This is a great article in the NYT by Ben Sisario, and this is a gift link so you can get to all the many fine elements of the article, which I will hint at with this excerpt:
“Everybody wanted to sound more modern,” said Trevor Horn, who produced key ’80s albums by Yes, Grace Jones and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. “And drum machines and synths sounded more modern.”... Yes hired Horn... to produce... the band its first, and only, No. 1 hit....
That single was “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” with a sharp-edged guitar riff and a dreamy irresistible hook. Horn was intrigued by the short synthesizer interjections on the demo version by Trevor Rabin, the group’s newest member; Horn used the Synclavier keyboard — then the cutting edge of studio tech — to turn them into jarring multi-layered sonic goblins that seem to leap from the shadows.
The 3 phrases in boldface can be clicked on, at the article link, and you'll hear exactly what they refer to. Unlike the link on the song title — which goes to the music video on YouTube — I wasn't able to copy the code and make it work here. So please click on the gift link if you want to know what counts as "sonic goblins" in the mind of Ben Sisario.
Horn insisted on programming the beat on a drum machine, which Alan White, Yes’s highly experienced drummer, would then recreate. Conflict over that approach nearly killed the song. Jon Anderson, the helium-voiced lead singer, recalled seeing Horn, Rabin and Chris Squire, the bassist, standing around a “silver big box” in the studio, endlessly tweaking the sound of a synthetic kick drum, while White idled with a cup of tea.
“I just said, ‘Guys, you’ve got Alan White outside, one of the best drummers in the world, and you’re messing around with a drum machine.’”...
ADDED: I watched the video for "Owner of a Lonely Heart," which I hadn't seen since the 80s and didn't remember at all, probably because I've never liked Yes very much — too "helium-voiced" — and probably sped past it when I was watching MTV. How did I fast-forward through TV back in the 1980s, pre-streaming, pre-TIVO? I made Betamax tapes of whatever MTV was playing in any random period of time. It was all music then.
Anyway, the "Owner of a Lonely Heart" video resonates with today's politics. At one point — around 4:07 — I said "This is what Adam Schiff is afraid is going to happen to him."
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56 comments:
Hard to believe they didn't mention Sting and The Police.
Thanks Ann. This is my era of music. I do recall the obligatory drum machine and synthesis infecting most everything. We wore out my friend’s Art of Noise CD back then but many the bands what cone to mind decades later used the sounds sparingly, an accent rather than the thing. My friends and I were Talking Heads and Blondie while the radio wore out The Cars, Duran Duran, Van Halen and the hair bands. WEQX played the indie/avant-garde stuff and we were mostly tuned to them…
"Hard to believe they didn't mention Sting and The Police."
No, it isn't. Police hadn't established a solidly 70s sound that needed modernization. They were always 80s-ready... "new wave."
Listen to "Outlandos d'Amour," their first album. That's already late 70s and it doesn't need a style change to fit the 80s. It sounds like the 80s already.
Moody Blues switch from Psychedelic to 80's Pop was a big change...almost jarring.
What tends to be forgotten is there was plenty of disdain for the sounds. the radio stations that were cutting edge still played plenty of 60s and 70s along side the new stuff…
" We wore out my friend’s Art of Noise CD back..."
Art of Noise had the producer discussed in the excerpt I quoted — Trevor Horn.
Also, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" has a sound in it that sounds exactly like something in the one "Art of Noise" video that used to play all the time on MTV.
Undercover was the album that jarred me. Ew…
It's no White Bird.
While I'll agree that this was happening with some older bands, I'll disagree that it represents the kind of homogenization that seems to be implied. Sirius XM's "80s on 8" regularly does retrospective countdowns of the Top 40 from a particular date in the 1980s, and in the early 1980s what is often striking is the sheer variety of musical styles represented in the Top 40, everything from hair metal bands to Kenny Loggins to Kenny Rogers to Micheal Jackson.
