"Sleeping My Day Away" by D.A.D.

D.A.D. was one of the dime-a-dozen hairbands trying to stand out from the crowd in 1989. Their debut album, "No Fuel Left For Pilgrims", managed to reach #116 thanks to strong airplay from the single and video, "Sleeping My Day Away". Surprisingly, this catchy anthem didn't gain any traction on the Billboard Top 100 and the band quickly fell off the radar in the US.

A bit of fun trivia:  D.A.D. hails from Denmark and their initials stand for Disneyland After Dark. They had to use the acronym after Disney threatened to sue the band. 

"One For the Mockingbird" by Cutting Crew

To my ears, the debut record from the English band, Cutting Crew, was one of the best pop rock records of the 80s. The band stormed onto the scene in 1987 with their smash #1 hit, "(I Just) Died In Your Arms". It helped get their album, "Broadcast" up to #16. The third single, "I've Been In Love Before", became an essential high school dance ballad and scored the #9 position.

In-between these hit singles was an underachiever called "One For The Mockingbird". It is my favorite song by the band and many folks (no doubt the band themselves and their record label) were surprised when it stalled at #38. This upbeat rocker deserved to join the other singles as a top 10 hit. Other great tracks from this impressive debut include "Any Colour" and "Don't Look Back".

The band's second album, "The Scattering", stalled at #150 and failed to produce any hits. Granted, it was not as strong as their debut, but the lead off single, "(Between A) Rock And A Hard Place" was fairly good (it crapped out at #77 in 1989). I guess songs using parentheses only hit once for a band.

"In Between Days" by The Cure

The English art rock band known as The Cure started making waves with their refreshingly unorthodox pop back in 1979 with airplay cuts like "Boys Don't Cry" and "Let's Go To Bed". But their first song to crack the US top 100 wasn't until 1986's "In Between Days", which just barely made it in at #99. It also helped them achieve their biggest album to date, "The Head On The Door", reaching #59.

The band would go on to gain extensive popularity thanks to their unique sound and outlandish videos. Their follow-up record in 1987, "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me", is widely considered their big breakthrough, hitting #35 and spawning their first top 40 hit, "Just Like Heaven" (#40). Their biggest hit was "Lovesong", which went to #2 in 1989. Adele covered this one on her "21" album from 2011.

Other people know the band for their ubiquitous song "Friday I'm In Love". Surprisingly, this popular song only reached #18 in 1992, but came from their highest charting album, "Wish", which got all the way to #2.

"Meanin' So Much" by Burton Cummings

After writing a slew of hits for the Guess Who, it seemed a safe bet that key songwriter, singer, and keyboardist Burton Cummings would have a sustained presence on the charts as a solo artist. Things got off to a promising start with "Stand Tall", his top 10 debut single from 1976. However, Cummings never broached the top 10 again.

"Stand Tall" helped push his self-titled album to #30. He had some other modest hits through the years, such as the well-known song "I'm Scared" (#61) and "You Saved My Soul" (#37).

While selling extremely well in his native Canada, his third album, 1978's "Dream Of A Child", didn't even chart on the US Top 200. Why remains a mystery. The album is filled with diverse musical styles from a smooth cover of "When A Man Loves A Woman" to the rollicking blues of "Roll With The Punches". My favorite cut from this record is the upbeat rocker, "Meanin' So Much", arguably one of his most "Guess Who" sounding efforts.

"Kelly's Eyes" by André Cymone

André Cymone played bass for Prince until striking out on a solo career in 1981 with his debut, "Living' In The New Wave". The album didn't chart, but it contained one of his best known songs, "Kelly's Eyes", which bubbled under at #107 in 1983.

After two other albums, "Survivin' in the 80's" (which reached #185) and "A.C." (which reached #121), Cymone maintained a successful career writing and producing songs for his wife, Jody Watley, and several other well-known artists.

He reignited his solo career with a new album called "The Stone" in 2014.

"Since You've Been Gone" by Cherie and Marie Currie

After departing from her groundbreaking band, The Runaways, lead singer Cherie Currie teamed up with her identical twin sister Marie to release their first album called "Messin' With The Boys".

The only charting single from the record was a cover of the Russ Ballard (Argent) song, "Since You've Been Gone".  The Currie sisters barely broke into the Top 100 with this one, peaking at #95 in 1979. Cherie would find more success in acting, starting with her debut in the 1980 movie Foxes. More recently, she has become a renowned chainsaw artist. Yes, you read that right.

"Misfit" by Curiosity Killed The Cat

Hailing from London, Curiosity Killed The Cat is a one-hit wonder that hit the US charts in 1987. They scratched their way to #42 with the totally 80s dance pop hit called "Misfit". They remind me of Johnny Hates Jazz. "Misfit" is a very catchy tune that had top 10 potential, but didn't get there for some reason.

The modest success of this single helped get their album to #55 on the Billboard Top 200, but the cat proved only to have one life and the band did not chart in the US again.

"Soldier Blue" by The Cult

The Cult is an English hard rock band led by the muscular vocals of Ian Astbury and fierce guitar riffs of Billy Duffy. After amassing a large "cult" following in the mid to late 80s with popular tracks like "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Love Removal Machine", the band scored its one and only top ten record in the US with "Sonic Temple", hitting #10 in 1989.

