"Magic Carpet Ride" by Bardeux

Song#:  3425

Date:  02/27/1988

Debut:  93

Peak:  81

Weeks:  7

Genre:  Dance-Pop, Hi-NRG, Sythpop

Pop Bits:  This duo first consisted of Acacia (Stacy Smith) and Tairrie B. (Theresa Beth). The pair got hooked up with songwriter/producer Jon St. James, who had worked on Stacey Q's debut album. They recorded the track "Three Time Lover" and got it released on St. James's Synthicide label. The song got some attention and while it didn't make the Dance/Club chart, it did reach #10 on the Dance Sales chart. With that success, the duo was ready to pursue a full album, but before that could happen, Tairrie B. left the duo. She was then replaced by Jaz (Lisa Teaney) and the the pair along with St. James got their debut album, Bold As Love, recorded. This next single was released and it became another solid seller getting to #5 on the Dance Sales chart. It still was unable to crack the Dance/Club chart, however, it picked up some airplay at Pop and was able to make the lower reaches of the chart. It was an improved result, but the duo would break in a bigger way with their next single.

ReduxReview:  Thanks to St. James, this basically sounds like a Stacey Q track with its thin, low-budget 80s synthpop production. It was an average 80s pop tune that featured nondescript female vocals. The approach worked for Stacey Q a couple years earlier, but even by this point in time the track nearly sounded dated and amateurish when compared to records by groups like Exposé. Pop music had moved forward, but it seems St.. James and Bardeux were stuck in the early 80s.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  After Tairrie B. left Bardeux, she pursued a solo career - as a rapper. Working with rapper Easy-E, Tairrie B. got signed to the MCA/Ruthless Records offshoot label Comptown and recorded her debut album Power of a Woman. It was released in 1990. A couple tracks made small impact on the Rap chart, but the LP failed to sell or chart. After attempting a follow-up, Tairrie B. then switched gears again and formed the metal band Manhole, which due to legal issues would change their name to Tura Satana. They would release a couple of albums in '95 and '96. Stints in two more rock bands would follow before Tairrie B. would return to rap. She would issue out rap albums in 2015 and 2020. Tairrie B.'s name would also be in the news for an alleged assault incident with rapper/producer/exec Dr. Dre. According to Tairrie B. when she recorded her debut rap album, it was common practice that labelmates would make a guest appearance on the LP's last track. She was informed that this would happen and that Ice Cube was writing lyrics for a track. Although pressured to do this, Tairrie B. refused and instead wrote her own diss track about the situation and the people involved titled "Ruthless Bitch." It would be the last track on her album. After its release, Tairrie B. was at a post-Grammy party and according to her, Dr. Dre, who was apparently pissed about the track and Tairrie B.'s lack of cooperation, went up to her and punched her in the eye and mouth. Instead of reporting the assault, Tairrie B. seemed to just take it in stride and moved on. Dr. Dre's history of violence against women would lead to at least one lawsuit and would dog him in later years. He has since expressed regret for his behavior.

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"Kiss and Tell" by Bryan Ferry

Song#:  3424

Date:  02/27/1988

Debut:  95

Peak:  31

Weeks:  13

Genre:  Alternative Rock

Pop Bits:  Bryan Ferry's initial success came about from being the lead singer and main songwriter for the successful UK band Roxy Music. Over a ten-year period beginning in 1972, all eight of the band's studio albums would reach the UK Top 10 and go either gold or platinum. They would also secure ten Top 10 hits along the way. Roxy Music didn't fare as well in the US only getting one song, 1975's "Love Is the Drug," to make the Pop Top 40. Still, they were a highly popular cult band whose albums were hailed by critics. Four of their LPs would make Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. While still in Roxy Music, Ferry would record solo albums that also did well in the UK, but would barely scrape the US chart. The last of his five solo efforts came in 1978. In 1983, Roxy Music was disbanded and Ferry then continued his solo career. His first post-Roxy album, 1985's Boys & Girls, topped the UK chart and despite not featuring a Pop chart entry, got to #63 in the US (later in '93 it would be certified gold). His next album, Bête Noire, would reach #9 in the UK and replicate the result of his previous LP in the US by hitting #63. However, this time around a single from the album would make the US Pop chart. "Kiss and Tell" would crack the Pop Top 40 while getting to #19 Dance and #40 Rock. It would end up being Ferry's most successful solo single in the US. Ferry would continue to release solo discs over the years and also revive Roxy Music in 2001. However, the band did not record any new music and basically just did tours and appearances through to 2011.

