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Bottom Feeders: The Rock End of the ’80s, Part 3

Dave Steed June 2, 2010 28

In this series we’re taking a look at songs that hit the Rock and Modern Rock charts in the 1980s that didn’t cross over to the Billboard Hot 100. Today we finish up the letter A, as we listen to more songs from the rock end of the ’80s.

Michael Anderson
“Sound Alarm” 1988, #17 (download)

Michael Anderson mixed rock, blues and country into a couple decent but unspectacular albums before moving onto the Contemporary Christian market. “Sound Alarm” is the title track from his A&M debut.

Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe
“Brother of Mine” 1989, #2 (download)
“Order of the Universe” 1989, #24 (download)

A Yes album in every way but in name, Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe got together when Anderson wasn’t real happy with the way Yes was moving and recorded this one album. Thanks to these guys being members of the classic lineup, the slickness of ‘80s Yes was peeled back to reveal sprawling prog-tunes. Unfortunately, most of it was pretty boring and a track like “Order of the Universe” sounded dated right upon release. They would write another album which Arista decided to turn into the 1991 Yes album, Union.

Angel City
“Underground” 1985, #35 (download)

Known as simply The Angels outside of the U.S., the group has had a decent amount of success in their native Australia, but never made it in the US. In ’84 they recorded their album Two Minute Warning in Los Angeles and MCA released it along with the singles “Underground” and “Be With You” — but failed to give it any promotion. They rejected the next record and The Angels went back to US obscurity once again.

April Wine
“All Over Town” 1981, #29 (download)
“If You See Kay” 1982, #26 (download)

I’m a big fan of “All Over Town” and its quick bursts of talk box. It was the lead track on the excellent The Nature Of The Beast and hit the rock chart at the same time as the two Hot 100 hits, “Just Between You and Me” and “Sign of the Gypsy Queen”.

Unfortunately, as I see the words “If You See Kay”, all I think about is “If You Seek Amy” by Britney Spears now. Though this song seems to be about wanting this girl Kay and not necessarily sex, I wonder how many radio stations picked up on the title back in the day and if that prevented it from getting played in many places.

Joan Armatrading
“Kind Words (And a Real Good Heart)” 1986, #37 (download)
“Living for You” 1988, Modern Rock #30 (download)

Joan Armatrading was always more of an album artist than a hit maker, but she’s made better music than most of her hit making peers. Way back in the original series, I talked about how much I loved “Drop the Pilot”, her biggest hit. While neither of these are quite as good (in fact, I don’t like “Living For You” much at all) “Kind Words” should have been another hit for her and at least one of these songs should have propelled her to stardom.

Art in America
“Art in America” 1983, #23 (download)
“Undercover Lover” 1983, #33 (download)

Any song that starts off with a harp solo is probably one that I’m not going to like but strangely enough I do really like “Art in America”. Art in America were the Flynn family from Detroit — Chris on vocals and guitar, Dan on drums and sister Shishonee on vocals and harp. Both of these tracks were from what I believe is their only record, a self-titled prog-rock effort with cover art that looked very much like a Yes record.

The A’s
“A Woman’s Got the Power” 1981, #18 (download)

The A’s were a short lived group from Philadelphia, PA. They released two albums which had a bit of a punk feel to them, with the second A Woman’s Got the Power moving into the new wave realm a little bit. This is one of their poppier tracks and almost made the Hot 100, bubbling under at #106. For me, the key to liking the A’s is completely in the vocals as the songs are perfectly fine, but the vocals are a little unique.

Asia
“Sole Survivor” 1982, #10 (download)
“Wildest Dreams” 1982, #28 (download)
“Here Comes the Feeling” 1982, #40 (download)
“Time Again” 1982, #43 (download)
“The Heat Goes On” 1983, #5 (download)
“True Colors” 1983, #20 (download)
“Daylight” 1983, #24 (download)
“Too Late” 1986, #30 (download)

Man, I have always hated Asia even when I had their artwork on my wall. Their three ‘80s records got huge airplay on the Hot 100 chart but even more so on the rock chart without actually being any good. They had six singles off the first self-titled album including, “Sole Survivor”, “Wildest Dreams”, “Here Comes the Feeling” and “Time Again” with “Here Comes the Feeling” being the only one that’s worth a damn.

