Lost classics

Diamonds in the rough of the ’80s

Posted on by brucehhackett

Eight years ago on this blog, I compiled my first collection of what I call “lost classics” — those great songs from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s that we once knew but soon forgot about…or perhaps never heard in the first place but should have.

Now it’s April 2024, and I proudly offer my 40th edition of lost classics, this time focusing on deep tracks from albums released in the 1980s. I have typically focused more frequently on songs from the ’60s and ’70s, simply because those are the years I know best, but I have been trying to shed more light on selected music from that sometimes maligned, misunderstood decade from 1980-1989.

Man, there was a lot of great stuff that came out in those years, and I’m pleased to present a dozen gems by great bands and artists of the era. Most people were buying their new music in CD format by then, although I personally kept buying albums until the ’80s were almost over before finally (reluctantly) making the switch. Either way, I kept acquiring new tunes by new and older artists alike, and continued to do so (albeit in smaller quantities) in the 1990s and since.

There’s a Spotify playlist to be found at the end so you can give a listen to these forgotten ’80s nuggets as you read. Hope you dig it!

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“Begin the Begin,” R.E.M., 1986

When they emerged in 1982 from the vibrant music scene in the college town of Athens, Georgia, R.E.M. became the darlings of alternative rock with guitar-dominated songs like “Radio Free Europe,” “Don’t Go Back to Rockville” and “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry).” Near the end of this phase, before they won a major record deal and found more mainstream success, the band released “Life’s Rich Pageant,” anchored by “Fall on Me” and “Superman.” Kicking off that LP is the insistent “Begin the Begin,” which Michael Stipe called “a song of personal political activism” that was a pun on the 1935 Cole Porter’s 1935 classic “Begin the Beguine” (a dance similar to a slow rhumba). “Answer me a question, I can’t itemize, /I can’t think clearly, look to me for reason, /It’s not there, I can’t even rhyme, begin the begin…”

“Whenever You’re on My Mind,” Marshall Crenshaw, 1983

Crenshaw’s debut in the music business came in 1978 when he played John Lennon in the national touring ensemble of the “Beatlemania” musical stage show. With roots in the music of Buddy Holly and classic soul, Crenshaw showed great promise with his self-titled debut LP in 1982 and the pop single, “Someday, Someway.” His follow-up album “Field Day,” produced by famed producer Steve Lilywhite, was even better, although it didn’t chart as high, and its single, the catchy “Whenever You’re On My Mind,” somehow failed to reach the Hot 100. Nevertheless, his bright, optimistic music inspired several other bands throughout the ’80s and ’90s, including the Gin Blossoms, who had a sizable hit with his song “‘Til I Hear It From You.”

“The Other End (of the Telescope),” ‘Til Tuesday, 1988

This Boston-based group featured the incredible talent of singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, who soon enough forged a critically praised solo career. ‘Til Tuesday’s debut album and single “Voices Carry” made a lasting impression in 1985, as did the more folky “Welcome Home” LP in 1986, but their third and final album, “Everything’s Different Now,” was unjustly ignored in 1988. There are a number of engaging tunes written by Mann that are worthy of attention here, from the irresistible melody of “Why Must I” to the chiming guitars of “Rip in Heaven” and the longing vibe of “Long Gone (Buddy).” One of the real gems on this neglected LP is “The Other End (of the Telescope),” a delightful track co-written and partly sung by the great Elvis Costello.

“Silver Rainbow,” Genesis, 1983

This self-titled Genesis LP solidified the group’s early ’80s transition from art rock practitioners to arena pop stars, thanks largely to the Phil Collins Top 40 confection “That’s All” and annoying follow-up single “Illegal Alien.” Found on this album, however, are a handful of solid rock songs that offer something for old and new Genesis fans, sometimes within the same song. The Tony Banks tune “Silver Rainbow,” for example, opens with arty keyboards and vocals before breaking into a more deliberate stomper with lyrics that coyly take the teenager’s point of view on the subject of losing virginity. “People can act quite senselessly when they’re in lust or in love,” said Banks, “when it’s overpowering to the point where you don’t really notice anything else”: “If you’re sitting there beside her, and a bear comes in the room, /And you keep on going ’cause you’re unaware, ooh, then you know that you are there…”

