Mr Mike's AOR Project 1989

In 1989 Arena Rock saw equality towards the sexes as the number of female rockers rose. It was like the 25th century had arrived.

Here we are, the dream we all dream of. It's 1989, the last year of my car CD set of 80's Arena Rock. In 1989, the tide shifted towards female rockers as Lita Ford, Vixen and others took hairspray and spandex back from the boys for a moment. '89 was also the start of the last wave of Arena Rock that would last until Kurt Cobain would wipe them all off the face of the earth in '92. But that is the future, it's now 1989.

Disc 1:

Danger Danger - Naughty Naughty

The the band band with with a a love love of of repetition repetition enjoys their moment in the sun.

Joe Cocker - When The Night Comes

Bryan Adams was a killer ghost writer, coming up with gems for Loverboy, 38 Special and Mr. Cocker in addition to his own sizable catalog. I got into this song when it was heavily advertised in commercials for the Tom Sellick flick An Innocent Man. I'm innocent I tell you! Can't you hear the Joe Cocker song in the background? If that doesn't say innocent, I don't know what does.

Vixen - Edge Of A Broken Heart

Speaking of songwriting, the all girl rock band that clearly took inspiration from the Wilson sisters turn out a Richard Marx jam.

Great White - Once Bitten Twice Shy

Before they became synonymous with tragedy, Great White was a second tier hard rock unit that rode a Mott the Hoople tune to #1.

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe - Brother Of Mine

4/5ths of Classic Yes unite for some of that ten minute razzle dazzle excess they were famous for.

Signal - Does It Feel Like Love

To my surprise, this group finally became available thru ITunes so I now have this album after all these years. Brilliant power ballad cheese.

Blue Murder - Jelly Roll

Guitarist John Sykes came up with a lot of those magic sub-Zep riffs that Whitesnake's David Coverdale howled into hits before a failed coup attempt led to his dismissal. With "Jelly Roll", Sykes made some nice backwoods Metal.

Winger - Seventeen

Kip Winger took a second away from crafting his perfect hair and stubble beard to write this pop metal classic. Guitarist Reb Beach shreds all over the place and Winger goes for the perfect bass player spin move.

Bulletboys - Smooth Up In Ya

You can't have an Arena Rock set and not include the Bulletboys. You just can't.

Tesla - Love Song

Sac Town's favorite sons made it to the big time thanks to this power ballad. I know it's just me, when I hear the acoustic opening some of it sounds like the Buck Rogers theme to me. Love is gonna find a way Wilma Deering!

Lee Aaron - Whatcha Do To My Body?

Canada's Metal Queen has important questions and demands answers.

Joan Jett - I Hate Myself For Loving You

Jett's second #1, who would have known this would become better known than "I Love Rock and Roll"? This is now her signature tune.

Richard Marx - Satisfied

Marx wrote the Vixen track while still riding high on his own success, the lead single from his Repeat Offender album was pop rock brilliance.

Guns N Roses - Patience

Axl Rose chills out for a pleasant acoustic ballad. Maybe a song that best describes GNR fans who have to wait decades between albums.

Bad English - When I See You Smile

A Reeses peanut butter cup of a supergroup, ex-members of Journey and The Babys team up for one of Diane Warren's best known power ballads.

Disc 2:

Doobie Brothers - The Doctor

The Bay Area boogie band lays off the McDonalds and returns to their "China Grove" roots. Still my favorite Doobie Bros song.

Alice Cooper - Poison

70's shock rocker Alice Cooper couldn't get arrested most of the decade until he toned down and glammed up a little.

TNT - 10,000 Lovers (In One)

10,000 lovers? Better get tested wanna be Wilt Chamberlain.

Joe Satriani - Big Bad Moon

The Satch man shreds a plenty on Coldplay's next hit. Really looking forward to Chickenfoot, hope it lives up to the hype.

Shooting Star - Touch Me Tonight

Long running AOR group makes it to the end of the decade with their biggest smash hit (I think it made it to like #76 on the pop charts).

Warrant - Heaven

This group felt like a paint by numbers sort of rock band to me, case in point - generic power ballad. And yes, I play this one loud because that's what I like!

Motley Crue - Dr. Feelgood

The Crue close out their peak period with one of their best riffs, no one could deny the power of it.

Lita Ford - Kiss Me Deadly

Where ex-Runaways band mate Joan Jett went for leather and attitude, Ford was about curves and sex appeal. Years later Weezer would borrow the verse melody from "Deadly" for their hit "Hash Pipe".

The Cult - Fire Woman

All of those believers were validated when The Cult finally crossed over to a broad audience thanks to this blazin' hit.

Skid Row - 18 And Life

I'm not a fan of Skid Row yet it seemed wrong to deny their place in history...

Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire

...or as Billy Joel would say "Flash in the Pan / Sebastian Bach / on the Rolling Stone cover / AIDS shirt / punch out fans / Slave to the Grind / We Didn't Start The Fire..."

XYZ - Inside Out

Don Dokken had protege's, yes, I'm not kidding. XYZ, not to be confused with the failed Yes and Led Zep combo, were actually pretty good and got on the radio with this chugging anthem.

Bon Jovi - I'll Be There For You

After resisting releasing "Never Say Goodbye" as a single from Slippery When Wet, Jon Bon Jovi gave in to the power ballad loving audience demands with awesome results.

Aerosmith - Love In An Elevator

The Beantown boys cemented their comeback with one of their best jams, a swinging ode to being stuck between floors.

Queen - I Want It All

A few years before his demise, Freddie Mercury and the band still had that talent for triumphant rock anthems.

Strangeways - After The Hurt Is Gone

Smooth AOR as it was meant to be done.

