Proto-hair from Britain

Formed from former players of Humble Pie and Motorhead, the band Fastway released their eponymous debut in 1983 (yes, I own it.) My favorite song on the record is this one, Say What You Will.

These guys really hit at the leading edge of the hair metal craze, but this song fits in comfortably with the genre. It has the thundering rhythm, the high pitched vocals, the guitar hooks, and the lyrics that barely make sense. This is ready made for the arena and everyone can wave their lighters and sing along.

Unfortunately, this video ends right as the final words "and you will!" hit with loads of reverb. You can use your imagination.

The video is high camp with mannequin like women in white jumpsuits driving a truck through all sorts of weather. Apparently for the purpose of getting out of town so that they can blow up their cargo. I missed the reason they do it. Maybe you can let me know after you watch it.

If any of you are hair metal fans, you might be wondering where are the bands like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Motley Crue (I'm not doing the umlauts), Poison, etc. I don't know. So far, their songs haven't jumped out at me. I'm sure we'll get to them.

Hair in the age of excess

One of the greatest hair metal songs of all time is nearly done in by one of the worst videos of all time.

David Coverdale, the leader and lead singer of Whitesnake, co-wrote almost the entire album with the lead guitarist, John Sykes, who would in turn lead the band, Blue Murder. Notice that John Sykes, nor any other member of the band is given any facial closeups during the course of the video.

In fact, other than Coverdale, the only person prominently featured is his wife (from 89 to 91, at least) Tawny Kitaen.

The full moon background, the black silhouette of Coverdale leaning back, the pointless parading of Kitaen, all make for a ridiculous video that serves as a statement of all that is hair. Even the short sequence showing the guitarist using a bow is silly. That is not real folks. I wonder how many kids went to the guitar shop looking for cello bows after seeing this.

But none of this absurdity should take away one bit from the power of this incredible Led Zeppelin-inspired tune. Close your eyes if you have to, but there is hardly a better example of 80s pop metal than Still of the Night, from the non-debut, yet eponymous album by Whitesnake. In Europe it was called 1987, named after the year of its release. (And yes, I own it.)

Enjoy. It runs over six minutes. And let me know how much you liked Here I Go Again so much better in the comments.

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The ultimate hair homage to love

Saigon Kick was one of my favorite bands from the early 90s. They were difficult to categorize. Their songs ran the gamut from light poppy love songs to driving metal thunder with all sorts of exotic sounds in between.

This song, All I Want, is from their second album, The Lizard, released in 1992 (yes, I own it.) Pretty late for hair metal.

I was, I am, I always will be a foolish romantic. For the longest time, I thought of love as a rescue mission, a supreme gift intended to help the person I chose. It didn't occur to me that once the "help" was given, a relationship would have to be built on something else.

I made that mistake many times before I realized that I needed to find someone that I liked. I needed to find someone that I wanted for me and hopefully she would want me back for herself.

She had to be independent, preferably educated, definitely intelligent. She would be allowed to have a past, but she wouldn't dwell on it. (I know we weren't going to dwell on mine.) She had to have close friends, but she also had to be self-reliant. Basically, I was looking for a woman who didn't need me.

Jocelyn certainly didn't need me. To this day, I don't think she "needs" me. But she does want me. And I want her.

And that leads us to this song. Toward the end, the lyrics go like this:

I never thought the sun would rise
On a day as fine as this
All my life
I would dream it happened
All I want is you
All I need is you

Maybe I should put this song on the mixtape.

One of many hair metal elegies

Hair and pop metal followed a formula: heavy rhythm, flashy fretwork, high octave vocals, tight pants and big hair. The tune should be catchy, the chorus anthemic (the better to light your lighter and sing along with,) and the guitar solo should be flashy and macho.

After a few years of mining this formula, someone decided to do a song from the heart. Slow it down, play a little acoustic even, and create a ballad. These songs proved to be tremendously popular.

Then there were the hybrid songs. We've done one in this blog already, The Ballad of Jayne by LA Guns. These songs are slower tempo and the lyrics are usually about death or lost love rather than partying or general misbehavior.

Here's another example of the same genre, which coincided with the early 90s "angel" craze. The song is Fly to the Angels, performed by Slaughter (the lead singer's surname) from the album Stick It to Ya (1990) [Yes, I own it, though I haven't been able to track it down lately. Perhaps I lent it out?]

Mark Slaughter has an excellent hair metal voice, able to sing at high range to simulate (stimulate?) emotion. I don't know about you, but I get caught up in the sound and just start singing along. When he sings "...and I drive...down...this lonely lonely road..." it builds up solid tension that is successfully released by the subsequent chorus.

