Joan Armatrading has earned a great deal of critical acclaim through the decades and found commercial success around much of the world; however, in the US, she's often considered a one-hit wonder since "Drop The Pilot" is her only chart appearance (hitting a modest #78 in 1983). Armatrading is known for incorporating a variety of different genres into her eclectic songs. But at the start of the 80s, her record "Me Myself I" marked a transition to more radio-friendly pop.
Armatrading's 1980 album, "Me Myself I", was produced by Richard Gottehrer, who also worked with Blondie.
While it didn't churn out any charting singles, "Me Myself I" turned out to be Armatrading's highest charting album in the US, reaching #28 in 1980. The title track is one of my favorite songs by this underrated artist.
Brian Vander Ark is the man behind the huge 90s hit, "The Freshman", which his band, The Verve Pipe, took all the way to #5 on the Billboard Chart in 1996. The single helped propel their album, "Villains", to #24 and platinum sales, but despite this success a follow-up hit eluded the band.
Brian Vander Ark released his first solo record, "Resurrection", in 2004. The contemplative lyrics remain a strong suit in his solo work and the music is markedly more "coffeehouse" than alt rock. The formula works well for Vander Ark's storytelling vocals. He's released a number of additional solo albums since then, as well as albums with a reunited Verve Pipe, but "Resurrection" is the one I always find myself going back to...here are the main reasons why:
Who says nobody makes good music these days? New Jersey singer/songwriter Graham Alexander released a new record late last year entitled, "Repeat Deceiver", which should be making this rising star a household name. It isn't easy to pigeon-hole his style into a single genre, and maybe that's what makes this record so much fun to listen to over and over again. My favorite track is below - check him out today.
Arriving on the scene in 1993, Tasmin Archer provided an
alternative to the alternative rock and grunge saturating the music scene. Her
keen songwriting skills and amazing voice should have propelled her debut
record, “Great Expectations” to extraordinary heights. Despite reaching #1 in
the UK and Ireland, the leadoff single, “Sleeping Satellite”, only rose to #32 in the US.
Tasmin Archer’s debut record, “Great Expectations”, went to #115 on the US Billboard Top 200. It deserved to go much higher.
“Great Expectations” is one of those records I can play in
its entirety and never have the urge to hit the "skip" button. Archer’s voice can be delicately
soulful or anguished and raspy. She writes poignant and thoughtful lyrics and sings them with equal passion. “In Your
Care” is one of the most striking songs I’ve ever heard about abuse.
Some of my favorite tracks from the record are below – the
music has held up well with age and you won’t regret adding this one to your
collection.
In honor of Billy Joe Royal, who passed away Tuesday, I’d
like to highlight one of his underrated songs from 1967. While most people are
probably familiar with this classic, it only reached #52 on the Billboard
chart.
Deep Purple made "Hush" a household song in 1968, landing at an impressive #4 on the charts. Billy Joe Royal stormed onto the pop scene in 1965 with his
smash hit, “Down In The Boondocks”, which went to #9. He never topped this hit,
but came close with singles like “I Knew You When” and “Cherry Hill Park”. He
transitioned to country in the 80s and found additional success, scoring 15
hits on the country charts.
One night when he was taking a break from entertaining
groupies with his freakishly long tongue, Gene Simmons was hanging out at a
nightclub and got turned on by the sound of a glam band called Angel. He was so
enamored with them that he convinced Casablanca, the record label that signed Kiss,
to bring Angel onboard. Known for their all-white attire, they looked like the
opposite of Kiss, whose members were always dressed in black. But musically,
these two bands had quite a bit in common.
Through the late 70s, Angel’s songs evolved from long prog
rock pieces to shorter pop rock nuggets. Angel deserved more, but only had two
charting singles – “That Magic Touch” went to #77 in 1977 and “I Ain’t Gonna
Eat Out My Heart Anymore” went to #44 in 1978.
But the song I’d like to highlight here is from the band’s
1979 record, “Sinful” – arguably their most radio-friendly. “I’ll Bring The
Whole World To Your Door” is a melodic rock masterpiece that captures the
essence of 70s rock radio.
Angel’s lead singer Frank DiMino went on to sing “Seduce Me
Tonight” for the Flashdance soundtrack and actually put out a new solo album
this year. Keyboardist Gregg Giuffria scored some modest hits in the 80s with
his new band, Giuffria, and later with House Of Lords.
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”.