Trevor Rabin - Something To Hold On To

80's Yes fans left in the lurch by Jon Anderson jumping ship to ABWH were given something to hold on to with Trevor Rabin's solo album Can't Look Away.

And that was the '80's. I haven't decided if I'll continue up to '92 or back track thru the 70's yet so that's all for this project for now. Seacrest out.

Mr Mike's AOR Project 1988

It was a concert I had wished I had gone to.

It's fitting after covering a whole lotta Zep that 1988 is the next year in my AOR Project because that was the year everyone wanted to be Zep. In the wake of Whitesnake's success a slew of bands took to the Zeppelin sound and interest renewed in the original members. On top of that Hair Metal went into overdrive. The Monsters of Rock tour was somewhere around this time led by the Hagar driven Van Halen. Everything was great in '88!

Disc 1:

Fate - Love On The Rox

When bands split up, it usually doesn't seem clean. So when Mercyful Fate divided and one half became Fate, well that was just pure genius.

Robert Plant - Heaven Knows

I debated with myself to include this or "Tall Cool One". Tough call to make, I went with the slower tempo number.

Cheap Trick - The Flame

Not just a great power ballad, one that seems to get a pass from people critical of this genre. Great acoustic guitar sound on this track.
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Kingdom Come - Get It On

In one of the best marketing moves of the day, the band sent this record to radio stations without a mention of who it was. Rumors spread that this was Led Zeppelin's new song (because it sounded very "Kashmir") and it got all over the airwaves.

Bonham - Wait For You

If anyone who was not a former member of Led Zep had a right to tackle that sound, it was Jason Bonham. The prodigal son gets his Physical Graffiti on with this ripping cut.

Toto - Pamela

Not to be outdone, Toto also sounded like Led Zep...no, not really, Toto came off as very Toto with a jazzy retread of "Rosanna".

3 - Talkin' 'Bout

To this day I'm shocked they didn't force Robert Berry to legally change his name to something like Like so they could remain ELP. Emerson, Like and Palmer has a nice ring to it.

Mr. Big - Addicted To That Rush

A few years before they invented the campfire clap power ballad, the mini supergroup made up from former members of Eric Martin Band, David Lee Roth and Racer X fired up the fret work to a crazy fast beat.

Hurricane - I'm On To You

Current Foreigner frontman Kelly Hansen spent the 80's rocking like a, um Hurricane.

Shy - Break Down The Walls

I'm not even gonna front yo, I've got to admit I learned about this group through Melodicrock and had not heard of this group at the time. Not bad stuff.

Aerosmith - Angels

Power ballads are all about the cheese baby, and it's hard to top the fondue fountain that is "Angel".

Saraya - Love Has Taken It's Toll

One of my favorite lost bands, this song has so many memories of drunken games at the pool halls for me. It sucks this album is out of print, Sandi Saraya rocks!

Alice Cooper - Poison

In 1988 none could resist the power of Desmond Child and he revived the 70's Icon with this comeback jam.

Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me

The Lep seemed all washed up when the 5th single dropped a year after the album release. One of the first mainstream meldings of rap and metal after "Walk This Way", it became a legend of 80's rock.

Pat Benatar - All Fired Up

A few years before her unfortunate foray into Blues, Benatar came up with one more Arena Rock winner before heading off to the oldies circuit.

Guns N Roses - Sweet Child O Mine

The reason everyone knows this band was because of this uncharacteristically sweet midtempo rocker. A great song, though if I have to hear the story of how Slash came up with the opening riff again I'll go into convulsions.

Disc 2:

Glass Tiger - I'm Still Searching

The Tiger made a play for a lasting career but was caught looking on a fastball. How's that for mixed metaphors!

Poison - Every Rose Has It's Thorn

I'd put down Bret Michaels but the man has a dream life: He slaps on his weave and plays generic music to screaming fans and has VH1 act as his personal pimp every few months. Lame or not, Michaels did come up with one of the best known poems in the late 20th century. Every rose has its thorn, just like every day has its dawn, just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song.

Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine

An awesome, awesome hair band arena rock jam with a big ass chorus and rapidfire verses.

Van Halen - When It's Love

Things looked a little wussy in Van Halen land for a second with this lenghty ballad. "Unchained" this is not.

Queensryche - I Don't Believe In Love

Part of the classic Operation: Mindcrime album, the Seattle based unit brought the heat on this dramatic rocker.

Britny Fox - Girlschool

C'mon, it's Britny Fox! What else can I say?

Eddie Money - Walk On Water

Eddie was on the money with this amazing slice of AOR written by Sammy Hagar's ex-keyboardist Jesse Harms. I remember getting out of the hospital and buying the tape. And finding out this was the only good song on the whole freakin' tape.

Jimmy Page - Wasting My Time

Unable to get Robert Plant to stick around (sounds familiar), Page cut a fine solo album called Outrider that featured this hard rockin' cut.

Scorpions - Rhythm Of Love

I find it weird how sometimes a certain song title will become popular. Case in point, "Rhythm of Love" was released by Yes in '87 and the Scorps in '88 and the two songs have nothing to do with each other at all.

Europe - Superstitious

Hey, it turned out guitarist John Norum was the most important member of this group after all. When Norum left this was the last hit the group could generate.

Def Leppard - Love Bites

One of the most interesting power ballads in terms of lyrics ("Love Bites / Love Bleeds / It's what I need"). Probably goes over well with that Twilight crowd. Say it. Vampire. Ooh...

Kix - Don't Close Your Eyes

You know it's 1988 when it's another song, another power ballad.