And with heart-tugging lyrics like "heaven awaits your heart and flowers bloom in your name" combined with hard rock sensibilities you have a song that appeals to the masculine and the feminine side, just like Ghost did at the movies. Genius.

Of light hair, 80s gymnastics, and Mrs. Gretzky

The 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles was the United States' time to shine. Because of our boycott of the 1980 Olympiad in Moscow, the Russians and the Eastern Bloc boycotted the LA Olympics in retaliation.

The US Men's Gymnastics team won quite a few medals that year including a team gold. But Mitch Gaylord stole the show with his perfect 10.0 on the horizontal bar. He didn't medal because he blew it in the compulsory round, but it set the stage for a few years of Gaylord celebrity.

In 1986, a movie was made about a young gymnast who injured himself with a radical move on the high bar and was battling to get back in the game. Along the way, boy meets girl, and so on. Not a great film, but it did feature Janet Jones, the future wife of hockey great Wayne Gretzky. She's sporting a rare female mullet. Well, it wasn't so rare in those days.

But what about the music? It's Andy Taylor. Not the sherriff, but the guitarist from Duran Duran and, later, the Power Station. Andy isn't really hair metal, but he had hard rock chops and looks. This is a pop tune, and like quality pop-metal, it uses crunchy guitar chords and a catchy chorus to keep the hands clapping. If it wasn't for Andy Taylor, Duran Duran would've sounded like every other New Wave act. He helped them become pop stars as much as Simon Le Bon.

The song is Take It Easy, from the American Anthem Original Soundtrack (1986) and yes, I once owned it...on a cassette way back in the late 80s. It has long since disappeared.

I started to go with another song today, but that song was somewhat melancholy and the gray dark rain continues and I thought that maybe I was responding to the weather. So, I chose a song that I know makes my toes tap and keeps me smiling. The fact that we get to witness bad acting at the very beginning makes it all the more charming.

Does anyone remember this movie? If I said Gaylord, Daggett, Vidmar, and Conner would it help you recall the '84 Olympics? What about the guy from China, Li Ning? He was the essence of cool athletic excellence. I think the rain is making me nostalgic.

My kids love to sing this song, especially the boy

He was singing it 15 years after it was released, but the meaning of this song spans generations.

This is from Extreme's eponymous debut in 1989 (yep, I own it.) The title of the song is Mutha (Don't Wanna Go to School Today) and it's featured prominently in the oft-repeated chorus.

The video lacks the pyrotechnic guitar solo by Nuno Bettancourt that opens the song on the album. That's too bad, because it would have been fun to see, but it really doesn't match the poppy sound of the song, so no harm.

The video is a bit silly, but they all are to some extent, especially from the days when hair ruled MTV. You'll notice that this video is supposed to be at a live show. It isn't. The track is straight from the album. Gary Cherone, the singer, misses numerous cues, there aren't any crowd noises, and the singalong chorus toward the end sounds like Miss Othmar's 3rd grade class and not a building full of young adults. Despite all of this, the song is fun (if a little clunky on the verses) because we all want to sing along with that catchy chorus.

"Mutha, don't want to go to work today, think I'd rather avoid the hectic fray..."

Hair could carry a message, too

I want to thank Gretchen Rubin for all the traffic I've had this evening after her mention at The Happiness Project. And thanks to all of you who are stopping by.

If you've perused the blog beyond the front seven posts, you've seen the intermittent posting of hair metal videos. There's even a link list "Locks of Hair" serving as a shortcut to them.

In honor of all this happy traffic, I thought I would post a relatively unknown band and one of their relatively unknown songs. This isn't just any song. It's a message song. A message of peace and tolerance, but with a thundering beat and some guitar shredding. The perfect cocktail of entertainment. (I'm hoping that Gretchen tries to listen at least once. Like the wonderful young woman in the other link provided today, In the New.)

The group is Enuff Z'nuff (founded by the bassist, Chip Znuff) and the song is Mother's Eyes. it is from the 1991 album Strength (and yes, I own it.) Written by the lead singer and the guitarist, this is pop metal at its finest. Superb guitar work, strong vocals, and a catchy chorus. Nothing's missing.

Here are the lyrics to help you out:

Mother's Eyes

Isn't it wrong and isn't it strange
that a man goes by the color of his face?
And isn't it time we've drawn the line
And decided to become a human race, yeah?

