MTV in the 80s Song of the Day

[Orbert]

Ah yes, Barry Manilow.  I do have a few of his albums, but no stories.

[masterthes]

Orbert, I'm totally with you. It's a great chick flick, and besides the song being discussed, the rest of the soundtrack is really good as well

[bosk1]

Orbert, I'm totally with you. It's a great chick flick, and besides the song being discussed, the rest of the soundtrack is really good as well

I can't cite the exact rule, but I'm pretty sure you just violated one of the rules of manliness.  It's perfectly fine to admit that a select few chick flicks are decent without being in jeopardy of losing your man card.  But you cannot, under any circumstances, attempt to bond with another male over a chick flick, no matter how good.  That is absolutely forbidden.  Pull it together, man!

[KevShmev]

Sounds like this thread needs a non-ballad to bring it back around a bit...

Dokken - Dream Warriors

Originally released for the third A Nightmare on Elm Street film, it was also included on the Back for the Attack record.  Good song, one that wasn't a big hit on the pop charts, but was one that MTV that played the shit out of.  It was one of those vintage 80s videos that had footage of both the band playing the song and scenes from the movie.

[jjrock88]

cheesy, but great video.  great song too!

[BlobVanDam]

I've never seen the music video, but it's a cool song, and a damn solid album from start to finish. I never knew it was in A Nightmare on Elm St. The more you know!

[KevShmev]

I believe it is called "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors," so there ya go.

[Jaq]

Dokken was pretty big in the 80s, don't get me wrong, but I often thought they were more MTV big than actually big. By that I mean their level of exposure on MTV was disproportionate to their actual chart and touring success. MTV had a bit of a distorting effect on bands, where they were seen as superstars because of near constant airplay, but often their actual success was different. I never heard Dokken on the radio here, and while I may have forgotten, I'm pretty sure the only times Dokken played here was as an opener. Yet in the mid 80s you tripped over Dokken videos all the damn time. Don't get me wrong, Dokken sold plenty of records and played plenty of shows, but if you tried to gauge their success based on how much they were played on MTV, you'd figure they were one of the biggest bands in the world.

[jjrock88]

That seemed to be the same situation here in Canada with Much Music.  Based on the amount of times they would play a video, you would think a band was huge.  But that actually wasn't always the case.  I haven't watched that station in around 20 years, so I'm basing that on the early-mid 90s.

[BlobVanDam]

I believe it is called "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors," so there ya go.

So, not exactly a tough puzzle to piece together had I known the movie.

[bosk1]

2 stories for the price of 1 with this song:

In high school, I was basically in the "smart kids' group" that had honors and AP classes, so despite going to a large school, that core group of us had a lot of classes together through all four years.  Somewhere along the way, we decided to have a class party every year.  Can't remember whether it was around Christmas or the end of the year, but either way, we had it at my house the year this movie was out, and I remember we had it on in the background.  At the point where somebody got brutally murdered by Freddie, I remember one of the guys in our class named John Mattos saying, "well, see--that's what happens when you listen to Dokken." 

I had never gotten into Dokken earlier despite some pretty good songs.  Honestly, it all goes back to middle school.  There was a girl named Nicki who had gone to see them and wore her "Rokkin' with Dokken" shirt at every opportunity.  I just thought that was the dumbest slogan a band could possibly come up with, so I personally boycotted Dokken on principle and never gave them a shot.  When I finally discovered them, it was through the same method that I inadvertently discovered a LOT of new music:  I accidentally forgot to fill out the Columbia House selection of the month card and return it on time, so a few weeks later, Back For The Attack showed up in my mailbox.  Turned out to be a really solid album.  Mr. Scary was especially awesome.  Suddenly, Nicki didn't look so silly anymore.  Too bad--I missed my opportunity, as I believe she was already seeing somebody at this point. 

Anyhow, Dream Warriors was a cool song.  If not for my Columbia House mishap, I may not have given it a fair shake.  The video, as I recall, was movie scenes interspersed with band scenes, with a few custom shots of Freddie stalking the band or something like that.  About what I would expect. 

