Friday 80s Flashback for June 28, 2024

[A 40-Year (Purple) Reign] -- Perhaps some music fans, and maybe even some critics, would point to this week's album as the moment Prince had climbed to the top of the mountainous music scene. They would, however, be mistaken. He had already showed his chops and seized his mainstream crown with Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1982). But in 1984, 40 years ago this very week, Prince began to shift the cultural landscape with Purple Rain, his sixth studio album.  

Released on June 25, 1984, Purple Rain was a blend of funk, swirling synth beds, and shredding rock. In other words, this was the true debut of what was fast becoming Prince's signature sound. This record also served as the soundtrack for the movie of the same name, a movie that would hit theaters a month later. In the eyes and ears of many fans, the movie and the album are forever bound together in a marriage of audio and video. 

The album topped both the US Billboard 200 (where it spent 24 weeks) and the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. And it reached the top 20 or better in charts around the world. Two of the singles, "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy," topped the US Billboard Hot 100. The third single, the title cut, "Purple Rain," peaked at the #2 spot. Purple Rain was critically and commercially a runaway success, and it is regarded as one of the best albums of all time (not just the 1980s). 

Because I linked the individual music videos for the singles in the previous paragraph, I'm embedding a single video featuring the "2015 Paisley Park Remaster" of the 1984 album in its entirety below. 

What is your favorite track on this album from The Purple One? 

Flashback: Purple Rain (June 25, 1984)

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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!

Happy 35th Anniversary to Tim Burton's BATMAN!

Happy 35th anniversary to Tim Burton's BATMAN, which hit theaters on June 23, 1989. 🦇🃏🎥

Starring Jack Nicholson as The Joker and Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne, this 1989 movie went on to earn $411.6 million at the box office and a solid place in cinematic and comic book history.  I had a small hand in those box office proceeds; I saw BATMAN in the theater multiple times that summer (no small feat as the theater was a 45 minute drive out of town)!

Oh, and remember the protests when Keaton's casting was announced? Now, Keaton is as solid and cherished a part of the Batman mythos as the late Kevin Conroy (BTAS, etc.). 

Reports on Keaton casting: batman-on-film.com

BATMAN teaser trailer: YouTube 

Film vs novel: batman-news.com

Friday 80s Flashback for June 21, 2024

[Hey! Yeh Dum! Dum! Tra La La!] -- The 1980s saw synthpop and electronic music rapidly benefitting from advances in audio technology. Interestingly, the new devices that became available to record production engineers often afforded those same engineers the opportunity to transition from supporting the artists to becoming artists themselves. Yes, many studio wizards started out as session musicians, but the fact remains that it is only a small pool of studio regulars who have had chart success with their own bands. 

Take, for example, the Fairlight CMI, a workstation that hit the market in 1979, and its various versions were workhorses up into the 1990s. 

Trevor Horn (The Buggles, Yes) was among the first to purchase the Fairlight sampler, and his production team started using it in 1983 to sample drum riffs as well as other parts of previously recorded songs (or bits that had been discarded when recording other songs) and even non-musical sounds. Upon hearing the resultant track, Horn got his arranger involved and a long-term side project was born: The Art of Noise. Now, The Art of Noise did not pioneer the use of samples in rock music. But up to this point, the most anyone had done was use samples as a gimmick or to adorn a song. No one had yet crafted an entire song – let alone an album – from samples. 

That remained the case until 1984. 

On June 19, 1984, forty years ago this week, The Art of Noise released their debut album, Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise? It had a top ten hit in the UK with "Close (To the Edit)." The other two singles – "Moments in Love" and "Beat Box" – also charted in the UK, but not nearly as well as "Close (To the Edit)." The title for "Close (To the Edit)" was lifted from the title track of Close to the Edge, a 1972 album by Yes. "Close (To the Edit)" even samples "Leave It" from the 1983 Yes album, 90125. Also featured in the song are samples from a car, a spoken-word vocal performance, and Camilla Pilkington-Smyth shouting, "Hey!" The staccato beats, strange vocals, and quick cuts of the song were mirrored in the shooting style of the original music video. This video features a little girl, dressed in punk rock attire, leading three men around a junk yard as they destroy several musical instruments. I must admit that while I love this song, I initially found the video somewhat disturbing back in 1984. I wonder if I'm the only one who had that reaction.

Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise? peaked at #27 on the UK Albums chart, and it reached #85 and #22 on the US Billboard 200 and US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts respectively. I guess record buyers weren't too afraid of The Art of Noise.

Flashback: Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise? (June 19, 1984)

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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 June 14, 2024

[A Pagan Place] -- This week's Flashback was released either at the end of May, or the beginning of June, 1984. Most sources point to June, particularly June 1. Therefore, this record is 40 years old by now, and we're revisiting it today!  

While working on something of a solo album under the name of The Waterboys in 1983, Mike Scott actually did assemble a band. The core of that band continued to work with Scott, and they released their second studio album, A Pagan Place, in 1984. According to Record Collector magazine, the album received "unanimous critical acclaim." That critical acclaim did not move records, so the singles didn't exactly chart, and the album itself peaked at the bottom of the UK charts. 

However, the record did reach fans of college rock. And the album received the remaster treatment in 2002. The music is sincere. The band's talent is more than obvious. Maybe they just didn't get the PR necessary to jump from college radio to chart success. If you're a fan of bands like The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Simple Minds, you might like The Waterboys, too. 

Give this album a try. For such an obscure gem, it really doesn't sound dated. The album has aged surprisingly well (in my opinion).  

Flashback: A Pagan Place (June 1, 1984)

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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 June 7, 2024

[Still Glamorous] -- Prior to the 1980s, Shelia E. had been recording with her father, legendary percussionist Pete Escovedo, and performing with The George Duke Band. But then she started her collaboration with Prince in 1983, and that led to her first pop-funk solo album being released 40 years ago this week. Now, anyone who did not know about Shelia's career prior to meeting Prince might be excused for thinking she was just another "sexploitive Prince disciple who was entertaining but had limited ability" (AllMusic's Alex Henderson). So, while Shelia E. may not have exhibited remarkable vocal prowess, she was a seasoned musician and performer, and her ability as a drummer/percussionist do come across live. 

The Glamorous Life (June 4, 1984) peaked at #28 on the US Billboard 200 and #7 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. And "The Glamorous Life" landed in the top 10 of both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the US Hot Black Singles charts while also seizing the top spot on the US Dance Club Songs chart. Additionally, this title track snagged two Grammy Award nominations and three MTV Award nominations (the latter nominations were, of course, for the music video). 

Flashback: The Glamorous Life (June 4, 1984)

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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!