"Sonic Temple" (the band's third album) was a masterpiece, even getting the band two ranking hits on the US singles charts: "Fire Woman" landing at #46 and "Edie (Ciao Baby)" landing at #93. Despite a steady output of additional records, the band has not been able to score another charting single in the US. The excellent song "Rise", from 2001's "Beyond Good and Evil", bubbled under at #125.

An overlooked cut from "Sonic Temple" is the punchy anthem "Soldier Blue". This arena-ready rocker should have been huge in 1989, but it did not march into battle.

"All Grown Up" by The Crystals

The Crystals were Phil Spector's other best known girl group of the 60s to take his "wall of sound" to the top of the charts (the other famous girl group he worked with was The Ronettes).

The Crystals hit it big with the Gene Pitney tune, "He's A Rebel". It was #1 for two weeks in 1962. Their other big ones included "Da Doo Run Run (When He Walked Me Home)", which hit #3, and "Then He Kissed Me", which reached #6.

"All Grown Up" is another upbeat number from their catalogue, but by 1964 The Crystals lost their shine. It would be their final chart appearance, barely cracking in at #98. 

"Fall At Your Feet" by Crowded House

From the ashes of Split Enz, Neil Finn (vocals, guitar) and Paul Hester (drums) rounded out the trio that would be Crowded House with Nick Seymour (bass). Their self-titled debut record reached #12 and went platinum in 1986 thanks to the #2 smash "Don't Dream It's Over" and #7 hit "Something So Strong".

The band tried to get lightening to strike twice and quickly followed up with their second album, "Temple of Low Men", which barely cracked the top 40. In the US, the record didn't yield any hit singles and the band even referred to this release as "Mediocre Follow Up".

Crowded House refocused for their third album, adding Finn's brother Tim to the lineup. The record was called "Woodface" and only got to #83 in 1991. It should have been a big comeback for the group and, aside from their debut, remains one of their best efforts in my opinion. The terrific "Fall At Your Feet" is the only single to chart in the US, albeit only managing to reach #75. Be sure to also check out "Chocolate Cake", "It's Only Natural", "Fame Is", and "Weather With You" from this excellent record.

"Fall At Your Feet" would be the last time Crowded House hit the US charts. Their next record should have done much better, too, but even the featuring of "Locked Out" on the Reality Bites soundtrack couldn't help it rise past #73 on the album chart.

"Diamond Ring" by Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow burst onto the music scene in the mid-90s with her #2 smash, "All I Wanna Do", which became an anthem for the decade. Before she launched her solo career, she sang backup for the likes of Michael Jackson, George Harrison, and Don Henley. Her debut album "Tuesday Night Music Club" went to #3 and secured her a Grammy for Best New Artist of 1994.

Crow is still going strong - in 2013, she released a country-tinged record called "Feels Like Home" that became her ninth top 10 album. My pick for one of her best non-charting records is "Diamond Ring", from her excellent sixth album, "Detours", which went to #2 in 2008. Fun fact:  Despite incredible success, Crow has never scored a #1 album (4 of them went to #2).

"Diamond Ring" is Sheryl Crow doing what she does best. Wearing her heart on her sleeve with just barely an acoustic guitar to accompany her astonishing heartfelt vocals. Very earnest tune, masterfully done.

"That Girl" by Christopher Cross

Few artists have had such a promising start to their careers like Christopher Cross. He kicked off the start of the 80s with a landmark debut album that spawned smash hits like "Ride Like The Wind" (#2), "Sailing" (#1), "Never Be The Same" (#15), and "Say You'll Be Mine" (#20). "Sailing" won Grammys for Record and Song of the Year (1980).

Cross continued his winning streak before releasing his second album by contributing the #1 hit "Arthur's Theme" to the hit movie staring Dudley Moore. His subsequent albums never attained the monster success of his debut (a hard bar to surpass, granted). By the middle of the decade, Cross ran out of chart momentum.

That doesn't mean his material went south - on the contrary, his 80 records are filled with quality melodic rock and pop. Take "That Girl" for example, which appeared on his third album, "Every Turn of the World", but didn't chart. That album only got to #127 in 1985 and Cross has been absent from the album charts since then. He just released an excellent new record in 2014 called "Secret Ladder".

"Hold It" by Marshall Crenshaw

Marshall Crenshaw is a hugely underrated singer and songwriter who has only hit the charts once. That moment came in 1982 with "Someday, Someway", which just barely broke into the top 40 at #36. The song's popularity was probably helped along by the fact that it was also on the soundtrack to the movie Night Shift.

Crenshaw also tried his hand at acting. He was in the movie Peggy Sue Got Married and also played Buddy Holly in La Bamba.

Crenshaw has been making excellent pop rock records ever since, but it amazes me that he didn't get more attention in the 80s. There are so many great tracks it is difficult to highlight only one. "Hold It" is one of the choice cuts from his second album, 1983's "Field Day". The album got to #52, but none of the singles landed in the Top 100.

"Call It Pretending" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) was a phenomenal band in the 60s and early 70s, racking up hit after hit after hit. They were the #1 Billboard artist of 1969 and rank #221 of all-time. Remarkably, they never had a number one hit, but were king of the #2 position. Among their songs that hit #2 are "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising", "Green River", "Travelin' Band/Who'll Stop The Rain", and "Lookin' Out My Back Door".

"Call It Pretending" was one of CCR's releases prior to their mainstream success. It came out in 1967 and showcases the pop side of this otherwise gritty classic rock band.