New Doobie Brothers
On this day in 1979, the Doobie Brothers single “What a Fool Believes” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (April 14)
“What a Fool Believes" was written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, and Loggins released the song five months prior to the Doobie Brothers version on his second album “Nightwatch”, released on July 12, 1978.
In December 1978, five months after Loggins' original recording was released, The Doobie Brothers (with McDonald on vocals) included their version on their album “Minute by Minute”, and then released it as a single a month later.
It went all the way to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the charts in Canada, making the Top 10 in New Zealand and the Netherlands, and #12 in Australia.
The Doobie Brothers version of “What a Fool Believes” also received Grammy Awards in 1980 for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
Just a brilliant song, great keyboard hooks, and impossibly smooth Michael McDonald vocals and Doobie Brothers harmonies.
Click on the link below to watch The Doobie Brothers nail it live at the Grammys:
On this day in 1979, the Van Halen LP “Van Halen II” debuted on the Billboard 200 Album Chart at #46 (April 14)
Many of the songs on Van Halen II are known to have existed prior to the release of the first album, and are present on the demos recorded in 1976 by Gene Simmons, and in 1977 by Ted Templeman, including an early version of "Beautiful Girls" (then known as "Bring On the Girls") and "Somebody Get Me a Doctor."
The black-and-yellow guitar on the back of the album known as "Bumblebee" is buried with Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who was killed December 8, 2004.
Eddie Van Halen placed it in his Kiss Kasket at his funeral because Darrell had said it was his favorite.
David Lee Roth is shown in a cast in the inner liner notes, as he allegedly broke his heel on the third try of the spread-eagle jump used on the back cover photo.
In the liner notes, The Sheraton Inn of Madison, Wisconsin is thanked.
On Van Halen's first tour, they stayed at the hotel and destroyed the seventh floor, having fire extinguisher fights in the hallways and throwing televisions out windows.
They blamed the incidents on their tour-mates at the time, Journey…
The album went to #6 in the US, #11 in the Netherlands, #15 in Canada, #22 in Sweden, #23 in the UK, #24 in Germany, #30 in Japan, and #68 in Australia.
Click on the link below to watch “Dance The Night Away”:
On this day in 1985, the Bruce Springsteen single “I’m On Fire” peaked at #6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (April 13)
It was the fourth of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from the smash hit LP “Born in the U.S.A.”, peaking at #1 in the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland, #5 in the UK, #6 in the US, #10 in New Zealand and Austria, #12 in Australia and Canada, #13 in Italy, and #16 in Germany.
The way the song came about was at the “Born in the U.S.A.” recording sessions, Springsteen started making up a slow tune on guitar for some lyrics he had, some of which had been written for "Spanish Eyes", (which would later surface on “The Promise”), and drummer Max Weinberg and keyboardist Roy Bittan, hearing it for the first time, created an accompaniment on the spot.
The result was the understated magic that became one of Springsteen’s most popular slow songs…
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1973, the Alice Cooper single “No More Nr. Nice Guy” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #85 (April 14)
The single from their sixth studio album “Billion Dollar Babies” was written by Michael Bruce and Alice Cooper.
Bruce was a founding Alice Cooper band member, who played guitar, keyboards and contributed vocals, and co-wrote many of their songs including “School’s Out” and I’m Eighteen”.
Cooper wrote the song lyrics about the predictable reactions of his mother's church group to his outrageous stage performances, basically saying that there were worse things that he could be doing with his life, and that the "gloves were off now."
The song peaked at #6 in the Netherlands, #10 in the UK and Germany, #14 in Austria, #18 in Ireland, and #25 in the US.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1984, the Cyndi Lauper single “Time After Time” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #53 (April 14)
The love song penned by Lauper and Rob Hyman from The Hooters, went all the way to the top, becoming her first US #1, spending two weeks in the #1 spot,.
It was also #2 in Canada and Ireland, #3 in the UK, New Zealand and Belgium, #5 in the Netherlands, Italy and Austria, #6 in Australia, #7 in Switzerland, #9 in France, and #10 in Denmark and Sweden.