In typical Steed fashion, the first album was liked by critics, while the second album — Alpha — got panned and yet, I like the second album more. Both “The Heat Goes On” and “True Colors” aren’t terrible tracks — nothing I’d ever go back to on purpose, but probably wouldn’t slide past them on the shuffle either. If nothing else, “Daylight” should be the key track from this set of songs as it was a B-side from Alpha that was released as a one off single. It has appeared on numerous hits comps since that point, but isn’t on any studio album.

Autograph
“Blondes in Black Cars” 1985, #38 (download)

Autograph was supposed to be a solo project for singer/guitarist Steve Plunkett after he left Silver Condor, but it turned into him playing music with a bunch of friends and having the one minor hit “Turn Up the Radio”. “Blondes in Black Cars” came from the second album — That’s the Stuff — which yielded no real hits.

Axe
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Party in the Streets” 1982, #23 (download)

Decent group, average song. This Florida band was originally called the very non rock n’ roll Babyface. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Party in the Streets” is a good enough song, but isn’t quite as rockin’ as it should be for having lyrics about having a knock-down drag out rock n’ roll party. Axe lasted until 1984 when singer/guitarist Bobby Barth and guitarist Michael Osborne were in car accident that killed Osborne and injured Barth badly. Barth went on to perform in Blackfoot. The band reunited in 1997 for an album and also put out another one in 2001.

Quick Hits
Best Song: April Wine, “All Over Town”
Worst Song: Asia, “Wildest Dreams”

Also appeared on the Hot 100
The Animals (1) — “The Night”
April Wine (4) — “Just Between You and Me”, “Sign of the Gypsy Queen”, “Enough is Enough”, “This Could Be the Right One”
Joan Armatrading (1) — “Drop the Pilot”
Artists United Against Apartheid (1) — “Sun City”
The Art of Noise (1) — “Kiss”
Asia (5) — “Heat of the Moment”, “Only Time Will Tell”, “Don’t Cry”, “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes”, “Go”
Jon Astley (2) — “Jane’s Getting Serious”, “Put This Love To the Test”
Atlanta Rhythm Section (1) — “Alien”
Autograph (1) — “Turn Up the Radio”
Axe (1) — “I Think You’ll Remember Tonight”

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About the author: Dave Steed View all posts by
Dave Steed is all about music; 80's and metal to be exact. His iPod will shuffle from Culture Club to Slayer and he won't blink an eye. He's never heard Astral Weeks but thinks "Dazzey Duks" by Duice is the bomb. It's an odd little corner of the world he lives in.

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  • King PERvus

    I was looking forward to seeing April Wine's “Future Tense” and Armatrading's “I Love it When You Call Me Names” included today – odd those two killer tracks didn't make the cut anywhere.

    Also, although I always found Asia's “Sole Survivor” a better example of the band's craptastic skills, ABWH's “Brother of Mine” is still as horrible as I remember it.

  • David_E

    Yay! AWBH and ASIA! Never knew I missed these tracks until I saw them here just now, and I turns out I didn't miss them at all! But I'm still going to use exclamation points here, because John Wetton would want it that way!

    … Wildest Dreams track seems to crap out after :09. You'd probably argue sooner, but there you go.

  • Paul

    I think I can even admit it's craptastic, but the first Asia album was one that hardly left my tape player all summer after my 7th grade buddy dubbed it to Maxell from his shiny new LP. After seeing it mentioned here this morning, I've listened to it twice. And still love it.

  • kingofgrief

    Before my usual yap, I wanted to let everyone know that yesterday's Bottom Feeders N-Z edition of Sound Awake can be downloaded at http://mediafire.com/soundawake. I've also uploaded the first half of last summer's A-M companion; the second half will be posted next week. (Unless Popdose is willing to host my files…just a thought…)

    The first time I heard of Michael Anderson was on this very blog, back in the day when you listed your purchases for the week (a feature I miss). Don't know if I'd pay much for the full album, but “Sound Alarm” is catchy enough even for these atheist ears.

    Somewhere in this room I'm typing from is a promotional issue of the AWBH CD (featuring more Roger Dean artwork on the actual disc as opposed to the track menu). Couldn't tell you the last time I listened to it at length, though.

