The German hard rock band The Scorpions formed back in the late 60s and slowly rose to fame through the 70s. In the US, their first chart appearance arrived in 1982 when "No One Like You" reached #65. The follow-up single, the now classic "Rock You Like A Hurricane," performed better by reaching #25. Despite getting massive airplay and boasting a bevy of well-known songs, the band rarely saw chart success until their fourth decade of existence. In 1991, their power ballad "Wind Of Change" soared to #4. After one more blip on the chart radar with "Send Me An Angel," which stalled at #44, the band hasn't seen the chart since. As for many hard rock bands, The Scorpions struggled through the 90s, experimenting with new sounds and styles, failing to win new fans and losing some of the old ones. Then out of nowhere in 2007, they dropped their 16th record called "Humanity: Hour 1." Unusual for the band, this was a concept album about a civil war between humans and artificial life. A rather risky turn for the band, but the record gave the band some of the best reviews they've received in years. It is a personal favorite of mine from their extensive catalogue, as it represents a rejuvenating update to their sound and vision. And pulling in hit songwriters like Desmond Child, Eric Bazilian (Hooters), and Marti Frederiksen made every song sound like a single.
Led by vocalists Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, Philadelphia musicians The Hooters rose to fame in the mid-80s with their breakthrough smash record, "Nervous Night," which spawned two staples of 80s radio: "And We Danced" (#21) and "Day By Day" (#18). It always surprised me that The Hooters weren't bigger than they were. "Nervous Night" could have been mined for better singles than "All You Zombies" and "Where Do The Children Go," (that's Patty Smyth on backing vocals, by the way) which landed at #58 and #38, respectively. The title track, "Hanging On A Heartbeat," and "South Ferry Road" were favorites of mine. The band dropped the ball in a big way with their follow-up record, "One Way Home." I blame this record for why the band never saw the top 40 again. The record alienated fans and certainly failed to capture new ones with the lumbering songs that meandered on and on as if searching for a hook. But they went back to basics in 1989 and "Zig Zag" was filled with a bunch of great tunes that rival those on "Nervous Night." Day late, dollar short. And they released a stinker as a single. Despite backing vocals from Peter, Paul, & Mary, "500 Miles" couldn't get past #97, leaving greater tunes like "Brother Don't You Walk Away," "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are," and "Beat Up Guitar" to go unheard. I particularly love the prescient song, "Give The Music Back." Purists at their core, The Hooters prided themselves on raw talent and the use of authentic instruments over machines and processing. The song quite accurately predicted the demise of real talent in music. More trivia: they're not named after what you might think. Hooter is the nickname of Hyman's keyboard-harmonica. Bazilian and Hyman collaborated on some of Cyndi Lauper's big hits, and Bazilian wrote Joan Osborne's huge 1995 hit, "One Of Us."