ReduxReview:  I get frustrated with Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry. I feel like I should be a big fan of both, yet no matter how many times I listen to their albums, I just don't connect to the works. There are the occasional tracks that I do like, but for the most part I just can't get into them. On paper, I should adore them. In reality, their music doesn't stick with me. I've listened to the RM albums Siren and Country Life a few times thinking, okay, this time it will click for me, but it never does. I've also heard Bête Noire a few times, but this is the only track that gets my attention. Apparently, Ferry was going for more of a dance-oriented sound for Bête Noire and this track certainly leaned that way. It did have a more mainstream feel, which helped it up the chart, but other tracks on the LP, including ones co-written/produced by Madonna collaborator, still sound meandering and more atmospheric than catchy or memorable With Ferry and RM, you have to dial into their own brand of alt rock and make the connection. If you don't, then like me you probably never will.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Triple Shot!  1) This single was helped along by its appearance in a film. The song was included on the soundtrack to the Michael J. Fox drama Bright Lights, Big City. While the film under-performed at the box office, the soundtrack sold fairly well getting to #67.  2) The Bête Noire album would get the attention of the Grammy folk, but not for its music. It received a nomination for Best Album Package. Ferry would later earn a music-oriented Grammy nomination with his 1999 pop/jazz standards cover album As Time Goes By. It would be nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. That album would reach #16 in the UK, but only #195 in the US.  3) Ferry's 2018 album Bitter-Sweet became his first to reach the US Jazz chart. It got to #13. The LP found Ferry re-interpreting older Roxy Music and solo songs in a 1920's jazz style. It was released under the name Bryan Ferry and His Orchestra. It was Ferry's second disc with the jazz/remake theme. The first was 2012's The Jazz Age. Neither album reached the US Album chart.

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"What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong

Song#:  3423

Date:  02/20/1988

Debut:  67

Peak:  32

Weeks:  11

Genre:  Pop, Standards

Pop Bits:  Released late in '87, the comedy-drama film Good Morning, Vietnam starring Robin Williams became a box office hit and earned Williams an Oscar nod for his performance. With Williams portraying Armed Forces Radio DJ Adrian Cronauer, who arrived in Vietnam in 1965, there were quite a few songs from the early 60s used in the movie. Several of these tracks, including old hits like "I Get Around" by The Beach Boys and "Nowhere to Run" by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, were assembled into a soundtrack and surrounded by vocal snippets of Williams from the film. Also included in the movie and on the soundtrack was this now-classic song from jazz legend Louis Armstrong. Although technically Armstrong's 1967 original recording was two years older than the year the film was set in, the song seemed to be a perfect fit for the movie and was include. Its use had people rediscovering the song and to help promote the soundtrack it was issued out as a single. It would be a hit at AC reaching #7. Surprisingly, the song also caught on at pop radio and it ended up cracking the Pop Top 40. With both the single and the movie doing well, the soundtrack would end up being a #10 platinum seller. It would also, oddly, win the Grammy award for Best Comedy Album (due to Williams' vocal tracks). The record would be a posthumous hit for Armstrong who had died years earlier in 1971.

ReduxReview:  This song was basically the forerunner of John Lennon's "Imagine." Both are melodramatic pieces about humankind and how wonderful it is or could be. I never really bought into either one as this kind of gooey sentimentality just doesn't mesh with my cynical personality. However, the Armstrong standard is more palatable to me. The music and melody are lovely and I think Armstrong's gravely, sincere voice helped to lift the song's treacly lyrics. I never long to hear the tune, but I understand the universal appear of it and don't mind if I happen to hear it on occasion.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Armstrong was as popular as ever in the early 60s thanks to his cover version of the title song to the 1964 musical Hello, Dolly!, which hit #1 on the Pop chart. At the time, it made Armstrong the oldest person (62 years old) to have a #1 Pop hit - a record that still stands. A couple of years later, Armstrong signed on with ABC Records, who were hoping to secure a hit from Armstrong. After one of his performances, Armstrong went into the studio to record "What a Wonderful World," a song written by Bob Thiele and George Weiss. ABC president Larry Newton dropped by the session and apparently had a fit that Armstrong was recording the ballad instead of a hit-bound swing tune. Newton was tossed out of the session and Armstrong finished the recording. The single got released, but received nearly zero promotion because Newton hated it. Because of that, the record sold poorly and failed to make the Pop chart (it did get to #12 at AC). However, it was a different story in the UK where the song got to #1. Despite it not being in a hit in the US upon initial release, the song still became a popular standard that got used in TV shows, films, and ads. Thanks to its use in Good Morning, Vietnam, the song finally had its moment on the Pop chart. Although many artists have recorded the tune, Armstrong remains the only one to have reached the Pop chart with a version.

