Hidden Treasures - Ladies of the 80's

[Scott]

Wanted to get into a cool topic I've been thinking about for awhile now.  Ladies of the 80's...

 

I've always had a "thing" for Martha Davis of the Motels.  In her hey-day she was sultry, seductive and an outright Temptress, at least she was to me.  Just watch the video for Only The Lonely and Suddenly Last Summer. 

 

 

Anyway,  these ladies weren't all sex appeal, they had some talent as well.  And in this case it came in the form of the band The Motels...  Very New Wave this week and maybe even a little poppy, but when she was good, she was VERY good!

Now that you've taken a look.. Take a listen...

 

Playlist -->  http://snack.to/at3fr5a8

 

All Four One 1982 1 - Mission Of Mercy 2 - Art Fails Despite its rough beginnings, All Four One was the first U.S. hit album for The Motels, and was the band's best selling album. The first single from All Four One was "Only the Lonely", which reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #27 on the Adult Contemporary chart,[6] as well as #6 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart. The song "Mission of Mercy" also received enough airplay to reach #23 on the Top Tracks chart. In addition, two other singles, "Take the L" and "Forever Mine", also managed to reach the Billboard Hot 100. The album's release coincided with the emergence of MTV, and music videos were produced for both "Only the Lonely" and "Take the L". Davis won an award in the Best Performance in a Music Video category at the American Music Awards in 1982 for her performance in the "Only the Lonely" video

Little Robbers 1983 3 - Where Do We Go From Here 4 - Little Robbers The band returned to the recording studio in February 1983 and released the album Little Robbers later that same year. The first single from the album, "Suddenly Last Summer", was a Top 10 hit in the United States, with the album eventually going gold in America, Canada, and a number of other countries. In August 1983, at the insistence of Garay, David Platshon was added on drums with Glascock reluctantly moving over to percussion. The first leg of the Little Robbers tour started in January 1984 but ended abruptly in February with the firing of Garay as manager for personal reasons.[9] Drummer Platshon was dropped and Glascock resumed his spot on the drum chair. The band continued performing under new management and they recorded songs for two film soundtracks: "Long Day" was recorded for Moscow on the Hudson and "In the Jungle" was recorded for Teachers. By mid-summer the band were back in the recording studio working on new material.

[Scott]

[Jon]

Funny thing, this. I ordered the remastered AFO/LR back in July when Amazon had it for $9.99, but it was out of stock but more were "on the way". I waited a couple months, got an email saying they were still trying to get it back in stock and if I wanted to wait. I figured it wouldn't be back in stock ever, so I told them I would wait. Late August I got an email saying it was shipped. The best thing was the price when I ordered it, $9.99 which is pretty cheap for the BGO sets. Now it's $15.99. Great story, huh?

I already have the One Way CD of AFO and for bonus tracks it had two tracks from LR, which I found to be a bit odd, but that's the way it is. 

Even MORE interesting is the original version of AFO which the record label hated. It has some of the songs in AFO, but different versions as well as other songs. You can check out that version, titled "Apocalypso".

I used to have most of the albums but have lost them throughout the years. One thing I can't understand is why they were compared to The Doors????

   

[Scott]

The Paper Sleeve remasters are awesome!

[RJhog (Admin)]

I've thought about picking up some of The Motels catalog several times but have never actually done it.  And while I like the song Suddenly Last Summer, I think Only The Lonely is one of the best songs of the 80's.  

The first track really surprised me.  I didn't expect anything this "rocking".  Of course, that expectation was based on hearing only the two previously mentioned songs.  The guitar is very upbeat and quite good.  But I'm not sure if her sultry voice translates well for me on a rocker.  Track two is better.  I actually like the "new wave" or electronic sound of this one.  I think it's a bit slower and fits her vocals better.

I really didn't care for either of the last two songs.  Don't know why other than the same reason as before.  I like the slower, heartbreak type stuff from her.  

Still, glad for the post.  That's the most Motels I've ever heard.  Thanks Scott.

[Scott]

You should put All Four One on your wish list.  Its worth pulling the trigger if you ask me. 

[Scandal 2000]

One of my favorite female performers was Joanna Dean. She sort of had a bit of a Janis Joplin vibe going and put out a great bluesy hard rock album called "Misbehavin. Love that album a lot. She also did one album would a band she formed called Bad Romance (their album was good too). I agree about the Motels. Good stuff!

[Scott]

Never heard of her...  Going to look her up soon though!  Thanks for checking in!