White Lion - Wait

Maybe the best name in Hair Metal, Mike Tramp, led his group through the jungle with this winning melody.

Paul Dean - Sword and Stone

Loverboy guitarist Paul Dean cut a Paul Stanley song for his solo album with strong results.

AC / DC - Heatseeker

It's Ac/Dc. You either get it or you don't.

Bad Company - No Smoke Without A Fire

The radio station in Sacramento loved this song, I heard it a couple times a day for months. This chorus is forever jammed in my brain.

Sheriff - When I'm With You

In a strange turn of events, a failed band from 1983 got their song played on the radio by a DJ who liked this song in 1988 - years after the band had split up. Later the singer and guitarist would team up with former members of Heart to make Alias.
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And that was 1988. Just one more year to go!

Mr Mike AOR Project 1987

I had this poster up on my wall back in the day, right next to James Bond.

1987, the year that will live in infamy. It lives in infamy because it was the year that Arena Rock's most infamous incarnation took hold of the mainstream. Hair Bands! Spandex, hairspray, makeup, party hearty anthems to work up a sweat and mushy ballads to make mascara run, went for middle America's jugular and took first blood. So flick your bic and hold it high because we're rocking like Amadeus into 1987 (and yes, "Rock Me Amadeus" was 1986).

Disc 1:

Sammy Hagar - Give to Live

The Red Rocker was feeling very "peace on earth and goodwill to men" on his contractually obligated solo album a year after joining Van Halen.

Whitesnake - Here I Go Again

Remember back when Tawny Kitaen wasn't all jacked up? Doing cartwheels on fancy cars seemed so simple then. She gave David Coverdale a reason to twirl his mic stand.

Guns N Roses - Welcome to the Jungle

One of the definitive rock anthems of the decade, Axl Rose's screeching over Slash's rampaging riff is 80's rock magic. It's still often used as a story telling device when a show or movie wants to introduce urban blight. As for me, I thought of this song often when I worked at a Marine animal theme park a year later.

Survivor - Is This Love

The last Top 10 hit for the AOR legends was this spiffy pop rocker with a Steve Perry style vocal hook. Love the cascading keyboards on this one.

Yes - Rhythm of Love

Guitarist Trevor Rabin thought it would be funny to make a Yes song about sex. And in that context, it is pretty funny.

Genesis - Tonight Tonight Tonight

What started as an eight minute prog album track turned into a 30 second beer commercial phenomenon which led to a three minute pop hit. They don't call Progressive Rock "Math Rock" for nothing!

Bonfire - Sleeping All Alone

Cutout bin classics Bonfire generate some heat.

Europe - Carrie

Swedish meatballs Europe wipe away the tears with sheer power balladry.

Bob Seger - Shakedown

What was supposed to be Glenn Frey turned into Bob Seger's monster hit to the Beverly Hills Cop 2 soundtrack. Shakedown...take down...you're busted!

Heart - Alone

One of the best remembered of all the power ballads, Heart's dramatic take on I Ten's song raised the bar on glossy theatrics. That's why it gets sung every year on American Idol.

Patty Smyth - Downtown Train

Before an, er, trainload of people got the idea to cover this Tom Waits song the ex Scandal singer had her take on it.

Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive

Ok, there's such a thing as too much ego and Jon Bon Jovi's comparisons of this song to "Stairway to Heaven" back in the day is a clear example. It's a great song, who doesn't want to be a cowboy on a steel horse or see a million faces and rock them all ?

Motley Crue - Girls Girls Girls

Some magazine had a caption for this song I can't beat. It said something like "L.A. Rockers ode to the titty bars they love." That's downright poetic.

Bryan Adams - Heat of the Night

A guaranteed hit song as the first single of a new album following Reckless, Adams hits a heavy groove that he would never touch again in the years of movie soundtrack love songs that would come later.

Aerosmith - (Dude) Looks Like A Lady

And with one fell swoop, Aerosmith replaced the Dallas Cowboys as "America's Team" with a fired up declaration to transgender issues.

Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died in Your Arms

A big year for (parenthesis), I was watching VH1's one hit wonders of the 80's and everyone came to the conclusion that this song is about sexual climax. Huh huh, I said "came". I still think that guitar lick was pilfered from "Der Kommisar".

Andy Taylor - Take it Easy

Barney, Opie and the gang get together for one last song on the porch before Otis stumbles in and eats Aunt Bea's Apple Pie. Ex-Duran Duran guitarist took his shot at Arena Rock glory and came up with this decent nugget for Mitch Gaylord's American Anthem movie.

Disc 2:

Dokken - Dream Warriors

One, two Dokken's after you. Guitarist George Lynch tries to outshred Freddy Kruger and wins.

The Outfield - Since You've Been Gone

I saw the band perform this live before the second album dropped, I was so sure this was going to be a big hit. Little did I know the public had enough Outfield from the first record.

Tesla - Little Suzi

It was practically Sacramento, CA's theme song in the late 80's as the local boys made good. Last year during MTV's celebration of their channels launch I found out this was originally a new wave song by a different band. Had no idea!

Cinderella - Nobody's Fool

You know, that girl's tilted clock hat fad never really took off. Cinderella started with flash and glam before bloozing things up a few years later.

Night Ranger - The Secret of My Success

Nothing says Flashback like a theme song to a Michael J Fox movie co-written and produced by David Foster. Throw in the synth horns and this is like Chicago on steroids.

Bon Jovi - Livin On A Prayer

Jon Bon Jovi delivers his masterpiece, a brilliant mix of talk box effects and escalating chorus vocals. I watched this interview with Desmond Child one time, he said he gave this song a Latin flair. Another one of those things I would have never guessed.

