Phil Brown (who sadly passed away last year) is playing my old Rickenbacker bass in this video. I sold it to him in London circa 1976 or ’77, and had always presumed that he’d used it on ‘Starry Eyes.’ I’d replaced the original Rickenbacker pickups with Hofner pickups, which gave the instrument a powerful, very distinctive sound - the main reason that he’d bought it from me. I’m glad that he put it to such great use.
Is that a double SVT head stack he has on top of that V-9 cab? Talk about overkill! I played with that same cab with only a V-4B head and even in the biggest room I don't think I ever had that thing higher than half volume. 😊
I'll bet you can probably buy it back from his people if you wanted it. Our band The Doowrag Flyers from Garwood, NJ used to do this song and I still have the out of tune band recording to prove it.
Nowhere near as big as it should have been, but I do remember this getting some minor airplay on K101 in Houston around this time (1979-80). It wasn't promoted very well for some reason, which is strange since bands like Cheap Trick, the Cars, and the Knack were very successful at the time. Such was the sad state of FM radio formats in America in those days. It was more profitable and safe for them to push tepid crap like Foreigner, Styx, and Toto than to get behind the newer bands that played much better music and had obvious appeal with a younger demographic. I have no doubt this song would have made the top 10 if it had gotten the proper promotion.
Actually the fall and summer of 79 had a lot of power pop. Moon Martin, Joe Jackson, Bram Tchaikovsky, Robert Palmer, in addition to the bands you mentioned all had hits. In a slightly different vein, that was the year that Dire Straits and the Police broke out big.It beat the hell out of early 1979 which was 99% disco.
@@runewark_dana8202 Yes!!! I was also at that Great Adventure show in 79. I was blown away by The Records! Great Adventure had some great concerts back then. Also saw The Ramones..
Yes!!! I was a freshman in college in Philly in 1980, and I remember ALL of the local Philly bands covering this song in their sets, didn't matter if it was a frat party or a Friday night campus mixer. Very up-beat high energy tune that people really got into...
This was from “The Midnight Special” in 1979. There was no announcer for the show. Only character generated text introducing the acts. Great show with The Cars, Iggy Pop and M.
One of the top 10 greatest power pop anthems of all time. It's a damn shame the American FM stations were too chicken shit to really push this one straight to the top, where it probably would have gone had they taken the chance. This, "Do Anything You Want To Do" by Eddie & the Hot Rods, "Tell Me Why" by 20/20, "Rock 'n Roll Girl" by Paul Collins' Beat... and more than a few other would-be power pop hits. You'd think with all the success Cheap Trick had at the time that the American music industry would have caught on, but nope. They just kept pushing boring crap like Journey, Styx, and REO Shitwagon.
Starry Eyes did get airplay on Boston's big AOR station at the time WCOZ-FM. Quite a few power pop/new wave songs did creep into the mainstream for a little while, albeit somewhat grudgingly by the program directors. They were all into Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Foreigner, Journey, Rush and other faceless AOR (or "corporate") rock bands.
Captain Easychord - Yeah, I heard ‘Starry Eyes’ a few times on KLOL 101 in Houston, where I lived at the time. It was actually how I discovered both the song and the band, but it never got any kind of regular rotation. It really stood out to me from all the other crap they were playing. I was only 12 at the time. You’re right. For a brief few months in 1979, it looked like power pop was going to be the next big thing. After the success of The Knack, FM radio started to take a few chances... but it didn’t last very long.
In its final days as a Top 40 station (mid-to-late 1979) WEAM/1390 in the DC area played a lot of power pop; the summer of ‘79 was full of “Starry Eyes”, “Girl of My Dreams”, “Getting Closer”, “Cruel to be Kind”, and early Police/Cars/Knack/Joe Jackson - all good stuff, and it hardly got played by the other stations in town!
Remembering some of the best music of the late 70's bands that surprisingly never made it big besides Cheap Trick, Cars, Knack groups like the Records,Romantics, Raspberries, Shoes, Plimsouls, Beat (Paul Collins), 20/20, Rollers (Duncan Faure), Motels, Nerves, Dwight Twilley, Phil Seymour, Pop etc (More i could remember if i went in the basement to look at my "Records"
This band is my latest obsession. Until I get my hands on the vinyl and cds, the estate of John Wicks should see a decent royalty check from Spotify this quarter just from my streams alone.