[masterthes]

My apologies sir. Will never happen again 

[Orbert]

...it was through the same method that I inadvertently discovered a LOT of new music:  I accidentally forgot to fill out the Columbia House selection of the month card and return it on time, so a few weeks later...

Same here, but with the RCA Music Club.  But checking out new music for cheap was cool back then.  Today, I'd be pissed every time I forgot to send in the card and got some CD I didn't order, and I probably wouldn't give it a fair shake.

[KevShmev]

Oh man, the classic 12 CDs for a penny deals! I took advantage of those a few times. Most of the cassettes () I owned back in the 80s were gotten through the mail from RCA or Columbia House.  I did forget to send back the card several times and got sent some album I didn't want, but I always sent them back.

[masterthes]

My parents were proud members of Columbia House for a number of years

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Oh man, Dream Warriors is so good.  Absolutely love it.  Don sounds excellent, there's a killer guitar solo, just fantastic from start to finish.  The video was pretty damned cool as well.

[DebraKadabra]

Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings

Not one of her best, but not as bad as peeps make it out to be.

Dokken - Dream Warriors

Loved this one, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

[KevShmev]

Dokken was pretty big in the 80s, don't get me wrong, but I often thought they were more MTV big than actually big. By that I mean their level of exposure on MTV was disproportionate to their actual chart and touring success. MTV had a bit of a distorting effect on bands, where they were seen as superstars because of near constant airplay, but often their actual success was different. I never heard Dokken on the radio here, and while I may have forgotten, I'm pretty sure the only times Dokken played here was as an opener. Yet in the mid 80s you tripped over Dokken videos all the damn time. Don't get me wrong, Dokken sold plenty of records and played plenty of shows, but if you tried to gauge their success based on how much they were played on MTV, you'd figure they were one of the biggest bands in the world.

This is a great point.  Stryper is similar to Dokken in that regard, in that MTV played the living crap out of them, but they were not really that popular, at least when it came to the charts.  Speaking of which...

Stryper - I Believe in You

Classic example of a song that was huge on MTV, but failed to break the top 40, which is kind of surprising given that it reeked of 80s monster balladry.   I didn't realize it at the time, but listening to it years later, it became oh so obvious what a massive influence Dennis DeYoung was on the vocal style of Michael Sweet.  He sounds like he is channeling his inner Dennis DeYoung during the chorus of this song.

[Jaq]

Oh, Michael Sweet in ballad form WAS Dennis DeYoung. Honestly sounds like it came off the Styx album that, in a parallel universe, they did instead of Kilroy Was Here. 

[ZirconBlue]

There was another Dokken song in that movie:  "Into the Fire" was playing during a scene.  Oddly, the VHS release had a different song subbed in for that scene, but according to Wiki, "Into the Fire" was restored for the DVD.

[Orbert]

The rights to use a song in a movie often don't extend to home video versions of the movie, so new contracts have to be drawn up.  At least that's the way it was years ago.  Usually it's not a problem, but sometimes there's a glitch.  The label or whoever currently owns the song doesn't want it used, or they want ridiculous amounts of money for it, or maybe they've gone under or there's some other kind of legal mess that they just don't feel like dealing with, just to get a song on the soundtrack for home video.  So they don't bother.  I suspect that that's what happened here with the VHS, then by time the DVD version came around, someone cared enough about getting all the original songs to push for it, and got it.

[bosk1]

There was another Dokken song in that movie:  "Into the Fire" was playing during a scene.  Oddly, the VHS release had a different song subbed in for that scene, but according to Wiki, "Into the Fire" was restored for the DVD.

Oh, wow.  I don't think I ever picked up on that.  (or if I did, I forgot a long time ago)

[ZirconBlue]

The rights to use a song in a movie often don't extend to home video versions of the movie, so new contracts have to be drawn up.  At least that's the way it was years ago.  Usually it's not a problem, but sometimes there's a glitch.  The label or whoever currently owns the song doesn't want it used, or they want ridiculous amounts of money for it, or maybe they've gone under or there's some other kind of legal mess that they just don't feel like dealing with, just to get a song on the soundtrack for home video.  So they don't bother.  I suspect that that's what happened here with the VHS, then by time the DVD version came around, someone cared enough about getting all the original songs to push for it, and got it.

