuring the chorus’ rangy melody, is in Eb minor. Just in advance of the verse (0:29), the tonality shifts to D minor. At 1:24, the chorus reverts to Eb minor; the pattern continues from there.

Enya | Exile

“Perhaps much of the derision directed at (Enya’s 1988 release) Watermark over the years has come thanks to the millstone around its neck – the entirely un-representative ‘Orinocho Flow’, with its icily plinking keys and lyrics ‘from the North to the South, Ebudæ into Khartoum / from the deep sea of Clouds to the island of the moon,'” (Quietus) “… For all its hundreds of thousands of sales, and the Top Of The Pops performance that made them, that track distracts from the quiet, clever grace of much of the rest of the album, which recalls traditional Celtic folk, sacred early music and world music – which, let us not forget, was then held in its stuffy, separate ghetto. To label and denigrate this as new age is lazy too – Enya herself dismissed the term as ‘marketing.’

… While a record with clear Celtic origins and Enya always proud of her roots, there’s no misty-eyed evoking of some shamrock ‘n’ leprechaun ‘auld country’ here, with songs delivered in English, Irish and Latin … ‘Exile’ (is a) gorgeous hymnal … gliding downstream on flute and organ drones.” On the negative side is ” … overproduction, with sometimes just a little too much 80s gloss and sheen on the strings and Enya’s vocals. Yet, essentially, Watermark is a deeply weird album in the context of its bright and garish era, and as well as that a strongly and confidently female album. It also stands out as a record inspired by spiritual music in a mainstream pop world that has in recent years chosen to end the centuries-old musical dialogue between the secular and religious, the sacred and profane.”

“Exile” begins in Db minor; after two verses, a chorus arrives (1:17) with a shift to Db major before a return to the original key for the next verse at 1:49. The alternating pattern continues from there.

Joe Perry Project | East Coast, West Coast

“As co-founding member, principal songwriter, electrifying lead guitarist and co-producer of Aerosmith … Joe Perry has achieved permanent iconic stature in the pantheon of rock,” (ArcadaLive). “He has helped to drive his band, over the course of three decades, to sales of more than 150 million albums, critical acclaim, four Grammy Awards … and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Perry’s work with Aerosmith has resulted in an unending array of accolades and honors. Beyond their Grammy Awards and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, other key milestones over the past 35 years include: 12 MTV Video Awards; two People’s Choice Awards; six Billboard Music Awards; eight American Music Awards; 23 Boston Music Awards; and an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ (from the soundtrack to Armageddon).”

During a hiatus from Aerosmith, Perry explored different facets of his sound with a new band, the Joe Perry Project. Their uptempo 1981 single, “East Coast, West Coast,” shifts from E major downward to C major during an instrumental verse (1:51 – 2:33). Many thanks to our regular contributor Rob P. for sending us this tune!

Don Henley | Dirty Laundry

“’Dirty Laundry’ is one of Don Henley’s greatest hits—but it doesn’t come without controversy,” (American Songwriter). “The song, co-written by Henley and session musician Danny Kortchmar, was released in 1982 as the second single off his debut solo album, I Can’t Stand Still. The lyrics take aim at mass media, proclaiming how people love dirty laundry. But the second verse is particularly scathing, as Henley sings, We got the bubble-headed bleached-blonde / Comes on at five / She can tell you ’bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye / It’s interesting when people die / Give us dirty laundry.

‘Dirty Laundry’ holds no punches when it comes to Henley’s opinion about sensationalism in news, especially. ‘I’m a news junkie, I watch the news a lot,’ the Eagles frontman said in a 1990 interview. ‘I got tired of seeing these talking heads up there stripping people of their dignity. I got tired of the sensationalism of the death of certain celebrities,’ he said, referencing the deaths of high-profile figures including Marilyn Monroe, John Belushi, and Elvis Presley … ‘Dirty Laundry’ became Henley’s first #1 hit as a solo artist. It reached the top of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.”