“When We Was Fab,” George Harrison, 1987

After a period of relative inactivity, Harrison recruited like-minded Jeff Lynne of ELO (who would soon join him in the Traveling Wilburys) to produce his 1987 comeback, “Cloud Nine.” The album showcased some of Harrison’s best tunes in at least a decade — “If That’s What It Takes,” “Fish On the Sand,” “This is Love,” “Wreck of the Hesperus” — and a ho-hum cover of the 1962 obscurity “Got My Mind Set on You.” But the real head turner is “When We Was Fab,” Harrison’s nostalgic reflection on the early years when The Beatles were dubbed the Fab Four: “Back then, long time ago when grass was green, woke up in a daze, /Arrived like strangers in the night, Fab!, /Long time ago when we was fab…” The appearance of sitar, cello and backwards effects make it sound almost like an outtake from “Magical Mystery Tour,” and the drums are played by none other than Ringo Starr. It reached #23 as Harrison’s final charting hit.

“Come a Long Way,” Simple Minds, 1985

Producer Jimmy Iovine, who had brought an aggressive guitar-based sound to the work of artists like Bruce Springsteen and Steve Nicks, did the same for Simple Minds on the superb “Once Upon a Time” LP in 1985. He also featured frontman Jim Kerr’s vocals more prominently than on their previous albums, and the result was a US market success for the band following the enormous popularity of their “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” single from the soundtrack of “The Breakfast Club.” The album yielded three big singles here — “Alive and Kicking” (#3), “Sanctify Yourself” (#14) and “All the Things She Said” (#28). I’ve always been fond of “Come a Long Way,” the powerful track that closes the LP and aptly describes where Simple Minds found themselves in 1985-86.

“Heartbeat City,” The Cars, 1984

Much of The Cars’ repertoire is accessible New Wave pop — “Just What I Needed,” “Let’s Go,” “Shake It Up,” “You Might Think,” “Tonight She Comes” — and yet there are other tracks that evoke more thoughtful moods. On “Heartbeat City,” their fifth of six LPs in their initial 1978-1987 run, the #3 single “Drive” sounds unlike anything they’d done before, thanks partly to Benjamin Orr taking over on lead vocals from Ric Ocasek. Almost as memorable is the arty title track that closes the album, which one critic described as “a hypnotic bit of New Wave that mixes impressionistic lyrics with an entrancing electronic soundscape.” Said Ocasek, “It’s a place inside the singer when he is in love. When he is heartbroken and loses the ability to feel emotions, he’s living outside Heartbeat City.”

“Red Rain,” Peter Gabriel, 1986

After leaving Genesis in 1975, Gabriel began his solo career by releasing four identically self-titled LPs over the next six years that were predictable in their challenging unpredictability. The rare radio singles (“Solsbury Hill,” “Games Without Frontiers,” “Shock the Monkey”) were outnumbered by sophisticated art rock tracks that often recalled early Genesis work. Then came “So,” the 1986 multiplatinum LP produced by Daniel Lanois that gave us “Sledgehammer,” “In Your Eyes,” “Big Time,” and the Kate Bush duet “Don’t Give Up.” Sometimes forgotten is “Red Rain,” a dark, brooding piece inspired by a disturbing recurring dream Gabriel had, in which bottles in the shape of people fall from a cliff and smash on the ground as streams of red liquid (maybe wine, maybe blood) pour out.

