Released on 8 May 1990 "Wilson Phillips" was the debut studio album by the US Band "Wilson Phillips" the album was full of smart, accessible songs, and peaked at No. 2 on Billboard 200, selling over 5 million copies in the USA and 8 millions worldwide. Five singles were released from the album, with "Hold On", "Release Me" and "You're in Love" all reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "Impulsive" reached number four, and the fifth single, "The Dream Is Still Alive", peaked at number 12. The album and its singles earned the group five Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.
Wilson Phillips seemed to have arrived out of nowhere, though it was actually the result of several years' hard work by three young, Los Angeles-based vocalists and songwriters with a distinguished Californian heritage. Chynna Phillips was the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips, formerly of The Mamas And The Papas, while the Beach Boys’ legendary Brian Wilson was the father of Carnie and Wendy Wilson.The trio's collective pedigree meant that Wilson Phillips' music inevitably attracted scrutiny.
However, Chynna, Carnie and Wendy were determined to stand or fall on their own merits. Crucially, the trio's collective decision not to rush-release music also worked in their favor. They wrote the songs for Wilson Phillips over a three-year period, with Chynna Phillips telling the Los Angeles Times the group took that time to evolve – the more we practiced, the more we sang together, the easier it became, and we began to have our own sound.
Overseen by producer Glen Ballard and featuring an all-star musical cast including the Eagles’ Joe Walsh, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, and Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne, Wilson Phillips was a highly consistent collection – and a timely reminder that well-crafted pop songs illuminated by sparkling harmonies and catchy melodies will never really go out of style. With almost every song sounding like a potential hit. The lyrics based in part on Chynna Phillips' own personal struggles with drugs and an abusive relationship, struck a chord with listeners worldwide, something which didn't entirely surprise Wilson Phillips. “It’s funny, because I knew when the song was being written that it was inspired by something greater than myself,” Phillips told the Los Angeles Times. “I knew that it was going to touch a lot of people, and it did. And that’s a wonderful feeling.”In the wake of “Hold On,” the Wilson Phillips album also touched music fans worldwide, yielding multi-platinum sales and a series of Grammy nominations as the record decamped inside the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 for a whole year.
Released on 8 May 1990 "Goodbye Jumbo" was the second studio album by Welsh-British band World Party. The album received generally positive reviews from critics and peaked at No. 73 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 36 on the UK Albums Chart. The album spawned three singles "Way Down Now", "Put The Message In The Box" & "Thank You World". In the case of "Way Down Now", the album's lead single, spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, and follow-up single "Put the Message in the Box" reached No. 8.
Definitely 1990 was a pretty good year in rock and pop, and this rare-ibis emerged out of nowhere to coquer the radio airwaves, the album was curiously enough one of the best albums of that year according to Q magazine and dozens of critics. Karl Wallinger, formerly of the Waterboys alongside Mike Scott, had embarked on a promising solo career with his band World Party
He confirmed his particular gift for late-period Fab Four-inspired music on Goodbye Jumbo, an album of effortless melodicism and adult pop with allusive lyrics about God, the green revolution, love in many forms and much more. With a tidy 12 tracks, potentially huge hits in the trippy pop of "Put The Message In The Box" and the rocky "Way Down Now", Goodbye Jumbo was the great album that went past just about everyone. Wallinger wasn't a man for swagger: his lyrics were cleverly crafted and his music - which he wrote and often performed almost every part himself in the studio - was subtle, discreetly referenced in his role models sometimes the Stones as much as the Beatles and he could cleverly incorporate a line from Iggy Pop as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Goodbye Jumbo bristles with musical ideas, but they are all contained within the pop-rock format. The gritty "Way Down Now" cuts right back for an intimate central section and the lyrics offer bewildering post-psychedelic confusion; "Ain't Gonna Come Till I'm Ready" is a sly nod to soft psychedelic Curtis Mayfield-soul; he fades up "When the Rainbow Comes" just as the Beatles did with Eight Days A Week and it hits its peak in ringing chords and an optimistic invitation to "step out of the open door . . . build a new house down by the sea". But definitely "Put The Message In The Box" is gentle power pop and slightly prescient in its lyrics if you think that Oasis were on their way
This was an album of the old style where every note in every song mattered, and where each song was memorable and distinctive. It moves easily through different styles but every one is within Wallinger's confident grasp. And it didn't sound overly studied or too clever-clogs. Whether it be a piano-framed ballad like "God on my Side", the studio-funk of "Show Me To The Top" or the trippy "Thank You World", Karl Wallinger proved he had what it took.
