70s stars who survived the 80s thanks to videos

[KevShmev]

  Isn't the thread really meant to get at artists that were basically fading that had a resurgence due to videos?

Basically, yeah. Or for 70s stars you could argue would have dropped off without videos.

Along those lines, was Whitesnake a 70s star?  Or Billy Squier?

[TAC]

You guys are ganging up on me! 

[KevShmev]

Don't act like you don't like it.

But really, was Whitesnake a star in the 70s?

[bosk1]

I'm not really familiar with Billy Squier's early timeline.  But I also was kinda questioning Whitesnake as well.  I mean, they sort of fit, but not exactly.  I don't know if they were falling off.  They definitely were a '70s act (albeit, barely) that did not really break through, especially in the U.S., until their videos (particularly Love Ain't No Stranger around '84-ish) starting getting rotation.  So, they weren't really stars that were tailing off.  They were minor stars in the U.K. that broke through because of videos in the '80s.  So...close cousins of what this thread was asking?   

[TAC]

In David Coverdale's mind they were.  They were probably more popular in England. But they were already stars in Deep Purple.

[KevShmev]

Okay, but Deep Purple is not Whitesnake.  :big grin:

[bosk1]

Okay, but Deep Purple is not Whitesnake. 

In David Coverdale's mind they were. 

[BlobVanDam]

Whitesnake were only just starting out in the late '70s, and while they had some success at that time in the UK due to Coverdale being known from Purple, I don't think they were big enough in their own right to really consider a '70s band as such.
The self titled album (ie 1987) and those accompanying videos certainly helped establish the band in the US though. And Tawny Kitaen of course.

[Bertielee]

Whitesnake were only just starting out in the late '70s, and while they had some success at that time in the UK due to Coverdale being known from Purple, I don't think they were big enough in their own right to really consider a '70s band as such.
The self titled album (ie 1987) and those accompanying videos certainly helped establish the band in the US though. And Tawny Kitaen of course.

Tawny Kitaen? You mean the blonde playing the guitar? Wait, no, that is John Sykes. Always take the one for the other!

B.Lee

[King Postwhore]

While Bowie was still strong in the 70's the 80's and his videos were a big help to bring in new, younger fans. 

[Bertielee]

What about Elton John? I'm still standing helped him be reborn if I remember it well, no?

B.Lee

[King Postwhore]

That's a great one.  You know what else is common with the videos?  The songwriting.  He got his original band back with him for that album.  It's always a confluence of things but a good video in the day helped.  Especially with the rotation of the videos.  You couldn't get out of the way if I'm Still standing every few hours.

[Bertielee]

That's a great one.  You know what else is common with the videos?  The songwriting.  He got his original band back with him for that album.  It's always a confluence of things but a good video in the day helped.  Especially with the rotation of the videos.  You couldn't get out of the way if I'm Still standing every few hours.

Pretty much this. I was a young teenager back then, but I remember the video being aired on a super heavy rotation.

B.Lee

[Orbert]

♫♫ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪♫

[Bertielee]

♫♫ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪♫

I find it to be a very catchy tune!

B.Lee

[Orbert]

As do I.

♫♫ I'm still standing ♪
♫♫ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪♫
♫♫ I'm still standing ♪
♫♫ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪♫

[KevShmev]

I'm Still Standing, to this day, remains the Elton John song I listen to the most. 

[Stadler]

Don't take this for disagreement or contrarianism, because I agree with Elton being here, I just want to note that the song for me is "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues".  That song hits me in the gut every single time.  Love it (though my favorite EJ song from the period is "In Neon"; it just wasn't a hit and thus doesn't qualify here).   

[King Postwhore]

Get that crazy talk of another great song out of here Stadler.

[TAC]

But did Elton John "survive" the 80's because of videos?

[King Postwhore]

His popularity was failing that was the album that put him back on the map and the videos definitely had something to do with that.

[SoundscapeMN]

Hall & Oates

[TAC]

Hall & Oates

Good call!

[Bertielee]

Hall & Oates

Good call!

I'm not a specialist of the band, but are "Out of Touch" and "Man-eater" parts of that 80s survival for H&O?

