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.
