Barry On Baseball Also blogging at Banished to the Pen.
Wow this thread is long...I didn't read all 23 pages of it, so sorry if I repeat anything here.
Has anyone heard of ClassX? It's on the internet at http://www.classxradio.com and over the air (I think it's 88.3 and another spot in the 89's, can't think of the frequency off the top of my head), and they play AOR stuff from the 70s thru today. Bands you have heard of like Journey and Bad Company, and some off-the-beaten-path guys like New England and Snakecharmer.
As for Van Halen, I love everything with Roth, I like the Cherone album, but the only Hagar record I like is "Balance." There are songs here and there on the other Hagar albums that are okay, but overall I could do without.
Welcome to Redzone!
As for Classxradio, it was mentioned for the first time many months ago in this very thread. Since I do not live in the Cincy/Dayton area, I, for one, am glad that it was. IMHO, it is the best rock station on the Planet, with long playlists..just as AOR radio was before suits took over and rock radio became so full of sub-genres that one has to tune into at least four radio stations for the same variety of rock that one used to get from one AOR station.
As for the Van Halen III album, even though it's no masterpiece by any means and does not, IMHO, belong anywhere the top half of the Van Halen library, I still like it. Then again, I much prefer Fair Warning and Diver Down to 1984, so I'm definitely in the minority.
Again, welcome!
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Thank you for the welcome...still getting my feet wet, I don't think I've posted at all in the baseball sections yet.
I DJ'ed for ClassX for a little while, first doing a Saturday afternoon shift and moving into a Saturday night "hair metal" show until I couldn't do it anymore because of work. I took the show to syndication and kept it going for another 2 years on other stations before handing it over to someone else because I was getting a bit burnt out producing and hosting it each week. I don't have anything to do with radio anymore, but still review albums on my personal blog and have really branched out with my tastes. If I was still doing the radio gig, I probably would have never heard of bands like Alabama Shakes, Two Gallants, or JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound. Not really rock (well I guess Two Gallants is) but they are some of my favorite CDs right now.
ClassX is great. Another Cincinnati-area station that I've been listening to alot is "The Project" at 100.7. Because of that station, I have been introduced to Twenty One Pilots, Muse, and others that have been all but ignored in the Cincinnati market. It's Clear Channel, so I'm sure I'll get sick of it eventually, but for now the music is fresh enough to keep me listening.
Sit back and enjoy as we begin this edition of Lost AOR hits with a pair from the 90's.
Spacehog - Mungo City (1998)
This is the third of four hits for this band, best known for the 1996 smash hit "In The Meantime", which is still receives heavy AOR airplay today.
Vocalist/Bassist Royston Langdon was once married to Liv Tyler, perhaps his finest accomplishment.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Breaking The Girl (1992)
Tame by the band's standards, I know. But it is extremely difficult to find a lost AOR hit by this band that doesn't contain NSFW lyrics. Nevertheless, I can listen to this band all day.
I'll also present the argument that, due to longevity and popularity on both Pop and Rock radio, this band can also claim the title as Generation Y's Beatles, along with Nirvana.
Paul Carrack - I Need You (1982)
Here is the long forgotten debut Top 40/AOR solo hit for one of our Redszone favorites. This track definitely has a Motown feel to it. A fond memory from the Fall of 1982 - my HS Freshman year.
Mike & The Mechanics - Over My Shoulder (1995)
While this track remains a favorite of many Paul Carrack / M&TM fans, it has virtually disappeared from Radio -- Lite FM, AAA and AOR stations -- and, much like the aforementioned Paul Carrack track, remains more prominent as background Grocery/Department Store music, sadly.
While it may not be as good as "Silent Running" or "The Living Years" - both of which, believe it or not, also qualify as lost AOR hits - it is well worth a listen -- again, if you are familiar with it, or for the first time.
Frida - I Know There's Something Going On (1983)
Frida is actually short for Anni-Frid Lyngstad, one of the lead singers for ABBA. This one hit wonder was produced by Phil Collins, who also plays drums here. Touring Genesis member Daryl Stuermer performs the guitar solo, just as he did on the Philip Bailey/Phil Collins smash 1985 Pop/AOR hit "Easy Lover".
IMO, this is a solid effort all around.
Vandenberg - Burning Heart (1983)
Arguably, I saved the best for last.
A few years before joining Whitesnake, guitarist Adrian Vandenberg's band produced two AOR hits from two separate albums. This was the first and, by far, the biggest -- Pop # 39 and AOR # 5.
Once you give it a listen, IMO, you'll soon discover why. I'll just flat -out state that, IMO, this the best Power Ballad ever. Feel free to disagree.
The highlights are, of course, an awesome A.V guitar solo and the vocals, ably manned by Bert Heerink.
As always, Rock On, Redszone!
Adieu from R4Blue.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Why should GenY get the Chili Peppers and Nirvana? Aren't they more of a GenX phenomona?
Also, I can't come up with a better comparison for the Red Hot Chili Peppers than The Beatles. I really wish I could, but I can't. Their longevity aside, their influence on the writing and playing of hard rock, pop rock and just pop music in general is amazing. While never sounding "the same" they have their own sound. Many people have borrowed parts of the Chili Pepper vibe, but nobody has sounded like them. In many ways they are the best parts of Zep and The Beatles without the breaking up and dying. In other ways, I prefer Zep and The Beatles. All three are timeless and classic.
