In March 1983, United States president Ronald Reagan proposed that the US should develop a programme which would defend the country from attack by enemy nuclear ballistic missiles. He had been persuaded that they should investigate this possibility after learning that should an attack happen, the missiles were tracked but at no stage was any attempt to intercept them considered. Horrified by this, he insisted that the US should have the capability to defend itself from missile attack.
Back then, the Cold War was still in full force, with the US-backed NATO squared off against the Soviet Union-backed Warsaw Pact, with both sides having enough nuclear firepower to wipe out Earth several times over. Knowing that if one side were to actually launch these missiles, it would result in their own demolition, the concept was known as Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). Reagan's plan threatened to destablilse the whole concept, as if they could stop one side's weapons yet be able to unleash their own, that might lead to an arms race which all parties involved claimed to want to stop.
The plan was derided at the time for being too unrealistic; the media seized upon the 'Star Wars' title for it since Reagan was keen to have a defensive capability for shooting down missiles from space. However the mere concept of it irritated the Soviet Union, which was not in a healthy enough financial state to counter this perceived threat and it is argued by some that this helped bring about the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.
Although the SDI initiative never really got established, some technology to intercept missiles has been developed in the years since. Presented is a short film looking at the Strategic Defense Initiative which may serve to illustrate how ambitious the project would have been:
*2023 update: replaced dead video link*
Monday 25 March 2013
Music of 1983: Michael Jackson debuts the moonwalk
As stated in an earlier blog, 1983 was Michael Jackson's year and another significant event came in March, when he was the star attraction for Motown 25, a television special marking the 25th anniversary of Motown records and featuring a galaxy of stars who helped put the label on the map.
The event is remembered today for the fact that Jackson debuted his famous 'moonwalk'; what's less well-remembered is that he performed with his brothers just prior to this for a medley of Jackson 5 hits, before he was left alone on the stage. He would then perform his then-current single, 'Billie Jean'. (Which, ironically, was not issued on Motown at all, but Epic records.) Clad in his trademark sparkling outfit, and wearing one glove, he sang over a pre-recorded backing track but nobody was paying attention to his vocals. The audience was transfixed by his movement across the stage, and at around 3 and-a-half minutes in, he unleashed the moonwalk - apparently sliding backwards while looking like he is going forwards. The move got a huge cheer from the audience present, and instantly became the signature dance move for Jackson.
The show - and that dance move - was witnessed by 50 million people and arguably sealed his legend. Already a famous star, that performance took him to an even greater level, propelling both the single and the 'Thriller' album to stratospheric sales.
Relive one of the iconic moments in pop with Michael Jackson's performance at Motown 25, first with his brothers for the medley then solo performing 'Billie Jean':
The event is remembered today for the fact that Jackson debuted his famous 'moonwalk'; what's less well-remembered is that he performed with his brothers just prior to this for a medley of Jackson 5 hits, before he was left alone on the stage. He would then perform his then-current single, 'Billie Jean'. (Which, ironically, was not issued on Motown at all, but Epic records.) Clad in his trademark sparkling outfit, and wearing one glove, he sang over a pre-recorded backing track but nobody was paying attention to his vocals. The audience was transfixed by his movement across the stage, and at around 3 and-a-half minutes in, he unleashed the moonwalk - apparently sliding backwards while looking like he is going forwards. The move got a huge cheer from the audience present, and instantly became the signature dance move for Jackson.
The show - and that dance move - was witnessed by 50 million people and arguably sealed his legend. Already a famous star, that performance took him to an even greater level, propelling both the single and the 'Thriller' album to stratospheric sales.
Relive one of the iconic moments in pop with Michael Jackson's performance at Motown 25, first with his brothers for the medley then solo performing 'Billie Jean':
Saturday 23 March 2013
1983 in rock: ZZ Top break through with 'Eliminator'
Veteran Texas blues-boogie trio ZZ Top became overnight sensations in 1983 with their eighth album, 'Eliminator'. The trio hit upon a winning formula of blending the bluesy guitar sound of Billy Gibbons with a synthesiser backing, allied with a strong visual identity (as depicted with the long beards grown out by Gibbons, and also bassist Dusty Hill). Ironically, drummer Frank Beard was the odd one out in not sporting any sort of beard!