Different versions of three songs on Nervous Night — "All You Zombies," "Hanging on a Heartbeat," and "Blood from a Stone" — were originally released on The Hooters' independent album release Amore in 1983.
The album got off to a slow start, the first single, "All You Zombies," peaked at No.58 not bad for a song which actually was based about stories from the Holy Bible. Then, the band got a huge boost on July 13, 1985, when they were featured as the opening band at the American version of the Live Aid benefit concert. Outside of Philadelphia, they were the least known band at Live Aid.
Curiously, the promoter Bill Graham wanted The Hooters to perform at Live Aid, against the wishes of organizer Bob Geldof, who asked in an interview, "Who the fuck are The Hooters?" Ironically, many years later, Bob Geldof ended up being the opening act for The Hooters somewhere in the world.
The second single and the album's opening song, "And We Danced," peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received heavy airplay on the MTV, indeed, The Hooters were nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in a Video for “And We Danced.”
"Day By Day," the second song, became the band's third – and highest-charting – single, and helped propel the album to a No. 12 on the Billboard 200 album chart. And finally "Where Do The Children Go?" was the fourth single released from the album and was a collaboration between The Hooters and fellow Columbia Records label mate, Patty Smyth (of Scandal), peaked at No. 38
Other songs on the album include the rare "Don't Take My Car Out Tonight", "South Ferry Road," which was a faithful cover of Love’s 1966 hit, "She Comes In Colors," The title track, "Nervous Night," did not make it on the LP release, but it did appear on the cassette and CD versions.
The album was a landmark for the band, praising them for the excellent use of dynamics and innate talent for penning hit songs full of melodic hooks, also it had a hard-driving energy and muscular their debut album on a major record label
Released on May 1, 1985, it was Suzanne Vega's debut album primarily recorded at Celestial Sound in New York City and was produced by Steve Addabbo and Lenny Kaye.The album spawned three singles "Marlene On The Wall", "Small Blue Thing", & "Knight Moves".
The album's folk-style and stripped-back arrangements deviated from the prevailing trends of the time, and helped to usher in a new era of singer-songwriters. Suzanne Vega was a critical success and helped Vega's rise to popularity. The singles "Marlene on the Wall", become a top 30 in the UK and the album itself reached the top 20 on the UK Albums Chart.
Due Vega's style, earned her early comparisons were made to Joni Mitchell, Salthough Suzanne Vega's true antecedents were Janis Ian and Leonard Cohen. For critics the key track is "Small Blue Thing," in which the singer pictures herself as an object "Like a marble/or an eye," "made of china/made of glass," "lost inside your pocket," and "turning in your hand." The sharply picked acoustic guitar and other isolated musical elements echo the closely observed scenes everything seems to be in tight close-up and sharp focus.
Often, the singer seems to be using the songs to measure an emotional distance; sometimes, as in the brilliant "Marlene on the Wall," she observes her own actions from a remove. In "Freeze Tag," she tells a companion, "I will be Dietrich/and you can be Dean". The ten songs on Suzanne Vega constitute the self-analysis of a young woman who desires possession without offering commitment. Another highlights of the album are "Some Journey" and "The Queen and the Soldier." Like many of her songs, they are simultaneously passionate and dispassionate, they’re true works of art.
Vega’s 1985 debut was the foot-in-the-door for all of the folk-flavored artists who followed. It helped shift the established musical paradigm. Her lyrics are true poems set to song, forever eschewing generalities for specifics, and her melodies mesmerize.