Georgia Satellites - Keep Your Hands To Yourself

The Satellites gave Southern Rock a good name and for a second seemed to have a strong future.

Ace Frehley - Into The Night

Space Ace took his leave of KISS to record some decent songs including this sly rocker. Last night the video came on VH1 Classics, it's powerful stuff.

Great White - Rock Me

Maybe one of the best song titles in Arena Rock, this long cut stealthily sneaks up on you and then shifts into overdrive. So sad what happened at that club years later.

Boston - We're Ready

A sort of forgotten hit even though it made the Top 10, it is almost never included in Boston's greatest hits comps. I have no idea why, it's wicked awesome.

Jet Boy - Feel The Shake

A great 80's rock band name if there ever was one, Jet Boy hit the afterburners on this anthemic tune.

REO Speedwagon - That Ain't Love

It threw everyone for a loop, Kevin Cronin grew a mustache! He looked all old and goofy with that thing on, made it hard to take him seriously. Ironically, with a bitter song like "That Ain't Love" Cronin was asking to be taken seriously. He looked like a snake oil salesman.

Pink Floyd - Learning To Fly

This was all over the radio back then, it was the first Pink Floyd song to be listenable since The Wall in 1980. Tongue tied and twisted just an Earth bound misfit, I.

Foreigner - Say You Will

No more head games, Foreigner made one of their patented midtempo pop rock jams the first single. A game of wordplay reigns supreme, say you will, say you won't, say you do, say you don't...damn, they've got a lot to say.

Rick Springfield - Rock of Life

It was rough not being able to squeeze more Genius into these CDs, but fortunately '87 was a weak year for AOR. Springfield takes a Sting like quality in the verses before slamming into the shifting chorus.

Fleetwood Mac - Big Love

I was so convinced it was Stevie Nicks making those little gasps countering Lindsey Buckingham's. Turned out both gasp noises were Buckingham, he just sped up his voice on the second set.

Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

You may think being in love with a Mannequin is wrong, but who are you to judge? You can't put limits on love! The heart wants what it wants.

Looks like we're heading towards the end, just two more years to go in this magnificent decade. Don't hate '88, it's almost here.

Mr. Mike AOR Project 1986

For a second, Samantha Fox was all over the Arena Rock sound thanks to her impressive talent. No, no, just kidding. It really was all about her looks.

Okay, we're up to 1986. Arena Rock's general popularity was fading. The sound of melodic rock had been co-opted to the point that it didn't carry as much power. Mainstream pop / rock rose at this time as artists who previously shied away from hard guitars and bracing choruses came up with a softer, more accessible version for the mass public. With dwindling interest in real Arena Rock, many of the bands fell back on Adult Contemporary to stay alive. Emphasizing power ballads as their single releases to make an impact on radio.


At the same time, MTV who had embraced Heavy Metal in '84 moved away from it in '85 following parental backlash. By '86 the softer version of Arena Rock was MTV's main rock sound. It looked like Arena Rock was going to go out to pasture until a guy named Jon found the magic formula of outside songwriters, marketable looks and hairspray to take Arena Rock to the next level: Hair Bands!


Disc 1:


Mr. Mister - Kyrie


My wife has been learning Japanese and there is a word in that language that sounds like "Kyrie" that means clean or pretty. I got to watch Mr. Mister perform this song at Grad Night in DisneyLand back in '86, you haven't lived until you've seen that.


Van Halen - Why Can't This Be Love


The first time I heard this, I was at a party when someone played the 45. An awesome song, I was blown away by how good Sammy Hagar sounded with VH. I ran out and bought the 45 the next day.


Giuffria - I Must Be Dreaming


At the time it seemed like a big mistake for Giuffria to not lead off with a big ballad for a single like their first album. Considering how this record stiffed in the marketplace, maybe I was right. It's still a great song though.


Daryl Hall - Dreamtime


Weird that a team up with Eurythmics' Dave Stewart would generate a pop rocker like this one. With no wild Oates to sow, Hall cranked up the guitars and psychedelia for his biggest solo hit.


Starship - Sara


It's not Stevie Wonder on the harmonica, it's a synthesizer pretending to be him that leads off this #1 hit. A pleasant wistful pop ballad given a big boost by Risky Business' Rebecca De Mornay starring in the video. A video that says Sara was a slutty drunk, but I still luv u baby!


Stryper - Honestly


Christian Rock presents its ultimate power ballad to the man upstairs, the yellow and black attack get their biggest chart hit as a reward.


Boston - Amanda


The shocker of '86, I was a huge fan of the first two Boston records and assumed the group would never record again (the previous album had been released in 1978). I played this sucker to death when I bought it.


Haywire - Standin' in Line


This band I found out about just this year, apparently they never made it out of Canada. Good clean Arena Rock, they don't make 'em like this anymore.


Eddie Money - Take Me Home Tonight


The Money Man figured out he needed a comeback...again...so he tightened up his sound and brought in Ronnie Spector for a cameo. Wasn't this tune used in a burger commercial? It's a hunger....A HUNGEERRR!!!


Don Johnson - Heartbeat


You know, if Sonny Crockett sang to his perps instead of shot them he might have killed more criminals.


Stan Bush - You've Got The Touch


Not a big hit at the time, this jam has come to represent the cheesy excess of the Arena Rock sound. Next time you want some motivation, play this song loudly.


Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone


Let's be honest, the only thing dangerous about Kenny Loggins is how much nose hair gets on his finely manicured 'stache. Still couldn't stop the man from howling about riding into the Danger Zone with thunderous drum fills. Tom Cruise wouldn't have it any other way.