Behind that mother's eyes,
What makes a man so tough,
That he don't care if anybody lives or dies?
Give him some love,
Give him some love.
(It might save your life)

Night after night I say the same prayer,
And if anybody's listening out there,
Give it a break, it's all give and take.
But the taking and giving isn't fair, yeah!

Repeat Chorus.

I'm just a man who don't understand,
Why is one man not just like another man.
Nothing can change 'til we arrange
All of life's important fingers on one hand, yeah.

Let me know what you think of the song in the comments. What songs cheer you up? (no matter how serious or sad or silly) And what songs carry a meaningful message for you? Maybe we can create a list for a universal happiness mix tape.

Slowing it down for Jayne Mansfield

Not all of hair metal was raucous noisy tasteless party music. Every now and then a band would slow it down. Usually these songs were superficial "sensitive" ballads. It got to the point where at least one slow love song was expected on every album released. This killed hair metal, not grunge.

But this band, L.A. Guns, led by guitarist Tracii Guns and vocalist Philip Lewis, released a slow song on their 1989 album Cocked & Loaded.

But this wasn't your typical slow romantic nonsense. This was a completely different type of romantic nonsense. The Ballad of Jayne is a tribute to an actress who died when most of the band members were still in diapers. The lyrics are not so descriptive that it has to be about her, but the subject of the song has obviously died--"now she's breaking hearts in heaven"--and the spelling of "Jayne" suggest it is about her.

This song has layers that many ballads of the era lack, including a little string arrangement. I consider it one of the top ballads in the short history of hair metal.

(I forgot to say...yes, I own it...on vinyl!)

Hair metal meets vintage Carly Simon

One of my all time favorite pop songs of the '70s, Carly Simon's You're So Vain, gets the pop metal once over by the quirky five-member Faster Pussycat. This song was the band's contribution to Rubaiyat: Elektra's 40th Anniversary, a double album (2 CDs) of songs from Elektra's early years remade by their current (1990) stable of acts. Oh, and yes, I own it.

This is a wonderfully odd album, by the way, featuring everyone from The Cure and the Gipsy Kings to Jevetta Steele and Metallica to the Kronos Quartet and avant-garde composer performer John Zorn. If you can find it, I recommend it.

This particular cover has always been a favorite of mine. Taime Downe, pronounced "tie me"...get it?...is the lead singer. He has a thin scratchy voice, that ultimately works on this and their other songs. Probably an acquired taste for most.

They take this sarcastic, melodically bitter song and turn it into a campy hair masterpiece. The video certainly accentuates the humor. I believe the three older blonde ladies are the Del Rubio triplets, but I could be wrong.

Let me know what you think about this in the comments. I'm going to find a mirror so that I can check my profile.

(If you are seeing a crying emoticon with "error" in the video window, you are probably blocked from viewing myspace content. Try viewing when not at a location that blocks certain web content. While there are a few bare midriffs, there is nothing exceptionally "adult" about this video.)

Hair metal ain't literature, but it sounds good

It was 1990 and life was good. The blissful pre-grunge days when Hair ruled the land. For the most part it was a fun-loving, partying benevolent world of booze, video models, decent, sometimes spectacular fretwork, and driving rhythms. A man could dance in those days.

But each era has exceptions. Power ballads almost ruined it for masculinity with girl-friendly slow songs becoming monster hits and getting major airplay. At least a man could slow dance then.

Every few months, a song came along that was "different", quirky even. In this example, the song is Uncle Tom's Cabin by Warrant from the Cherry Pie album (yes, I own it.)

I know what you're thinking if you are unfamiliar with the song. How could a bunch of hard partying high school graduates write a popular hair metal tune about Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic novel of the antebellum South? Well, they couldn't. So they didn't.

This song, as you will see, is all about an evil swamp sherriff and his misdeeds. Poor Uncle Tom and the narrator are unwitting witnesses to the aftermath of his crime. The video is kind enough to give us the backstory midway through, even if the lyrics do not.

Jani Lane, the lead singer, wrote the song. Warrant is polished and plays the tune well. A fine example of hair metal telling a story that didn't have anything to do with swilling bourbon, objectifying women, or "being on the road."

If I could work those missing elements back into the story, I think it could be adapted for the big screen.

The last hurrah for hair metal

Ah, Skid Row and their second album, Slave to the Grind (yes, I own it,) debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts in the summer of 1991. Good times, good times.

Rachel Bolan, the bassist, and Dave "The Snake" Sabo, the guitarist, wrote most of the songs, including this one, Monkey Business. Sebastian Bach is the singer with a powerful set of rock and roll pipes.