Top 40, December 12, 1981
TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak Position)
1 1 PHYSICAL –•– Olivia Newton-John (MCA)-11 (4 weeks at #1) (1)
2 2 WAITING FOR A GIRL LIKE YOU –•– Foreigner (Atlantic)-10 (2)
3 3 EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC –•– The Police (A&M)-12 (3)
4 4 OH NO –•– The Commodores (Motown)-12 (4)
5 7 LET’S GROOVE –•– Earth, Wind and Fire (ARC)-11 (5)
6 8 YOUNG TURKS –•– Rod Stewart (Warner Brothers)-9 (6)
7 5 HERE I AM (Just When I Thought I Was Over You) –•– Air Supply (Arista)-12 (5)
8 9 WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE –•– Diana Ross (RCA)-9 (8)
9 14 HARDEN MY HEART –•– Quarterflash (Geffen)-9 (9)
10 11 DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’ –•– Journey (Columbia)-7 (10)
11 12 LEATHER AND LACE –•– Stevie Nicks (with Don Henley) (Modern)-8 (11)
12 13 TROUBLE –•– Lindsey Buckingham (Asylum)-8 (12)
13 18 I CAN’T GO FOR THAT (No Can Do) –•– Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA)-5 (13)
14 16 YESTERDAY’S SONGS –•– Neil Diamond (Columbia)-6 (14)
15 19 COMIN’ IN AND OUT OF YOUR LIFE –•– Barbra Streisand (Columbia)-5 (15)
16 23 TURN YOUR LOVE AROUND –•– George Benson (Warner Brothers)-8 (16)
17 20 THE SWEETEST THING (I’ve Ever Known) –•– Juice Newton (Capitol)-9 (17)
18 6 PRIVATE EYES –•– Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA)-16 (1)
19 22 TAKE MY HEART (You Can Have It If You Want It) –•– Kool and the Gang (De-Lite)-9 (19)
20 21 OUR LIPS ARE SEALED –•– The Go-Go’s (I.R.S.)-16 (20)
21 25 COOL NIGHT –•– Paul Davis (Arista)-6 (21)
22 24 MY GIRL (Gone, Gone, Gone) –•– Chilliwack (Millenium)-12 (22)
23 27 HOOKED ON CLASSICS (Medley) –•– Louis Clark Conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RCA)-7 (23)
24 26 HEART LIKE A WHEEL –•– The Steve Miller Band (Capitol)-7 (24)
25 30 CENTERFOLD –•– The J. Geils Band (EMI-America)-6 (25)
26 28 STEAL THE NIGHT –•– Stevie Woods (Cotillion)-14 (26)
27 32 SOMEONE COULD LOSE A HEART TONIGHT –•– Eddie Rabbitt (Elektra)-5 (27)
28 10 START ME UP –•– The Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones)-17 (2)
29 15 THE OLD SONGS –•– Barry Manilow (Arista)-10 (15)
30 36 I WOULDN’T HAVE MISSED IT FOR THE WORLD –•– Ronnie Milsap (RCA)-8 (30)
31 17 ARTHUR’S THEME (Best That You Can Do) –•– Christopher Cross (Warner Brothers)-18 (1)
32 43 SHAKE IT UP –•– The Cars (Elektra)-4 (32)
33 34 POOR MAN’S SON –•– Survivor (Scotti Brothers)-9 (33)
34 29 NO REPLY AT ALL –•– Genesis (Atlantic)-12 (29)
35 40 UNDER PRESSURE –•– Queen and David Bowie (Elektra)-6 (35)
36 70 WAITING ON A FRIEND –•– The Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones)-2 (36)
37 52 SHE’S GOT A WAY –•– Billy Joel (Columbia)-4 (37)
38 39 WRACK MY BRAIN –•– Ringo Starr (Boardwalk)-6 (38)
39 31 TRYIN’ TO LIVE MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU –•– Bob Seger (Capitol)-14 (5)
40 44 CASTLES IN THE AIR (1981 Version) –•– Don McLean (Millenium)-7 (40)
OFF THE CHARTS
43 33 NEVER TOO MUCH –•– Luther Vandross (Epic)-10 (33)
44 37 THE THEME FROM “HILL STREET BLUES” –•– Mike Post (Featuring Larry Carlton)-17 (10)
51 35 THE NIGHT OWLS –•– The Little River Band (Capitol)-17 (6)
69 38 TWILIGHT –•– ELO (Jet)-8 (38)
Yah. Concur but nothing new…according to a couple people I’ve encountered that claimed to be there Sha-Na-Na was one of the most popular acts at Woodstock…
The first album to rely on synthesizers and a heavy dose of drum machines was “The Beach Boys Love You” which was released in 1977. The album has been a point of contention among Beach Boys fans. It combines some great Iran Wilson compositions and interesting arrangements with some cringe inducing Brian Wilson lyrics and poor singing.
Horn was a production genius. The dark side of that genius is he often sidelined band members to the point where they quit the band. Simple Minds were never the same after "Street Fighting Years" (which I love). How much of the music was the band on the cover, and how much was Horn and his team?