The song featured a star-studded personnel list, including Henley’s Eagles bandmates Timothy B. Schmidt and Joe Walsh and Toto’s Steve Porcaro, Jeff Porcaro, and Steve Lukather. Given that the song is one of Henley’s most static in terms of repetition of melody and chord progression, the whole-step key change arrives with a bang at 3:39.

Josep Castanyer Alonso | Never Gonna GiFugue Up

“(Cellist) Josep Castanyer Alonso has been a member of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra since 2019,” (from the Orchestra’s website). “… He has performed in several festivals and attended different academies, such as the Verbier Festival in Switzerland or the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, with mentors such as András Schiff, Lynn Harrell, Ferenc Rados, Gustav Rivinius, Wen-Sinn Yang or Gábor Takács-Nagy.

Performing regularly in different chamber music groups, Alonso has as well been a member of the Alinde Quartett. He is also frequently involved in other chamber music projects with colleagues, from the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the vast German and European orchestral scene. He was a student of the RSPO Orchestra Academy and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and he was the first student of this academy to become a member of the orchestra.”

From Alonso’s description of the video, which bearrs the subtitle A 4-voice fugue, but you got rickrolled: “… the contrapuntal throwback takes us to the ’80s with Rick Astley’s hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ — famous in its day and even more popular thanks to Internet meme culture and the “rick-rolling” frenzy of the early 2000s. I’ve developed the irritatingly infectious short initial motive of the tune into a 4-voice fugue, showcasing the structure with motion graphics and light-hearted commentary …” The piece shifts from D major to F# minor from 0:57 – 1:33. Of Alonso’s wonderful piano technique (in addition to his stellar composition chops), our regular contributor JB added, “It’s kind of dumbfounding that piano is just a hobby for him.”

Barry Manilow | I Made It Through the Rain

“Barry Manilow penned ‘I Made It Through the Rain” with Jack Feldman, Gerard Kenny, Drey Shepperd, and Bruce Howard Sussman. It was the only hit in the US from Manilow’s self-titled Barry album (1980) … it was Manilow’s 11th and final Top 10 hit on the Hot 100. It also peaked at #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart (Songfacts). Gerard Kenny recorded the original version, which had different lyrics, for his 1979 album, Made It Through The Rain. In the liner notes to his 1992 compilation The Complete Collection and Then Some, Manilow recalled how he connected with the song’s message about ‘how musicians struggle to keep their songs safe and sound.’

But after recording it, he was surprised at the lukewarm reaction he received. ‘I would play it for people, assuming that it would move them as much as it had moved me. But it didn’t,’ he explained. That’s when he realized people didn’t want to hear about the obstacles of a profession they couldn’t relate to. So he brought in Feldman and Sussman to help him write new lyrics about everyday struggles. That did the trick, but he still has a soft spot for the original, which he included on The Complete Collection.“

After the tune starts in Bb major, the pre-chorus and chorus hint at stepping out of the key (0:50 and 1:08, respectively) — but then a second verse arrives at 1:50, solidly grounded in Bb. At 2:59, a trademark Manilow descending chromatic instrumental counter-melody alerts us to an important intersection approaching — and indeed, at 3:05, there’s a whole-step key change upward. By this point, the arrangement has grown from soft piano accompaniment to full orchestral swagger.

Go West | Don’t Look Down

” … unlike their (UK) peers, the duo didn’t come up through punk or have any connection to the New Romantic scene,” (ClassicPopMag). “As their name alludes, most of their influences were American – Todd Rundgren, Steely Dan and what today would be dubbed ‘yacht rock.’ ‘When punk was happening, we were listening to The Doobie Brothers. We couldn’t have been more out of step with what was going on.'”

The band shopped its demos for years, but caught fire quickly after its first release, also titled Go West (1985). “‘The very first gig with the band was recorded for Radio One In Concert. Then we all got on a bus and went up to play The Tube. Then came the first Top Of The Pops. After that we did this massive show at Yokohama Baseball Stadium with Culture Club, The Style Council and The Associates … Then there was the States – we played Soul Train. I mean, how on earth did they get us on Soul Train?’ The year culminated in the duo picking up Breakthrough Act at the 1986 BRIT Awards.”