Mike and the Mechanics - All I Need Is A Miracle


Mike Rutherford's busmans holiday was shaping up to be a rival to his day job with a second Top 10 hit. This glossy rockers with a positive 'tude would make into the soundtrack of many a movie afterwards.


Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love


After the success of the Power Station, Palmer did some math. Having hits with three other guys means less money than having hits by yourself. So he dumped the Duranites and did the Power Station sound all by himself. And came up with a classic 80's smash backed by zombie beauty queens.


John Parr - St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)


The title song to my favorite Brat Pack movie. Oogata Boogata Boogata Ah Ha Ha!


Ozzy Osbourne - A Shot In The Dark


I used to think of this as Ozzy's sell out to the mainstream, but now the Prince of Darkness has a freakin' variety show.


Kansas - All I Wanted


No more violins, the wayward sons carried on to the AC charts with this shiny ballad.


Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name


The saviors of Arena Rock! Bon Jovi took the cheesy elements of the core sound and multiplied them by 100. Within a few months of this hit, all bands had teased hair and feel good anthems to pump your fist to. The Hair Metal era began it's run on the Pop audience.


Disc 2:


Emerson Lake and Powell - Touch and Go


What would have happened if Cozy Powell wasn't brought in to replace Carl Palmer? If they hired Mick Fleetwood they would have been ELF. If they got Russ Kunkel it would be ELK. Any other letter combination would have sucked even harder. It had to be Powell. Had to be.


ZZ Top - Sleeping Bag


This song kicks so much as that my head would explode if I even thought I knew what it was talking about. So you have a sleeping bag, so what?


The Outfield - Your Love


The British trio found a way to combine the sharpness of The Police with the anthemic ways of Arena Rock. Their style managed to transcend categories, scoring with Pop fans, Rock fans and College Rock. I saw them perform in the summer of '86, they performed a twelve minute sing a long version of "Your Love" that was excruciating to listen to. Put me off the song for a year.


Triumph - Somebody's Out There


Like letting air out of a tire, the Canadian power trio dropped the Metal and streamlined their sound for radio play. And yet they still came up with gems like this one.


GTR - When The Heart Rules The Mind


Proggers Steve Howe and Steve Hackett joined forces for one album and one hit song. "When The Heart..." is all about these two out noodling each other on the fret board to a Journey beat, making it one of the greatest songs ever!


Van Halen - Dreams


Maybe the signature song of the Van Hagar era, fighter pilots everywhere draw inspiration from the charged attitude and Blue Angels video.


Pat Benatar - We Belong


Tired of being pigeonholed as a Hard Rocker, Patty B mellows out with a clapping rhythm and heroic vocals.


Glass Tiger - Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)


Whenever I think of this band, I think of what would have happened if the "Gl" part of their name had come off before the record release. But that's just me. Oh yeah, Bryan Adams cameos on this...big year for cameos!


John Farnham - You're The Voice


This was a worldwide smash hit everywhere but here. Leaving LRB, John Farnham becomes an Australian Demi God with this "We Are The World" type of jam. Play this with "We Belong" and "You've Got The Touch" and you will find you can climb mountains and swim across seas.


Genesis - Invisible Touch


The Phil version of Genesis kicks into Pop overdrive starting with this song, electronic drums and swirly synths in tow. I often thought of this as a sort of horror movie song. Think about it, she has an invisible touch that can reach inside of your heart to tear it apart. Like a hollow point bullet or something.


Honeymoon Suite - Feel It Again


Much of my blog has been dedicated to the greatness of this song, so I won't elaborate much more. Other than to say it rules!


Moody Blues - Your Wildest Dreams


Talk about left field hits, nobody, and I mean nobody, was expecting 'ol "Nights in White Satin" to have a #1 Pop hit. Patrick Moraz says you're welcome.


Steve Miller Band - I Want To Make The World Turn Around


The Miller Man takes his Miller Band to pay tribute to Pink Floyd on this very Floydian song.


Journey - Be Good To Yourself


Some people remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard about a history changing event. When I first heard this song, I was with my Dad and brother in the car to go skiing in Nevada. After getting to the hotel, I sat with my tape recorder and waited patiently for this song to come back on the radio so I could record it. Journey was back!


Lou Gramm - Midnight Blue


Gramm's solo career started off with an emphasis on what he felt was a more Garage rock sound. I used to force my voice to sound all gravelly so I could imitate this song and sing along in the car.


Europe - The Final Countdown


Is there anything more excessive than a Pop Metal band imitating ELP? For a second it looked like Cozy Powell joined the wrong band. An evergreen of rock cheese, this song has seen a resurgence recently that is well deserved.


David Lee Roth - Yankee Rose


Like Robert Palmer, DLR did some math and figured out renting Eddie Van Halen was better than working with him. So Roth roped in up and comers Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan to go up against the Hagar fronted VH.



Samantha Fox - Touch Me (I Want Your Body)


Before there were Spice Girls there was just one girl, UK's famed page three beauty Samantha Fox. The Fox and her rough British accent brought a trashy tartiness to a silly slice of danceable pop rock.


Next up is 1987, Arena Rock launches into the next phase.

Mr Mike AOR Project 1985

It's the roar of the crowd: Arena Rock's commercial slickness and focused energy became attractive to movies and aging rockers who wanted to meet mass appeal.

1985 was the year AOR went Hollywood, movie soundtracks and classic rockers hit the arena rock scene hard. The Iron Eagle soundtrack spawned a slew of Arena Rock classics, so much I purposely limited the number of songs on these CDs because it was dominating the whole thing. So, not included are Queen's "One Vision", Adrenalin's "Sign of the Gypsy" and Eric Martin's "These Are The Good Times". On top of that was the classic Rocky IV soundtrack, giving us another shot of John Cafferty and Survivor genius. Following '84's Footloose soundtrack, Arena Rockers were finding a lot of work playing over a film's ending credits or getting cut into that most famous of 80's film fads, The Montage. At the same time, Rock legends from the 60's like Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton jumped in too choosing slicker sonics to blend with the times. Arena Rock was still big business and everyone wanted in.

