"How Good It Can Get" by The Wallflowers

Late in 1969, Bob Dylan and his first wife, Sara, had a child they named Jakob. By 1989, Jakob set out to follow in his old man's tracks to start a career in music with his band, The Wallflowers.

While their debut self-titled album didn't produce a hit single, the band soared to fame with their 1996 sophomore set, "Bringing Down The Horse." Thanks to a little help from Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows, who recently enjoyed superstar success, the album's first single "6th Avenue Heartbreak" gave the band their first chart hit, landing at #33. The follow-up single, "One Headlight" shot to #2 for five weeks, won a Grammy, and made the band a household name.

The Wallflowers would enjoy a couple more Top 40s hits, but failed to maintain their success in the new millennium. It's unclear why. Jakob Dylan's raspy vocals and thoughtful lyrics seem perfect for rock radio. Not even the brilliant "How Good It Can Get" from their 2002 album, "Red Letter Days," was able to renew enough interest at the radio stations that used to adore them.

Jakob Dylan has also released a couple of folkier solo albums, and The Wallflowers have not released anything new since 2012.

"I Get Out Of Breath" by The Turtles

The Turtles were a 60s pop band from California that had a short but impressive run on the charts in the late 60s. Their first hit was an emotive cover of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe," which soared to #8 in 1965. By 1967, they topped the chart with the #1 smash, "Happy Together," which reigned supreme for three weeks.

The Turtles would grace the Top 10 throughout the remainder of the decade with "She'd Rather Be With Me" (#3), "Elenore" (#6), and "You Showed Me" (#6). But their hot streak came to a crawl and the band was back in their shell by 1969 when "Lady-O" stalled at #78 and became their final chart appearance.

"I Get Out Of Breath" would have been a better single to go out on. Taken from their final album, 1970's "Wooden Head," this is a song about dealing with the perplexities in life.

"She's My Baby" by The Traveling Wilburys

You would think that combining the talents of Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne (ELO), and George Harrison (The Beatles) would produce a supergroup that crushed the charts. But this collection of musical superstars, who called themselves The Traveling Wilburys, never even cracked the Top 40.

The Traveling Wilburys managed to score two chart appearances in 1988-89, when "Handle With Care" and "End of The Line" reached #45 and #63, respectively. They came from their debut album, "Vol. 1." Despite a lackluster performance on the chart, the record was critically acclaimed and won a Grammy.

Shortly after the record's release, the band endured the sad and untimely passing of Orbison, who died of a heart attack at 52. The Wilburys decided to soldier on as a foursome. In keeping with their quirky nature, their sophomore effort was entitled, "Vol. 3," but it failed to yield any charting singles. That was the end of the line for the band.

"She's My Baby" was from "Vol. 3" and should have given The Wilburys a much-needed boost.

"Kings Highway" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty had an illustrious career that ended unexpectedly in 2017 after he passed away at the age of 66, likely due to excessive pain medications for a broken hip. The Florida native began his recording career in the 70s with a band called Mudcrutch, which would soon evolve into the Heartbreakers, the group that became nearly synonymous with Tom Petty.

Petty and the Heartbreakers first crept onto the chart in 1977 when "Breakdown" peaked at #40, but they significantly raised their profile in 1980 when "Don't Do Me Like That" hit #10. The hits kept coming, and Petty began to rack up a number of classics that were absent from the charts. Petty's biggest hit would be "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," one of several duets he performed with Stevie Nicks. The song went to #3 in 1981.

Petty would score plenty of top 40 hits, but didn't see the top 10 again until Jeff Lynne (E.L.O.) teamed up with Petty for his landmark "solo" album without the Heartbreakers, 1989's "Full Moon Fever." "Free Fallin'," the third single from that record," reached #7. Petty got to know Lynne from their supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys, which formed a year earlier.

Petty had additional collaborations with his Wilbury friends. Before their formation, Bob Dylan co-wrote "Jammin' Me," which reached #18 in 1987. Another Wilbury friend, George Harrison, provided backing vocals and guitar on Petty's #12 hit from 1989, "I Won't Back Down."

"Kings Highway" was a terrific track on his 1991 reunion record with the Heartbreakers, "Into The Great Wide Open" that did not chart.

"The Rumour" by Olivia Newton-John

Granddaughter of the famed physicist Max Born, Olivia Newton-John would become famous for something "Physical" as well. She began her singing career in the early 70s, carving out a niche as a country and folk artist. Her first chart appearance was a cover of Bob Dylan's "If Not For You," which landed at #25 in 1971. Her talents were quickly noticed and by 1974 she won a Grammy for Country Female Vocal after "Let Me Be There" hit #6.

While maintaining a hint of her country roots, Newton-John shifted towards soft rock in the mid-70s and became a superstar. Her heartfelt ballad, "I Honestly Love You," gave Newton-John her first #1 smash and earned her a couple more Grammys, this time for Record Of The Year and Pop Female Vocal. She followed this with another #1 classic, "Have You Ever Been Mellow."

In the late 70s, she landed a breakout role in the musical film Grease, which led to more hits including the #1 duet with John Travolta, "You're The One That I Want." Her hot streak continued into the early 80s, with "Magic" staying at #1 for 4 weeks in 1980, followed by "Physical" in 1981, her biggest chart success yet. "Physical" stayed atop the chart for an astounding 10 weeks. A second film with Travolta, Two Of A Kind, generated her final top 10 hit when "Twist Of Fate" peaked at #5. A second track from the film, "Livin' In Desperate Times" reached #31.