'Eliminator', produced by the band's manager Bill Ham, took things a stage further than their 1981 album 'El Loco' which saw the introduction of synthesisers to the group's sound. This time synths and drum machines were very apparent, although the guitar was still up there front and centre. A trilogy of music videos (for the songs 'Gimme All Your Lovin', 'Sharp Dressed Man', and 'Legs') were produced featuring the 'Eliminator' car seen on the album cover, attractive model girls and novelty guitars which spun through 360 degrees. The videos were shown heavily on MTV, putting the band in the front rooms of many US viewers and also making a star of the 'Eliminator' car (A modified 1933 Ford Coupé). These were not the only videos produced for the album; 'TV Dinners', a song with humorous lyrics about microwave ready meals, featured a claymation monster emerging from the dinner.
Off the back of this album, the group (previously with a cult following among rock fans) became mainstream stars. They travelled over to the UK in August 1983 to perform at Monsters of Rock festival, at the invitation of David Coverdale (a long-time admirer), whose band Whitesnake were headliners that year. Two years later ZZ Top would themselves headline the event, as they had since become huge in the UK after the BBC featured the trilogy of videos which made them famous in the US.
ZZ Top are still touring and recording to this day, and still with the same three members.
*2023 Update: Bassist Dusty Hill passed away on July 28th 2021 following a period of ill-health. Elwood Francis, the band's former guitar tech, was nominated by Hill himself to take over the bass position and ZZ Top continued to perform.*
The video for 'TV Dinners' is less well-remembered, as it was not part of the trilogy featuring the girls and the car, so it is presented here:
'Eliminator', produced by the band's manager Bill Ham, took things a stage further than their 1981 album 'El Loco' which saw the introduction of synthesisers to the group's sound. This time synths and drum machines were very apparent, although the guitar was still up there front and centre. A trilogy of music videos (for the songs 'Gimme All Your Lovin', 'Sharp Dressed Man', and 'Legs') were produced featuring the 'Eliminator' car seen on the album cover, attractive model girls and novelty guitars which spun through 360 degrees. The videos were shown heavily on MTV, putting the band in the front rooms of many US viewers and also making a star of the 'Eliminator' car (A modified 1933 Ford Coupé). These were not the only videos produced for the album; 'TV Dinners', a song with humorous lyrics about microwave ready meals, featured a claymation monster emerging from the dinner.
Off the back of this album, the group (previously with a cult following among rock fans) became mainstream stars. They travelled over to the UK in August 1983 to perform at Monsters of Rock festival, at the invitation of David Coverdale (a long-time admirer), whose band Whitesnake were headliners that year. Two years later ZZ Top would themselves headline the event, as they had since become huge in the UK after the BBC featured the trilogy of videos which made them famous in the US.
*2023 Update: Bassist Dusty Hill passed away on July 28th 2021 following a period of ill-health. Elwood Francis, the band's former guitar tech, was nominated by Hill himself to take over the bass position and ZZ Top continued to perform.*
The video for 'TV Dinners' is less well-remembered, as it was not part of the trilogy featuring the girls and the car, so it is presented here:
Monday 18 March 2013
Music of 1983: Duran Duran... WHAT, just what!
It isn't often a song on the radio makes you stop dead in your tracks, least of all when the radio is something just on as background while you work. In 1983 I was working in a commercial photographers and photo lab; part of my job was to copy artworks using large-format film, and while I was quietly setting up a copy job on the stand, with Radio 1 playing, on came 'Is There Something I Should Know?' the new single from Duran Duran. It's fair to say that by 1983, if you didn't particularly like the Brummie new romantic survivors, you were heartily sick of them by then! Since their breakthrough two years earlier they'd got steadily bigger and by '83 were vying with Spandau Ballet for the title of the biggest pop group in the UK.