Disc 1:

Heart - What About Love

The Wilson sisters kicked off their new deal with Capitol records by releasing a nice shiny epic power ballad. Few on the planet can wail like Ann Wilson.

Fiona - Talk to Me

The smoky voiced chanteuse will forever be the person Demi Moore lip sync'd to in No Small Affair to me, though she is probably better known for acting opposite Bob Dylan in his big screen flick. Fiona tried every trick in the book to achieve fame to no avail, which is shocking because if a duet with Kip Winger called "You're Sexing Me" can't get you attention then what can?

David Lee Roth - California Girls

Diamond Dave rocked out the Beach Boys classic to the tune of random shouts and windmill kicks, giving him the delusion that he could do it all on his own. If only I could get a DeLorean and go back in time to stop him.

Alan Parsons Project - Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)

Wistful is not an adjective that comes up much in Arena rock, the pomp rockers get all teary eyed over the magic Traveller man. Travel on you questing spirit!

Loudness - Crazy Night

The Japanese Metal Gods tried the American market for a little while, I couldn't get a good copy of the excellent "Let it Go" so I went with another good tune from them.

Robert Tepper - No Easy Way Out

Just think, without Robert Tepper then Rocky might never have jumped into his Porsche to drive away his regrets and fears over Apollo Creed's death. Drago!

Supertramp - Cannonball

Who needs Roger Hodgson? Oh yeah, Supertramp does. The first single sans Hodgson was a sleek piece of jazz rock that sounds oddly close to the James Bond theme towards the end.

Bryan Adams - Heaven

Forgotten fact about this song: it was released as part of a soundtrack for a movie where Christopher Atkins (Blue Lagoon) is a male stripper in a relationship with his teacher Lesley Ann Warren. A Night in Heaven I think it was called. Or if it was made today, it would be titled Another Day at School.

Mick Jagger - Just Another Night

The Stones front man shaked and shimmied as hard as he could to make this song fly. He nearly succeeds as he pushed this to the Top 20. Sorry Mick, you really need Keith to make this stuff work.

Motley Crue - Home Sweet Home

Before it was American Idol's kiss off song, the Crue took power balladry to new heights on this jam which saw them switch from Satanic leather to spandex and scarves. No longer shouting at the devil, they're all sensitive and missing home.

Dokken - In My Dreams

Dokken still rhymes with rockin', their best heavy harmony topped off with George Lynch's blazing guitar. In the early 90's this song was remade as a dance track by a Disney group called The Party.

Starship - We Built This City

Stiff, mechanical, dopey and cheesy: everything I love! The Starship hit warp speed with this idiotic yet insanely memorable smash. I even had the twelve inch back then which consisted of five minutes of the drum machine pattern going over and over again followed by the regular song.

Marillion - Kayleigh

They didn't make much of a splash in the U.S., Marillion was a well respected British prog band who hit the European charts with this pop cut.

Survivor - The Search is Over

It's like Cats with rockers, Survivor croon their dramatic tale that made the list of VH1's Awesomely Bad Love Songs just because it's about finding true love after dating a lot of women.

The Hooters - And We Danced

Philadelphia's eccentric pop rockers were named after an actual musical instrument, not what you might think (get your mind out of the gutter!). For some reason this band has a knack for writing hits for female singers, case in point - Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and Joan Osbourne's "One of Us" (you know, the what if God was on the bus song).

Fortune - Dearborn Station

One of the lost bands of AOR, Fortune released a classic Arena rock disc in '85 and was virtually ignored for their trouble. Not so, ahem, fortunate.

Van Zant - I'm A Fighter

Before reviving Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Van Zant took a shot at making a name for himself and made a little bit of headway with a two fisted rockers and ballads approach.

Disc 2:

Asia - Go

The last sort of hit for the British Prog AOR group, "Go" is like listening to Manheim Steamroller with Barry Manilow on lead vocals. That sounds awful, but it's really good. At least to me.

Magnum - On A Storyteller's Night

Germany likes to rock and Magnum serves up a bright shiny anthem that builds from a ballad to straight ahead rock. Combined with Asia, they serve up a special kind of cheese that can only come from Europe.

Tina Turner - Better Be Good To Me

Half the fun is listening to Turner's raspy insistent delivery, at it's core "Good to Me" is classic Arena rock dressed up in Adult Contemporary garb. The other part of the fun is listening to my wife's great Tina Turner imitation :)

REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling

Along with Survivor, '85 was a big year for finding love right under your nose. Was it social commentary as the 60's spirit of unmarried sex combined with the wave of conservatism created a culture where it was expected to sleep around before getting married? Nope, just coinkidink. This song added some much needed miles to the Speedwagon's career as it shot to #1 on the Pop charts.

Joe Lynn Turner - Endlessly

Ex-Rainbow singer JoLT powered his solo debut with this magnificent moody ballad. I got to see JoLT live when he opened for Pat Benatar a year later, thought it was funny his tour shirts stressed JoLT with a lightning bolt because there was a caffeine heavy soda at the same time with a similar logo. Ah, that soda got me through many a college final.

Huey Lewis and the News - The Power of Love

Maybe a little too bar band to be true Arena Rock, nonetheless Huey Lewis and the News made a dent in the Pop Rock scene. This song gave Michael J Fox the power to skateboard his heart out in Back to the Future.