Yes probably fared better than most.
And for those that think of them primarily as a punk band, try a listen to the "London Calling" track "The Card Cheat" -- one of the best Phil Spector-sounding songs that Spector never produced, no appreciable guitars on it, and with one of my favorite lyrics ever:
"From the Hundred Year War to the Crimea
With a lance and a musket and a Roman spear
To all of the men who have stood with no fear
In the service of the King"
Back to my point, if I ever get there.
Being a band that took to the Silly Leftist Sloganeering with earnest fervor, they -- of course -- fired the band's main songwriter (not withstanding Joe Strummer's lyrics) for being too much of a Rock Star. You know: the Guy Who Wrote The Hits.
So the Eighties come along, with Suitcases Stuffed With The Future, and in 1985 the band retools* and releases "Cut The Crap."
* from Wiki: "... they eventually hired unknown musicians Nick Sheppard and Greg White. White took the pseudonym Vince after (bassist) Simonon complained that he would prefer to quit than play in a band with someone named Greg." Dear God, how I love that.
Like I said, they released the album. I picked up my copy from a big display for it at the front of the store in Tower Records. The cover was awful, but that Is What Record Labels Did. Brought it home, put it on the turntable.
And there they were: drum machines. Synthesizers. Samples. The Eighties, in every sonic nook and cranny.
Sweet Jesus and Mary Lou, it was awful.
Sure, the songs weren't very good -- they did fire the guy who knew what he was doing, after all -- but it was more than that: it SOUNDED terrible.
The first song comes on: "Dictator." And it sounds like a car crash, and not a James Dean Cool Car Crash, but rather the sound of twenty Yugos all running into each other at moderate speed. And then the lyrics start:
"Yes I am the dictator I satisfy the U.S. team
I always do my killing in the woods and keep the city gutters clean
Cause I need a few more dollars
For my fighter pilot to be free
To dive bomb on the population
If they go running wild in the streets"
What the F@@king Hell?
Now Joe Strummer can't even put together a clever lyric?
It wasn't that I was a purist: I loved Men Without Hats' album "Rhythm of Youth", which was about as 80s as you could get by International Law (they WERE Canadian).
But "Cut The Crap"?
The first song was arguably the worst, but everything else on both sides of the vinyl at least tied for second-place.
A song called "Dirty Punk?" With drum machines? And lyrics such as this:
"Gonna be a dirty punk
While my brother dresses clean
He used to be the local hunk
The girls all ride in my machine"
Years of Good Will, pissed away by a firehose.
Video Killed The Radio Star*, and the Eighties Killed The Clash.
*And to bring it around to Althouse's post: Video Killed The Radio Star -- the first video to air on MTV -- was by a band called The Buggles, which was led by... Trevor Horn.
I am Laslo.
The sound was very disposable.
Madonna had a ton of hits but she built her fame on her personality not her music. My daughter, a GenZer, knows the Beatles, The Beach Boys, Bill Joel, etc. but could not name a single song by any of the acts that came to fame in the 80’s.
Chicago had some huge hits that dispensed with the trademark horns in favor of synths. When I saw them in the late 90’s and early 00’s they ignored that era completely.
I would that even with their 80’s success the highlights of any Yes show were always “Seen All Good People” and “Roundabout”.
Joe Strummer killed the clash. He might have been the heart and soul of the band but Mik Jones could write a hit.
Somehow missed posting the start of my comment. Basically some blah-blah about The Clash, The 80s Sound and The Young Kids and Their Lefty Sloganeering. "If You Are Not a Liberal When You Are Young, You Have No Heart..." etc etc. Something like that.
The "1980s sound" was essentially (1) keyboard synths, (2) drum machines, and (3) hugely boosted bass and treble per the infamous "V" shaped graphic equalizers that were everywhere. That airy boosted treble affected everyone from Bonnie Tyler to Elton John to Chicago to Def Leppard and Van Halen (1984). As above, 190s bands followed a lot of 1970s post-punk and new wave bands. Owner of a Lonely Heart and many New Order songs invented the production methods of that era.
Still, until the 1990s all radio-oriented music was calculated "product" built by an A&R (artists and repertoire, not the label) producer. The A&R guys would give a weak artist 1 good song for the single and 9 filler tracks. A good breakout band poured out souls for a fantastic first album and record deal, then usually ran dry. They were milked with a cheap contract. The 1980s artists who lasted from the 1970s either had actual talent or hired a strong A&R guy to shift with the trends (1980s sound) and bring in studio writers to feed timely content. See the Rolling Stones in the 80s (uggg).