Like many great songs, it started with the LP’s producer asking for one more song for the album.
Lauper’s debut album “She's So Unusual” was almost completed when the request came, and the inspiration began with the title, which she had seen in TV Guide magazine, referring to the science fiction film “Time After Time” (1979).
Rob Hyman said: "When she saw Time After Time, something clicked - she said, 'I think I have a title.'
I was sitting at the piano and just started banging out what would eventually be the chorus, hook, and the way we sing it.
We never did a demo of the song. We just kind of bashed it out on the piano over a couple of days, maybe a week or two period.
It really did happen pretty quickly, and we needed to because the album was being finished.
I'd say in two or three sessions the song was pretty much done.”
The poignant track went on to become a classic of the era, and one of Cyndi Lauper’s signature songs.
Wrestler Captain Lou Albano, who appeared in the "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" video, played a cook at a diner in this one.
Lauper's mom and boyfriend were also in the video, portraying her mom and boyfriend…
Click on the link below to watch it:
This week in 1983, the Violent Femmes released their debut, self-titled LP (April 13)
Most of the songs on the album were written when songwriter and singer Gordon Gano was an 18-year-old high-school student in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
It ended up one of the classic LPs of the 80s, despite not being a chart hit on its release.
It peaked at #34 in Australia, and didn’t chart at all in the US until eight years later in 1991, even then only peaking at #171.
In fact, the album had reached platinum status before it actually charted in the US, and just about everyone with a decent record collection had a copy.
Highlights for me are the first four songs on side 1, “Blister in the Sun”, “Kiss Off”, “Please Do Not Go”, and “Add It Up”, which provide a killer start to the album.
I also like the back end of side 2, with “Gone Daddy Gone” and the contrasting piano-infused, dreamy change of pace “Good Feeling” to finish the record.
Brian Ritchie’s frenetic, percussive bass playing, Gano’s plaintive vocals, and the sparseness of the arrangements were revelations to me at the time…
The album cover too, has become a classic.
The cover model is Billie Jo Campbell, a three-year-old girl who was walking down a Los Angeles street with her mother, when they were approached and offered $100 for the photograph that became the album cover.
The pic shows Campbell peering into the window of an old house in Laurel Canyon.
Campbell recollects: "I remember looking into that building, and they kept telling me there were animals in there, and I was pissed off ... I didn't know why they were making me look in this building.
I had no idea there were photographers there. I was ... pissed off that I couldn't see the animals and I was all cranky by the end of it."
Click on the link below to watch “Kiss Off”:
On this day in 1977, The Stranglers released the LP “Rattus Norvegicus” (April 15)
Thematically gritty, this record (also known as “Stranglers IV”, despite being their debut studio LP) is arguably their best work.
It was one of the highest-selling albums of the punk era in Britain, eventually achieving platinum record sales.
Martin Rushent’s production is excellent, showing the band in their best light, providing a snapshot of the band's live set at the time.
Hugh Cornwell’s compelling, half-spoken vocals, JJ’s urgent, aggressive, bass lines prominent in the mix, Jet Black’s lockdown work behind the kit, and Dave Greenfield’s wondrous, babbling keyboard runs intertwining themselves throughout, were all brought together by Rushent to great effect, in only one week.
“Rattus Norvegicus” was ranked #10 among the top albums of the year for 1977 by NME, and #196 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
It went to #4 in the UK, and #82 in Australia, and didn’t chart anywhere else.
Robert Smith of the Cure has named “Rattus Norvegicus” as one of his all-time five favourite albums.
Click on the link below to watch "(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)", which was based on the band's life in their Chiddingfold squat:
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave Edmunds was born in Cardiff, Wales, on this day in 1944 (April 15)
In the 60s Edmunds fronted bands including the Raiders, the Image, the Human Beans, and Love Sculpture (who released two albums), before having a solo UK Christmas #1 hit in 1970 with “I Hear You Knocking”.
In 1976 he and Nick Lowe formed the group Rockpile, with Billy Bremner and Terry Williams. Because Edmunds and Lowe signed to different record labels that year, they could not record as Rockpile until 1980, but many of their solo LPs were actually group recordings.