Reminds me of Steve baders stiv bators his 1980 disconnected album that was powerpop 2 and there was some great songs in that so if you never heard of him you ought to pick up the disconnected album that he did he does it what's that song from the electric prunes last night your Shadow fell apartment I had too much to dream last night does it awesome version of it and the disconnected album got nominated in Philadelphia in 79 or 80 as one of the best independent releases that year
It's always great to find an actual live clip of a song you've loved since it came out decades ago--and to discover that the band could bring the goods live. This song did some business on FM radio, but it really should have been a massive hit--and it wasn't. Virgin (their record label) believed in it and Virgin/Atlantic (in the US) put promo muscle behind it, but for whatever reason, it didn't go the distance.
Greg's fills rounded out the song quite nicely. Along with Raspberries, 20/20, XTC and the like, this music filled the setlists for a power pop band I was in in the mid '80's. I've never had so much fun on stage. Wonderful music!
+John Thomson The keyboardist is NOT the Cars guy! His name is Mike Taylor. He joined the band for the entire 1979 US tour, including playing this Midnight Special TV show.
Heard this on a Flashback program today...I hadn't heard this for thirty-some years but every lick, every word came home like truth, stored away in some "best songs ever" vault in the back of my mind. I love the catchy lyrics, the late 70's hair and dress on this. The dress and attitude reminds me of Rockpile a lot. The guitar work here is really quite impressive, I expected to see a Rick instead of a Les Paul picking octaves. As for John's vocals...I think they are just fine. Power pop grew out of new wave, everyday guys banging away to the best of their abilities, not maestros. This is getting saved to my favorites before I forget it again.
As do I. 4-string weapon of choice with Paul Gray (Eddie & The Hot Rods, The Damned), my all time favorite bass player. Whenever I want to be transported to Rickenbacher heaven I put on ‘The Black Album’.
Misfit Toys did a great live cover of this in 1985 around the Washington DC area with Dennis Kapoyos doing both guitar parts alone. Great song! the Records were a Terrific band that was hard to find in vinyl but the kids in the collages all knew their music. Searching for them was always a pain. Search for 'Records' and you don't find the band. There were a lot of lesser known bands that were great during that transition from punk to New Wave that were overlooked. I'm glad TH-cam is here to preserve their music.
I first heard this 25 years ago @ work. I loved it. I heard it for the second time just the other day @ a gas station, and I immediately remembered it (I don't wanna argue, I ain't gonna budge...). Now I'm really eating this up! I had heard of this band many times, but was never familiar with them. I am a huge fan of power-pop. The late 70s-early 80s was the Golden Age of power-pop. I love this sound, and I gotta have more! Love this!! Thanx for posting!
Amen, brother. I remember seeing this performance when it aired. Too bad good music like this has been buried. So many people do not know what they missed.
I'm such a moron. I just heard this on SiriusXM a few days ago and though it was a new band. I was trying to find out who they were and where they were from, and it turns out the song is 34 years old.
Blimey I remember this I completely forgot about it. I had just left school and bought it don't know if I still have it after all these years. Great tune
I heard Deer tick cover this in Aspen CO about a year ago, Ian sang lead backed by John. They rocked it, definitely a highlight of their show that night.
First time I heard this album I was babysitting my cousins, when I was 14 yrs. old, and my uncle Tommy, who had a killer stereo and record collection, said play anything you want.I put the kids to bed, and went through his collection, playing this and that, but when I put on the Records album, I played the whole thing !!!Instantly fell in love with this record, and I still have a copy to this day !!!My uncle Tom took me to my first concert in 1977, when I was 12 yrs. old - KISS and Cheap Trick, it cost $7.50 Canadian !Those were the days !!!
Not exactly industry-driven music. This era was full of new and fresh ideas useful in making radio a less tedious place to visit. The knack sort of paved the way for this kind of thing. Bands of the era took a care-free approach to their musical delivery and things came out fun and very listenable, very new, upbeat in direct opposition to those horribly serious 70s bands. Rachel Sweet doing "Who Does Lisa Like" is a good example of this delightful style and time.
@@elgrandwazir1 Thanks for that info. I was about to jump all over this guy and say that is NOT Greg Hawkes. The only thing remotely similar is the hairstyle. The piano playing alone should tell anyone it's not Hawkes. It was awful and in my opinion ruined the song.