Listen to REM's Out of Time (1991) for the most obvious A&R manipulation of all time. Got your light pop hit, got your deep "Losing my Religion," got your female duet crossover, got your black hip-hop crossover. Then compare it to REM's pre-mainstream early albums with simple production.
Jethro Tull's attempt at modernizing with the album "A" was so jarring that I and many of my friends closed the book on the band, with ojr CD collection ending there. Although that album had several catchy tunes (Black Sunday, Batteries Not Included), the juxtaposition with the English Folk vibe was too much.
Laslo's back?
I saw that immediately. Where has Laszlo been? I still laugh at his depiction of the Jennifer Anniston love robot.
One major example of a successful shift to '80s music was David Bowie. A lot of his old fans may not have liked it, but of course transformation was always his shtick.
The Rolling Stones had already retooled from a '60s band to a '70s sound.
"Shiny Happy People" was the sound of REM performing a Rusty Trombone on their own credibility. It's true: you can hear it in the song's horn parts (left side of stereo mix).
Of note: Kate Pierson (of the B-52s) sang on the song; around that time she also sang on OG Punk Iggy Pop's drum-machine pop-song "Candy", to marginally better results.
Still, let that be a lesson to Rock Stars with Pretensions of Integrity: unless you are indeed the B-52s, do NOT invite Kate Pierson to sing on your song.
I am Laslo.
Freshman year in college A grateful Dead came out with a new album called shakedown Street. Real deadheads among Us called it Disco Dead.
Creates co!!ent ever
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2017/07/theres-basic-human-right-that.html?showComment=1500344543861#c1751586163180562854
"in the early 1980s what is often striking is the sheer variety of musical styles represented in the Top 40, everything from hair metal bands to Kenny Loggins to Kenny Rogers to Micheal Jackson."
Agreed. The periods between dominant music cultures produced some of the most interesting and diverse stuff. Same thing happened in the late 80's/early 90's, when hair metal was dying off but grunge hadn't yet come along. Weird stuff like Crash Test Dummies were that period's Men Without Hats, for example.
"'Shiny Happy People' was the sound of REM performing a Rusty Trombone on their own credibility."
And now, thanks to the return of Laslo (and a bit of assistance from the Urban Dictionary), my vocabulary has expanded to include a new term!
Nearly every Bowie album was a complete departure from the previous.
The 70s was so much better musically. When I think of the 80s, I think of hair mousse and drum machines. It kind of squeezed the life out of the 70s sound and entered into something more plastic. It did give us some great pieces, but mostly a lot of overproduced stuff. Yes did their best work in the 70s and they were great then. By the time they were putting out 'Owners of a Lonely Heart' they weren't even Yes anymore. They were well into their transition into whatever they'd become in the end.
Someone above mentioned Joe Strummer ruined The Clash because he couldn't write a hit song. Not sure about that. What he wrote with The Mescaleros was great. Still is- if you listen to it.
In terms of 80's sound, don't forget the huge, screen-door-crashing snare drum sound that was ubiquitous (and that, if I recall correctly, Phil Collins accidentally stumbled on in the studio one day).
"Sonic Goblins" would be a terrific band name.
Being that I broached the subject of Punk entering the Eighties, what next comes to mind is a band that I happen to love: The Psychedelic Furs.
Yes, they were Punk, at least on their first album in 1980. Some people have attempted to label them as Post-Punk* (think: Joy Divison, The Cure, or -- God Forbid -- Adam & The Ants) but my ears hear a different story. And, if expanding from the most basic of punk-song formats makes you Post-Punk, then revisit the Clash on "London Calling" and get back to me after listening to "Jimmy Jazz."
(*what is the difference between Post-Punk and New Wave? Politics, mostly. With New Wave you were allowed to have awkward fun, and even awkwardly dance on occasion).
On the Furs' first album I don't think there is a song without the word 'stupid' in the lyrics, so: yes, Punk.
NOTE: I just checked the Internets; 'stupid' is in 5 of 9 songs. The word "Useless" is also in 5 of 9 songs. The songs "India" and "Sister Europe" contain both. The song "Pulse" is a pretty straightforward punk song, and although it surprising doesn't contain either "stupid" or "useless" in its lyrics, it DOES have the line "You are miracle drivel" -- which could only be more punk if it was to be revised to "You are useless stupid miracle drivel'.)
