Hidden Treasures - 1981

[Scott]

1980

Music Highlights...

• February 14 – Billy Idol leaves the band Generation X to begin a solo career.
• April 11 – Van Halen's lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen marries actress Valerie Bertinelli. (And this killed me!! I was going to marry her!)
• April 27 – Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach marry, in London, England. (Out goes my backup plan!!)
• June 4 – U2 appears on the Tomorrow show with Tom Snyder, their first U.S. television appearance.
• June 5 - The TV series Night Flight, a variety show featuring music documentaries and videos, premieres on the USA Network.
• August 1 – MTV debuts on cable television in the United States, playing music videos 24 hours a day.
• October 26 - Iron Maiden plays its first show with Bruce Dickinson as the new lead singer in Bologna, Italy.
• December 18 - An estimated 35 million people around the world watch a live satellite transmission of a Rod Stewart concert at the Los Angeles Forum. It is the first broadcast of its kind since Elvis Presley's "Aloha from Hawaii" special in 1973.
• Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a dove at a record label gathering.
• Alice Cooper drastically changes his appearance, leaving behind his trademark make-up and donning a military uniform.
• Brad Whitford leaves Aerosmith and is replaced by Rick Dufay.
• Starland Vocal Band broke up (Sorry Jon, hate to re-open old wounds!!)

 

My Top 5 Albums of 1981

1. Moving Pictures- Rush
2. Fair Warning - Van Halen
3. High 'N' Dry - Def Leppard
4. Paradise Theater - Styx
5. Allied Forces - Triumph

 

PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/a7tkathx

	The Tubes The Completion Backward Principle 1 - Sushi Girl The Tubes' live shows in the late 1970s and early 1980s were rife with allusions to mainstream film [Dr. Strangelove (1964), Rollerball (1975), Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease (1978)] then-forgotten B-movies [Wild Women of Wongo (1958), Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)], music (Tom Jones, punk rock, a medley of Nelson Riddle television themes), contemporary pop culture (Patty Hearst, the Viking program), television (Let's Make a Deal, Fernwood 2Nite, the anime Raideen), and literature (Nelson Algren's A Walk on the Wild Side), presaging the subcultural reverence and over-the-top theatricality of later groups like The World/Inferno Friendship Society. These shows were expensive to produce, however, and while they earned the band a reputation for being one of the most entertaining live acts of the time, by the early 1980s, they found themselves short of money.
	Loverboy Get Lucky 2 - When Its Over Their debut record became a huge hit with eventually over 1,000,000 records sold in Canada alone. The album made its American debut in November 1980, and would go on to sell over two million copies in the USA alone. The band's follow-up album, Get Lucky, released in October 1981 when they were opening for Journey, included the hit tracks "Working for the Weekend" and "When It's Over". It became their best selling album in the U.S., reaching No. 7 on the Billboard album charts and selling over four million copies. In the same year Loverboy received six Juno Awards (Canada's highest award for music) in one year, a record that still stands today. The band would later receive an additional three Juno Awards, bringing their total to nine, which is the most received by a single group or individual.
	Blue Oyster Cult Fire Of Unknown Origin 3 - Fire Of Unknown Origin The biggest hit on this album was the Top 40 hit "Burnin' for You", a song Dharma had written with a Richard Meltzer lyric. He had intended to use it on his 1982 solo album, Flat Out, but he was convinced to use it on the Blue Öyster Cult album instead. The album went platinum, and contained other fan favorites such as "Joan Crawford" (inspired by the book and film Mommie Dearest) and "Veteran of the Psychic Wars", another song co-written by Moorcock. Several of the songs had been written for the animated film Heavy Metal, but only "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" (which, ironically, was not written for Heavy Metal) was actually used in the movie. After this album, Albert Bouchard had a falling out with the others and left the band, and Rick Downey (formerly the band's lighting designer) replaced him on drums. At the height of their popularity, the band's success spurred a host of cult-like activities, such as a Marshfield, MA Blue Oyster Cult themed summer camp which featured competitive air guitar and lip synching contests.
	Van Halen Fair Warning 4 - Hear About It Later Fair Warning was one of the first albums to reflect the rift in the Van Halen power structure; David Lee Roth wished to emphasize the pop influence that emerged on the previous two albums (which brought the band increased attention and a wider appeal), while Eddie Van Halen preferred to explore darker, longer and generally more complex song-structures that emphasized his innovative guitar work. Eddie apparently prevailed, as the album in fact featured longer, darker, more aggressive guitar-oriented material. Unchained can be heard frequently on rock radio stations. The album's cover artwork is accompanied by an insert of a black-and-white picture of the band, as well as a view of a ghetto drywall. This drywall has a wire running across it, cracked windows at the top and a Roth-era Van Halen logo with plaster cracked over the left wing. Also on the wall is a lyric from the album's opening song, "Mean Street".
	Sammy Hagar Standing Hampton 5 - I'll Fall In Love Again Hagar was scheduled to open for Boston in San Bernardino, California, during their 1979 world tour. Prior to the Boston show, Hagar was replaced on the bill by the up and coming Los Angeles club band, The Knack, rather than being an opening act so close to his former hometown of Fontana. After Street Machine and 1980's Danger Zone failed to break out, Hagar felt that Capitol wasn't supporting him sufficiently. Hagar left Capitol for the newly formed Geffen Records and made some personnel changes, including enlisting long-time friend and former Justice Brothers bandmate David Lauser as his drummer. His first Geffen release, Standing Hampton, was his biggest-selling album to date and went platinum on the strength of songs such as "There's Only One Way to Rock".