Yeah, but considering Dokken also performed the Theme song for the movie, it seems kinda silly for the same label to allow it to be included, but not another song of theirs. 

[wolfking]

Sounds like this thread needs a non-ballad to bring it back around a bit...

Dokken - Dream Warriors

Originally released for the third A Nightmare on Elm Street film, it was also included on the Back for the Attack record.  Good song, one that wasn't a big hit on the pop charts, but was one that MTV that played the shit out of.  It was one of those vintage 80s videos that had footage of both the band playing the song and scenes from the movie.

This was the first Dokken song I heard and it made me a a fan.

[Orbert]

The rights to use a song in a movie often don't extend to home video versions of the movie, so new contracts have to be drawn up.  At least that's the way it was years ago.  Usually it's not a problem, but sometimes there's a glitch.  The label or whoever currently owns the song doesn't want it used, or they want ridiculous amounts of money for it, or maybe they've gone under or there's some other kind of legal mess that they just don't feel like dealing with, just to get a song on the soundtrack for home video.  So they don't bother.  I suspect that that's what happened here with the VHS, then by time the DVD version came around, someone cared enough about getting all the original songs to push for it, and got it.

Yeah, but considering Dokken also performed the Theme song for the movie, it seems kinda silly for the same label to allow it to be included, but not another song of theirs. 

We don't know that the label wouldn't allow it.  It could be that they were asking for more money than New Line thought was worth it, or New Line just didn't care that much.  The theme song was obviously written for the movie, but "Into the Fire" was from Tooth and Nail.  It would have required a separate agreement, and for every contract, they've got to come up with a price that both sides agree on.

[DebraKadabra]

Stryper - I Believe in You

Classic example of a song that was huge on MTV, but failed to break the top 40, which is kind of surprising given that it reeked of 80s monster balladry.   I didn't realize it at the time, but listening to it years later, it became oh so obvious what a massive influence Dennis DeYoung was on the vocal style of Michael Sweet.  He sounds like he is channeling his inner Dennis DeYoung during the chorus of this song.

Never was really into Stryper, but I'll have to YT this one when I get home solely due to the DDY connection.

[King Postwhore]

Dream Warriors kicked all kinds of ass but I Believe in You was lame, lame, lame.  Stryper have so many better tunes.

[DebraKadabra]

Um... yeah, so the DDY connection was flimsy at best.

[Jaq]

Hey, the MTV song thread fell off the first page. GIVE US A SONG KEV. 

And go listen to the Stryper song Honestly if you want to hear Michael Sweet channel his inner Dennis DeYoung, Debra.

[KevShmev]

    Fine, you asked for it...

Loverboy - Queen of the Broken Hearts

This is another one of those forgotten 80s hits.  But looking it up, it only went to number 34 on the pop charts, so this looks like another one of those "it was bigger on MTV than it was in reality" songs.  I liked it a lot at the time, but it is mostly an afterthought to me now.

[Orbert]

I don't even remember this one, and we played a lot of Loverboy songs.  I think we had four in our setlist at one point.  Was this a later Loverboy song?

[KevShmev]

No, it was from 1983's Keep It Up, the same album Hot Girls in Love came from. 

[Orbert]

Ha ha, that's "later" Loverboy to me.  We broke up in 83 and all the songs we played were from the first two albums.  I missed most of 1983, which is probably why I'd never heard of this one.

[KevShmev]

Haha, I see.  If you played four early Loverboy songs, they had to have been The Kid Is Hot Tonite, Turn Me Loose, Working for the Weekend and Lucky Ones.  Yes?

[DebraKadabra]

Loverboy - Queen of the Broken Hearts

Gee Kev, thanks for the update.  NOT.