It's nice that Weezer has had a handful of appearances on the Top 100 but they really deserve tons more. Since forming in 1992, this prolific band has only scored two Top 40 hits: "Buddy Holly," which reached #18 in 1995 and "Beverly Hills," which landed at #10 in 2005. Led by songwriting genius Rivers Cuomo, Weezer consistently cranks out delectable melodies buried under the crunch and fuzz of distorted guitars. One the most tragic absences from the charts is "Photograph" from their masterful 2001 "Green Album." The band experienced a mild resurgence in 2018 with their rocking cover of "Africa" by Toto (it peaked at #51), which spawned an album of similar cover tunes (2019's "Teal Album"). And their fantastic new song for the third Bill & Ted film, "Beginning Of The End," is a sign that Weezer might still strike gold again on the charts.
Led by Fee Waybill, The Tubes formed in San Francisco back in 1972 and started their run on the charts in 1976 when "Don't Touch Me There" landed at #61. After a short chart break, they came back in a big way in the early 80s. "Don't Want To Wait Anymore" peaked at #35 in 1981 and in 1983 they scored their biggest hit with "She's A Beauty," which soared to #10 and has become an 80s classic. "Beauty" was co-written with Steve Lukather (Toto). Despite this exposure to a larger audience, The Tubes could not sustain their luck on the charts. They had a few minor follow-ups with "Tip Of My Tongue" (#52), "The Monkey Time" (#68), and "Piece By Piece" (#87) before disappearing forever. Waybill continued in the biz playing and writing big hits for others, notably Richard Marx. "Talk To Ya Later," another tune co-written with Toto's Lukather, reaches back to 1981 and should have been their career launching single.
Formed in the late 70s, Toto is comprised largely of ace studio musicians that supported Boz Scaggs among others. They've undergone numerous line-up changes over the years and prominent members have completed solo work as well as side projects (such as Far Corporation in 1986). Nonetheless, the group continues to release an occasional album, the last one being 2018's "Old Is New." The band also enjoyed a mild resurgence when they covered Weezer's hit, "Hash Pipe," that same year, in response to Weezer's cover of Toto's #1 smash, "Africa." In Toto's hey day, they enjoyed all sorts of hits that have become classics of the era, including "Hold The Line" (#5 in 1979), "Rosanna" (#2 for 5 weeks in 1982, and winner of the Grammy Record of the Year), the aforementioned "Africa" (#1 in 1983), "I Won't Hold You Back" (#10 in 1983), and "I'll Be Over You" (#11 in 1986). I almost want to highlight "Pamela," from their underrated 1988 album, "The Seventh One," but the song made it to a respectable #22. It would be the band's final chart appearance. "Only The Children" is another highlight from that record worth a spin.
Jimmy Harnen released his one and only album in 1989 entitled, "Can't Fight The Midnight." The story of this record goes back to 1986 with a pop rock outfit from Pennsylvania called Synch. Harnen was their drummer, but decided to sing vocals on one of their ballads, a song called "Where Are You Now?" It became the band's only charting single, hitting #77 in 1986. The song resurfaced in 1989 thanks to heavy repeated airplay by a number of DJs and it shot all the way to #10. Its success scored Harnen a record deal, but as we all know, it flopped. The record, which features Randy Jackson (Journey, American Idol) on bass, Steve Lukather (Toto) on guitar, and a guest spot from Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon), remains an underground favorite in AOR circles. Harnen had more in him than just high school prom themes, and quite a few of these tracks rock a bit. Such is the way with "For All The Wrong Reasons," a song I predict could have been a hit for Twisted Sister.
