Blondie

Blondie

“Heart Of Glass” was one of those transition songs. It came along as disco’s excesses consumed the genre. The Blondie song had a New Wave feel with a dash of Punk but you could still dance to it. As the group progressed its Rock tendencies emerged in the songs “Call Me,” “One Way Or Another”…

The Cars

The Cars

In most cases, a band has to rule its home turf before it conquers the world. That’s exactly what happened with the Cars – Ric Ocasek (vocals/guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass/vocals), Elliot Easton (guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards) and David Robinson (drums). In ’77, amid the disco onslaught, a demo version of “Just What I Needed” became…

The Bangles

The Bangles

Beware of novelty songs. It may be fun to do one. But bands rarely think it could be what they are remembered for. Despite other great performances, the Bangles and “Walk Like An Egyptian” are eternally linked. The Bangles had two #1 songs, the aforementioned novelty track and the dreamy ballad “Eternal Flame.” Based on…

The Go-Go’s

The Go-Go’s

Not since the Beach Boys, nearly two decades earlier, had a band been more consistently happy and upbeat. It shouldn’t be surprising since The Go-Go’s lead singer Belinda Carlisle was a high school cheerleader – in Hollywood, no less. Ironically though, The Go-Go’s began as an L.A. Punk group. Carlisle, Jane Wieldin (guitar), Charlotte Caffey…

The Knack

The Knack

The word on The Knack was they recorded their debut album “Get The Knack” in eleven days for eighteen-thousand dollars. It went platinum in ’79. Not a bad return on investment for Capitol Records. Of course, the song that made it all possible was “My Sharona.” Within weeks of its release, the herky-jerky Rocker with…

The Police

The Police

At the beginning of ’77, ex-schoolteacher Gordon Sumner a.k.a. Sting (so named for his fondness for a black and yellow stripped jersey he constantly wore) and Stewart Copeland began The Police with guitarist Henri Padovani. By mid-year The Police were producing demos and playing shows. They also added guitarist Andy Summers. But Padovani left shortly…

INXS Top 10

INXS Top 10

INXS started with the Farris Brothers (guitarist Tim, keyboardist Andrew and drummer Jon) in ’79. School friends, bassist Gary Beers, guitarist/sax player Kirk Pengilly and vocalist Michael Hutchence soon came on board. Interestingly, this line-up remained intact through the band’s lengthy history (’79 to ’97). Honing their act, INXS (in excess) set out on a…

The Cure

The Cure

Was Robert Smith ever happy? At age fourteen, The Cure frontman, stated his ambition was to “sit on a mountain and die.” Don’t set the bar too high there, Robert. Just a scant seven years later (after failing to locate a suitable mountain) he was quoted saying he “didn’t see that there was much point…

Duran Duran

Duran Duran

There are some groups so “on trend” it’s scary. MTV, launched in the early ’80s, was initially in dire need of content. Equally important, they needed to find musicians who “got it.” Artists who understood making a video was more than standing in front of a camera lip-synching. Enter Duran Duran from Birmingham, England. Duran…