Album Oriented Rock (AOR)--A dying radio format.

[vaticanplum]

Originally Posted by Revering4Blue

Admittedly, I'm unfamiliar with the entire CD, but I do remember the AOR/AAA hit "Chocolate Cake." I'll check it out.

Woodface is a stellar album -- one of my all-time favorites -- *except* for Chocolate Cake, IMHO. That song is awful. It's the leadoff track, and I always, always started with track 2 on that album.

I think the biggest hit from that album was probably Weather With You.

I somehow missed this thread until now. Lots of fun stuff in here.

[marcshoe]

Chocolate Cake also hasn't held up well at all. Too many contemporary references.

[Captain13]

This next tune is off one of my favorite albums, 11 by The Smithereens. The Smithereens had several AOR hits through the late 80's and into the 90's. The Blues Before and After is not the biggest of those (or likely the best), but it is one that I really enjoy.

The Blues Before and After-The Smithereens

The Smithereens - Blues Before and After - YouTube

[Rojo]

Originally Posted by Tony Cloninger

The Buzzcocks were a great power pop/punk band. 20/20 is long forgotten too but they were very good at it.

Not a fan with a big exception: "Why can't I touch it?" That song kills it.

[Revering4Blue]

In the spirit of AOR radio, it's a Two-Fer Tuesday edition of Lost Rock Tracks Of The Week.

R.E.M-Texarkana (1991)
R.E.M-Strange Currencies (1995)

The former is from Out Of Time. The Latter is from Monster, my personal favorite '90's R.E.M CD. Neither of them are played anymore, of course.

Texarkana R.E.M. - YouTube

REM - Strange Currencies (with lyrics) - YouTube

The Fixx-Deeper And Deeper (1984)
The Fixx-Driven Out (1989)

This Band, who have just released a new CD titled Beautiful Friction, were a fixture on the AOR radio charts from 1982-1991. I chose these two tracks because, even though they were HUGE AOR hits, they were not Top 40 Radio/Pop hits. Thus, you'll never hear them on an 80's station, unlike many other Fixx hits.

The first track is a cool track from the Streets Of Fire Soundtrack. "Driven Out" is from Calm Animals, and is one of three Fixx tracks to top the Billboard Rock Tracks chart--"Are We Ourselves" and "Secret Separation" were the others.

The Fixx - Deeper and deeper ( Long version ) - YouTube

The Fixx - Driven Out - YouTube

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers-A Woman In Love(It's Not Me) (1981)
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers-Out In The Cold (1991

Two, IMHO, terribly underrated AOR hits from a Hall of Famer. The tracks are from Hard Promises and Into The Great Wide Open, respectively.

A Woman In Love (It's Not Me) - YouTube

Tom Petty - Out in the Cold (Music Video) - YouTube

As always, Rock On, Redszone!

Adieu from R4Blue.

[Revering4Blue]

This next tune is off one of my favorite albums, 11 by The Smithereens. The Smithereens had several AOR hits through the late 80's and into the 90's. The Blues Before and After is not the biggest of those (or likely the best), but it is one that I really enjoy.

The Blues Before and After-The Smithereens

Great choice.

I'm a big Smithereens fan, so rest assured, they'll be featured again here.

[KittyDuran]

Originally Posted by Revering4Blue

Great choice.

I'm a big Smithereens fan, so rest assured, they'll be featured again here.

The attached pic is my actual 45 of the single!

The Smithereens - Behind The Wall Of Sleep - YouTube

[KittyDuran]

An early REM hit... with attachment of the both sides of my 12" single...

R.E.M. - Can't Get There From Here - YouTube

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by KittyDuran

[CENTER]An early REM hit...

Great song. REM was my favorite band in the late 80s and early 90s. My first concert going with friends was at the Richfield Coliseum for the Green tour. I started to get less enthusiastic when they released Out of Time and they became dead to me when Everybody Hurts came out. I can't stand that song. By then The Pixies had already become my new favorite.

[Revering4Blue]

Rather than limit the double-shots to just the artists who created/performed the tracks, the tracks paired together on this week's edition of Lost Rock Tracks Of The Week are paired that way because they have something in common:
Artist, year of peak popularity, or at least one common word in the song title.