B.Lee

[SoundscapeMN]

Hall & Oates

Good call!

like

I'm not a specialist of the band, but are "Out of Touch" and "Man-eater" parts of that 80s survival for H&O?

B.Lee

their biggest hits were in the 80's, which the videos certainly helped, but they had hits previously like Sara Smile or Rich Girl, etc.

[Stadler]

"Family Man" is one of the greatest songs ever written, ever, though ironically, it was a cover for Daryl Hall and John Oates (though they changed the lyrics at the end).

And you all should be watching "Live From Daryl's House" religiously, even if you don't know/like the guest.  There is almost ALWAYS something special on that show.  Even someone like Patrick Stump (from Fall Out Boy), who I thought was a clown, really showed something when in the room with Daryl and his band (and it goes without saying that Daryl can sing ANYTHING at ANY TIME.  He's held his own with some amazing singers, including belting out an excellent "Rock Candy" with Sam Hagar).

[hefdaddy42]

Totally agree about Live at Daryl's House.

I really liked the episode with Jason Mraz, another great singer/songwriter.

[Bertielee]

OK, thanks guys. Will try and check that out.

B.Lee

[Stadler]

^^^ And I'm serious, don't worry about whether you've heard of the person or even like the person.  The format is (for the half hour version) one song from H&O, one from the guest, and a third that could be anything.  The hour show is I think five songs, plus a little side bar of cooking or some shit and they sometimes have a dinner where they talk (the one with Johnny Rzesnik of the Goo Goo Dolls is excellent, as is the one with Ben Folds.  In one of them, Daryl copped to seeing Zeppelin in Philly on their first tour, and he also copped to being considered for Van Halen).   

But in any event, you're watching for Daryl's band, and Daryl.   I could listen to Daryl sing harmony all week long. 

[King Postwhore]

And it's so many different styles of music.

It was fun to find out that Cheap Trick and Hall & Oates hung out so much in the 70's.

[Orbert]

I've never seen the half-hour version.  I kinda like the hour-long version, but I often skip the "and now let's make dinner" part towards the end.  Sometimes I'll watch it, since I do have some interest in cooking, but it's not what I tuned in for.  More than one early episode spent some time going over how the house was designed and built and stuff, and that too took away from the musical part, but was interesting the first time.  It doesn't surprise me that there's a shorter version created from the same footage.

[Stadler]

I've never seen the half-hour version.  I kinda like the hour-long version, but I often skip the "and now let's make dinner" part towards the end.  Sometimes I'll watch it, since I do have some interest in cooking, but it's not what I tuned in for.  More than one early episode spent some time going over how the house was designed and built and stuff, and that too took away from the musical part, but was interesting the first time.  It doesn't surprise me that there's a shorter version created from the same footage.

I can do without the cooking as well (though I think I watch Food Network more than any other channels combined, hahaha!) but the conversation is very interesting, especially with the younger guests, like Butch Walker for example.   There is a real reverence for Daryl on these shows, and I can only think it's because after they show up and play with him and his band for a couple hours, they realize he's the real fucking deal.  And you get a great insight into all the ways the music business has changed, and more importantly, all the ways it HASN'T.  Fascinating stuff, but it's in little tidbits here and there.

[ZKX-2099]

I think it's safe to say that any 70's artist that "survived" the 80's did it only because videos.

Name a 70's artist that stayed big in the 80' without videos.

[Orbert]

Good point.  Heck, even Frank Zappa made some videos, and he was philosophically opposed to them.

Frank held off for a long time, saying that music videos will lead to music which "looks good" being popular more than music which sounds good.  He wasn't exactly wrong, either.  I know there were a lot of videos I watched being of the visual content, and before you know it, the song had wormed it's way in.  Stuff I wouldn't have given five seconds if I caught on the radio, I'm walking around humming the chorus.

This of course led to one of my favorite pasttimes, watching TV with the sound off while listening to "good" tunes.

[KevShmev]

I think it's safe to say that any 70's artist that "survived" the 80's did it only because videos.

Name a 70's artist that stayed big in the 80' without videos.

I'm not sure I agree with that.

While he had tons of videos that were good and got tons if airplay, I think Billy Joel would have survived the 80s just fine without videos.  Maybe his hits wouldn't have charted as high, but he would have survived.