Anyway, 'Is There Something I Should Know?' comes on the radio, I am taking little notice of it until the line 'You're About As Easy As A Nuclear War' seeps through the tinny little speaker and into my unsuspecting young lugholes. What? What was that? As easy as a NUCLEAR WAR? Just, what?!? I clearly remember stopping what I was doing and turning round to stare at the little transistor radio, as if to ask 'did I really just hear 'as easy as a Nuclear War'?'
Don't forget, back then, the Cold War was very much in the back of everybody's mind still. People of my generation really did 'grow up in the shadow of the mushroom cloud', (to borrow from Queen) and the fear of either the NATO or Warsaw Pact alliances starting something that would end up in them blowing each other (and the rest of us) to smithereens was very, very real. To hear one of the top bands of the day use that as such a throwaway line - well, my teenage brain just couldn't process it! Did they REALLY sing 'you're about as easy as a nuclear war' - really?!?
Perhaps it was just a cunning plan to make the song stick; the track itself is fairly bland to these ears and had it not been for THAT line, it would have drifted in one ear and out of the other as I carried on with my artwork copying that day. If that was the case, it worked since 'Is There Something I Should Know?' became the group's first UK Number One chart hit, and was also a hit in the US.
The band themselves must have been aware of the stir that one lyrical line caused, since they made another song many years later built around the line. 'Yo Bad Azizi' was an obscure B-side, but like most things these days is easily accessible on youtube. So to close this look back, here is 'Is There Something I Should Know' from 1983 and as a bonus, 'Yo Bad Azizi' - it still makes me cringe now! :)
Anyway, 'Is There Something I Should Know?' comes on the radio, I am taking little notice of it until the line 'You're About As Easy As A Nuclear War' seeps through the tinny little speaker and into my unsuspecting young lugholes. What? What was that? As easy as a NUCLEAR WAR? Just, what?!? I clearly remember stopping what I was doing and turning round to stare at the little transistor radio, as if to ask 'did I really just hear 'as easy as a Nuclear War'?'
Don't forget, back then, the Cold War was very much in the back of everybody's mind still. People of my generation really did 'grow up in the shadow of the mushroom cloud', (to borrow from Queen) and the fear of either the NATO or Warsaw Pact alliances starting something that would end up in them blowing each other (and the rest of us) to smithereens was very, very real. To hear one of the top bands of the day use that as such a throwaway line - well, my teenage brain just couldn't process it! Did they REALLY sing 'you're about as easy as a nuclear war' - really?!?
Perhaps it was just a cunning plan to make the song stick; the track itself is fairly bland to these ears and had it not been for THAT line, it would have drifted in one ear and out of the other as I carried on with my artwork copying that day. If that was the case, it worked since 'Is There Something I Should Know?' became the group's first UK Number One chart hit, and was also a hit in the US.
The band themselves must have been aware of the stir that one lyrical line caused, since they made another song many years later built around the line. 'Yo Bad Azizi' was an obscure B-side, but like most things these days is easily accessible on youtube. So to close this look back, here is 'Is There Something I Should Know' from 1983 and as a bonus, 'Yo Bad Azizi' - it still makes me cringe now! :)
Sunday 17 March 2013
Music of 1983: Bowie releases Let's Dance
David Bowie was one of British music's biggest stars still in 1983. Having come to prominence over a decade earlier, he had enjoyed a sustained period of success and also of credibility; he had survived glam, disco, punk and New Romantic and all the time had maintained critical acclaim, record and concert success and the respect of many of his peers. Known for his willingness to switch style and sound, he still pulled out something of a surprise with the 'Let's Dance' album. He appeared in promotion for the record dressed in a sharp blue suit and a neat haircut, looking every inch the 'yuppie'. The music was more accessible than anything he'd done in years too, with the title track and lead-off single tailor-made for radio.