“Don’t Look Down,” one of the album’s singles, starts big and stays there. The whimsical (and no doubt expensive!) crane shots played right into the song’s dizzy mood. The track was the last of five singles from the album, which made top 100 on the year-end charts for 1985 in the US, Canada, the UK, much of the rest of Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Built in A# major overall, the synth-saturated track shifts to F# mixolydian during the bridge (2:18 – 2:35) before returning to the original key.

Joe Jackson | Real Men

“Joe Jackson is known for vibrant, emotional hits like ‘Is She Really Going Out with Him?,’ ‘Breaking Us in Two,’ and the new wave-ish ‘Steppin’ Out,’ the latter two songs from his 1982 hit album Night and Day,” (American Songwriter). “That seminal release also includes a piano-driven, violin-laced ballad that didn’t manage to get quite as much attention but was way ahead of its time.

… It has been said that the Night and Day album (1982) was a tribute to Cole Porter and his view of New York, and that ‘Real Men’ was referencing the city’s gay culture (which became more prominent in the wake of the six-day Stonewall Uprising in 1969) … Jackson’s debut single and video for Night and Day, ‘Real Men’ did not chart in America and barely charted in the UK, but it managed to go Top 10 in Australia and Top 20 in the Netherlands. The album fared well, becoming one of two Jackson releases to sell half a million copies.”

Built in E minor overall, the somber verses transition to soaring wordless choruses in B major (first heard from 1:04 – 1:26). The tune’s lyrics were edgy at the time — and remain so. But Jackson’s use of “the other F-word” is likely without malice, given his longtime status as an openly bisexual man. There’s plenty of broader commentary on gender overall: Now it’s all changed / It’s got to change more is a line which wouldn’t have been out of place in a Women’s Studies textbook of the era.

The Roches | I Love My Mom

“While just about every critic and fan has a favorite Roches album that was inexplicably ignored, most will probably agree that Speak (1989) was the one that really should have gone gold,” (AllMusic). “All of the ingredients for a huge album are here: emotional yet accessible songs, radio-friendly folk-pop arrangements, and the sisters’ usual mind-blowing vocal pyrotechnics … this album doesn’t have a dud track from end to end. Sure, fans of their early work will find ‘I Love My Mom’ a bit too conventional and poppy … The jazzy backups are well handled and subtle throughout the album, and it’s a classic. Alas, like all Roches albums, it was critically acclaimed but ignored by the public.”

At 0:40, the approach to the second verse gets a touch of The Roches’ trademark oddity factor with a time hiccup — the first of several extra 2/4 measures throughout. After a start in A major, the tune shifts up a whole step to B major at 2:39 in the middle of an instrumental bridge (2:19 – 2:43). Many thanks to regular contributor Rob P. for this great catch!

Bon Jovi | I’ll Be There For You

“I like the whole expansive vastness of the song — the rising drone on the intro, the whispery opening line, the way it builds to massed heartbroken shouting,” (Stereogum). “‘I’ll Be There For You’ (1989) isn’t as clean and sharp as Bon Jovi’s best songs, but it still has a chorus that lands like a grand piano falling off a sixth-floor roof. As a band, Bon Jovi’s single greatest strength is the power to trigger arena-wide communal yelling. From that perspective, ‘I’ll Be There For You’ is a roaring success. It’s over-the-top even before the key change comes screaming in at the end.

… ‘I’ll Be There For You’ does give Jon a chance to do some of his most effective vocal work. Jon Bon Jovi is a famously limited singer, but he puts a whole lot of force and emotion into everything. The chorus … is mostly half-drunk shouting, but if you’re trying to get a whole arena to sing along, then half-drunk shouting is a good means to that end … Bon Jovi weathered the grunge-era storm, shed their big-hair trappings, and became a venerated staple on the arena rock circuit. ‘I’ll Be There For You’ was Bon Jovi’s last #1 hit.”

You’d expect a key change as the guitar solo wraps up at 3:37, or perhaps as the bridge ends at 4:03. Nope! There’s yet another chorus before the whole-step modulation finally hits at 4:30. All in all, quite the power ballad stadium anthem specimen, with a total run time of close to six minutes.