@@HumGuitarNo idea why they bothered. They were always perfectly ok live with just 2 guitars. The keyboards on their recordings were never beneficial in any way. The only time I saw them use keyboards on stage was on the Stiff tour where there were plenty of extra players available. Don Snow (I think) joined them for piano on "Paint her face" and Malcolm Morley (definitely) played piano on B.A.B.Y. when they were backing Rachel Sweet.
3:33 I wonder whatever happened to that left-handed Les Paul. Does the guy still own it, did someone buy it off him and it's now sitting in a loft somewhere? Whatever, it looks fucking gorgeous. Love lefties
His name is Huw Gower. But in the early 90s and still continuing today, Diesel Park West had three left handed guitarists and was known as the "Left Hand Band". They are worth a listen: stuff like "Like Princes Do" are terrific songs and they even did a double online cd of Byrds tunes.
Keith Podhradsky lol You're preaching to the converted. I've been a big DPW fan since I heard 'Fall To Love' circa '91 was it? Got all the albums except the last few, totally agree, top band. BUT my first comment actually said.. I wonder what has happened to the Les Paul not the player : )
Thanks for the tip. Like Princes Do is fantastic and carries on the spirit of the Records...especially Paying for the Summer of Love - power and rawness, yet tight.
Huw Gower is alive and well and currently leading ‘Icecream Skyscraper. Their debut CD ‘Granite, With Rainbow Sprinkles’ can be found at iTunes, Spotify, etc.
God, I still can't stand John Wicks voice. Eeeek! We Virgin/Atlantic employees, the tour manager, all agreed he couldn't cut it in America. Phil Brown, with lots of front and a great voice, could have saved the band. In fact, Will Birch, flat out told me "the only real musician in the band is Huw."
Annie Gower Huw was a fantastic guitarist...great licks throughout Shades in Bed. The Tim Friese-Greene produced tracks (Girl, Up All Night, Insomnia, etc) on Shades highlighted the band best, IMO. Birch/Wicks wrote a host of great tracks over about 2.5 albums. Wicks was more comfortable with harmonies and the role he had on Crashes where Jude Cole (a fine singer - Baby It's Tonight, Start the Car) handles a lot of lead vocals. Too bad Huw didn't produce that album and lead guitar with Cole on lead vocals. Crashes remains a great opus and was Album of the Month on Stereo Review. Hardly a peep on the charts though.
STILL, a great song and a powerful live performance. Was the keyboardist an original member though? I liked the addition(?) of the electric piano; it enhanced an already classic song. I first owned this on vinyl .
If I'm right this must be Midnight Special on NBC because I rmember watching them live as the Cars hosted the whole New Wave which earned alot more ratings than the disco crap the show hosted burning out the program.
1979cl1 That is correct. This episode of Midnight Special aired on September 28, 1979. What made this episode unique was that The Cars were the hosts of the show that week and rather than introduce the bands personally, the guest bands were introduced with text typed across the screen as seen at the beginning of this video.
There was no keyboard, no keyboardist (member or additional musician) on The self-titled US album. I like the keys as an addition as well, not just because I'm a keyboardist.
Someday this song will be on a movie soundtrack and all of a sudden everybody will know it and it will be LONG F-ING OVERDUE.
🤞
Phil Brown (who sadly passed away last year) is playing my old Rickenbacker bass in this video. I sold it to him in London circa 1976 or ’77, and had always presumed that he’d used it on ‘Starry Eyes.’ I’d replaced the original Rickenbacker pickups with Hofner pickups, which gave the instrument a powerful, very distinctive sound - the main reason that he’d bought it from me. I’m glad that he put it to such great use.
I thought Phil Brown was the worlds handsomest man!
We've lost John W. too. :(
Is that a double SVT head stack he has on top of that V-9 cab? Talk about overkill! I played with that same cab with only a V-4B head and even in the biggest room I don't think I ever had that thing higher than half volume. 😊
As soon as the bass came in I was like wow, that's some killer bass tone!
I'll bet you can probably buy it back from his people if you wanted it. Our band The Doowrag Flyers from Garwood, NJ used to do this song and I still have the out of tune band recording to prove it.
This song was recorded more than forty years ago and it still sounds fresh and exciting. An absolute masterpiece of pop music genius.
The best power pop song no one's ever heard of!
It was a huge hit.