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"Prove Your Love" by Taylor Dayne

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  3422

Date:  02/20/1988

Debut:  73

Peak:  7

Weeks:  18

Genre:  Dance-Pop, Hi-NRG

Pop Bits:  Dayne scored her first major hit with her debut single "Tell It to My Heart." It became an unexpected gold seller that reached #7 Pop/#4 Dance. Its success prompted Dayne's label, Arista, to ask for a full album and she quickly delivered a debut that included the title track hit "Tell It to My Heart" along with this follow-up single. The song would become Dayne's second Pop Top 10 and her first #1 on the Dance chart. The two hits would help the album get to #21 and in the spring of '88 it would be certified gold.

ReduxReview:  This was another blistering dance track from Dayne and it easily became her second Top 10. Like her first single, it was a hooky track with a big 80s production, and another solid vocal performance from Dayne. I didn't like it as well as "Tell It to My Heart," but it was still an enjoyable dance track that played well on the radio.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  This song was co-written by Seth Swirsky and Arnie Roman. It was Swirsky's second hit, his first being Dayne's "Tell It to My Heart," which he co-wrote with Ernie Gold. Swirsky's songwriting career got kicked off in the mid-80s with The Spinners and Air Supply both recording his songs, but it was the pair of hits by Dayne that really got him noticed. He would end up supplying songs for many artists including Olivia Newton-John, Celine Dion, Michael McDonald, Faith Evans, and Exposé. He also co-wrote the song "One of Those Love Songs," which was recorded in 1998 by the female R&B vocal group Xscape. In 2000, the song became the subject of a lawsuit in which Swirsky sued Mariah Carey for copyright infringement. It seems that the chorus of Carey's 1999 recording "Thank God I Found You" was very similar to Swirsky's song, which he co-wrote with Warryn Campbell. The songwriting credits on Carey's track listed Carey along with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. That recording would be released as a single and would be a #1 gold seller in 2000. Apparently, Swirsky heard the song on the radio and recognized that it was basically his song. He sued Carey and in the first trial, the judge found in favor of Carey siting insufficient proof. However, after an appeal another judge deemed there was enough evidence and a second trial was set. However, before the case could be heard a settlement was reached between the Swirsky and Carey.

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"I Want You So Bad" by Heart

Song#:  3421

Date:  02/20/1988

Debut:  80

Peak:  49

Weeks:  9

Genre:  Rock

Pop Bits:  The third single from Heart's album Bad Animals, "There's the Girl," just missed out on the Pop Top 10 peaking at #12. With that song doing well, it was an easy call to squeak out a fourth single and this ballad was selected for release. Unfortunately, it seems it wasn't the right song for the job as it stopped short of the Pop Top 40 and failed to make the Rock and AC charts. Still, the album was a solid success for the band selling over three million copies. This song would be Heart's final one to reach the Pop chart in the 80s.

ReduxReview:  This song was written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, the team behind Heart's #1 hit "Alone," and it was probably decided early on that this would be a single. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of their best compositions. It was an okay track and fine for the album, but it was not a good single. The song just wanders about and never really goes anywhere. It's quite dull and drab. Bad Animals wasn't as singles deep as their previous self-titled album, but you'd think that the band (or their label) would have gotten hold of one more sure-fire single. They had the resources at the time. Still, the first three singles did a good job in getting the album sold so it wasn't the end of the world that this tune tanked. Heart's next couple of albums didn't thrill me, but they came back sounding fresh as ever and more like themselves with 2004's Jupiter's Darling. It was a terrific return to form that was followed up by one of my fave Heart albums, 2010's Red Velvet Car.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  Heart would return with another hit album in 1990. Brigade would follow in the footsteps of their previous two mainstream rock albums and featured a chunk of songs by outside writers including Diane Warren, Holly Knight, Kelly & Steinberg, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who wrote the first single "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You." That track would nearly become Heart's third #1. It stopped just shy at #2. The hit would help the album get to #3 and go double-platinum. After the trio of label/hit driven albums that pushed the band's popularity to a new peak, Ann and Nancy Wilson got back to writing more songs and doing things more their way. 1993's Desire Walks On was mostly all written by the sisters and although it would be gold seller, it was unable to secure a significant hit and with that, the band's days at Capital Records came to an end. Heart would continue to record over the years with their most successful being 2010's #10 Red Velvet Car.