The magic was in Richard Butler's voice, which somehow combined the sneer of Johnny 'Rotten' Lydon with the croon of David Bowie, after chain-smoking a pack of unfiltered cigarettes* before the engineer pushed the 'Record' button.
*Furs' songs with the word "cigarettes in them? "Dumb Waiters", "Don't Believe", "Torch", and "Cigarette." I kinda though there were more; maybe there are. Although "Dumb Waiters" nails it:
"Have another cigarette
And have another cigarette
In a room where lovers go
Talking on the telephone"
Where was I? Oh yeah: the inevitable Eighties Sound.
Yep: the Furs later proceeded to the Eighties Sound, hard. And people wrote them off for it.
Because somehow a romantically brooding song like "Love My Way" was an affront. And the delicate tinkling "The Ghost In You" was injurious to proper punk credibility. Sure, "Heartbreak. Beat" was to eventually follow, but I will argue that even that one is a Guilty Pleasure for which I refuse to feel Guilty.
What can I say? Gated Reverb was a means to an end...
I am Laslo.
I liked the 1970s Yes (prog/AOR rock guy here) but I love love loved 90125. Not a bad track on that whole album. Still listen to it regularly.
That was rare though; a lot of the '70s bands that changed their sound for the '80s lost me (e.g., Rush). I think MTV was the main change to the landscape, even though synths and the ubiquitous Roland 808 contributed much. The bands that were MTV-ready -- that's where the action was -- were mostly the non-traditional New Wave bands who were already utilizing more synthetic sounds and that's what was driving things. Prior to MTV, a lot of bands could make it on album sales and touring without necessarily having a Hit Single (although it helped; see Styx and Renegade, for example). I feel like the structure of pop music as pop music, as opposed to the rock/album acts like Yes, Genesis, Rush, etc., didn't change much as singles ruled a lot of the business, but the big arena acts seemed to think they had to adapt or die. Maybe they were right. As I mentioned, with rare exceptions I didn't like what they became. I loved so much of the '80s stuff and still do, but Adult Contemporary REO Speedwagon just didn't cut it for me.
Interestingly, in the early 2000s (2003 now that I look at Wikipedia) The Ataris covered The Boys of Summer but made it a Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac.
Bowie’s Lets Dance album does a nice job of tapping into the early mid 80s sound. The Album has held up very well.
Agree that the police weren’t a “70s” sound since their first album was 1978. But I view the Police as more post-punk infused reggae than New Wave. But new wave influences are present.
Talking Heads are the best example of New Wave. Like the Police , their first album was late 70s. I don’t consider them a 70s sound either.
The Yacht Rock documentary on HBO right now delves into these same issues. It does a great job of tracing the family trees of pop music, in terms of which session and guest musicians played on whose albums, sometimes in surprising combinations (e.g., some Steely Dan guest artists played on Michael Jackson albums, Michael McDonald was all over the place, and basically every album in the 80s was a Toto album).
Only an hour and a half, both silly and serious. Worth a watch.
JSM
Laslo: Welcome back! But you don't like Adam Ant?! Cmon man! His louche decadence must have been the inspiration for some of your characters.
Tangentially related: How can any thread of 80s music not include Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music!?
JSM
The vast majority of any sound is disposable. But there’s always some stuff that holds up well. Billy Joel is nostalgic music for Boomers. He’s not Sinatra. Young people who love music listen to some Sinatra.
ZZ Top was successful in the '70's but became huge in the "80's. And they looked like they came from the '60's.
Was interesting. Reminiscent of the Wrecking Crew.
The moment I read "louche" I immediately thought of Bryan Ferry, then I see him mentioned in the next line. I primarily think of Roxy as a 70s band (I am very fond of the first two albums with Eno). "Avalon" is 80s, but to me it is a Bryan Ferry solo album where some of the back-up musicians just happened to have been in a band with Ferry before...
I am Laslo.
In the 80s I was living in Milwaukee and listening almost exclusively to WYMS, which was all jazz at the time. I do remember playing the newest Joni MItchell (Wild Thing Run Fast) and Elvis Costello (Imperial Bedroom). The only pure 80s band I can say I still listen to regularly is Tears for Fears and I came to then mostly after their heydey. I'm sure there's other stuff out there that I've missed but generally if I follow up on suggestion from that era I'm bored by what I hear. I liked early Yes even though prog rock was never a big thing for me. I didn't like Jon Anderson's voice at all, I thought it was an affectation and an unnecessary one at that. Then I watched a documentary of sorts about the band and found out he actually talks that way. It wasn't an affectation, it was his voice. Somehow that made it easier for me to listen to.