Judas Priest - Heading Out To The Highway (1981)

Traveling Wilburys - Heading For The Light (1989)

Easily one of the best Metal bands of all time, this once huge AOR hit straight from the album Point Of Entry--because it isn't named "Breaking The Law,"
"Living After Midnight," or "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"--never receives airplay anymore, even though it is considered one of the band's signature tracks.

Featuring George Harrison and Jeff Lynne sharing lead vocals, this largely forgotten track is, IMHO, the best of the eight AOR hits by this Supergroup. Only
"Handle With Care," great track that it is, seems to be the only track that anyone can recall.

Judas Priest - Heading Out To The Highway - YouTube

Traveling Wilburys - Heading For The Light - YouTube

38 Special - You Keep Runnin' Away (1982)

38 Special - The Sound Of Your Voice (1991)

IMHO, a borderline RRHOF snub. There are many inducted RRHOF artists with much weaker resumes than this Jacksonville, Fla based band.

Anyway, track number one was the follow-up AOR hit to the smash "Caught Up In You," and I never understood why, even though it was a big AOR hit, it wasn't a bigger Pop hit than it was, as it is as catchy as any 38 Special track.

Track number two, a huge AOR hit from the CD Bone Against Steel, features Keyboardist Max Carl on lead vocals. Carl's other vocal credits with the band include "Rock & Roll Strategy" and "Second Chance," which was a smash hit back in the day on everything from Lite F.M to AOR radio. This track sounds like a Survivor song because Survivor member Jim Peterik helped write it and, IMSMC, produced it.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1w...ing-away_music

38 SPECIAL . THE SOUND OF YOUR VOICE - YouTube

John Waite - Change (1982)

Tears For Fears - Change (1983)

Cutting right to the chase, the aforementioned tracks--same title, different songs--were the first AOR hits from the respective artists and, IMHO, remain the best AOR hits from said artists to this day.

Track number one is from the album Ignition, which was the first solo album by the former lead singer of the Babys, and, eventually, Bad English. For my money, one of the best Rock vocalists ever. There, I said it..

As for the eclectic Tears For Fears, this track, straight from album The Hurting, was an AOR hit a full two years before the band really hit it big with the CD Songs From The Big Chair. The follow-up CD The Seeds Of Love, inexplicably released four years later, was also great, but "Change" remains, at least to me, the definitive Tears For Fears track and AOR hit.

kshe classics john waite change - YouTube

Tears For Fears - Change + lyrics - YouTube

As always, Rock On, Redszone!

Adieu from R4Blue.

[Revering4Blue]

Originally Posted by KittyDuran

The attached pic is my actual 45 of the single!

The Smithereens - Behind The Wall Of Sleep - YouTube

You read my mind, KD. This is exactly the Smithereens track that I was going to post. It's good to know that at least a few of us remember this great track.

Full disclosure: I can certainly relate to this song--dreaming about a tall woman. Been there, done that. Hey, we all have our weaknesses.

Anyway, I never knew that this was ever released as a single. Is that, by chance, a promotional 45?

[KittyDuran]

Originally Posted by Revering4Blue

You read my mind, KD. This is exactly the Smithereens track that I was going to post. It's good to know that at least a few of us remember this great track.

Full disclosure: I can certainly relate to this song--dreaming about a tall woman. Been there, done that. Hey, we all have our weaknesses.

Anyway, I never knew that this was ever released as a single. Is that, by chance, a promotional 45?

Can't remember... That single and the REM 12" we're IIRC purchased at either Looney T-Birds in Oxford or Horizon Records & Tapes in Fairfield.

[Dom Heffner]

John Waite and .38 Special, two great acts. Jim Peterik, who wrote a lot of their songs is also a favorite of mine. Love his work with Survivor.

[texasdave]

Great job as always. One of my favorite threads.

Turning Circles is my favorite Judas Priest song. And it's "You've got another think coming". I know most people probably say it the other way. We all have our little idiosyncracies. Keep those classic tunes coming.

Judas Priest-Turning Circles (Vinyl) 1981 - YouTube

[texasdave]

Oh, yeah. Love John Waite (especially the Babys). But my vote for best rock vocalist would go to this guy.

Grand Funk Railroad - Pass It Around - YouTube