Edmunds had more UK hits during this time, including Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk", Nick Lowe's "I Knew the Bride", Hank DeVito's "Queen of Hearts" (later a larger, international hit for American country-rock singer Juice Newton).
Unexpectedly, after Rockpile released their first LP under their own name, “Seconds of Pleasure” (1980), the band split.
Edmunds spent the 1980s collaborating with the likes of Status Quo, Paul McCartney and Jeff Lynne, but recorded less frequently after the mid-1980s, living in Wales in semi-retirement, but occasionally touring.
In 2015, Edmunds released his first instrumental album “On Guitar... Dave Edmunds: Rags & Classics”.
The album was Edmunds' final album and after playing a final show in July 2017, he was reported to have retired from the music business.
Click on the link below to watch “I Hear You Knocking”:
Ramones lead singer Joey Ramone passed away on this day in 2001 (April 15)
Born Jeffrey Hyman, he was a fan of the Beatles, the Who, David Bowie, and the Stooges among other bands, particularly oldies and the Phil Spector-produced "girl groups".
His idol was Keith Moon of the Who.
Hyman took up the drums at 13, and played them throughout his teen years before picking up an acoustic guitar at age 17.
Co-founder of the Ramones, he was originally the band’s drummer, but soon took to the mike and with his towering presence and unique vocal stylings, became a frontman of punk legend...
Despite initially achieving only limited commercial success at the time, the Ramones were one of the pioneers of punk, and one of the most influential bands of all time.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility in 2002, a little over a year after Joey’s death.
In 2011, the Ramones were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and were ranked #26 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
He passed away exactly 21 years ago today after a long battle with lymphoma, aged just 49.
His solo album “Don't Worry About Me” was released posthumously in 2002, and features the single "What a Wonderful World", a cover of the Louis Armstrong standard.
MTV News claimed: "With his trademark rose-colored shades, black leather jacket, shoulder-length hair, ripped jeans and alternately snarling and crooning vocals, Joey was the iconic godfather of punk."
Click on the link below to watch “Blitzkrieg Bop”:
On this day in 1979, the Doobie Brothers single “What a Fool Believes” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (April 14)
“What a Fool Believes" was written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, and Loggins released the song five months prior to the Doobie Brothers version on his second album “Nightwatch”, released on July 12, 1978.
In December 1978, five months after Loggins' original recording was released, The Doobie Brothers (with McDonald on vocals) included their version on their album “Minute by Minute”, and then released it as a single a month later.
It went all the way to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the charts in Canada, making the Top 10 in New Zealand and the Netherlands, and #12 in Australia.
The Doobie Brothers version of “What a Fool Believes” also received Grammy Awards in 1980 for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
Just a brilliant song, great keyboard hooks, and impossibly smooth Michael McDonald vocals and Doobie Brothers harmonies.
Click on the link below to watch The Doobie Brothers nail it live at the Grammys:
On this day in 1979, the Van Halen LP “Van Halen II” debuted on the Billboard 200 Album Chart at #46 (April 14)
Many of the songs on Van Halen II are known to have existed prior to the release of the first album, and are present on the demos recorded in 1976 by Gene Simmons, and in 1977 by Ted Templeman, including an early version of "Beautiful Girls" (then known as "Bring On the Girls") and "Somebody Get Me a Doctor."
The black-and-yellow guitar on the back of the album known as "Bumblebee" is buried with Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who was killed December 8, 2004.
Eddie Van Halen placed it in his Kiss Kasket at his funeral because Darrell had said it was his favorite.
David Lee Roth is shown in a cast in the inner liner notes, as he allegedly broke his heel on the third try of the spread-eagle jump used on the back cover photo.
In the liner notes, The Sheraton Inn of Madison, Wisconsin is thanked.
On Van Halen's first tour, they stayed at the hotel and destroyed the seventh floor, having fire extinguisher fights in the hallways and throwing televisions out windows.
They blamed the incidents on their tour-mates at the time, Journey…
The album went to #6 in the US, #11 in the Netherlands, #15 in Canada, #22 in Sweden, #23 in the UK, #24 in Germany, #30 in Japan, and #68 in Australia.