Oh really? Must've been one of those hits that everyone else soon forgot because I don't hear it on the radio as much as I should.
I had the 45. In the NYC area it was a big hit. The Byrds style guitar pleased the 60's cats, and we younger kids liked the New Wave aspect of it.
Nowhere near as big as it should have been, but I do remember this getting some minor airplay on K101 in Houston around this time (1979-80). It wasn't promoted very well for some reason, which is strange since bands like Cheap Trick, the Cars, and the Knack were very successful at the time. Such was the sad state of FM radio formats in America in those days. It was more profitable and safe for them to push tepid crap like Foreigner, Styx, and Toto than to get behind the newer bands that played much better music and had obvious appeal with a younger demographic. I have no doubt this song would have made the top 10 if it had gotten the proper promotion.
Actually the fall and summer of 79 had a lot of power pop. Moon Martin, Joe Jackson, Bram Tchaikovsky, Robert Palmer, in addition to the bands you mentioned all had hits. In a slightly different vein, that was the year that Dire Straits and the Police broke out big.It beat the hell out of early 1979 which was 99% disco.
What a fantastic year 1979 was for Pop eh!!
I saw them open for Joe Jackson in '79. Back when Power Pop ruled and music was a living, breathing organism.
Lucky! I was 14 and singing this at full volume on the floor in my bedroom.
@@kelseymariel2127 Me too! Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey.
@@runewark_dana8202 Yes!!! I was also at that Great Adventure show in 79. I was blown away by The Records! Great Adventure had some great concerts back then. Also saw The Ramones..
it still is but keep living in your world where everything sucks bc ur old
@@thebasedgodmax1163 Was your inane comment suppose to hurt our feelings or what? 🤪
I worked as a radio DJ in college and I played this song on EVERY shift. It's a very upbeat song. I love it.
Love that!
Yes!!! I was a freshman in college in Philly in 1980, and I remember ALL of the local Philly bands covering this song in their sets, didn't matter if it was a frat party or a Friday night campus mixer. Very up-beat high energy tune that people really got into...
RIP John Wicks (65). He passed away in October 2018 from pancreatic cancer.
So glad this music was a part of my adolescence. We really had the best of all worlds growing up in the 70’s and 80’s. Damn.
Nothing else will never come close
Fresh sounding in 2024. Great song, great performance.
This was from “The Midnight Special” in 1979. There was no announcer for the show. Only character generated text introducing the acts. Great show with The Cars, Iggy Pop and M.
insanely great. We loved it in student houses in Australia
One of the top 10 greatest power pop anthems of all time. It's a damn shame the American FM stations were too chicken shit to really push this one straight to the top, where it probably would have gone had they taken the chance. This, "Do Anything You Want To Do" by Eddie & the Hot Rods, "Tell Me Why" by 20/20, "Rock 'n Roll Girl" by Paul Collins' Beat... and more than a few other would-be power pop hits. You'd think with all the success Cheap Trick had at the time that the American music industry would have caught on, but nope. They just kept pushing boring crap like Journey, Styx, and REO Shitwagon.
Starry Eyes did get airplay on Boston's big AOR station at the time WCOZ-FM. Quite a few power pop/new wave songs did creep into the mainstream for a little while, albeit somewhat grudgingly by the program directors. They were all into Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Foreigner, Journey, Rush and other faceless AOR (or "corporate") rock bands.
Shake Some Action by Flamin' Groovies !
Captain Easychord - Yeah, I heard ‘Starry Eyes’ a few times on KLOL 101 in Houston, where I lived at the time. It was actually how I discovered both the song and the band, but it never got any kind of regular rotation. It really stood out to me from all the other crap they were playing. I was only 12 at the time. You’re right. For a brief few months in 1979, it looked like power pop was going to be the next big thing. After the success of The Knack, FM radio started to take a few chances... but it didn’t last very long.
They pushed it enough that I bought the album when it came out. It got a pretty good amount of airplay from what I can remember.
In its final days as a Top 40 station (mid-to-late 1979) WEAM/1390 in the DC area played a lot of power pop; the summer of ‘79 was full of “Starry Eyes”, “Girl of My Dreams”, “Getting Closer”, “Cruel to be Kind”, and early Police/Cars/Knack/Joe Jackson - all good stuff, and it hardly got played by the other stations in town!