“Farm on the Freeway,” Jethro Tull, 1987

In 1984, Tull’s Ian Anderson developed serious throat problems that permanently altered the higher end of his vocal range, requiring him to begin writing songs in lower keys. After two years off from live performances, the band returned with the excellent Grammy-winning LP “Crest of a Knave,” which showcased Anderson’s lower vocals, resembling those of Dire Straits’ frontman Mark Knopfler. One of the LP’s highlights was “Farm on the Freeway,” a dramatic flute-driven piece which laments the disappearance of farmland at the expense of highway development: “And the big road’s pushing through along the valley floor, hot machine pouring six lanes at the very least, /Now, they say they gave me compensation, that’s not what I’m chasing, I was a rich man before yesterday, /Now all I have left is a broken-down pickup truck, looks like my farm is a freeway…”

“Darkness,” The Police, 1981

With each successive album between 1978 and 1983, The Police evolved from a raw punk/reggae British trio to a richly produced band that topped the charts worldwide. Their fourth LP, 1981’s “Ghosts in the Machine,” was the first produced by Hugh Padgham, who pioneered an innovative drum sound later used by Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel and others, achieved by having the band record simultaneously from three separate rooms. While Sting’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and “Spirits in the Material World” got most of the attention, the ethereal closing track “Darkness” (written by drummer Stewart Copeland) turned quite a few heads as a modestly successful single (#46 in the US). “It’s a song about vertigo,” he said. “I’m quite proud of it.”

“Sixes and Sevens,” Robert Plant, 1985

When Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980, most observers figured Jimmy Page would have the most active solo career, but it turned out to be Plant, who released four LPs and an EP in the 1980s and has put out 15 solo or collaborative albums overall. He teamed with the relatively unknown guitarist Robbie Blunt to write most of the songs on his first three LPs, including the singles “Big Log,” “In the Mood,” “Burning Down One Side” and “Pledge Pin.” From the 1985 LP “Shaken ‘N Stirred,” the synthesizer-heavy “Little By Little” was popular, but the languid, atmospheric “Sixes and Sevens” also got airplay on US mainstream rock stations. The title refers to the British idiom “at sixes and sevens,” which means to be confused or in disarray: “So here I am making changes, alterations in my house of cards, /I don’t hold new arrangements, am I at home? Am I at home? Am I, am I all right?…”

“Living a Boy’s Adventure Tale,” a-ha, 1985

Bursting out of Norway in 1985 with the US Top 20 LP “Hunting High and Low” and its international #1 single “Take On Me,” synthpop/rock band a-ha went on to score seven #1 LPs in Norway and commanded huge followings in Europe and Australia. Curiously, that long-term popularity didn’t extend to the US after the success of “Take on Me,” whose groundbreaking music video was in saturation rotation on MTV and is still regarded as one of the greatest hits of the 1980s, thanks to lead singer Morten Harket’s astonishing vocals. The album reached #19, and a few other tracks got mild airplay, including the mesmerizing “Living a Boy’s Adventure Tale,” which made a huge impact on Chris Martin when he created the band Coldplay about a decade later.

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Going deep, deep in the psychedelic vault

Posted on by brucehhackett

When rock and roll was barely ten years old, some of the more adventurous musicians in England and the U.S. were eager to explore newer sounds and newer techniques that were decidedly not in the popular mainstream. These bands were all about expanding the horizons of what rock music could be, and while much of it was admittedly not very good, some of it was compelling, even catchy, and certainly influential.

There’s no denying that psychedelic drugs played a big part in motivating many bands to test the waters with musical forms that were completely unfamiliar to even the most forward-thinking listeners. Blues-based British groups like The Yardbirds, Fleetwood Mac and Cream enhanced their repertoire with innovative musical experiments, while American bands like Moby Grape, Love and Spirit took folk and rock roots and branched off into uncharted territories.

The “psychedelic rock” era didn’t last too long, roughly 1966 through 1972, but it produced some lasting music that, while not everyone’s cup of tea by a long shot, still captured the “anything goes” freedom that permeated the recording studios, especially in London, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In concert, most psychedelic music was expanded into jams with multiple solos, accompanied by mind-blowing light shows, but many of the studio recordings were held to more conventional lengths.