The album produced three big hit singles; the title track was a number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic and he scored big again in his home country with 'Modern Love' and 'China Girl', both charting as high as number two. The latter song was co-written with old friend Iggy Pop and was originally featured on his album 'The Idiot'. Bowie himself expressed surprise that this album was such a hit, claiming that the fusion of bluesy rock guitar (courtesy of Stevie Ray Vaughan) and dance beats was as innovative as anything he'd done before then, but it chimed perfectly with the times and brought Bowie a new, aspirational audience.
The record did however feature some real heavyweight talent; as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan both Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (of Chic) appeared, and ace session bassist Carmine Rojas (now a regular with Joe Bonamassa's band) played on much of the record. Nile Rodgers also co-produced the album with Bowie, and the whole thing was recorded and mixed in a little over two weeks.
For the tour, dubbed the 'Serious Moonlight' tour, Bowie brought in guitarist Earl Slick after Stevie Ray Vaughan's management demanded improved terms for their man just days before the tour was due to kick off. Bowie would continue in this vein for his next album, 'Tonight' and although he admitted the period was not his best creatively, it was certainly one of his most commercially successful.
With the man having recently emerged from years out of the spotlight, this is a good time to revisit one of his most successful records. Here is the video for the title track, filmed in Australia and directed by David Mallet:
*2023 Update - David Bowie passed away on 10 January 2016, with his final album 'Blackstar' released two days earlier, his 69th birthday.*
Tuesday 5 March 2013
1983 in rock: Marillion head progressive rock revival
1983 was the year progressive rock returned to prominence. The punk years of the late 1970s had seen off progressive rock, or so many commentators of the time thought, but in actual fact while the established prog bands regrouped, in many cases with revamped line-ups, a newer breed was coming through spearheaded by Marillion. Fronted by charismatic vocalist Fish (aka Derek W. Dick), they proudly wore their prog influences on their sleeves and, in Fish's case, on his face as he painted himself up in a manner not dissimilar to that of Peter Gabriel.
Marillion's debut album, 'Script For A Jester's Tear' was released in March 1983 and spawned the hit single 'Garden Party'; the single reached number 16 in the UK singles charts and got the band on 'Top Of The Pops', however the album was a huge success, charting as high as seven and staying in the album charts for 31 weeks.
Although Marillion were the highest-profile of the new progressive bands, they were by no means the only ones around at the time. Scottish band Pallas were also enjoying a high profile, thanks largely to their single 'Eyes In The Night (Arrive Alive)', while other bands such as IQ, Twelfth Night and Pendragon also gained followings. Another act popular at this time were The Enid, fronted by Robert John Godfrey they had actually been around since the mid-70s, but their 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' album of 1983 and live performances raised their profile.
The success of Marillion and others led to renewed chart success for older prog bands such as Genesis and Yes, who both returned with new material in 1983.
Here is Marillion's appearance on 'Top Of The Pops', during which Fish makes it very clear the performance is lip-synced ;-)
Monday 4 March 2013
1983 in rock: Thin Lizzy release final album
By 1983, rock band Thin Lizzy were in a severe downward spiral. Although the group and in particular frontman Phil Lynott had maintained a successful profile since their mid-seventies breakthrough, substance abuse problems had taken a firm grip of Lynott and guitarist Scott Gorham, and they had gone through a succession of guitar players since Brian Robertson exited the band several years before.
Lizzy had recruited young hotshot John Sykes (from UK metal band Tygers of Pan Tang) in place of previous guitarist Snowy White, and with him in place they released the 'Thunder and Lightning' album in March 1983. The material was already written before Sykes joined, with the exception of lead-off single 'Cold Sweat'. The resulting record took the band in a far heavier direction; although always considered a hard rock band, they had a crossover appeal to music fans of many flavours which other groups (with the possible exception of Status Quo) never could boast. It therefore came as a shock to those fans when Thin Lizzy announced that the tour in support of the new album would be their last, and that they were to fold after completing their dates. Nobody outside of the Lizzy camp were aware of just how bad things were with Lynott of course, so it appeared a mystifying move to split the band just as they looked to be having a renaissance, with younger bands such as Def Leppard openly citing them as influences.