Remembering some of the best music of the late 70's bands that surprisingly never made it big besides Cheap Trick, Cars, Knack groups like the Records,Romantics, Raspberries, Shoes, Plimsouls, Beat (Paul Collins), 20/20, Rollers (Duncan Faure), Motels, Nerves, Dwight Twilley, Phil Seymour, Pop etc (More i could remember if i went in the basement to look at my "Records"
The drummer, Will Birch, became a fine music journalist. Wrote biographies of Ian Dury and Nick Lowe.
Wrote this song I think...
@@jonstern7511Wrote the lyrics; John Wicks wrote the tune.
@@Maltloaflegrande thank you! 👍
1979 rocked.
Because of such things, that was good to be 12-20 years old in 1978.
They played support for The Jam in 1979 in England
I saw them in that tour in newcastle
This band is my latest obsession. Until I get my hands on the vinyl and cds, the estate of John Wicks should see a decent royalty check from Spotify this quarter just from my streams alone.
FYI, I think their studio albums pale in comparison to the live album: (1980) The Records Play Live! (Pierce Arrow, Evanston, IL) - give it a listen!
Wow a real LIVE performance on TV with no lipsynching!!
They weren't on TOTP in this video.
Damn, I'd forgotten wnat a great guitar pop song this was! Brilliant! RIP John. Play this along with Flamin Groovies "I Can't Hide."
Telling your spouse goodbye.
Song is gold
This is "powerpop" at it's best!!!!
Saw The Records support The Jam at The Rainbow in Finsbury Park in '79.
I remember this song in the summer of 1979 I was dating a good looking girlfriend. Way cool tune.
Reminds me of Steve baders stiv bators his 1980 disconnected album that was powerpop 2 and there was some great songs in that so if you never heard of him you ought to pick up the disconnected album that he did he does it what's that song from the electric prunes last night your Shadow fell apartment I had too much to dream last night does it awesome version of it and the disconnected album got nominated in Philadelphia in 79 or 80 as one of the best independent releases that year
Power Pop!
Out Freaking Standing ... Thank You !!!!
The Records, The Headboys and Bram Tchaikovsky...if that show never happened, it's a shame. They would have *killed* it together...
It's always great to find an actual live clip of a song you've loved since it came out decades ago--and to discover that the band could bring the goods live. This song did some business on FM radio, but it really should have been a massive hit--and it wasn't. Virgin (their record label) believed in it and Virgin/Atlantic (in the US) put promo muscle behind it, but for whatever reason, it didn't go the distance.
1979 forever
Greg's fills rounded out the song quite nicely. Along with Raspberries, 20/20, XTC and the like, this music filled the setlists for a power pop band I was in in the mid '80's. I've never had so much fun on stage. Wonderful music!
+John Thomson The keyboardist is NOT the Cars guy! His name is Mike Taylor. He joined the band for the entire 1979 US tour, including playing this Midnight Special TV show.
I'm trying to remember why I got it in my head that the keyboard player was Hawkes when he looks much more like Easton!? I blame the wine!
Magical power pop
I have a HUGE music archive and never heard of this band...WHY NOT!? They're awesome, like a pre strokes.
レコーズ
懐かしいねー🎉
thanks
It was a pretty popular song here in Boston. Always on the radio.
One the era's best.
before this, my favorite song was 'Pretty Ballerina' or 'Ma Belle Amie' Since then, no contest. I love the Records
I just loved these guys in the late 70s. Pure Magic. I remember this comin in as punks was fadin.
What a great band and a great song about the music biz!
Good times... late 70s early 80s new wave/punk...High Energy music... great music to dance and have a few drinks with your girl👍
Yeah, good solid power pop/rock. Solid musicianship here.
Heard this on a Flashback program today...I hadn't heard this for thirty-some years but every lick, every word came home like truth, stored away in some "best songs ever" vault in the back of my mind. I love the catchy lyrics, the late 70's hair and dress on this. The dress and attitude reminds me of Rockpile a lot. The guitar work here is really quite impressive, I expected to see a Rick instead of a Les Paul picking octaves. As for John's vocals...I think they are just fine. Power pop grew out of new wave, everyday guys banging away to the best of their abilities, not maestros. This is getting saved to my favorites before I forget it again.
Magic happened way before I was born.Thanks so much for uploading this for sharing!!
Saw them play a free show at Walnut Park on Syracuse University
Love the sound of Rickenbacker bass ,...
