There was a time when having a strong, distinctive voice made a singer a star. It took more than that, of course. Emotion. A powerful singer made you feel the song. That was Eric Carmen.
Obviously, thousands upon thousands of hit songs have been written on guitar, but Eric was a classically-trained pianist, and there's something more melodic about songs composed on piano. Too, Eric taught himself guitar, and the guitar's dominance is evident in his band's, The Raspberries, million-selling 1972 hit:
2004
1972
But really, Eric Carmen's legacy rests largely on the decade of the eighties. Self-styling himself solely as a songwriter, sorry, but the following songs would not have impacted us the way they did without Eric's soaring tenor.
Not iconic, but still a nice top ten hit:
Though sung by Ann Wilson and Mike Reno in the movie Footloose, this, too, was written by Carmen:
Not a perfect comparison, but Eric Carmen's music was operatic much like Roy Orbison's. There is no disputing his killer songwriting skills, and there is no denying his uniquely superb voice.
Rest in peace, Eric Carmen. Thank you for those eighties memories.
Did you ever hear a song in a movie and search it out? I have.
There's something about the context of a movie that makes a song seem so much better. It's that tugging at the heartstrings thing, I guess. Listening to the song in isolation isn't near as nice as seeing it played out on the screen, usually during the big dramatic ending.
I was re-watching Rain Man awhile back, and heard this song, and I honestly couldn't even remember hearing it the first few times I'd watched the movie. I had to search it out, because I had no idea who the singer was. Turned out it was that annoying falsetto singer from the early sixties, Lou Christie. Who knew? He actually is a good singer. Wonder how he ended up saddled with all those crummy songs.
There is no video available of Lou performing the song, but I did find a nice homemade video:
Remember the movie, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles? Steve Martin and John Candy. Timeless John Hughes movie. John Hughes was a great filmmaker, and he also instinctively knew just the right songs to include to enhance his stories. Here's Paul Young:
Speaking of that movie, which will always have a special place in my heart, how about this one from Ray Charles:
Remember Beetlejuice? Featuring a very young Alec Baldwin. Here is Harry Belafonte:
This is a great song, with our without the movie, but I confess, I am a Patrick Swayze fan. Here are the Righteous Brothers:
I could include lots of John Travolta movie moments, but I'm not going to go with the obvious. Here's Boz Scaggs (love Boz Scaggs!) with a song from Urban Cowboy:
There are so many great movie soundtrack moments. But bear with me. Sorry if I've posted this before (and I know I have), but this is my favorite:
Remember VCR's? Well, of course you do.....unless you were born in 2005. Well, I bring it up because in 1987, I was still working second shift at the hospital, so in order to not miss the CMA awards broadcast, I'd need to set the old VCR timer and find an unused or unneeded tape to pop in. When one works second shift, it always seems like there's a whole bunch of stuff you're missing out on, but that's really just psychological. In actuality, the only show other than the CMA's that I really needed to see was St. Elsewhere.
Perhaps it was because I worked at a hospital, but maybe it was just a good show. St. Elegius - - St. Alexius. Their hospital was way more interesting than mine.
Of course, in 1987, there was the usual political stuff going on; Iran-Contra and negotiations with the Russians; you know, the usual stuff. But what's really important is POP CULTURE!
So, with that in mind, here's a hit song from 1987:
Yes, the world's greatest gift to hairspray, and to leather fringe jackets, Bon Jovi. And that whole flying out over the audience thing is cool! One of my favorite rock songs from the eighties.
Meanwhile, at the movies, we were enjoying:
The best part of the movie, La Bamba, of course, was Esai Morales, (over)playing the role of "Bob".
While there were a lot of memorable movies from 1987, nothing, to me, beats this one:
Starring of course, Patrick Swayze and a pre-cosmetic surgery Jennifer Grey, and of course, Detective Lennie Briscoe himself, Jerry Orbach.