    Two Minute Warning was recommended to me by several people since the mid-'80s. I don't hear it in “Underground”. How does the rest of the album stack up?

    I'd heard the name Art in America bandied about for ages; never would have guessed they garnered any chart action. I want this record now.

    Alpha's been on my to-get list for awhile, I have the albums that sandwich it in the chronology. I'm gonna yah mo buy it someday.

    “Turn Up the Radio” is probably my favorite pop-metal one-hitter of the decade. This one's a little sillier (which is saying something when the less silly contender contains the line “Things go better with rock”).

    I've heard “Rock 'n' Roll Party in the Street” recently, maybe on another KPFT program. You wouldn't expect a band with a name like Axe to employ piano, would you? They might not have been as heavy as they shoulda, but I still want “I Think You'll Remember Tonight” in the collection someday.

  • slappyfrog

    Angel City's album was enjoyable back in the day but really had an element of “slightly reworked AC/DC” to it. Underground is a bit sludgier than the rest of the album.

  • smf2271

    Liked your show yesterday – can't believe you played “You Might Need Somebody” by Turley Richards! That's always been a favorite of mine. And lots of points for playing the Tubes and Utopia as back to back Rundgren-sightings.

    This also has nothing to do with this week's songs, but remember the thread about “Fire / desire” sightings a while back? I think you could have a similar one with “Dance / romance.”

    I forgot all about “Art in America.” Great song, and of course it had the distinction of the band name / song name / album name all being the same and getting a few laughs as you saw it flash on the lower left of the screen on MTV. “Living in a Box” is the only other instance of that I can think of, with the possible exception of “Talk Talk” (which was on the full-length album called “The Party's Over” but may have been on a self-titled EP before that).

    I don't know, “Go For Soda” might slightly edge out “Turn Up the Radio” for best pop-metal one-hit-wonder of the decade in my book, but it's close.

  • http://www.popdose.com DwDunphy

    Well, we'll be discussing Yes' Union soon enough on Popdose.

  • Russ

    but isn’t quite as rockin’ as it should be for having lyrics about having a knock-down drag out rock n’ roll party.

    My thoughts exactly, which is why I always thought it was the worst rock song in history, simply generic. Nobody ever had a rock and roll party in the streets after 1966 anyway.

    Regarding the A's, I've always had this question for you Steed but never asked it: why didn't you include the “Bubbling Under” tracks in the previous series? You can't get more “ass end” than 101-110 (125 in the early days).

  • steed

    Yes, Art in America was one that wasn't mentioned the last time we talked about the “triple play” – there's also “Iron Maiden”.

    For my money, I'd take “Go For Soda” first as well. That's a kick ass song. I think we'll get more Kim Mitchell in this series if I'm not mistaken too.

  • steed

    Yes, well – I've often thought about the Bubbling Under tracks – but didn't include them for a few reasons – 1) I have to have all the MP3 or I won't do this and while I have almost all the bubbling under tracks, most I have on vinyl and right now, no way to rip them. Secondly, it was a different chart and I was really focusing on just the hot 100 chart.

    But you're right – can't really get more ass-end than the chart of songs that didn't make the chart.

  • steed

    Ha. You said “ya mo buy it”.

    I think slappyfrog's assement of the Angel City album is pretty accurate. It's worth the $1 pick up if you find it – but don't spend any real money on it.

    I listed my purchases back in the day when I was getting stuff every week. I'm not getting much of anything right now. I'm in saving money mode rather than spending mode right now. I hate it too.

  • steed

    I get a whole :45! of “Wildest Dreams”! Weird, it plays for the full length from the source – I'll have to try to re upload it later!

  • Mark SW

    Could you please tell me what month April Wine's “All Over Town” and Art In America's “Art In America” entered the chart?

    Does anyone remember the HBO program (possibly a documentary) that featured “Art In America?” It used a lot of beach scenes to great effect.

  • smf2271

    If I may recommend a piece of software (as a consumer, I have no link to the vendors!): Acoustica's “Spin It Again” is cheap ($30 I think), easy to use, and makes great-sounding mp3s of your analog records or tapes. You can split tracks too, without having to stand there and press pause while it's recording (i.e. you can leave it to record and go do something else, and then split the tracks and edit out the blank space between sides later). And it looks up the album on line, so you rarely have to type in all the titles (though I did stump the database a few times).