This is all kind of a revelation to me, I am not the biggest fan the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
What if this is as good as it gets?
That's actually a good question, as my claim/argument was in response to another thread in which a poster claimed that those who prefer Foo Fighters to Nirvana are a slap-in-the-face to Nirvana fans, just as if anyone were to claim that Wings were better than the Beatles, due to the opinion that Nirvana is to Gen Y what the Beatles are to Gen X.
It was also meant to stimulate discussion. Mission accomplished.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Dom Heffner (06-26-2013)
I just love this song, and I haven't heard it on the radio since the '90s.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds-Wrap it Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P3No5P4sFs
Just because I can
Sam & Dave-Wrap it Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTaxwnhUb-o
What if this is as good as it gets?
Revering4Blue (06-06-2013)
Once again, it is time to travel back in your mind to the time when one didn't have to listen to at least four different radio stations for what used to played on one AOR station. In other words: suits didn't severely limit playlists.
Double shots/two-fers today. You know the drill.
Spin Doctors - Jimmy Olsen's Blues (1992)
Spin Doctors - You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast (1994)
A once enormously popular band, this band seemingly fell off the map after failing to match the success of their debut album, not unlike Counting Crows or Hootie And The Blowfish, all of whom burst on to the scene around the same time period.
Nevertheless, the former AOR hit is from the smash album Pocket Full Of Kryptonite, which also contains the band's signiture Pop/AOR hits: "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" and "Two Princes." FWIW, I consider "Two Princes" to be the best crafted Pop song of the 90's.
The followup album Turn It Upside Down features "You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast", the last of seven AOR hits for the Spin Doctors, who just recently released their sixth album titled If The River Was Whiskey. Time will tell if any of the new tracks garner Rock Radio airplay.
Santana - Nowhere To Run (1982)
Santana - Over And Over (1981)
To be perfectly honest with you, both the early "Evil Ways" and Supernatural album eras elicit a "meh" response from me ** ducks**
IMHO, vocalist Alex Ligterwood's era, 1978 - 1984, was the best Santana era, featuring many lost AOR hits. Here are, IMO, the best of the best from that era.
"Over And Over", my all time favorite Santana track and one that should have been released as a single, was one of five tracks from the awesome album Zebop to receive at least moderate to Heavy AOR radio airplay. Among the other's:
The Russ Ballard - penned hit "Winning", "Changes", and "The Sensitive Kind", originally recorded by Cat Stevens and J.J Cale, respectively.
The band's follow-up album Shango is also no slouch of an album, producing "Nowhere to Run", which actually received more AOR airplay than the big Pop/AOR hit "Hold On", the big Pop/AOR hit from the album.
Jimmy Davis & Junction - Kick The Wall (1987)
Jennifer Trynin - Better Than Nothing (1995)
Here are a couple of AOR radio one-hit-wonders for ya.
When the former track reached its rock radio / MTV peak around Thanksgiving of '87, it was often mistaken for a Bryan Adams track.
Bryan Adams, however, rarely (if ever) produced material as solid as this track, IMO -- and this coming from a fan of the Bryan Adams rock era, before he went Lite FM on us.
Conclusion: "Kick The Wall" also kicks something other than the Wall.
The latter track, yet another track likely to be relegated to AAA (Adult Album Alternative) radio today, was the sole Rock hit for Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Jennifer Trynin, which, in a way, is kind of a shame because many female solo acts of that era were highly successful with, IMO, far worse material - mostly on Pop Radio, though.
All of which begs the question:
While I realize that Grunge, Nu-Metal, and Post Grunge either have or still influence "Mainstream" rock radio playlists, I have to ask why newer female solo Rock acts, are, far too often than not, relegated to AAA radio today?
IMO, that's pathetic.
I doubt that even Alanis Morissette would receive much "Mainstream" Rock radio airplay if she debuted with "You Oughta Know" -- believe it or not, a huge AOR hit back in the day -- today.
Rock On, Redszone!
Adieu from R4Blue.
Last edited by Revering4Blue; 06-24-2013 at 05:36 PM.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
The Replacements were great. Not much else to say about the band. A lot of solo efforts came out after the band broke up. IMO, Tommy Stinson's Bash and Pop came closest to recreating the feel of a Replacements album. The album 'Friday night is killing me' is one of my favorites. Here are a few cuts from it.
Revering4Blue (07-22-2013)
This entry of Lost AOR hits requires little commentary. The bands are all well-known, though the tracks remain largely relegated to the back-end of AOR/Classic Rock radio playlists, if they are there at all.
Three out of the four bands listed below have already been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Care to guess (without looking it up) which band hasn't yet been inducted? I'll reveal the answer below.
Van Halen - Where Have All The Good Times Gone! (1982)
Album: Diver Down
REO Speedwagon - Stillness Of The Night (1982)
Album: Good Trouble
Queen - Now I'm Here (1975)
Album: Sheer Heart Attack
Queen - I Want It All (1989)
Album: The Miracle
The Pretenders - Time The Avenger (1984)
Album: Learning To Crawl
The Pretenders - Never Do That (1990)
Album: packed!
The answer to the aforementioned trivia question............
REO Speedwagon.
As always, Rock On, Redszone!
Adieu from R4Blue.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Captain13 (07-27-2013),Tennessee Red (07-23-2013)
Sadly, JJ Cale has passed away.
http://www.today.com/entertainment/g...-74-6C10765669
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
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