A Christmas Song With Tons Of Stars...What Could Go Wrong?

Do They Know Its Christmas? by Band Aid

Released on December 3rd, 1984 after it was recorded only 8 days earlier, this charity single was the biggest selling single in the UK (with over 3 millions copies sold) until Elton John's reworking of Candle In The Wind to honor Princess Diana following her death surpassed it in 1997. In fact, the song reached #1 in nearly every country it was released in: France, Japan and the US being the exceptions (in the US it reached #13 but sold over 2.5 million copies.....I have two copies in my house, mine and my wife's).

The song came about after Bob Geldof, lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, saw a documentary about the famine in Ethiopia and felt he had to do something. Geldof contacted fellow musician Midge Ure, lead singer of Ultravox, and they agreed a charity single would raise awareness. Geldof handled wrangling stars for the single while Ure worked on setting up the recording studio and writing a suitable song. The team approached much in-demand producer Trevor Horn, (he had recently produced three #1 singles for Frankie Goes To Hollywood) he was unsure he could participate but he was willing to donate the use of his studio for 24 hours.

With the studio secured and with Geldof promoting the single on every form of media he could get on, the song was becoming the hurdle that loomed the highest. Ure spent some time coming up with a "Christmassy tune" but Geldof mocked it as sounding like a cheesy british tv show. Geldof dusted off a tune he had written for his band and re-wrote the lyrics. Just like that, the only thing left to do was to record the whole thing.

For several days before the actual recording, Ure spent time in his home studio laying down keyboards and programing drum tracks. The day before the recording, John Taylor of Duran Duran came in and recorded bass tracks and Paul Weller recorded a lead guitar part that was later left off the single.

At 8am on the morning of November 25th 1984, members of the newly formed Band Aid began to arrive. The first thing to do was to record the group vocals at the end of the single.

After several takes, the plan was to move on to the solo parts. One of the singers that Geldof wanted for a solo was Boy George.....and he wasn't there. Several calls were placed and eventually it was discovered that he was in New York and had only just gone to sleep (apparently forgetting he had promised to be at the recording). Eventually he was convinced to get on the Concord and fly directly to London, arriving at 6 pm and being the last one to record his part.

One musician went above and beyond that day, Phil Collins. Arriving that morning with a full drum kit, he intended to lay down live drums over the programed drums and was forced to wait until all the solo parts were recorded (considering how late Boy George was that day, Phil was quite the trooper). Collins recorded the drums in one take that Ure considered perfect but Collins wanted to get it "perfect" and tried one more take.

With that, the only thing left to do was to mix and master the single and the video and get them sent out to the world......and wouldn't you believe it, but they did it.

The original hope was that the single would raise £70,000 but it ended up raising over £8 million for Ethiopian Famine Relief in just twelve months. In 1980's money....that's a lot.

Please enjoy.......and tonight thank God its them, instead of you (that still seems like an insensitive line)

Bad Ass Song...But What A Bunch Of Dorks

Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor

Released May 29th 1982 (the day after the movie Rocky III came out, from which it is the theme song), this was a made-to-order song from the star, writer and director of the movie, Sylvester Stallone after he was denied permission to use Another One Bites The Dust by Queen. The song was written by the guitarist and keyboard player and is the demo version of the song, so they must have felt that they got it right on the first try. It reached #1 on the US and UK charts and in seven other countries so the demo didn't need any improvement. It has sold nearly 10 million copies worldwide so its very popular.

The video is........interesting. Showing the band gathering on the sleazy streets of New York, the entire band seems to own leather jackets...except the keyboard player (his light blue shirt is not the tough image the rest of the band was hoping to project). And could any other group of guys look less comfortable walking down the street? But fear not, they've reached their rehearsal space...in the back of a crowded warehouse (like seriously crowded with way too much stuff). As the song continues, they move on to a stage performance and for some reason every band member has to have a "wet hair" moment....its just weird.

Please enjoy this great song.....the video?....not so much.