    I just finished a herculean-sized project to rip all my vinyl (or at least all my vinyl that I care about); it took two years but now I've got it all preserved on mp3! All you need is that and either a USB turntable, or if you've already got a perfectly good traditional turntable (like I did), it's cheaper just to buy a preamp ($50ish) and you can hook it up to your PC with an old fashioned stereo jack.

    Would love to hear some bubbilng under tracks someday. Though as Dave knows, I'm currently working on the tracks that made the UK Top 40 but never charted here (“The Bloody End of the '80s?”)

  • Wahoo91

    Used to work with a guy who was a big fan of the A's. Didn't know anything about them, but as a big Springsteen-head, I heard the song before and had no idea it was a cover. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA6QbhghDxE

  • anniezaleski

    That Angel City was posted by Back Porch Videos, which was a Detroit-area public-access video show. The station's YouTube archive has some insane rarities. Highly recommended:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/backporchvideos

    The A's are one of those great long-lost bands from Philly. I still kick myself for not picking up a vinyl copy of one of their albums I saw a few years ago. They reunited in '07. Here's a great blogpost with a comment section featuring contributions from one of the band members:

    http://larshindsley.com/blog/_archives/2004/6/4…

    Also, I know it's not in the main post, but I have to give a nod to “Jane's Getting Serious” for being mentioned at all. Love that tune.

  • http://www.bastardradio.com steed

    “All Over Town” was March of '81. “Art in America” was Feb. '83

  • http://www.bastardradio.com steed

    I had no idea Clemmons covered it – I actually like his version better! Thanks for the link.

  • http://www.bastardradio.com steed

    “Jane's Getting Serious” doesn't get enough attention…that's a fabulous song.

    I've stumbled across quite a few of those Back Porch Videos over the last few months – if nothing else, seems like they had a lot of fun doing the show!

  • kingofgrief

    I dunno if I'd put Kim Mitchell in the same category as Autograph. I'd say he's closer to Joe Walsh in spirit. Hairsplitting aside, “Go for Soda” is the superior of the two. Things go better with…soda?

  • kingofgrief

    #1: Thanks for listening to the show and picking up on the Todd sightings.
    #2: Dance/romance? I'll keep my ears open. Tommy Roe's “Sweet Pea” was the first I thought of.
    #3: Yes, there was a homonymous Talk Talk EP that featured their “theme”.
    #4: HELL yeah to The Bloody End of the '80s…as a title AND a concept. That'll net a commemorative Sound Awake for sure.

  • kingofgrief

    Watching the Back Porch clips I've uncovered in my YouTube travels makes me wish there'd been syndication to Houston. Sure, we had TV5/Hit Video USA, but BPV seemed to have more laughs (and less Top 40). One of the Back Porchers was future New Monkee Dino Kovas.

    Jon and Jane got some attention almost two months ago…Exhibit A.

  • http://www.bastardradio.com steed

    Doesn't Kim Carnes have something called Romance Dance or something similar? And I think every Jermaine Stewart song was about dancing and romancing.

  • http://asynchronous.myopenid.com/ Asynchronous

    Excellent. As a Yes fan, I eagerly await the carnage.

    Here is a great interview with Jimmy Haun about the recording of the Union album, especially his replacement of Steve Howe's guitar parts.

    http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/iv/jhinterview.htm

  • http://www.popdose.com DwDunphy

    Didn't know that about Howe, and was especially thrown because many of the lines on Union resurface on his solo album Turbulence. I could imagine him writing his parts and Haun running in after the fact and doing his pieces. We'll touch on some of that stuff (more specifically Wakeman vs. Elias) but, overall, the disjointed process that created Union left behind a disjointed album.

    I'll leave you with these words of wisdom (?) : Shock to the rights of mankind, and they won't even go blind when they can see what's going on. (Good grief.)

  • Burgburgburg

    The link to Asia's “Here Comes the Feeling” is not working. Could someone look into this?

  • Mark SW

    Thank you for the data. I just joined this party yesterday and I think it's a great idea.

  • http://asynchronous.myopenid.com/ Asynchronous

    Good grief indeed. Looking forward to the article. Long time fan of your writing.