"She's On" by Glass Moon

Glass Moon is a little known pop rock group that made a minor splash in 1982 with their lone chart appearance, a cover of "On A Carousel" originally done by The Hollies. Their version got to #50, but the album from which it came, "Growing In The Dark," is filled with catchy synth and guitar anthems worth checking out if you enjoy 80s AOR.

"She's On" is one of many highlights from this underrated record. Seemingly just another generic song about some hot chick, it detours into a verse that describes the object of his affection reading a bedtime fairytale to her baby girl. That's when "she's on." Sweet.

"Cruise" by David Gilmour

Guitar God David Gilmour of Pink Floyd released his second solo album in 1984 entitled, "About Face." The album gave Gilmour his one and only charting song, "Blue Light." You can hear Gilmour's trademark guitar in this tune, but the horns sound like they were borrowed from the Phil Collins song, "Sussudio." 

Pete Townshend (The Who) lended his songwriting chops to two tracks on this record, "Love On The Air" and the feisty "All Lovers Are Deranged."

"Cruise" is one of the best acoustic-driven ballads in Gilmour's extensive catalogue and still sounds great after all these years.

"29" by Gin Blossoms

Easily one of my favorite records of the 90s, "New Miserable Experience," put the Arizona band Gin Blossoms on the map. The record sold over 4 million copies and spawned four top 40 singles in 1993 and 1994: "Hey Jealousy" (#25), "Found Out About You" (#25), "Until I Fall Away" (#21), and "Allison Road" (#24). Tragically, founding member Doug Hopkins, who wrote their first two hits, fell into trouble with drinking and depression, ultimately getting fired from the band and committing suicide just as they made it big.

The title of the band's follow-up effort in 1996, "Congratulations, I'm Sorry," was inspired by the band's mixed blessings of commercial success and losing Hopkins. It sold 2 million copies and yielded them two more huge hits, "Follow You Down" (#9) and "Til I Hear It From You" (#11). "As Long As It Matters" was also released, but stalled at #75 and marked the end of the band's charting career. They broke up in 1997 but got back together in 2006 and released two more records since then.

"29" is a masterfully melancholy song about adulting. Just another cut that proves how much of a masterpiece "New Miserable Experience" was. Here's a great article about the record, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

"(She's) One Of The Boys" by Nick Gilder

I'll never quite understand why Nick Gilder was only a one hit wonder. He blasted onto the music scene with a #1 smash in 1978, "Hot Child In The City." It is a rather tame song compared to some of his other guitar-driven tunes, which expertly mix Rolling Stones, Cheap Trick, and T. Rex influences. He honed his style initially as the front man for the glam band called Sweeney Todd.

Gilder almost cracked the top 40 twice more with "Here Comes The Night" (#44) and "Rock Me" (#57). I've always had a soft spot for the infectious groove of "(She's) One Of The Boys," which comes from Gilder's excellent 1978 sophomore album, "City Nights."

"The Big Lie" by Gigolo Aunts

Hailing from Potsdam, New York, the Gigolo Aunts (named after the Syd Barrett song) is a powerpop band that has been paying their dues since the early 80s, yet never found chart success. They came close to a breakthrough in the 90s with their song, "Where I Find My Heaven," which was featured on the soundtrack to the hit film, Dumb and Dumber. 

Thanks to support from Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows, the band released a new record in 1999 called "Minor Chords and Major Themes." It is a solid powerpop affair and "The Big Lie" is one of my favorites by the band.

"Stay" by Giant

Arriving at the tail end of the hairband craze, hard rock band Giant managed to squeeze out a couple tiny hits off their rather excellent debut record. The first was "I'm A Believer," which went to #56 in 1989. In 1990, the band scored bigger with the requisite power balled, "I'll See You In My Dreams," which hit #20.

The band's follow-up record, "Time To Burn," might have been huge if it came a couple years earlier. Nothing broke into the top 100, but that's because the music landscape was shifting, not because there weren't any songs worth their salt. "Stay" is one of the best from this sadly overlooked melodic rock album.

"When You're Gone" by Getaway Car

Back in 2004, a little known indie powerpop band called Getaway Car released a damn near perfect record called "All Your Little Pieces." Filled from start to finish with catchy pop rock, this album should have been huge. I can't find my favorite track for your streaming pleasure (it's "Adored"), but this one does just nicely.