The 19th week brings us the start of the 7th letter of the alphabet. Just a few artists here, but some killer songs as we continue to look at the songs that hit the Billboard rock charts in the ’80s but failed to cross over into the Hot 100.
Peter Gabriel
”Kiss of Life” 1982, #34 (download)
”I Have the Touch” 1982, #46 (download)
”I Go Swimming (Live)” 1983, #38 (download)
”Red Rain” 1986, #3 (download)
”That Voice Again” 1986, #14 (download)
”Kiss of Life” and ”I Have the Touch” are both from Peter’s fourth self-titled album also released as Security in US. It’s probably the weakest of his albums until 2002’s Up though it’s still pretty damn fine. ”Shock the Monkey” and ”The Rhythm of the Heat” are much better than these two however.
”I Go Swimming” is from the Plays Live album in 1983 and is really unlike the Peter Gabriel you know. He performed it live as early as 1980 and I swear there’s a studio version that’s either on a soundtrack or a benefit comp later in the decade — though I can’t place it.
Now I know 1986’s So like the back of my hand, so hearing any song in this chart is odd to me but especially ”Red Rain”. I’ve heard that so much on recurring radio that I would have sworn that was a big hit. But I actually think ”That Voice Again” is one of the most beautiful songs on the album, so that’s my gem of these tracks.
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Gary O’
”Shades of 45″ 1985, #23 (download)
Mr. O is Gary O’Connor, a Canadian musician who had been in various groups like Cat and Liverpool before going solo. His biggest hit was ”Pay You Back with Interest” but his final solo album Strange Behavior yielded this kind of odd ball about the Enola Gay bombing in 1945.
J. Geils Band
”Flamethrower” 1982, #30 (download)
Oooh yeah baby, this is funky man and one of the best tracks from Freeze-Frame but of course it doesn’t hold a candle to ”Centerfold” or the title track, so this didn’t hold the test of time. It’s unfortunate because it’s a true highlight on a rather excellent record.
Genesis
”You Might Recall” 1982, #40 (download)
”It’s Gonna Get Better” 1983, #16 (download)
”Just A Job To Do” 1983, #10 (download)
”Home By the Sea” 1983, #24 (download)
”The Last Domino” 1986, #29 (download)
”Anything She Does” 1986, #40 (download)
I’m not ashamed to say that I really like both the prog-rock period and commercial pop period of Genesis. Both had some excellent albums while the pop-era of course made them radio stars. It’s really the inbetween albums that are excellent — Duke, Abacab and Genesis — all three mixing the prog and the radio tunes quite nicely.
”You Might Recall” is from the US edition of Three Sides Live (in Europe the release didn’t have this track, instead of a fourth side of some rarer Genesis tunes). In the US however, both this and ”Paperlate” became hits as the studio cuts on the otherwise live album.
”It’s Gonna Get Better” is the last cut on the self-titled record and I’m in love with it. It’s groovy, a little off-kilter and those keys may sound cheesy to some but I’m addicted to them. ”Just a Job To Do” is really cool as well and ended up being used as the theme song to some show called The Insiders. ”Home By the Sea” is also from the self-titled record, making it seven of the nine tunes on the disc that charted somewhere. Only ”Second Home By the Sea” and ”Silver Rainbow” did not.
The final two here, ”The Last Domino” and ”Anything She Does” are both from Invisible Touch. I’ve never been a fan of ”Anything” but ”Domino” is an 11-minute prog piece tying together the second side. I’ve posted the entire studio track here, but the single is titled ”The Last Domino” which is the subtitle for the last six minutes of the overall track. Not sure if the single was just those six minutes or maybe an edit of the two parts together though. I’m sure someone here knows, right?
Georgia Satellites
”Railroad Steel” 1987, #34 (download)
”Open All Night” 1988, #6 (download)
”Don’t Pass Me By” 1988, #33 (download)
”Another Chance” 1989, #47 (download)
”All Over But the Cryin’” 1989, #17 (download)
The Georgia Satellites self-titled record is an almost perfect slab of southern rock containing the excellent ”Keep Your Hands To Yourself”, ”Battleship Chains” and ”Railroad Steel”. If you’ve never heard the debut, you can pick it up in dollar stores everywhere — and you should.
1988’s Open All Night was good, but not nearly the quality of the debut, but the highlights are here, ”Open All Night” and the Beatles cover ”Don’t Pass Me By”. It is against the rules to say that this is the superior version of the tune?
In the Land of Salvation and Sin was their final album of the decade and had a more rootsy feel which kind of makes it understandable why they didn’t have any big hits, but tell me ”Another Chance” isn’t a killer tune?
Quick Hits
Best Song: Peter Gabriel, ”That Voice Again”
Worst Song: Genesis, ”Anything She Does”
Also appeared in the Hot 100
Peter Gabriel (4): ”Shock the Monkey”, ”Sledgehammer”, ”In Your Eyes”, ”Big Time”
Gamma (1): ”Right the First Time”
J. Geils Band (4): ”Centerfold”, ”Freeze-Frame”, ”I Do”, ”Concealed Weapons”
Bob Geldof (1): ”This Is the World Calling”
Gene Loves Jezebel (1): ”Jealous”
General Public (1): ”Tenderness”
Genesis (13): ”No Reply At All”, ”Abacab”, ”Man on the Corner”, ”Paperlate”, ”Mama”, ”That’s All”, ”Illegal Alien”, ”Taking It All Too Hard”, ”Invisible Touch”, ”Throwing It All Away”, ”Land of Confusion”, ”In Too Deep”, ”Tonight, Tonight, Tonight”
Robin George (1): ”Heartline”
Georgia Satellites (3): ”Keep Your Hands To Yourself”, ”Battleship Chains”, ”Hippy Hippy Shake”
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