The Smithereens were a power pop band from New Jersey whose fondness for classic melodies began to attract attention in the mid-80s. By 1988, they had their first taste of chart success when "Only A Memory" reached #92. The spotlight helped their next record, "11," become their most successful. The album yielded their second biggest hit: "A Girl Like You" cracked the Top 40 in 1990, peaking at #38. But their follow-up single, "Blues Before And After" somehow stalled at #94. The album showcased backing vocals from the likes of Belinda Carlisle (who sang on "Blue Period") and Maria Vidal (who sang on "A Girl Like You"). The Smithereens scored their biggest hit from their follow-up record, 1991's "Blow Up" - but not by much. "Too Much Passion" put them back into the Top 40, reaching #37 this time. Then grunge happened and the band dropped off everyone's radar. In addition to original material, The Smithereens also released a ton of covers in their post-chart years, mostly of The Beatles. Sadly, lead singer Pat DiNizio passed away in 2017 at the age of 62. "Yesterday Girl" is another great track from "11," but one that got overlooked.
Mr. Big formed in 1988, comprised of a group of all-star musicians. Some were ace session musicians who've played with many artists over the years. Bassist extraordinaire Billy Sheehan was a member of David Lee Roth's band, vocalist Eric Martin had already seen chart action as a solo artist, guitarist Paul Gilbert played in the rock outfit Racer X, and drummer Pat Torpey (who passed away in 2018) played with everyone from Belinda Carlisle to Ted Nugent. Mr. Big took their name from a song by the band Free, and ended up doing their rendition of this tune on their "Bump Ahead" record in 1993. They are not to be confused with the English disco band who hit the charts in 1977 with "Romeo." Their self-titled debut was generally well-received, although it did not generate any chart hits. But the band's chemistry aligned for their second album, 1991's "Lean Into It." A near flawless piece of AOR, this record doesn't get enough credit. It almost tanked until a simple acoustic ditty, "To Be With You," which was tacked on to the end of the album, suddenly hit #1 for three weeks. The momentum gave the band a second hit, "Just Take My Heart," which reached #16. Due to the shifting winds of the musical landscape in the 90s, it was surprising a band like Mr. Big could squeeze out two more charting singles: a cover of Cat Stevens's "Wild World" hit #27 and "Ain't Seen Love Like That" hit #83. The band continued to put out records over the years, the last arriving in 2017. "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" was the lead single from "Lean Into It" that somehow did not interest enough folks at radio to get it on the charts. It is a terrific pop rock song that deserved to become a classic.
In 1990, a little known band called Hand Of Fate released their one and only (self-titled) album. The band was led by Rick Boston, who previously played guitar on Belinda Carlisle's 1988 hit album, "Heaven And Earth." A cross between INXS and U2, it is astonishing the band was not well-received at the time. "Love Revolution" is one of the most radio-friendly tracks on the CD, but don't overlook "Good Life" and the acoustic ballad, "Heaven In Disguise." Boston went on to form Low Pop Suicide and has been involved in many other musical projects since Hand Of Fate failed to achieve commercial success.
After splitting from the Go-Go's in 1984, Belinda Carlisle embarked on what would prove to be a very successful solo career. Her sunny melodies and unmistakeable vibrato, which I can achieve if I sing while speeding down a cobblestone road, helped catapult many of her songs to the upper end of the charts. However, the wave of success began to ebb by the close of the decade. Her third solo album, "Runaway Horses", spawned her last top 40 hits: "Leave A Light On" (which features George Harrison on slide guitar) went to #11 and "Summer Rain" went to #30. "Runaway Horses" ran to #37 on the US album chart, but did much better in other countries. The same can be said for the excellent track, "(We Want) The Same Thing", which sounds like a lost ABBA song to me. "Runaway Horses" was doing so well in the UK, this song was released as the sixth (!) single and still reached #6 in the UK. I wonder how it would have done in the US...