Kurt Cobain Must Have Loved This Song

Eighties by Killing Joke

Released in April of 1984, this punk single about the decade we all love, reached #60 in the UK but didn't chart in the US. Describing some of the excesses of the decade (and only based on 4 years of it) it really captures some of what was wrong and great about the decade.

But the video is the magic here. It is filled with images that capture the politics and some of the over-the-top-ness of the 80's. There's British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, American President Ronald Reagan, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (don't go to the parade!!), Russian leader Brezhnev, Pope John Paul II but there's also rockets, female body builders, and punk fans of the band (hey, their fans deserve some love, so why not?). There also footage of dogs getting married.....yep, that's an 80's moment.

I'm sure at this point you're wondering why I mentioned the lead singer of the 1990's band Nirvana in the title (if not, you are now). When Nirvana released their single Come As You Are in 1991, the members of Killing Joke noticed that the Nirvana guitar riff was very similar to their song. For years there was rumors of a legal challenge in a court....somewhere...over the similarities. In the end, no lawsuit was ever filed and in 2003, former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl played drums on Killing Jokes self-titled album (it was the second album they released that was self-titled.....figure that one out). The joke's on everyone, anyway because in 1982 (2 years before this song was released) The Damned released a song called Life Goes On that contains the exact same guitar riff as this song and the Nirvana song. The members of Killing Joke say they don't know anything about this.

Please enjoy.....

A Great Song For A Crappy Movie

A View To A Kill by Duran Duran

The band had spent 5 years becoming huge stars and touring the world. Then they took a break and formed two different bands (see previous posts). Now it was the spring of 1985 and they were back to work on their first contribution to a movie soundtrack. As a life long James Bond fan and a Duran Duran fan, for me, this was the perfect marriage of a band at a very hot point in their career and a movie franchise that was looking to really embrace the decadent, 1980's, flashy, music video world.

The movie is about a KGB trained agent (gone rouge) who is planning to flood the Silicone Valley so he can control the microchip industry. Yes, its VERY 1980's and yes, it's as bad as it sounds. But every James Bond film is about sitting in a dark theater and escaping into Bond's world for a few hours so we'll only hold our nose at this stinker when the movie is over.
 
The band was picked to do the song after bassist John Taylor approached the producer at a party and drunkenly asked him when they were going to get a good band to do the theme song. The producer (and several, really great, previous musicians) should have been really offended by that comment but the song that Duran Duran created is still the only James Bond theme to reach #1 on the US charts (it reached #2 in the UK).

The music video is classic Duran Duran. The band is milling about on the Eiffel Tower in Paris as James Bond is attacked by one of the henchwomen from the film. But as we can see, the band members are also there as spies and its hard to keep track of which side they're on. It's all a bit cheeky (as the British would say) but I'll be honest, if I had the chance, I'd play a spy in a Bond film, so they're forgiven for being silly.

Please Enjoy.

It's Not A Duran Duran Song...But It Could Have Been

Election Day by Arcadia

So in 1985, members of Duran Duran had taken a break from touring and recording and managed to create two separate bands, The Power Station (covered in a previous blog) and this band, Arcadia. While The Power Station was a more rock influenced endeavor, Arcadia was much more of an Art Rock project. Moody and arty, glamorous and hypnotic. This was 180 degrees from the hard hitting sound of The Power Station. Arcadia's musical style was much more in line with the sound often associated with Duran Duran, so much so that the album is often referred to as the best Duran Duran album they never made. The band consisted of Duran Duran lead singer, Simon Le Bon, keyboardist, Nick Rhodes and drummer Roger Taylor.

This was the first single from the bands only album, So Red The Rose. It reached #6 on the US charts and featured a spoken word passage from model/actress/singer Grace Jones (she played a character in the movie Duran Duran wrote a theme song for.....more on that in the next blog).

The video was inspired by imagery from a 1946 french film, La Belle et la Bete (English translation: Beauty and the Beast.....impress your friends and small children with that knowledge). Its filled with beautiful people and lavish lifestyles and people dressed as animals....ok, well, there's that....it is inspired by a french film, so what do you expect?