[Jon]

Let me go back to 1981 and see what I would have listed as my top 5 albums:

1. Foreigner--4

2. Billy Squier--Don't Say No

3. The Kinks--Give The People What They Want

4. Blue Oyster Cult--Fire Of Unknown Origin

5. Rush--Moving Pictures

There were more that I really liked (in no particular order):

Michael Schenker Group--MSG

Jefferson Starship--Modern Times

Peter Frampton--Breaking The Rules

The Go-Go's--Beauty And The Beat

Genesis--Abacab

The Cars--Shake It Up

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts--I Love Rock 'n' Roll

The Greg Kihn Band--Rockihnroll

Van Halen--Fair Warning

Steveie Nicks--Belladonna

Black Sabbath--Mob Rules

Def Leppard--High 'n' Dry

Foghat--Girls To Chat, Boys To Bounce

I don't think I bought "Completion Backwards Principle" until 1982.

Of course, things change throughout the years and we all know the greatest album of 1981 was "Music From 'The Elder'". All other albums mean nothing.

Yep, I remember hearing the news about The Starland Vocal Band breaking up. I was devastated and don't think I have fully recovered. 

So, other than CBP, I had all the albums on this playlist during '81. The one that brings back memories are FOUO, I think that has to do with "Heavy Metal", both the soundtrack and the movie (nekkid chicks!). I can't remember which one I picked up first, the BOC album or the soundtrack, Memory is fading.......

The first time I heard Loverboy was on a double LP featuring a bunch of new bands. Allmusic is down right now, so I can't look up the album title, I don't think any of the other bands really hit it big. Maybe the Buzzcocks were on the album. I'll update this when I find it, cause I know you wanna know!

[Scott]

I would add April Wine's Nature of the Beast into the best of 81 discussion, though not in my top 5 its definitely top 10

[Jon]

That one and I forgot about Styx "Paradise Theater". The etched vinyl!

[Scott]

already listed in my top 5

[Scandal 2000]

Once again, I agree. That was a great album. 

[Scandal 2000]

I have always been a Billy Idol fan. He allegedly is working on a new album. I agree that Foreigner 4 and Billy Squier's Don't Say No were great albums. Billy Squier had a good run of putting out quality albums for a while. I loved Sabbath's Mob Rules album (not quite as good as Heaven and Hell but good). I prefer the Dio albums to the Ozzy ones. I have to agree also on the MSG album. 

[Jon]

I wish they didn't change the cover of that MSG album. The original cover was so cool, especially to a kid. 

[Scandal 2000]

I had forgotten about that, you are right.

[Scott]

Some great albums that didn't get as much attention as they deserved ....

• Red Rider - As Far As Siam
• Judas Priest - Point of Entry
• Santana - Zebop!
• Poco - The  Blue and Gray
• Pat Benatar - Precious Time
• Chilliwack - Wanna Be A Star
• Little River Band - Time Exposure
• Thin Lizzy - Renegade

[Jon]

I had Precious Time when it came out, was a bit letdown back then. Chilliwack I didn't pick up until a couple years later, Thin Lizzy much, much later than that. The udas Priest album has grown on my thru the years, back then I didn't care much for it.

And, my goodness, how in the hell could I forget "Long Distance Voyager" from The Moody Blues???? Great album, still is to this day. 

[Scott]

my bad too!  I love that album...

[RJhog (Admin)]

Before I listen to this, here is what my Top 5 would have been back then (and I'm leaving off Music From The Elder because at that time, no one could beat Kiss for me:

5. Foreigner - 4

4. J. Geils Band - Freeze-Frame

3. Jefferson Starship - Modern Times

2. Van Halen - Fair Warning

1. Journey - Escape

That's what I listened to the most back then.  Now, many years removed from that time, the shortest list I could make would be a Top 10:

10. Pat Benatar - Precious Time

9. Motley Crue - Too Fast For Love

8. Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna

7. Styx - Paradise Theater

6. Foreigner - 4

5. J. Geils Band - Freeze-Frame

4. Jefferson Starship - Modern Times

3. Loverboy - Get Lucky

2. Van Halen - Fair Warning

1. Journey - Escape