Not only does this song have a relentless driving rhythm, it has some of the best lyrics ever found in a hair/pop metal tune. It's tough to pick out a single line, because, like the beat, the words just keep rolling along in a rapid staccato attack.

Here's a sample:

"Little creepy's playing dollies in the New York rain, thinkin' Bowie's just a knife, oh the pain" which leads right into "I ain't seen the sun since I don't know when, the freaks come out at nine and it's twenty to ten." A little dark humor keeps it all from being totally morose.

And that's just the way I like it.

Hair metal soap opera

One of my all time favorites, this song, Jelly Roll, by the trio, Blue Murder, is from their 1989 eponymous album (yes, I own it.)

Blue Murder was created from the dust up between guitarist John Sykes and the notorious ego, David Coverdale, the leader, creator, founder, and master of Whitesnake.

Sykes was better looking, could play guitar with the best of them, and could sing as well as Coverdale. Sykes co-wrote and played lead guitar on Whitesnakes big album in 1987 (yes, I own it.) The best album in the band's oeuvre. Still of the Night and Is This Love were co-written by Sykes and he turned on his guitar magic for a re-recording of an earlier tune, Here I Go Again. All of those songs are immensely enjoyable, but we really should be talking Blue Murder here.

Sykes was fired from Whitesnake for being a bit too successful. The tallest blade of grass, you know.

The record label set him up with Carmen Appice on drums and Tony Franklin on bass. The trio released their first and best album in 1989. Jelly Roll is the catchiest tune and my personal favorite.

The video reflects yet more of the narcisstic excesses of the '80s as Sykes proves that long hair in the rain on a man never looks like anything other than a dead marsupial. Women who don dress shirts over lingerie while wearing engineer boots aren't making enough appearances on television these days. I'm going to write the producers of Lost and see if that can't be worked in Season 4.

My Wedding March

It's true. Jocelyn and the Happy Guy walked down the aisle to this song way back in 1992. We didn't walk down the aisle actually. We walked in from different sides of a garden at a B&B in West Seattle. Our guests weren't really surprised at the musical choices. At least not the ones that knew me.

This is Joe Satriani, guitar virtuoso, and the song is Always with Me, Always with You, from the album, Surfing with the Alien in 1987 (yes, I own it.)

Regarding the video? What's up with the windstorm? Were they wearing invisible goggles? I don't know. The violence of the wind is a bit distracting considering the tune's tempo. It's got to be dry ice or they would all be blinded.

They're wearing dusters. I own not one, but two dusters. Dusters were (and I believe still are) the height of cool. I might make that my photo. You always feel good in a duster, well, except in sweltering heat. It needs to be calf length. Knee length looks like an ill-fitting rain coat.

Every man looks good in a duster. Especially if you add a fedora.

Time for more obscure hair metal

Only one album, no real hits, and a sound really like no other hair band. kingofthehill (all together, before the animated TV show) released an eponymous album in 1991 (yes, I own it.)

This is the video to one of the catchier tunes on the album, I Do U. Yep, the lead singer, Frankie, was and is a big Prince fan. Who would've guessed by looking at him?

Nothing like some narcissistic lyrics--"...you don't have to tell me that I drive you crazy, cause I know I do..." to keep the kids happy.

Add an anthemic "t-shirt slogan" chorus that even the hardest partying crowd can sing and you've got a hair metal winner. Hey, they've got saxophones! They've got muted trumpets!

They have a ferris wheel.

Our first Hair Metal vid! Woo hoo!

Ah, a guilty pleasure: hair metal. Goofy songs with simple melodies over a pounding rhythm section, unless they're performing a commercially appealing ballad, were the ultimate suburban kid escape from the mid '80s and early '90s.

These songs will be making appearances here, in no particular order.

Today, I thought that a fairly obscure London band, Thunder, would kick it off. The song, Dirty Love is from the Backstreet Symphony album. (Yes, I own it.) It contains pretty simple lyrics, like we expect: "...like a cheap suit, you were all over me..." And my favorite, from the chorus: "...I don't want you touchin' me..." which is just the sort of irony, now that I'm older that makes me smile. When you're a teen or a twentysomething, at least where I grew up, there wasn't any such thing as a love too dirty.

Simple song. Always makes me sing along and maybe play a little air guitar. The video has the added bonuses of British accented video models and a complete lack of plot.

If you can't laugh and enjoy this, well, you need to keep reading the Happiness Notebook. We'll peel back those jaded layers of cynicism. Wait and see.