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"Fishnet" by Morris Day

Song#:  3420

Date:  02/20/1988

Debut:  81

Peak:  23

Weeks:  13

Genre:  R&B

Pop Bits:  After his departure from The Time, Morris Day set out on a solo career and released his 1985 debut album Color of Success. It produced the #3 R&B/#63 Pop single "The Oak Tree." The LP would sell well getting to #7 R&B and #37 Pop. Two years later, he would return with his second solo disc Daydreaming. Day would produce and co-write most of the album, but for a couple of tracks he enlisted the help of his former Time bandmates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Jam & Lewis had become a hitmaking writing/production team (Human League, Janet Jackson, and others) and it seemed like a good time to reunite with Day.  This first single was produced by Jam & Lewis and co-written by them with Day. It was a big success on the R&B chart reaching #1. It also got to #12 Dance while getting close to the Pop Top 20. It would end up being Day's most successful solo single. The album would do similar business as his debut peaking at #7 R&B/#41 Pop. His third solo album, 1992's Guaranteed, would take Day into New Jack Swing territory. It didn't fare well with fans and it failed to make any chart. He would not released another solo effort until 2004's It's About Time, which was a mix of hits recorded live along with a few new tracks. It got to #39 R&B/#197 Pop.

ReduxReview:  This certainly had that Jam & Lewis Minneapolis sound and the concept was in the same goofy realm as other Time/Morris Day tracks. While it did quite well on the charts, it wasn't a standout song for me. It was just okay. The tune came off as a shelved Prince track from years ago and the production sounded a little weak coming from Jam & Lewis. I had completely forgotten about this song and after hearing it again, I know why.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  After his second solo LP, Day would reunite with The Time and they would appear in Prince's Purple Rain sequel Graffiti Bridge. The film would be a box office dud, but the soundtrack was #6 gold seller. The Time would have three songs featured on the soundtrack album. The reunion was successful and it promoted the band to keep on recording material for a new album. Pandemonium would be released in 1990 and its first single, "Jerk Out," would get to #1 R&B and #9 Pop. It would end up being a gold seller. The album would get to #9 R&B/#18 Pop and also go gold. Not long after that success, old tensions in the band would resurface and they would once again split with Day going back to his solo career. The band would get back together again in 2008 and in 2011 they would record a new album, Condensate. However, the band would make a name change to The Original 7ven. It would get to #10 R&B/#58 Pop.

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"Pamela" by Toto

Song#:  3419

Date:  02/20/1988

Debut:  84

Peak:  22

Weeks:  19

Genre:  Soft Rock

Pop Bits:  Toto did not have an easy time following up their #4 Grammy-winning 1982 album Toto IV. Although 1984's Isolation and 1986's Fahrenheit would be gold sellers, neither made the Top 10 and the only single to get near the Pop Top 10 was the #11 "I'll Be Over You" (from Fahrenheit). Undeterred, the band went into the studio to focus on a new album that would get them back into the game. They came up with their seventh album, appropriately titled The Seventh One, and this first single was released. It would do well over at AC reaching #9, but the song ended up stalling just short of the Pop Top 20. It would end up being Toto's final single to make the Pop chart. The results didn't do much for the album, which stopped at #64 to became their lowest peaking studio LP to-date. The band would not reach the Pop Album chart again until 2015.

ReduxReview:  Apparently, it was thought that since this song was reminiscent of the band's #1 classic "Roseanna," it would become a hit and draw fans back. It sort of worked. From what I've read, the band really put forth a concentrated effort to make the LP a hit and had full support of the label, including promotion. But not long after its release, changes took place at the label and those working towards making the LP and "Pamela" hits were gone and it left the band in the lurch. As a result (or so the thought goes), "Pamela" stalled, two other singles from the album failed to chart, and the album sold poorly. I can sort of see that. Certainly label push does help, but on the other hand, we already had "Roseanne," did we need another one? I just think by this time the corporate yacht rock that Toto had been dishing out was passé. It was like they were trying to recreate '82 at a time when other styles and genres had taken over the airwaves. In general, the song is not bad. Had it been released a few years earlier, it might have gone Top 10. It was a song that their album Isolation desperately needed. However, in '88 it just wasn't working and it ended up closing the Pop charting career of Toto.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  After The Seventh One, the band would go through several changes, especially the lead vocalist position. Joseph Williams, who had taken over lead vocal duties in '86, would be fired from the band after the supporting tour for the LP. The band wanted to hire back original lead vocalist Bobby Kimball, but their label pushed them to hire South African vocalist Jean-Michel Byron. Byron would record four songs for the 1990 compilation Past to Present 1977-1990 and go out on the supporting tour. However, his different style, odd onstage antics, and attitude clashed with the rest of the band (and fans as well) and it wasn't long before he was fired. Band member Steve Lukather would then handle most of the lead vocal work. Later on in 1998, Kimball would rejoin the band and stay until 2008. Then Williams would return in 2010. Toto would continue to release albums over the years, but the only one that got them back on the Pop chart came in 2015 with Toto XIV. As of 2020, the only true members of Toto left were Steve Lukather and Joseph Williams. They would go out on tour with a new backing band.

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