Instead of trotting out the same handful of spacey songs that are familiar because they made the Top 40 — “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” by The Electric Prunes, “Pictures of Matchstick Men” by The Status Quo, “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf — I’ve selected a dozen very deep tracks from the late ’60s that are probably too obscure to qualify as “lost classics.” But I’m guessing there’s a segment of this blog’s audience that will get off on hearing them.

Rock on!

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“Fresh Garbage,” Spirit, 1968

Influenced by jazz, rock and folk, L.A-based Spirit emerged in late 1967 under the tutelage of famed producer Lou Adler, who encouraged their psychedelic leanings even as he found ways to make their music more accessible to the masses (at least in California). Their albums fared reasonably well, but their singles fell flat, largely because Spirit’s audience always preferred albums. Still, songs like “I Got a Line on You,” “Mr. Skin” and “Nature’s Way” found their way onto radio eventually. From their eponymous debut LP came the inaccurately titled “Fresh Garbage,” a marvelous, jazz-inflected tune that set the stage for Spirit’s reputation as a premier underground band.

“Happenings Ten Years Time Ago,” The Yardbirds, 1966

The Yardbirds, a trailblazing blues group and proving ground for several of England’s most iconic electric guitarists, bridged the gap between blues and pop enough to land in the Top 20 of the US pop charts five times in 1965-1966: ”For Your Love,” “Heart Full of Soul,” “I’m a Man,” “Shapes of Things” and “Over Under Sideways Down.” In late 1966, their experimental (yet influential) track “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” failed to chart here, perhaps because of its unorthodox psychedelic arrangement, lyrics about reincarnation and deja vu, and innovative guitar work by Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, who overlapped as Yardbirds for three months. 

“8:05,” Moby Grape, 1967

According to pop culture writer Jeff Tamarkin, “Moby Grape’s saga is one of squandered potential, absurdly misguided decisions, bad luck, blunders and excruciating heartbreak, all set to the tune of some of the greatest rock and roll ever to emerge from San Francisco.” Their first two albums somehow reached the Top 20 in the US in 1967 and 1968, but you’d be hard pressed to find a copy these days. The group’s three-guitarist lineup featured three singer-songwriters who merged rock, blues, folk and country in a tempting psychedelic stew. One of the better tracks is the brief, folky “8:05” by guitarist Jerry Miller.

“Stop Messin’ Round,” Fleetwood Mac, 1968

In its original incarnation (1967-1970), the band was known as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, emphasizing the leadership roll of virtuoso blues guitarist Green, who also handled harmonica and most vocals. On their second LP (titled “Mr. Wonderful” in England but reconfigured as “English Rose” in the US), they added saxophones to several tracks, as well as piano provided by future member Christine Perfect McVie. A highlight is the original Green blues track “Stop Messin’ Round,” which opens the album. These early blues-oriented Fleetwood Mac LPs were all Top Ten successes in England but wallowed in the lower rungs of the US charts.

“Baby’s Calling Me Home,” Steve Miller Band, 1968

Before he settled into a lucrative gig as a mainstream pop/rock star of the late ’70s and early ’80s, Miller was the leader of one of San Francisco’s most promising psychedelic blues bands, cranking out five albums in less than three years, including lost classic tracks like “Space Cowboy” and “Living in the U.S.A.” One of the Steve Miller Band’s founding members was guitarist/singer Boz Scaggs, who split in 1969 for a solo career specializing in R&B and “blue-eyed soul.” On the group’s 1968 debut LP “Children of the Future,” Scaggs wrote and sang lead vocals on the bluesy “Baby’s Calling Me Home,” probably the best track on the record.

“Tin Soldier,” Small Faces, 1967

Emerging as one of the premiere psychedelic bands of London’s mod subculture in the mid-’60s, The Small Faces enjoyed eight hit singles on UK charts but only one in the US, “Itchycoo Park,” which peaked at #16 in 1967. The follow-up, “Tin Soldier,” stalled at #73 in the US but prompted the release of “There Are But Four Small Faces,” their first US album which reconfigured the UK version by dropping some tracks and adding the two singles, both written by guitarist Steve Marriott. When Marriott left in 1969 to form Humble Pie, the others (including Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones) continued as The Faces with Ron Wood on guitar and Rod Stewart on vocals.