Fred and Ginger be damned. Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
Is it just me, or were the late eighties the nadir of pop culture?
But I digress (as usual). Our main topic is the CMA awards of 1987. So let's kick things off.
The VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR award went to a new pairing in 1987; Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White. Now, not to be a stickler, but honestly, while they happen to be a married couple, Ricky and Sharon didn't record a whole lot of duets throughout the course of their careers. But Ricky happened to be a hot commodity at the time, so therefore, the CMA decided to spread the wealth a bit. So, therefore, we have our vocal duo of the year:
And you gotta love this video. As if they're just sitting around in their living room (note the lovely beige draperies), doing a jam session, with mics and with everyone facing forward, toward that imaginary audience. Cuz I know when I'm sitting around my living room, I always have everyone sitting side-by-side. Just in case there's a camera on us.
That new-fangled award, MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR, was once again bestowed upon Hank Williams, Jr., for a thoroughly forgettable song, My Name Is Bocephus. Seriously, I don't remember this song. Do you?
I guess music videos (in country) were in their infancy back then, and Hank Junior had the market cornered. Cuz really, there's nothing that stands out about this. But you be the judge:
The VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR was once again The Judds. As annoying as Naomi could be, with her flouncy red dress, and as dated as the "big hair" is, there's no mistaking that the Judds were icons of the late eighties. And here they are, along with their contingent of sparkly bedazzled fans, doing, "Give A Little Love":
Again, in 1987, Reba McEntire was named FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR. This is kind of a cool video, although chronologically incorrect (it was from 1989), but Reba seems to tend to only allow more recent videos to be posted on the net. And no offense, Reba, but you really should stick with the earlier videos, because curly perms aside, at least you looked "natural" then, if you get my drift.
Here's "Sunday Kind Of Love":
The INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR again was fiddlin' Johnny Gimble. You know, Johnny goes back a long way. He played with Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, so that's a loooong way back.
Here he is, fiddlin' for Connie Smith, on Pop Goes The Country, starring Ralph Emery, with special guest hosts, Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens (I just wanted to see how many country music legends I could fit into one sentence).
The HORIZON AWARD in 1987 went to Holly Dunn. Remember Holly Dunn? She was a pretty big deal in the late eighties. I liked her music. Wonder whatever happened to Holly. Well, here's her website: Holly Dunn
Holly is a full-time artist now (and not a "musical artist", but an actual "artist"). Well, good for her! Although, Holly, your website could use some work. Our website looks better than this, and we're nobodies. I'm just saying.
Anyway, enjoy a performance by Holly:
Luckily for me, I can tick off four awards here at one time! Because 1987 was really the year of Randy Travis. How so?
SONG OF THE YEAR - Forever And Ever, Amen - written by Paul Overstreet & Don Schlitz
SINGLE OF THE YEAR - Forever And Ever, Amen
ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Always And Forever
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR - Randy Travis
Here you go!
Isn't this a sweet video? Thanks, Randy Travis.
Well, that only leaves us the main award of the evening, ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR.
Guess who? No, not Randy Travis. It's our old friend, Hank Williams, Junior.
And here he is, with a jumpin' song; one that'll make you get up and dance. Enjoy!
So, you see, Hank wasn't just a one-shot wonder. Oh no. He wasn't just a video star. In 1987, Hank was the entertainer of the year! So, there you go. And thanks, Hank, for keepin' the conservative spirit alive.
HALL OF FAME
Rod Brasfield
Rod Brasfield was a country comedian. It was sort of an expectation, way back when, that country music shows would include comedians. And Rod Brasfield followed in that tradition.
Here he is, with Cousin Minnie Pearl, performing a comedy routine.
I'm thinking, back then, that comedians were a big part of the whole country music entertainment extravaganza. Well, it was a different time. Me, I like country music for the music, but that doesn't negate the importance of these early pioneers, so hats off to Rod Brasfield, for helping to bring country music to the masses.