The band toured the UK and Europe extensively in 1983, and also appeared on television, playing live on Channel 4 'The Tube' and also being featured by the BBC, for their 'Sight and Sound in Concert' series. This series featured live acts appearing on television, but with audio-visual technology in its infancy then, the programme was simulcast on BBC Radio One so that viewers could see the pictures from the television while enjoying stereo sound on FM radio. Lizzy's career came to a halt with a headlining appearance at the Reading Festival, before releasing a live album 'Life'.
With Lizzy dissolved, Lynott put together a new group called Grand Slam which grabbed a few headlines, but quickly petered out. Sykes meanwhile went on to join fellow hard rockers Whitesnake, and gave their career a boost in much the same way he did with Lizzy. Unlike with Lizzy, Whitesnake were able to capitalise on the lift given to them by the dynamic Sykes and their later US success owed much to his input.
Meanwhile, Gorham, who was in almost as bad a shape as Lynott, finally took time out and cleaned himself up, reappearing several years later with a new group, 21 Guns. By the time he did so, Lynott had succumbed to his own demons, passing away in early 1986 at the age of just 36. He had just had yet another career lift, reuniting with old mate Gary Moore for the hit single 'Out In The Fields' and was considering a reformation of Lizzy when he took ill and died.
Although Lynott and Lizzy left us with some great music, and arguably went out on top with the strong 'Thunder and Lightning' album, we are still left wondering what might have been, had Lynott managed to pull back from the brink. An immense talent, much missed still today.
From one of their last TV appearances, from the UK show 'Saturday Stayback' here is 'Cold Sweat':
*2023 Update - replaced video link with better quality version*
Lizzy had recruited young hotshot John Sykes (from UK metal band Tygers of Pan Tang) in place of previous guitarist Snowy White, and with him in place they released the 'Thunder and Lightning' album in March 1983. The material was already written before Sykes joined, with the exception of lead-off single 'Cold Sweat'. The resulting record took the band in a far heavier direction; although always considered a hard rock band, they had a crossover appeal to music fans of many flavours which other groups (with the possible exception of Status Quo) never could boast. It therefore came as a shock to those fans when Thin Lizzy announced that the tour in support of the new album would be their last, and that they were to fold after completing their dates. Nobody outside of the Lizzy camp were aware of just how bad things were with Lynott of course, so it appeared a mystifying move to split the band just as they looked to be having a renaissance, with younger bands such as Def Leppard openly citing them as influences.
The band toured the UK and Europe extensively in 1983, and also appeared on television, playing live on Channel 4 'The Tube' and also being featured by the BBC, for their 'Sight and Sound in Concert' series. This series featured live acts appearing on television, but with audio-visual technology in its infancy then, the programme was simulcast on BBC Radio One so that viewers could see the pictures from the television while enjoying stereo sound on FM radio. Lizzy's career came to a halt with a headlining appearance at the Reading Festival, before releasing a live album 'Life'.
With Lizzy dissolved, Lynott put together a new group called Grand Slam which grabbed a few headlines, but quickly petered out. Sykes meanwhile went on to join fellow hard rockers Whitesnake, and gave their career a boost in much the same way he did with Lizzy. Unlike with Lizzy, Whitesnake were able to capitalise on the lift given to them by the dynamic Sykes and their later US success owed much to his input.
Meanwhile, Gorham, who was in almost as bad a shape as Lynott, finally took time out and cleaned himself up, reappearing several years later with a new group, 21 Guns. By the time he did so, Lynott had succumbed to his own demons, passing away in early 1986 at the age of just 36. He had just had yet another career lift, reuniting with old mate Gary Moore for the hit single 'Out In The Fields' and was considering a reformation of Lizzy when he took ill and died.
Although Lynott and Lizzy left us with some great music, and arguably went out on top with the strong 'Thunder and Lightning' album, we are still left wondering what might have been, had Lynott managed to pull back from the brink. An immense talent, much missed still today.
From one of their last TV appearances, from the UK show 'Saturday Stayback' here is 'Cold Sweat':
*2023 Update - replaced video link with better quality version*
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