“A House is Not a Motel,” Love, 1967

Arthur Lee, the frontman of the L.A. band Love, wrote unusual songs that deftly amalgamated garage rock, folk rock and psychedelia. He and guitarist Bryan MacLean steered the group from L.A. clubs to a national record contract, even scoring one minor hit, “7 and 7 Is,” which peaked at #33 in 1966. But Love was without question an album band, and their 1967 LP “Forever Changes” is considered a defining work of underground California rock, even as it investigated darker themes and questioned the sunny optimism of the so-called “Summer of Love” that year. In particular, “A House is Not a Motel” uses a folky foundation and then soars off into psychedelic realms.

“Hear Me Calling,” Ten Years After, 1969

British blues-rock band Ten Years After formed in 1966, named because they were born “ten years after” the explosive success of Elvis Presley, guitarist Alvin Lee’s idol. The group had four Top Ten LPs in the UK in 1969 and 1970, and generated a decent following in the US as well, thanks to a game-changing performance of Lee’s “I’m Going Home” at Woodstock, which was featured in the film and soundtrack album. From their third LP “Stonedhenge” comes the driving blues-boogie “Hear Me Calling,” written and sung by Lee, who wrote most of the band’s catalog, including their one US Top 40 entry, “I’d Love to Change the World” in 1971.

“Help Me,” Canned Heat, 1967

Bob “The Bear” Hite was a blues aficionado living in the Topanga Canyon area of L.A. when he formed Canned Heat as a makeshift jug band playing folk blues music, immortalized in the “Woodstock” soundtrack with its single “Going Up the Country.” Their self-titled debut LP consisted mostly of covers of tunes by the people Hite considered the best of the Delta bluesmen — Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon. Although Hite was Canned Heat’s gruff lead singer, the track “Help Me” by Sonny Boy Williamson II features guitarist Alan Wilson on vocals. The group was lauded as “one of America’s best boogie bands who also delve into psychedelic funk.”

“N.S.U.,” Cream, 1967

Eric Clapton had already made his mark with The Yardbirds and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers when he joined forces with bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker to form the blues power trio Cream, known for unparalleled live improvisational forays and creative original songs featuring the virtuoso trio in the studio. BBC writer Sid Smith said Cream’s music “is when blues, pop and rock magically starts to coalesce to create something brand new.” Their debut LP “Fresh Cream,” released in late 1966 in England, included the hit “I Feel Free” and the cryptically titled “N.S.U.,” which Bruce later revealed meant “non-specific urethritis,” a joking reference to Clapton’s bout with VD at the time. 

“Waiting,” Santana, 1969

Carlos Santana had emigrated from Mexico to California in his early 20s, bringing his Latin music influences to the psychedelic milieu of the San Francisco counterculture. His first project, The Santana Blues Band, fell by the wayside when some members didn’t take their gigs seriously, but once Fillmore West impresario Bill Graham got involved, along with keyboardist/vocalist Gregg Rolie, the new lineup called themselves simply Santana and finagled their way onto the bill at Woodstock, almost stealing the show with a breakout performance. “Waiting,” a percussion-driven instrumental track, opens their debut LP, released two months after the festival.  

“Glow Girl,” The Who, 1968

Pete Townshend was a prolific songwriter, especially in the group’s early Mod days when The Who released multiple hit singles and B-sides and left numerous outtakes from their album sessions in the studio vault. By the mid-’70s, they decided they had enough worthwhile archival tracks to compile “Odds & Sods,” a collection of a dozen great unreleased Who tunes like “Pure and Easy,” “Postcard,” “Little Billy” and the anthem-like “Long Live Rock.” Another fine track, “Glow Girl,” was written and recorded during the 1968 sessions for “Tommy.” The lyric “It’s a girl, Mrs. Walker, it’s a girl” makes it a sort of companion piece to the brief introductory song “It’s a Boy” from the 1969 rock opera.

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