Friday 80s Flashback for April 28, 2023

[Cargo] -- I kind of had an embarrassment of riches when it came to albums that were released 40 years ago this week. We have The Isley Brothers offering their latest collection of slow ballads (Between the Sheets | April 23, 1983), a surprisingly popular album from Krokus (Headhunter | April 25, 1983), the fourth release from The B-52's (Whammy! | April 27, 1983), and the second album by The Replacements (Hootenanny | April 29, 1983). 

But for my post this week, I've chosen a record that I nearly wore out back in 1983. And by "wore out," I do mean that the vinyl record, which is still in my collection, was in heavy rotation on my simple stereo setup. That album in question was released on April 29, 1983, which was 40 years ago this weekend. In case you haven't figured it out from this post's preview image, I am talking about Cargo, the sophomore effort from Men At Work. As second album go, it was pretty successful. For example, it peaked at #3 and ended the year at #39 on the US Billboard 200. And, for the most part, it received positive critical attention, too. 

But what about hits?

I imagine most music fans recall Men At Work's 1983 single, "Overkill." And I could possibly wager that there are many people who would mistake "Overkill" for the only single from Cargo. Those folks would, however, be in error. "Overkill" was the second of four singles from that album. And it was the most successful of the four. "Overkill" was an international top 10 hit in Canada, Ireland, Norway, and the US Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at #3. 

Of the the other three singles – "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive" (released in advance of the album, in October 1982), "It's a Mistake," and "High Wire" – only "It's a Mistake" joined "Overkill" in the US Billboard Hot 100's top 10 (it peaked at #6). But even the other two were top 40 hits. I think the anti-war, and specifically anti-nuclear, "It's a Mistake" is my favorite single from Cargo. Unfortunately, it also remains completely relevant. 

All four singles received the music video treatment, and this week's embedded playlist includes those official videos.

Oh, and my favorite non-single tracks are "Upstairs In My House," "I Like To," and "No Sign Of Yesterday."  

Flashback: Cargo (April 29, 1983)

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That's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Dune - 2021 movie

 

So I know absolutely nothing about Dune except it is about a desert. Yup, that's all, that's it. But when Brainwise stated I wasn't interested in watching the 2021 movie, I stopped him and said I was actually interested. A friend of mine thought I would like it, so we watched it. All 2 hours and 30+ minutes of it. Here are some of my reviews:

1) The music is OUTSTANDING!!!

2) The visuals are UNBELIEVABLE!!!

3) The cast is INCREDIBLE!!!

4) The story ... wellll ... I am not really sure...

I must say I am definitely looking forward to Part 2, so hopefully I can come back to this post and talk about #4 :)

I thought Timothee Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson were perfect in their roles. There are so many recognizable faces in this movie it was almost a distraction but everyone played their parts perfectly. 

Hans Zimmer was brilliant with his music. It was a whole other character in the movie. 

I say definitely check it out and then read the trivia on IMDB after you watch it to see all the crazy tidbits there are about the movie and the cast. 

3 paws     But only because I need the rest of the story 🙂

Friday 80s Flashback for April 21, 2023

[Too Shy] -- 1983 was the year of Kajagoogoo. At the very least, it was the year people around the world heard how "Kajagoogoo" was pronounced. That is because their debut album, White Feathers, was released on April 18, 1983. 40 years ago this week! Let me back up a bit. This band was originally founded in 1979 as Art Nouveau, but they could not get a record deal with that moniker. After adding Christopher Hamill, who used the stage name Limahl, as their lead singer in 1981, they changed their name to Kajagoogoo.  According to the "Official Kajagoogoo History Page," the name was coined by phonetically writing out a baby's first sounds. I do not know if it was this new name or the new singer that tilted the odds, but Kajagoogoo scored a record deal one year later, their 1983 debut, White Feathers.

And that debut included the band's very first single "Too Shy," which became a worldwide phenomenon. It charted in the top 25 in many countries, even reaching #1 on the UK Singles Chart, #1 in Germany, and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The bass playing of Nick Beggs was part of what made "Too Shy" so iconic. Don't believe me? Check out this video in which Paul Thompson does a deep dive into that bass line.  