The Cars are another band that changed its sound and took advantage of the music video format. Also what about Tina Turner?
And I second the love for the Psychedelic Furs.
Every morning, Althouse treats me to a well deserved flashback of (to?) "Heart of the Sunrise". Brufford was a machine.
The synth years are always to me defined by Thomas Dolby "Hyperactive".
Anyway, more on topic. Chaka Khan really made the most of the synthy early '80s after a long and varied career with "I Feel For You".
There is nothing new under the Sun. Bands either evolve or die commercially after a brief period of time. I have watched this process since I was just short of 12 years old and saw it in the bands I liked at that time. Most can't evolve and their span of being able to sell records is usually measured in 1-3 albums over a 5 year time period. Almost no band/musician/singer has a second act.
Maybe not exactly on point, both in terms of style and timing, but the Police's last album, Synchronicity, was a major departure from their earlier reggae-tinged sound and did include a fair amount of synth sounds and sound effects, and ended up being their best-selling album.
Laslo: "The moment I read "louche" I immediately thought of Bryan Ferry"
Best thing I read all day! Bryan himself would approve.
JSM
Another 70s star that entered the 80s:
1984: Don Henley releases "The Boys of Summer". In a 1987 interview with Rolling Stone, Henley explained that the song is about aging and questioning the past.
Mike Campbell, the guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, wrote a demo for "The Boys of Summer" while experimenting with a LinnDrum drum machine and Oberheim OB-X synthesizer. Campbell played it for Don Henley, the vocalist and drummer for the Eagles, who wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocal.
Little-known fact: the song was originally titled "The Cocaine Dealers of Westwood", but the lyrics were later changed to be, among other things, more evocative to young women.
1980: Henley called paramedics to his home on November 21, 1980, and there they found a naked 16-year-old girl claiming she had overdosed on quaaludes and cocaine. She was arrested for prostitution, while a 15-year-old girl found in the house was arrested for being under the influence of drugs.
Henley said he called for a sex worker on a night in November 1980 because he “wanted to escape the depression I was in” over the breakup of the superstar band.
The drummer/vocalist then writes a song called "The Underage Girls of Winter", but it is never released.
1979: Stevie Nicks got pregnant while in a relationship with Eagles vocalist Don Henley and has an abortion.
Stevie Nicks: "I’m like, ‘This can’t be happening.'“Fleetwood Mac is three years in and it’s big. And we’re going into our third album. It was like, ‘Oh, no no no no no.’ It would have destroyed Fleetwood Mac. Absolutely.”
Stevie Nicks goes on to write a song that may or may not be about the aborted child that would've destroyed Fleetwood Mac, a girl she would've called "Sara".
Also 1979: Don Henley writes a song, this one called "The Unborn Girls of Female Rock Stars I Have Had Sex With, Possibly in Spring or Fall." This record was also unreleased.
I am Laslo.
If Stevie Nick's child HAD been born, she probably would've just been Fleetwood Mac's own little Yoko Ono, anyway.
I am Laslo.
The Butlers had a nice second act as Love Spit Love.
The synth heavy songs aged poorly, I think. Like any avant-garde fashion.
ZZ Top, probably because the sound wasn’t so overt, still sounds good.
For bands that changed their sound and style, it's hard to go past Talk Talk and its main man Mark Hollis. From synth-based new wave (tuned percussion but at least no drum machines) to something organic that didn't even have a name at the time. Every album was completely different to the predecessor.
I liked the 1970s Yes (prog/AOR rock guy here) but I love love loved 90125. Not a bad track on that whole album. Still listen to it regularly.
Yep. I was hoping for more on 'Big Generator.'
Yeah. No.
Another band that made a big style leap was Jefferson Airplane, transitioning to the Jefferson Starship (and later just Starship) sound. I remember not liking "We Built This City" when it was released, but I love it now, LOL ... takes me back to a time and place for sure.
Oh, wow, Laslo is back! Welcome back!!
Yes, the Yacht Rock documentary is worth a watch. I was in high school in L.A. during this period not realizing how much of this magical music creation was happening just a few miles away.
The orchestral hit in Owner of a Lonely Heart (the first of the "sonic goblins") was allegedly inspired by the orchestral hit at the beginning of the final movement of Stravinsky's Firebird.
This video explains how that orchestral hit got into everything. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A1Aj1_EF9Y
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