And there you go. From the ridiculous to the sublime, or vice versa. 1987. A good year for pop culture. Even country music was slowly making its way into the twentieth century.
I did a previous post about eighties rock, and I promised more to come. Well, I kind of got sidetracked with other stuff (did I mention I have a short attention span?)
But tonight, as I'm sitting here, with basically nothing to do, I thought I would delve further into the wonderful world of rock and roll in the eighties.
There were so many memorable songs during that period that it's really difficult to narrow it down. I think I started off quite well on my first post, but then I got tired and had to go to bed.
But I'm back! And I always like to get the party started right, so here we go!
THE B-52'S - LOVE SHACK
Ahh, the 80's. When people still knew how to have fun. Wouldn't we all like to spend Saturday night at the "Love Shack"?
I must say, too, that I'm impressed with Fred Schneider's way with the "spoken word". Notice that he doesn't actually "sing".
I've got me a Chrysler that seats about TWENTY So hurry up and bring your juke box MONEY
I remember there was a debate way back when about what exactly Kate Pierson was saying toward the end of the song. Because it's not real clear. But I think it was determined that she was saying, "Tin Roof. RUSTED" (in case you were wondering).
While we're all just dancing around, I thought I would add this one, from 1984.
KENNY LOGGINS - FOOTLOOSE
I have to admit, I never actually saw this movie. But the video looks nice. I guess it was about some hick town where Kevin Bacon wasn't allowed to dance. And I guess he REALLY wanted to dance. So, this tells me that the movie is pure fiction. Because did you ever know a guy who actually WANTED to dance? Somehow, I can't picture my husband "busting a move", you know? The last time we actually danced together was about 10 years ago, and it was sort of just shuffling around the floor. But in theory, I guess you could call it "dancing".
While we're on the subject of "Footloose", I found this fun video on YouTube of the cast of "The Office" (my favorite show, by the way), dancing and just basically being uncomfortable as usual, backed by Kenny Loggins' song.
THE OFFICE - FOOTLOOSE
I gotta say, kudos to nikki8907, whoever you are, for a GREAT editing job on this!
I can't let this opportunity go by without including this video from the 1987 movie, "Dirty Dancing".
This is one of my favorite movies (I guess it's a "chick thing" - I find that men don't have the same fondness for this movie that women do - for some strange reason).
BILL MEDLEY & JENNIFER WARNES - I'VE HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE
"Nobody puts Baby in a corner."
I guess we'll close out the "dancing" portion of our show with this final video, by Lionel Richie:
ALL NIGHT LONG
Lionel had quite the career going in the eighties. Sadly, he's now only known as the father of one of those rich, spoiled kids. Ahh, how times change.
Now, on to some "non-dancing" videos.
Speaking of careers, here's another guy who did quite well for himself back then. I hear all these Chicago "purists" talk about how he basically ruined the band, blah, blah, blah. Hogwash. He's a great singer. And really, if it wasn't for Peter Cetera, Chicago would have dried up after "Saturday In The Park". No offense to Chicago.
PETER CETERA - THE GLORY OF LOVE (FROM "THE KARATE KID")
Speaking of great singers, to me, this is one of the greatest voices of all time in rock:
STEVE PERRY - OH, SHERRIE
While we're on the topic of great solo singers, here's one that I love:
PAUL YOUNG - EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY
If you've never seen the movie, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", please rent it or get it from your local library. Steve Martin, John Candy. It's a comic classic. A John Hughes movie. And this song is from that movie.
Another particular favorite of mine:
FOREIGNER - I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS
Again, like Peter Cetera, denigrate this singer all you want, but I bet you'd like his money, wouldn't you? Did he do every soundtrack from the eighties?
BRYAN ADAMS - HEAVEN
I think we'll close this out with a song that I really like. Duran Duran was a band that I didn't get into too much, but I think this is a really good song. I started to write about the connection this song has to a certain true crime book that I read many years ago, but then I thought, why spoil the vibe?