Although bassist Beggs wrote or cowrote six of the 10 tracks on the original release of White Feathers, "Too Shy" feels and sounds like it was written and performed by an entirely different band from the rest of the album, at least to me. And while White Feathers' other two singles -- "Ooh to Be Ah" and "Hang on Now" -- were also hits in the UK, they performed only marginally outside the country. So, Kajagoogoo is best known for one mega-hit: "Too Shy." I believe that qualifies them as a one-hit wonder, particularly as Kajagoogoo started to implode as a band toward the end of 1983 and called it quits in 1985 after their third album, released as a relaunched trio named Kaja, failed to chart. 

Anyway, here is "Too Shy" and the rest of the debut album -- including all the bonus tracks from the 2004 rerelease -- in all their hair-sprayed glory. 

Flashback: White Feathers (April 18, 1983)

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That's all for this week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Friday 80s Flashback for April 14, 2023

[Murmur] -- 40 years ago this week – on April 12, 1983 – R.E.M. released their debut album, Murmur, on I.R.S. Records. Looking back on that last sentence, I am struck by how much those four boys from Athens, GA, must have liked abbreviations that use punctuation. 

I did not know about this album until a few years letter when, in the first semester of my freshman year at Penn State, I discovered R.E.M. and their first four studio albums. Yeah, I'm one of the reasons R.E.M. is considered a vanguard of "college radio." The band was a huge part of my college experience as well as my first several post-college years. And it all starts with this record.

Given vocalist Michael Stipe's vague elocutions, "Murmur" is probably the best name for this particular record (and a great descriptor for many R.E.M.'s recordings). Those cryptic vocals, and Peter Buck's jangly guitar, certainly were part of the album's allure. Murmur peaked at #36 on the Billboard album chart, but didn't have much radio success. The first single, "Radio Free Europe," dented the US Billboard Hot 100 by peaking at #78, but fared much better on the US Mainstream Rock where it peaked at #25. The second single, "Talk About the Passion," however, failed to chart at all. Still, Murmur was a critical, if not commercial, success. Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars. And it has garnered an impressive list of accolades. 

Let me talk about a few of my favorite, non single, tracks. "Catapult" is the opening track of side B (or the seventh track on the CD). I like to think this is a song about a group of kids building -- or wanting to build -- a trebuchet. Gods above know I wanted to build one, or at least play with one, when I was twelve or so. Who doesn't like the idea of laughing in tune? At least, I think that's the gist of "Laughing," the third track (on side A, or just overall). And, finally, there is the song claims it is always more attractive inside the moral kiosk. But where does one find a moral kiosk? Are there really morals in a kiosk? Although none of those questions are answered, you might enjoy reading some of R.E.M.'s own memories of Murmur. 

Or you could, you know, listen to the album again (or for the first time), and let me know your favorite tracks. 

Flashback: Murmur (April 12, 1983)

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And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Friday 80s Flashback for April 7, 2023

[Outside Inside] -- On April 4, 1983, The Tubes released their sixth studio album, Outside Inside. That was forty years ago this week! Early releases of the album had embossed lettering for the eye chart-esque title on the front cover, but it was difficult to read; you can see it on Discogs. A later version of the cover printed the eye chart, and the artist and title info, in red and blue, and that's the version that graces this week's post. 

Outside Inside peaked at #18 on the US Billboard Albums chart. Of the three singles, only "She's a Beauty" made it into the top ten, peaking at #10 on Pop Singles and actually topping the Mainstream Rock chart. That was their biggest radio hit. "Tip of My Tongue" has serious power-funk vibes, almost evoking Earth Wind & Fire, but it couldn't crack the top 40. And this record's final single, a cover of "The Monkey Time," is interesting because there are two recorded versions: One features Martha Davis (of The Motels fame), and the other features Michelle Gray, who was one of the band's principal dancers from 1983–1985. I guess you have to check your album's liner notes to determine which version you have. Oh, and I'm pretty sure it's Gray who appears in this video of the song. 

Non-single standouts for me include "No Not Again," "Fantastic Delusion," and "Drums," that third one being less radio friendly, but certainly wacky and fun.  

Flashback: Outside Inside (April 4, 1983)

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And ... that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Everything Everywhere All at Once

 

What in the heck did I just watch?

Why am I crying so hard?

It deserved every award it received. 

I love my Mom Everything Everywhere All at Once

4 paws and a tail