As do I. 4-string weapon of choice with Paul Gray (Eddie & The Hot Rods, The Damned), my all time favorite bass player. Whenever I want to be transported to Rickenbacher heaven I put on ‘The Black Album’.
Right? Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Graham Gouldman, name some more.....
one of the best of the best of the era , it covers all the bases
Misfit Toys did a great live cover of this in 1985 around the Washington DC area with Dennis Kapoyos doing both guitar parts alone. Great song! the Records were a Terrific band that was hard to find in vinyl but the kids in the collages all knew their music. Searching for them was always a pain. Search for 'Records' and you don't find the band. There were a lot of lesser known bands that were great during that transition from punk to New Wave that were overlooked. I'm glad TH-cam is here to preserve their music.
I first heard this 25 years ago @ work. I loved it. I heard it for the second time just the other day @ a gas station, and I immediately remembered it (I don't wanna argue, I ain't gonna budge...). Now I'm really eating this up! I had heard of this band many times, but was never familiar with them. I am a huge fan of power-pop. The late 70s-early 80s was the Golden Age of power-pop. I love this sound, and I gotta have more! Love this!! Thanx for posting!
Brilliant song and times.
Fantastic Brit Power Pop, loved Shades In Bed LP when it came out.
This is what they called Power Pop
Amen, brother. I remember seeing this performance when it aired. Too bad good music like this has been buried. So many people do not know what they missed.
Great bass on this.
I wish I could like this song over and over again. If I were starting a band, I've already got too many songs like this than I could possible learn.
Beautiful Genre
I'm such a moron. I just heard this on SiriusXM a few days ago and though it was a new band. I was trying to find out who they were and where they were from, and it turns out the song is 34 years old.
Great sound!
Blimey I remember this I completely forgot about it. I had just left school and bought it don't know if I still have it after all these years. Great tune
I had just left school when this came out what a great tune it is.
Great song and nice Les Paul Junior!
Did anyone out there ever see JW play anything else? That guitar WAS him I think.
Great performance.
That's fantastic.
Opening for these awesome guys at the Viper Room tomorrow JAn 6th blessed
I heard Deer tick cover this in Aspen CO about a year ago, Ian sang lead backed by John. They rocked it, definitely a highlight of their show that night.
Great album!
Marvellous tune.
i love this
I played this album to death. I didn't know this song was a single. Penn State didn't have much of an FM rock station in the 70s.
Tim, it was ocasionally played on WQWK
Awesome
I remember high school days. but I was born in 1971 笑
Huw Gower has linked this off his Facebook page as being performed on The Midnight Special - September 1979.
studio version entered Billboard Sept 29, 1979 ..reached #56.
Should have been #1, or at least in the top 10. Much, much better than “My Sharona”, which did hit #1 that year.
pop perfection
Great band, great song. I bought their first two albums in '79and '80. But the keyboards were not needed here in my opinion.
That dude just ran over all of the guitar solo at the end.
Rest in peace, John Wicks.
Still as strong of a song as when I first heard in college. If someone wants to hear an example of power pop at its best look no further. ..
First time I heard this album I was babysitting my cousins, when I was 14 yrs. old, and my uncle Tommy, who had a killer stereo and record collection, said play anything you want.I put the kids to bed, and went through his collection, playing this and that, but when I put on the Records album, I played the whole thing !!!Instantly fell in love with this record, and I still have a copy to this day !!!My uncle Tom took me to my first concert in 1977, when I was 12 yrs. old - KISS and Cheap Trick, it cost $7.50 Canadian !Those were the days !!!
r.i.p. John Wicks.
The They Might Be Giants cover introduced me to this song. I'll always be fond of the TMBG version, but this is fantastic as well!
Listen again! Ian Gibbons played keys on the album, except for the Hammond organ on 'The Phone' which was played by Huw Gower.
I played this to death!
I still do.
@@Brewzerr That's the beauty of having it on MP3...can play over and over again without destroying it! :)
Man what Hampton great music🥹
John Wicks, theclead singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist passed away today
RIP, John Wicks
R.I.P. John Wicks
Not exactly industry-driven music. This era was full of new and fresh ideas useful in making radio a less tedious place to visit. The knack sort of paved the way for this kind of thing. Bands of the era took a care-free approach to their musical delivery and things came out fun and very listenable, very new, upbeat in direct opposition to those horribly serious 70s bands. Rachel Sweet doing "Who Does Lisa Like" is a good example of this delightful style and time.