By 1985, Newton-John was finally running out of steam on the US charts. "Soul Kiss" became her final top 40 of the decade after peaking at #20. She appeared in the top 40 once more, though, when "The Grease Megamix" single reached #35 in 1996. Her accomplishments have made her the 10th most successful artist of the 70s, the 25th for the 80s, and #41 of all-time.

Newton-John has sung tunes written by many big names, including the aforementioned Bob Dylan. Songwriter John Farrar wrote many of her hits, and she's collaborated with the likes of Richard Marx and Cliff Richard. Her hit "Xanadu," the title track to another film in which she was the star, went to #8 in 1980 and was written by Jeff Lynne and performed with E.L.O. 

One would think that a song written and performed with the great Elton John would be instant hit, but "The Rumour" somehow only made it to #62 in 1988.

"You Angel You" by Manfred Mann

Manfred Lubowitz was born in South Africa and embarked on his musical career in England after taking the stage name Manfred Mann in the 60s. They scored an early #1 hit right out of the gate in 1964 with the classic, "Do Wah Diddy Diddy." The band would see the top spot of the chart one more time as Manfred Mann's Earth Band in 1976 with song "Blinded By The Light," which was written by Bruce Springsteen.

Another artist Mann liked to cover was Bob Dylan. They took his song "Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)" to #10 in 1968. "You Angel You" was also written by Dylan, but stalled at #58 in 1979. I thought it deserved better. The band's last chart hit was in 1984 when "Runner" reached #22.

"I've Loved These Days" by Billy Joel

Almost a boxer, Billy Joel became one of the finest songwriters of our generation, ranking as the 6th most successful artist of the 80s and the 44th of all-time. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and honored as a Grammy Legend in 1991.

Joel's first hit, "Piano Man," earned him that famous nickname. Surprising to most people, the song only reached #25 in 1974. Three years later he scored much better when "Just The Way You Are" shot to #3. From there, Joel racked up hit after hit until he retired in the late 90s. His last chart appearance was a cover of Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love," which reached #50 in 1997.

Joel topped the charts 3 times during his career, first in 1980 with "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me," then in 1983 with "Tell Her About It," then in 1989 with "We Didn't Start The Fire."

In addition to all the well known classics, Joel's extensive catalogue is filled with timeless pop treasures that should have seen chart action. It is so difficult to choose a favorite, but "I've Loved These Days" is among the greatest songs he's written that most folks don't know. The song can be found on his fourth record, "Turnstiles," the one that starts with "Say Goodbye To Hollywood." Joel literally did say goodbye to Hollywood during the recording and returned to his home in New York City. "I've Loved These Days" is his melancholy farewell to those Hollywood days.

"I'm Wrong About Everything" by John Wesley Harding

Ah, my theme song! John Wesley Harding is an English singer/songwriter who gave a nod to Bob Dylan by changing his legal name (Wesley Stace) to Dylan's 1967 album. Inspired by Dylan's songwriting and sounding a bit like Elvis Costello, John Wesley Harding has released 17 albums since he began his career in 1988 with a live recording, "It Happened One Night."

Harding made a pretty big splash in the US in the 90s with critically acclaimed albums and plenty of airplay on MTV, mostly their alternative music show, 120 Minutes. In 1989, he gathered some fans with his acoustic rendition of Madonna's hit, "Like A Prayer," which primed the pump for his classic album (and still his best, in my opinion), "Here Comes The Groom."

"I'm Wrong About Everything" is a wonderfully melancholic tune that appears on his 2000 record, "The Confessions of St. Ace," but became more widely known due to its inclusion on the soundtrack to the John Cusack film High Fidelity. 

When he's not busy writing songs, Harding is writing novels (under his birth name).

"Pictures Of You" by Face To Face

Face To Face was a little known band from Boston who popped up on the top 40 only once in 1984. Their best known tune, "10-9-8," managed to reach #38. Taking the reins on vocals much of the time was Laurie Sargent, but she only sang backup on this terrific song by the band called "Pictures Of You."

After breaking up in 1988, Sargent went on to do some solo work and now sings for Twinemen. Guitarist Stuart Kimball is a member of Bob Dylan's band. The songwriter for Face To Face's lone hit, Angelo Petraglia, is best known now as a songwriter and producer, most famously for his Grammy-award winning work for Kings of Leon. 

"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" by Bob Dylan

I don't envy anyone who has to assemble a "best of" compilation for the legendary Bob Dylan. What a struggle it would be to choose which songs to include!

Dylan's first chart appearance wasn't until 1965 with "Subterranean Homesick Blues", which hit #39. After that he scored his first #2 hit with "Like A Rolling Stone" (his second #2 hit would be "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35").

Many of his early tunes before he used a band and went "electric" were not successful by chart standards, but arguably represent some of his greatest material, helping to earn him a Nobel Prize in 2016 - the first ever to be bestowed upon a songwriter. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" takes a break from his sarcastic political commentary and is a deceptively simple break up song. The music is tender, but the lyrics have that trademark Dylan bite.

Cover songs – Anberlin

Modern rock band Anberlin masterfully blends musical genres and it seems they have a fondness for 80s music. You’ll hear hints of synth pop and industrial music in many of their original songs, but they’ve also covered a number of 80s hits.

Here they are performing “Enjoy The Silence”, which was Depeche Mode’s biggest hit ever, landing at #8 on the Billboard chart in early 1990.

They also covered “The Promise”, from the one-hit wonders, When In Rome, who took the song to #11 in 1988.

Anberlin has also covered the classic 1986 Smiths song, “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”.

Anberlin has covered other tunes beyond the 80s…including Radiohead’s “Creep” and this classic from Bob Dylan.

All of the above cover songs can be found on Anberlin’s 2007 release, “Lost Songs”.