Click on the link below to watch “Dance The Night Away”:
On this day in 1985, the Bruce Springsteen single “I’m On Fire” peaked at #6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (April 13)
It was the fourth of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from the smash hit LP “Born in the U.S.A.”, peaking at #1 in the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland, #5 in the UK, #6 in the US, #10 in New Zealand and Austria, #12 in Australia and Canada, #13 in Italy, and #16 in Germany.
The way the song came about was at the “Born in the U.S.A.” recording sessions, Springsteen started making up a slow tune on guitar for some lyrics he had, some of which had been written for "Spanish Eyes", (which would later surface on “The Promise”), and drummer Max Weinberg and keyboardist Roy Bittan, hearing it for the first time, created an accompaniment on the spot.
The result was the understated magic that became one of Springsteen’s most popular slow songs…
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1973, the Alice Cooper single “No More Nr. Nice Guy” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #85 (April 14)
The single from their sixth studio album “Billion Dollar Babies” was written by Michael Bruce and Alice Cooper.
Bruce was a founding Alice Cooper band member, who played guitar, keyboards and contributed vocals, and co-wrote many of their songs including “School’s Out” and I’m Eighteen”.
Cooper wrote the song lyrics about the predictable reactions of his mother's church group to his outrageous stage performances, basically saying that there were worse things that he could be doing with his life, and that the "gloves were off now."
The song peaked at #6 in the Netherlands, #10 in the UK and Germany, #14 in Austria, #18 in Ireland, and #25 in the US.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1984, the Cyndi Lauper single “Time After Time” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #53 (April 14)
The love song penned by Lauper and Rob Hyman from The Hooters, went all the way to the top, becoming her first US #1, spending two weeks in the #1 spot,.
It was also #2 in Canada and Ireland, #3 in the UK, New Zealand and Belgium, #5 in the Netherlands, Italy and Austria, #6 in Australia, #7 in Switzerland, #9 in France, and #10 in Denmark and Sweden.
Like many great songs, it started with the LP’s producer asking for one more song for the album.
Lauper’s debut album “She's So Unusual” was almost completed when the request came, and the inspiration began with the title, which she had seen in TV Guide magazine, referring to the science fiction film “Time After Time” (1979).
Rob Hyman said: "When she saw Time After Time, something clicked - she said, 'I think I have a title.'
I was sitting at the piano and just started banging out what would eventually be the chorus, hook, and the way we sing it.
We never did a demo of the song. We just kind of bashed it out on the piano over a couple of days, maybe a week or two period.
It really did happen pretty quickly, and we needed to because the album was being finished.
I'd say in two or three sessions the song was pretty much done.”
The poignant track went on to become a classic of the era, and one of Cyndi Lauper’s signature songs.
Wrestler Captain Lou Albano, who appeared in the "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" video, played a cook at a diner in this one.
Lauper's mom and boyfriend were also in the video, portraying her mom and boyfriend…
Click on the link below to watch it:
This week in 1983, the Violent Femmes released their debut, self-titled LP (April 13)
Most of the songs on the album were written when songwriter and singer Gordon Gano was an 18-year-old high-school student in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
It ended up one of the classic LPs of the 80s, despite not being a chart hit on its release.
It peaked at #34 in Australia, and didn’t chart at all in the US until eight years later in 1991, even then only peaking at #171.
In fact, the album had reached platinum status before it actually charted in the US, and just about everyone with a decent record collection had a copy.
Highlights for me are the first four songs on side 1, “Blister in the Sun”, “Kiss Off”, “Please Do Not Go”, and “Add It Up”, which provide a killer start to the album.
I also like the back end of side 2, with “Gone Daddy Gone” and the contrasting piano-infused, dreamy change of pace “Good Feeling” to finish the record.
Brian Ritchie’s frenetic, percussive bass playing, Gano’s plaintive vocals, and the sparseness of the arrangements were revelations to me at the time…
The album cover too, has become a classic.
The cover model is Billie Jo Campbell, a three-year-old girl who was walking down a Los Angeles street with her mother, when they were approached and offered $100 for the photograph that became the album cover.
