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.
Taking their name from a song by The Wonder Stuff, the Irish band Rubyhorse never quite found an audience in the US despite relocating to the Boston area in 1997, and then Los Angeles after inking a deal. Their major label album, "Rise," from 2002 earned the band some press and spots on TV, but this didn't translate into any charting singles. They also somehow got George Harrison to play slide guitar on the song "Punchdrunk." "Into The Lavender" is the standout track from "Rise," and showed great promise for this underrated band.
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.
George Harrison, the "quiet Beatle," made a rather big noise as a solo performer after the band broke up. Right out of the gate, Harrison scored his first #1 hit with "My Sweet Lord," which spent 4 weeks on top of the chart in 1970. Harrison would top the charts twice more: in 1973 with "Give Me Love" and in 1987 with his cover of "Got My Mind Set On You," originally done by James Ray. The album that spawned his "comeback" hit in 1987 was "Cloud 9." Produced by Jeff Lynne (ELO), it was a prelude to the sound of their 1988 supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys. "Cloud 9" gave Harrison one last top 40 hit with a nostalgic look back on his time in the Beatles with "When We Was Fab" (#23). "Cloud 9" boasts many other great cuts, like "Devil's Radio," which really sounds like the mold in which Traveling Wilburys was cast. Sadly, the music world lost this music legend in 2001 when Harrison succumbed to cancer at the age of 58.
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.
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...
