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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: KevShmev on October 01, 2016, 02:07:31 PM
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We have heard of the many artists who kind of went by the wayside once the 80s and MTV rolled around, but who are the 70s pop and rock stars who managed to stay or become even more popular and relevant thanks to MTV?
First ones that come to mind for me are:
Billy Joel
Bruce Springsteen
The Moody Blues
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Aerosmith
Judas Priest
Scorpions
Whitesnake
Peter Gabriel
Joe Jackson
Fleetwood Mac
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Van Halen immediately sprang to my mind.
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Yes and The Grateful Dead.
Yes had a somewhat revival, and there biggest hit ever thanks to the Owner of the Lonely Heart vid, and a whole new generation of stoners became the last generation of Deadheads (including yours truly) because of the Touch of Grey vid.
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I had considered Yes as well.
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Kiss?
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Kiss?
Definitely.
Slade too.
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Yes came back in the 80's mostly due to the efforts of Trevor Rabin, who understood how to make music that was relevant and even innovative. No one else in Yes has ever shown any ability to make music that was popular/relevant past the 70's, and as most people know, Yes had broken up and that band wasn't even going to be called Yes.
Still, they did have some cool videos in the 80's, and it was cool seeing Yes being popular again, even if it wasn't the Yes I grew up with. Even hardcore Yesfans admit that if RabinYes hadn't existed, the Yes name might have been gone forever.
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that band wasn't even going to be called Yes.
I heard they were going to be called Maybe.
I'm sorry.
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Weren't they going to be called Cinema? I remember reading something about it years ago, but my memory is faulty...
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Tom Petty had some great videos in the 80s.
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Weren't they going to be called Cinema? I remember reading something about it years ago, but my memory is faulty...
Correct is was to be called Cinema. Jon Anderson was not in the band, came and heard the songs and wanted to be in the new band. At that point they felt they had to be Yes again.
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Aerosmith
Peter Gabriel
Definitely. When I hear Sledgehammer or Big Time on the radio, I can't help but think what mediocre songs they are. And or course everything Aerosmith has ever done is at best mediocre.
Fleetwood Mac
Strange, I can't think of one video from Fleetwood Mac.
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And or course everything Aerosmith has ever done is at best mediocre.
That's not true.
Strange, I can't think of one video from Fleetwood Mac.
Both Gypsy and Hold Me were in pretty heavy rotation.
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Big Love was played non-stop in 1987, too, and both Little Lies and Seven Wonders got plenty of airplay as well.
I think Robert Plant is a good one to mention.
And of course...Genesis.
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Thought of another...Heart. Their re-explosion in 1986 was greatly aided by the videos to all of those songs.
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he was only a moderate "star" in the 70's, but his 80's videos certainly shot him to the top
Robert Palmer
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ZZ Top.
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Thought of another...Heart. Their re-explosion in 1986 was greatly aided by the videos to all of those songs.
No question.
ZZ Top.
Absolutely.
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Journey
Sammy Hagar
and of course the biggest......
Michael Jackson
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I'm going the lesser known route. People from 70's bands that videos helped in the 80's.
Eric Carman from The Raspberries. The 80s he had hits with Hungry Eyes & The Way It Used To Be.
Of course Kenny Loggins. So many 80's hits that were videos.
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Under that criteria, Joe, like I said, Sammy Hagar.
But also Billy Squier.
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Uh, Rock Me Tonite. :lol :lol :lol :lol
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Under that criteria, Joe, like I said, Sammy Hagar.
But also Billy Squier.
I agree.
Hey Kev!! Emotions In Motion!!
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Oh God, how horrible!
Joan Jett, and to a lesser extent Lita Ford.
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As bad as the video is, I remain steadfast that Rock Me Tonite is nonetheless a really good song.
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That video blows so much. The track itself is fine.
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Just for you Tim........ :2metal:
(https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-12-2015/eZJbRL.gif)
(https://67.media.tumblr.com/fdb3881c3d1e021d6bdf8c1c874482a3/tumblr_mj1fg05GFK1qz5q5lo1_400.gif)
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When I refreshed my DTF Index and saw that you posted in this thread, I KNEW you were up to no good! :lol
Looks like an early Winger video!
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(https://i.makeagif.com/media/2-24-2014/eti72g.gif)
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Genesis
(https://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131207014825/spittingimage/images/e/e6/Phil_Collins.jpg)
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If you must gooooooooooooo, I wish you luuuuuucckkkkk......
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Under that criteria, Joe, like I said, Sammy Hagar.
But also Billy Squier.
I agree.
Hey Kev!! Emotions In Motion!!
If you haven't already, go and find "Creatures of Habit". No, I'll wait...
It wasn't the first one after "Rock Me Tonite" (that was "Enough is Enough", and there was one more, "Hear and Now" after that), but it's a crime against humanity that this album isn't at least as highly regarded as the three "big ones" in his catalogue. I usually am pretty laissez faire when it comes to this stuff - I don't think things are "unfair" or that artists "deserve" anything, but if I was, this would be at or near the top of the list. It was a HORRID video; but to ruin the career of a guy that is otherwise stellar, just doesn't seem right.
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Journey
Michael Jackson
If I understand what the thread is truly getting at, I'm going to disagree with these two. Yeah, their videos got heavy rotation and helped make them huge. But they were already wildly popular and trending well before MTV really was even a thing. Isn't the thread really meant to get at artists that were basically fading that had a resurgence due to videos?
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Sure, Bosk.
Though MJ was popular, those Thriller era videos shot him to the next level. Or next next level.
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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?
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You guys are ganging up on me! :lol
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Don't act like you don't like it. :P
But really, was Whitesnake a star in the 70s?
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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? :biggrin:
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In David Coverdale's mind they were. They were probably more popular in England. But they were already stars in Deep Purple.
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Okay, but Deep Purple is not Whitesnake. :big grin:
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Okay, but Deep Purple is not Whitesnake.
In David Coverdale's mind they were.
:biggrin:
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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. :lol
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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. :lol
Tawny Kitaen? You mean the blonde playing the guitar? Wait, no, that is John Sykes. Always take the one for the other! :rollin :rollin :rollin
B.Lee
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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.
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What about Elton John? I'm still standing helped him be reborn if I remember it well, no?
B.Lee
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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.
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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
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♫♫ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪♫
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♫♫ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪♫
I find it to be a very catchy tune!
B.Lee
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As do I.
♫♫ I'm still standing ♪
♫♫ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪♫
♫♫ I'm still standing ♪
♫♫ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪♫
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I'm Still Standing, to this day, remains the Elton John song I listen to the most.
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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).
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Get that crazy talk of another great song out of here Stadler. :lol
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But did Elton John "survive" the 80's because of videos?
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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.
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Hall & Oates
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Hall & Oates
Good call!
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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
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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.
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"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).
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Totally agree about Live at Daryl's House.
I really liked the episode with Jason Mraz, another great singer/songwriter.
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OK, thanks guys. Will try and check that out.
B.Lee
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^^^ 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Videos were marketing for bands in the 80's. No band worth their salt wouldn't use that medium to put their product out there.
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Very true, but I don't think it's fair to say that videos are the only reason certain artists survived. Guys like Joel and Springsteen can thank videos big time for helping them survive, but without them, I don't think either would have seen their careers die.