The pic shows Campbell peering into the window of an old house in Laurel Canyon.
Campbell recollects: "I remember looking into that building, and they kept telling me there were animals in there, and I was pissed off ... I didn't know why they were making me look in this building.
I had no idea there were photographers there. I was ... pissed off that I couldn't see the animals and I was all cranky by the end of it."
Click on the link below to watch “Kiss Off”:
On this day in 1977, The Stranglers released the LP “Rattus Norvegicus” (April 15)
Thematically gritty, this record (also known as “Stranglers IV”, despite being their debut studio LP) is arguably their best work.
It was one of the highest-selling albums of the punk era in Britain, eventually achieving platinum record sales.
Martin Rushent’s production is excellent, showing the band in their best light, providing a snapshot of the band's live set at the time.
Hugh Cornwell’s compelling, half-spoken vocals, JJ’s urgent, aggressive, bass lines prominent in the mix, Jet Black’s lockdown work behind the kit, and Dave Greenfield’s wondrous, babbling keyboard runs intertwining themselves throughout, were all brought together by Rushent to great effect, in only one week.
“Rattus Norvegicus” was ranked #10 among the top albums of the year for 1977 by NME, and #196 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
It went to #4 in the UK, and #82 in Australia, and didn’t chart anywhere else.
Robert Smith of the Cure has named “Rattus Norvegicus” as one of his all-time five favourite albums.
Click on the link below to watch "(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)", which was based on the band's life in their Chiddingfold squat:
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave Edmunds was born in Cardiff, Wales, on this day in 1944 (April 15)
In the 60s Edmunds fronted bands including the Raiders, the Image, the Human Beans, and Love Sculpture (who released two albums), before having a solo UK Christmas #1 hit in 1970 with “I Hear You Knocking”.
In 1976 he and Nick Lowe formed the group Rockpile, with Billy Bremner and Terry Williams. Because Edmunds and Lowe signed to different record labels that year, they could not record as Rockpile until 1980, but many of their solo LPs were actually group recordings.
Edmunds had more UK hits during this time, including Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk", Nick Lowe's "I Knew the Bride", Hank DeVito's "Queen of Hearts" (later a larger, international hit for American country-rock singer Juice Newton).
Unexpectedly, after Rockpile released their first LP under their own name, “Seconds of Pleasure” (1980), the band split.
Edmunds spent the 1980s collaborating with the likes of Status Quo, Paul McCartney and Jeff Lynne, but recorded less frequently after the mid-1980s, living in Wales in semi-retirement, but occasionally touring.
In 2015, Edmunds released his first instrumental album “On Guitar... Dave Edmunds: Rags & Classics”.
The album was Edmunds' final album and after playing a final show in July 2017, he was reported to have retired from the music business.
Click on the link below to watch “I Hear You Knocking”:
Ramones lead singer Joey Ramone passed away on this day in 2001 (April 15)
Born Jeffrey Hyman, he was a fan of the Beatles, the Who, David Bowie, and the Stooges among other bands, particularly oldies and the Phil Spector-produced "girl groups".
His idol was Keith Moon of the Who.
Hyman took up the drums at 13, and played them throughout his teen years before picking up an acoustic guitar at age 17.
Co-founder of the Ramones, he was originally the band’s drummer, but soon took to the mike and with his towering presence and unique vocal stylings, became a frontman of punk legend...
Despite initially achieving only limited commercial success at the time, the Ramones were one of the pioneers of punk, and one of the most influential bands of all time.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility in 2002, a little over a year after Joey’s death.
In 2011, the Ramones were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and were ranked #26 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
He passed away exactly 21 years ago today after a long battle with lymphoma, aged just 49.
His solo album “Don't Worry About Me” was released posthumously in 2002, and features the single "What a Wonderful World", a cover of the Louis Armstrong standard.
MTV News claimed: "With his trademark rose-colored shades, black leather jacket, shoulder-length hair, ripped jeans and alternately snarling and crooning vocals, Joey was the iconic godfather of punk."
Click on the link below to watch “Blitzkrieg Bop”:
