Posts Tagged ‘Engelbert Humperdinck’

Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 41

We’ve got another little half post this week so we can make a clean break from the letter H. Enjoy some more tracks from the ass end of the ’80s as we look at songs that charted below #40 two decades ago on the Billboard Hot 100.

David Hudson
“Honey, Honey” — 1980, #59 (download)

If David Hudson ever put out a full album, I can’t locate any info on it. This single was his second on Alston Records, which was associated with Atlantic, though it was made under the care of TK Records (KC & the Sunshine Band, George McCrae, etc.). It’s pretty generic, nondescript R&B, but the real problem for me is that I see the title “Honey, Honey” and all I can think about is “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies.

Grayson Hugh
“Bring It All Back” — 1989, #87 (download)

I very well may be the biggest Grayson Hugh fan in the world. Of course, that’s assuming Grayson Hugh has no other fans. Every chance I get to throw his big hit, “Talk It Over,” on a comp, I do. It’s probably the song most skipped over on my mix CDs, but that’s just because my friends have bad taste. Or maybe I do? Fuck, you’re right — it is me. Either way I’m still going to enjoy the hits off his excellent album Blind to Reason, and you all can go back to listening to your Milli Vanilli or whatever you listen to. Hmph.

Hughes/Thrall
“Beg, Borrow or Steal” — 1982, #79 (download)

Eh. I know some people who hold the lone Hughes/Thrall album in high regard, but it’s a little sloppy, if you ask me. “Beg, Borrow or Steal” is pretty representative of the record: solid rock elements with a slight new-wave feel to it, but I’m thrown off by the frantic pace of the bridge. Slow it down a bit and “Beg” becomes a much better song.

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Chartburn: 2/15/08

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Mainstream Rock: Eric Clapton, “Pretending” (1989)

Will: I’ve always felt like this song was the point where Clapton finally began to escape from the “we need a pop song as the first single” era and entered the “do whatever you want, you’re too old for MTV anyway” era. It’s much more like the classic Clapton sound of the ’70s, and I always enjoy hearing it.

Py Korry: Although I heard Clapton’s music on the radio when I was but a lad, I really didn’t start to actively listen to him until the mid-’80s, when I had some cash to buy albums. Unfortunately, I started with an album that wasn’t all that great Money and Cigarettes and wondered what all the hubbub was about.

Clapton’s output in the ’80s was, to me, really unremarkable. And I’m basing that on what was played on the radio and not some buried gem on this or that album. “Pretending” is a good example of Slowhand going through the motions, and if it wasn’t for the horn punches in the song it wouldn’t have had enough ear candy to be a single. But let me bracket all that for a moment and say this: I’d listen to “Pretending” over and over for days if it meant I would never have to listen to “Change the World” or “My Father’s Eyes” again.

Zack: Tell me truthfully: if you didn’t know this was Clapton, wouldn’t you associate the first 20 seconds of “Pretending” with the start of an “action sequence” in a late-night Cinemax movie? (more…)