Peter Gabriel - I Don't Remember

For this years' slightly abbreviated All Hallows Even celebration, we are going with Peter Gabriel's excellent, creepy, and underrated video for "I Don't Remember."

As many readers will know, Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975, and released his first solo album in early 1977.  [As a side note, the first four Peter Gabriel solo albums are all untitled, and are often referred to by the cover art.]  While Gabriel's first two solo albums sold well, it was his third LP, 1980's 'Melt' that broke him as a solo artist.  The album was a sonic breakthrough with a modern, driving sound.  As one example, the album did not use any cymbals at all, which led to the innovation of the gated reverb drum sound.

'Melt' would go on to hit "1 in the U.K. and #22 in the U.S., led by "Games Without Frontiers," which reached #4 in the U.K. and #48 in the U.S.  The album also drew no small amount of critical acclaim; Rolling Stone ranked it as the 45th greatest album of the 1980s.  The LP is remarkably strong from cover to cover with lyrics that are creative and political, and a sound that was unlike anything on radio at the time.

In the All Hallows Even spirit, we opted for "I Don't Remember," which has a genuinely unnerving video.  The song only reached #107 in the U.S. and did not chart in the U.K., and we doubt that the video would have been played by most mainstream outlets back in the day.  However, it fits seamlessly into our theme of the season here.

Also note that previous All Hallows Even videos can be selected by choosing the Label to the right.

Cool trivia fact: Rolling Stone rates the Melt LP as the 46th greatest album of the 1980s.

Dokken - Just Got Lucky

While Dokken's version of melodic hard rock seemed tailor made for the pop metal era, they never quite landed the big breakout song or album.  To be fair, though, they did have three consecutive platinum (and top 50) LPs in the 1980s, which is more than most groups can say.

The band's roots date back to 1976, when singer/guitarist Don Dokken formed Airborn in Los Angeles.  The name change to Dokken occurred in 1979, when the group discovered that there was a signed band with the Airborn name.  Four years later Dokken had gathered enough of a following to land a recording contract with Elektra.  Unfortunately, their first album (1983's Breaking the Chains) did not do well -- to the point that convincing the label to finance a second album became quite an ordeal (as an aside, this led to the LP's name -- Tooth and Nail).

Though Tooth and Nail didn't become a smash hit, it did establish Dokken as a legitimate rock act, and eventually reached #49 on the album charts.  "Just Got Lucky" did not chart on the singles charts, but hit #27 on the Billboard mainstream rock chart.  It remains our favorite Dokken song, though we don't recall seeing the video back in the day.

The vid is pretty standard stuff, though it does look as though portions of it may have been filmed in a dressing room (mirrors!).  The guitar solo was shot in Hawaii, near an active volcano that apparently made breathing difficult.

As previously mentioned, Dokken would go on to have further successes in the 1980s, before the simmering tensions between Don Dokken and lead guitarist George Lynch caused Dokken to break up in 1989.  However, there have been multiple reunions since then, and the band seems to be doing reunion shows as of this writing.
 

a-ha - Take On Me

No one in their right mind could consider a-ha's monster hit "Take on Me" to be a rare song or video, which begs the question:  have we (finally) lost our minds?  The answer to this question may well be yes, but there is a method to our madness for this video.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first:  "Take on Me" was the song that seemingly every teenage girl (and many boys) loved during 1985.  The song hit #1 all over the world, including the U.S.  The video was in heavy rotation for seemingly all of 1985 and beyond, and won six MTV VMAs.  Video savant Steve Barron combined pencil animation with live action in an innovative and creative way; we think it is fair to say that many critics would view "Take on Me" among the greatest music videos ever made.  For younger readers, folks who want to reminisce, or anyone who was locked in a closet for 1985, the original clip is below.

Yep, still a great video.  a-ha would go on to have a second top 40 hit in the U.S. with "The Sun Always Shines on TV" and became bonafide stars in Europe through the mid 1990s.  Since 1994, a-ha has broken up and re-formed several times, most recently in 2015.

In order to get to the rare video, a little about the song itself is helpful.  The origins of "Take on Me" go back to two earlier songs -- 1981's "The Juicey Fruit Song" which evolved into "Lesson One" which in turn became "Take on Me" in early 1983.  The band recorded a demo shortly afterwards, and recorded a different version after they were signed to Warner Bros. in 1984.  The second version of the song was released, and a video was made - so here is your rare video:

 
Though the song and video are fine, we think it is fair to say that they were unexceptional.  At this point, the band caught a huge (and we mean huge) break.  Warner Bros. in the U.S. took a liking to the group, and decided to invest in them.  First, Warner helped a-ha re-record the song (with producer Alan Tarney, who was previously featured on ERV for "No Time to Lose"). Then, they brought in Steve Barron to make the top video.  Lastly, Warner aggressively promoted the video, even showing it before movies.

Needless to say, this record company support led to the huge success of the single (and album).  Unfortunately for the group, synth pop fell out of favor, and it appears that Warner's promotional efforts turned elsewhere.  Still, a-ha can't complain too much:  they became the first Norwegian act to have a #1 hit in the U.S.

The Babys - Back On My Feet Again

The Babys were a British-American power pop act who by all rights should have become big stars in the 1970s.  Guitarist/keyboardist Mike Corby and manager Adrian Miller formed the band in 1974 and held auditions to fill out the roster.  Tony Brock (drums), John Waite (vocals/bass) and Wally Stocker (guitars) made up the original lineup.

The group were signed by Chrysalis and seemed to be building an audience, but a dispute with the record label resulted in Corby and Miller being fired in 1978.  Soon afterwards, Americans Jonathan Cain (keyboards) and Ricky Phillips (bass) joined; this lineup continued until the group broke up in 1980.

While The Babys has some modest successes (3 top 40 hits and 2 top 40 LPs), their hard work never really paid off, and this frustration eventually led to their breakup.  John Waite would go on to have some success in the 1980s as a solo artist, while Jonathan Cain would join Journey right as that band became megastars.  In 1989, Waite, Cain and Phillips would reunite in Bad English (with guitarist Neil Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo).

For the blog, we went with the group's last top 40 single, 1980's "Back on My Feet Again."  The song peaked at #33 on the charts while the Union Jacks album only hit #42.  However, it is a solid representation of the band's later material.

In 2013, original members Tony Brock and Wally Stocker reformed the band.  Additionally, John Waite has been know to perform Babys songs at concerts from time to time.