Please Enjoy.

You've Got The Teeth Of The Hydra Upon You

Get It On by The Power Station

Released in April of 1985, this second single from a super group consisting of two members of Duran Duran, one member of 70's funk band Chic and singer Robert Palmer reached #9 on the US charts and was the bands biggest hit.

During the winter of 1984 Duran Duran were on a scheduled break after completing their Seven And The Ragged Tiger album and tour, the break ended up seeing the creation of two bands, Arcadia (I'll cover them next) and The Power Station. Originally created on a whim, The Power Station (named after the studio the album was recorded in) was supposed to just be a backing band to different singers on each song on the album. Singers mentioned during that phase of the project included Mick Jagger, Billy Idol and Richard Butler from the Psychedelic Furs. Robert Palmer was brought in to sing on one of the songs and when he learned that the band had recorded Get It On from 1970's glam rock band T-Rex, he asked if he could have a go at singing the song. By the time they finished recording Robert's version of the song, the plan was changed to just keep the four current members and not bring in other singers.

The original song was recorded in 1971 and is very much the same basic song with The Power Station adding just a bit more crunch to their version. The original version made it to #10 on the US charts so it was always a hit.

The video is one of those memorable videos with lots of classic, iconic images. the dancing girl, Palmer shaking his paper to emphasize a "yeah", the drummer playing so hard his drums literally dance, a models hairdryer bursting into flames while the hyper-solo is playing. It's full of great images.

Please enjoy.

I Laughed When I Saw This

Too Young To Fall in Love by Motley Crue

Released in April of 1984, this single off their debut album, Shout At The Devil, only made it to #90 on the US charts. Its not a bad song.....maybe the video is what killed its chances. Lets take a look at this masterpiece of bad acting.

A young girl is poor and alone on the streets of some Asian town. She is begging and is not receiving any help from the locals. Except for a mysterious man. The little boy that watches him knows something isn't right about this situation. He runs to tell the band what he's seen. They're just standing around singing and posing.....like you do. Mean while, the girl is getting some food but now its time for her to go as the mysterious man pushes her away. She's taken to what is, obviously, a brothel and the man that owns it comes out to welcome her. She goes in reluctantly.

Looks like the band stopped off to play a bit of the song they've been singing (rescue missions always require a performance break). Now we see the girl being cleaned up and the band is finally back on the job. They walk through the kitchen where the girl was eating and one of the band members stops to look at the food she was eating....is it a clue? Nope, just keep moving.

The band enters the brothel and is ready to confront the owner but his ninjas and sword wielding henchmen are ready to attack. The fight that occurs actually made me laugh out loud, its so comical and staged. One punch and down goes a bad guy. A kick and there goes another. Don't even think of swinging those nunchucks at me...and POW! Its like a fight worse than the old Batman tv series. With obvious misses and fake sound effects.

But lets not get distracted by the badness, there's a young girl to rescue. The brothel owner doesn't look scared. He turns his face toward the band showing them the two black lines on his cheek. But what's  this? The young girl they've come to rescue is there as well and she's all clean and dressed up nicely. And on her cheek? Two black lines just like the brothel owner. Well, how's that for gratitude?

Nothing left for the band to do but to walk away in disgust.....except for at the very end when the mysterious man tries to attack the last band member walking through the kitchen. He dispatches the mysterious man just as comically as the rest of the henchmen. But what's the punchline for this joke? He takes a bite of the food and it's awful, so he spits it out.......

....and scene!

Now, I'm making fun of this terrible video but it should be noted that I do like this song and Motley Crue but this is just bad. I'm sure even they are embarrassed by this.

Go watch it and try to not laugh.....who am I kidding? Laugh out loud. Its hilarious.

Edit*** I've had to replace the original version of this video with another version that is backwards! I'm guessing the band requested it be taken down....'cause its awful.***