GASP !
The guest keyboardist on this performance is Greg Hawkes from The Cars.
+John Donovan No it isn’t. His name is Mike Taylor and he played with the band on all dates of the 1979 US/Canadian tour.
Not "scrawny" enough to ve Greg, but he's awesome... the bit he did where the harmonized leads usually kick in was killer.
@@elgrandwazir1 Thanks for that info. I was about to jump all over this guy and say that is NOT Greg Hawkes. The only thing remotely similar is the hairstyle. The piano playing alone should tell anyone it's not Hawkes. It was awful and in my opinion ruined the song.
It could've been! Can't hear one from the other
@@HumGuitarNo idea why they bothered. They were always perfectly ok live with just 2 guitars. The keyboards on their recordings were never beneficial in any way. The only time I saw them use keyboards on stage was on the Stiff tour where there were plenty of extra players available. Don Snow (I think) joined them for piano on "Paint her face" and Malcolm Morley (definitely) played piano on B.A.B.Y. when they were backing Rachel Sweet.
Dang, John has played that LP Junior for years.
3:33 I wonder whatever happened to that left-handed Les Paul. Does the guy still own it, did someone buy it off him and it's now sitting in a loft somewhere? Whatever, it looks fucking gorgeous. Love lefties
His name is Huw Gower. But in the early 90s and still continuing today, Diesel Park West had three left handed guitarists and was known as the "Left Hand Band". They are worth a listen: stuff like "Like Princes Do" are terrific songs and they even did a double online cd of Byrds tunes.
Keith Podhradsky
lol You're preaching to the converted. I've been a big DPW fan since I heard 'Fall To Love' circa '91 was it? Got all the albums except the last few, totally agree, top band. BUT my first comment actually said.. I wonder what has happened to the Les Paul not the player : )
Thanks for the tip. Like Princes Do is fantastic and carries on the spirit of the Records...especially Paying for the Summer of Love - power and rawness, yet tight.
Huw Gower is alive and well and currently leading ‘Icecream Skyscraper. Their debut CD ‘Granite, With Rainbow Sprinkles’ can be found at iTunes, Spotify, etc.
God, I still can't stand John Wicks voice. Eeeek! We Virgin/Atlantic employees, the tour manager, all agreed he couldn't cut it in America. Phil Brown, with lots of front and a great voice, could have saved the band. In fact, Will Birch, flat out told me "the only real musician in the band is Huw."
Annie Gower
Huw was a fantastic guitarist...great licks throughout Shades in Bed. The Tim Friese-Greene produced tracks (Girl, Up All Night, Insomnia, etc) on Shades highlighted the band best, IMO.
Birch/Wicks wrote a host of great tracks over about 2.5 albums. Wicks was more comfortable with harmonies and the role he had on Crashes where Jude Cole (a fine singer - Baby It's Tonight, Start the Car) handles a lot of lead vocals. Too bad Huw didn't produce that album and lead guitar with Cole on lead vocals. Crashes remains a great opus and was Album of the Month on Stereo Review. Hardly a peep on the charts though.
STILL, a great song and a powerful live performance. Was the keyboardist an original member though? I liked the addition(?) of the electric piano; it enhanced an already classic song. I first owned this on vinyl .
If I'm right this must be Midnight Special on NBC because I rmember watching them live as the Cars hosted the whole New Wave which earned alot more ratings than the disco crap the show hosted burning out the program.
1979cl1 That is correct. This episode of Midnight Special aired on September 28, 1979. What made this episode unique was that The Cars were the hosts of the show that week and rather than introduce the bands personally, the guest bands were introduced with text typed across the screen as seen at the beginning of this video.
RIP John Wicks
John Wicks...my hero..my friend.
POWERPOP HEROES !
There was no keyboard, no keyboardist (member or additional musician) on The self-titled US album. I like the keys as an addition as well, not just because I'm a keyboardist.
Sounds like Eddie n The Hot rods!?...you know the song!
John still tours and records new music. Help him continue his musical journey. Get his latest offerings.
damn, for such a badass peppy song, they sure were stiff!
John Wicks died in Burbank, California, United States, on 7 October 2018
There's a couple of changed lines in there from the single, and I don't remember the keys, either. Interesting...