Mr. Mister - Broken Wings

Singer / Bassist / Songwriter Martin Page turned down a shot at replacing Peter Cetera in Chicago because he had faith in his own band. For one year he was right, Mr. Mister hit the top of the charts twice. Then after that it looked like he totally made the wrong choice as Mr. Mister decended into oblivion.

Eric Clapton - She's Waiting

Slowhand's hook up with Phil Collins produced some of his biggest AOR moments, "She's Waiting" was one of his best of Clap's 80's phase. Though I've always had a soft spot for that Miller beer remake of "After Midnight".

Michael McDonald - No Lookin' Back

Yes, there were occasional moments where Mikey McD would sing lead instead of background vocals. "No Lookin' Back" was McD's attempt to get out of R&B pop purgatory, an attempt that failed but still gave us a nice piece of soulful AOR.

Loverboy - Lovin Every Minute Of It

Written by Mutt Lange, it looks like Def Leppard, sounds like Def Leppard, but it's not. It's not Def Lep, it's Canada's Loverboy droppin' the New Wave to take their shot at full on Arena Rock.

The Power Station - Some Like It Hot

Driven by what I consider to be the single greatest drum performance of the Reagan Presidency, the late Tony Thompson gave the renegade Duran Durannies (John and Andy Taylor) something to dance about. And the cool sophistication of Robert Palmer didn't hurt either.

Heart - Never

This delicious chunk of wiry Arena Rock (Neevverrr! Never Run away...) was a huge smash not just for its catchiness. Nancy Wilson bouncing, writhing and kicking throughout the vid clip in tight spandex was a key selling point for millions.

Mike and the Mechanics - Silent Running

Okay, I never did figure out if this song went to a movie or not. The video made it seem like it belonged to a movie about aliens or something. Either way, Paul Carrack backed by Genesis' Mike Rutherford made a sleek proposition for high tech mystery.

Rush - The Big Money

The egghead hard rockers railed against THE MAN with this textured swipe at Corporate greed.

Y&T - Summertime Girls

Same old story: Long running Bay Area hard rock outfit sells out to pure cheese for MTV airplay. "Mean Streak" this is not. And yet I cannot resist it's sub-Hagar charm.

King Kobra - Iron Eagle (Never Say Die)

Damn right you never say die, this is America!

The Cars - Tonight She Comes

Little did we know at the time that this would be the last Cars hit to have any real impact. Ric Ocasek's offhand delivery distinguishes this synth heavy hit.

And Cut! That's a wrap people, see you in 1986.

Mr Mike Project 1984

Game, Set and Match: The future Mrs. McEnroe transforms into a Kabuki looking super heroine armed with fingers that can shoot walls of heartache.

In 1984 MTV became the undisputed center of the music world and three things happened to AOR as a result: First, the channel pushed a lot of L.A. Pop Metal in the wake of Quiet Riot's success leading to a lot of exposure for bands from the Sunset Strip. Second, established AOR bands saw a lot singers either get pushed to the forefront or make solo albums to become full on "stars" in their own right. You ended up with lengthy titles like Scandal featuring Patty Smyth, leaving no secret who the star of the show was regardless of the band name. Third, AOR started to become more homogenized as outside songwriters like Holly Knight ("Better Be Good To Me", "Never", "The Warrior") became standard issue to aspiring pop rockers. Because of this I tend to think of '84 as the Star Search year or Go Solo. Here's my two CDs for 1984.

Disc 1:

Russ Ballard - Voices

The erstwhile songwriter (Santana's "Winning") recorded some stuff of his own, including this track that became a minor hit following heavy exposure on Miami Vice.

The Firm - Radioactive

Jimmy Page + Paul Rodgers should equal greatness, yet all they could muster was one memorable song. I guess the name Bad Zeppelin would have been too definitive.

Motley Crue -Looks That Kill

The kings of the lipstick and leather crowd, Motley Crue first hinted at Satanic danger on their second record led by this lethal dose of Pop Metal.

Arc Angel - Tragedy

Really from 1983, Arc Angel (not to be confused with the post Double Trouble band) pushed themselves to the bottom rung of the charts with this nice ditty.

Ratt - Round and Round

Few mastered the "street urchin" look (bright colored torn clothing, fishnet and poodle hair) like Ratt did and for four minutes they were in hook city with this winner. And every guy air guitared that Warren DeMartini guitar solo and then mimicked the finger pointing straight up on the part where Robbin Crosby takes over.

Gary Moore - Empty Rooms

Back in the day, my neighbor friend used to tape records for me and put a Gary Moore album on the B side of each cassette in an effort to make me a fan. All these years I'm still not a fan, but this song is good.

Honeymoon Suite - New Girl Now

Another artist to gain a lot of exposure via Miami Vice, this Canuck quintet hit pay dirt with this synth backed hard rock anthem.

The Cars - Drive

Talk about a no brainer of a song title, Ben Orr's lovely ballad was a monster hit.

Black n Blue - Hold on to 18

I often regarded this band as a sort of pleasant joke, hard to believe when they started out they actually rocked pretty hard. Probably should have included later material from them when they were more plastic.

Stone Fury - Break Down The Wall

In the Reagan era everyone wanted to break down walls. Lenny Wolf was no exception, rockin it a few years before Kingdom Come.

Utopia - Crybaby

Todd Rundgren's prog rock dream child turned in a decent Pop Rocker with a classic Runt style swaying chorus.

Autograph - Turn Up the Radio

Another band that caused some name confusion (The Russian band of the same name was featured during Live Aid) distinguished itself with a tall ass lead singer and a drummer that defines 80's music vid posturing.

Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart

The song that started a way of life for me as a Yes fan, spiffy Trevor Horn production puts a nice shine on Trevor Rabin's pop rock glory.

Orion the Hunter - So You Ran

Guitarist Barry Goudreau strikes, filling the Boston void with his version of the beantown AOR band. And he does a real fine job of it here. Would you believe the singer's name is Fran Cosmo?

Steve Perry - Oh Sherrie

The Journey singer proves he doesn't need anyone else to find success on this ode to his then girlfriend. Although he would record two more Journey albums, Steve Perry's solo hits marked the end of an era for me. Journey was never the same afterwards. Doesn't change the fact that this song rules!

Tommy Shaw - Girls with Guns

The Styx axe slinger escapes Mr. Roboto land and turns in his most upbeat song...ever? Zippy synths and slammin drums power this track about - you know what it's about.

Scorpions - Rock You Like a Hurricane

Every sports program and half time show owes a debt to the German metal band's best known song, one of the greatest Pop Metal songs ever. Here I am!

John Waite - Missing You

After dismissing Jon Cain's "Open Arms" as too syrupy, the ex-Baby's singer lets out a ballad of his own backed by a track made for school dance remixes.

Disc 2:

Van Halen - Jump

Eddie Van Halen adds more synthesizer to their antics and David Lee Roth finds inspiration in suicide jumpers leading to the band's biggest pop hit.

LRB- Playing to Win

The Aussie Country rockers drop the Country and most of the letters in their name (Little River Band) putting manic keyboards in its place. Freakin' love this cheesy song.

Whitesnake - Slow and Easy

Proof that before David Coverdale was ripping off Led Zep he was...ripping off Led Zep. But few have done it better then or now.

Sammy Hagar - I Can't Drive 55

This seems less rebellious now that the speed limit is 65, at the time this was probably the biggest protest song of the 80's. Sure other generations protested wars, social injustices and what not but we, we protested the speed limit. Take that!

Giuffria - Call to the Heart

One of the great unsung AOR bands led by keyboardist Gregg Giuffria (ex-Angel). They were the minor leagues of AOR with ex band members later going to Quiet Riot, Dio and Boston.

Dennis DeYoung - Desert Moon

Now free of Tommy Shaw, nobody could stop DeYoung from going full on Broadway or his sappy love songs. This led to one of DeYoung's best ballads, the reverie of "Desert Moon".

Bryan Adams - Summer of 69

In the 90's Adams revealed this song was not about the year '69 but the sexual position. And if anyone wants to imagine his pockmarked craggy mug between some girl's legs all I can say is Nasty!

ZZ Top - Legs

The Texas trio found a stream of never ending gold with this cut. Long beards, spinning guitars and Playboy models made this simple yet effective rocker easy to swallow.

Foreigner - I Want to Know what Love Is

For better or worse, Mick Jones and Lou Gramm turn the corner from rock band to balladeers with this unforgettable #1 smash. The gospel choir puts magic in this slow moving inspirational track.

Night Ranger - Sister Christian

Soaring guitars, bic lighter choruses about "motoring" and earnest vocals mark one of the definitive power ballads of the decade. Or if you watch Boogie Nights, great background music for drug dealers.

Slade - Run Runaway

Quiet Riot's cover of their "Cum On Feel The Noize" brought this British glam rock band back for one more round of goofy fun.

Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It

Speaking of goofy fun, Dee Snider's costumed metal band summed up media inspired teen rebellion with a classic vid clip placing them against the bad guy from Animal House. Between this and Sammy Hagar, teen rebellion seemed so canned back then.

Scandal featuring Patty Smyth - The Warrior

Or if you go with Smyth's New Yawk enunciation, "The War-Re-Uh", shootin up them walls of heartache. Bang! Bang! I remember a friend of a friend gettin' pissed off whenever this song came on, he considered it the dumbest song ever. Good times (I didn't care for that guy).

Van Stephenson - Modern Day Delilah

Sleek pop rock that makes me want to cruise L.A. at one AM. Don't ask me why.

Survivor - I Can't Hold Back

Two of the greatest voices in AOR, Jimi Jamison and Starship's Mickey Thomas, combine on one of the Chicago band's best songs. And that music video was pure Risky Business.

John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band - On The Dark Side

Bruce Springsteen's chief acolyte came up with a strong Boss pastiche. Michael Pare', where are you now?

Toto - Stranger in Town

"Stranger in Town" has been sort of shunned by the band after its release rarely making Greatest Hits or Best of comps despite the fact that it charted. Sure it's a silly song with boogie man vocals and a lyrical theme that makes no sense on the surface other than bizarre xenophobia. But still, it charted (it hit like #30 on the pop charts or something like that).

John Parr - Naughty Naughty

You know what really sold me on this song? When they used it for commercials in a vampire movie called Near Dark. Something about that advertisement really got the rhythm hook jammed in my brain and I haven't forgot it ever since.

And that was 1984. Next we go to the heart of the 80's, 1985!

Mr. Mike Project 1983

Make way for the New Wave! Arena rock bands were suddenly faced with obsolescence as MTV changed the rules from regular looking people to fancy hair cuts and costumes.

1983, MTV started to take hold. Music Videos began to break new acts left and right, particularly in the New Wave field. This took its toll on the established Arena rockers as they had made their name on live concert experiences more than having a photogenic look. Arena rock bands ran to the cameras for their closeups to compete with A Flock of Seagulls but ultimately could not translate their live appeal to video. The fact of the matter was that many of these guys weren't what would be called "pretty" and in 1983 looks mattered a lot more. As a result, '83 became the last gasp of true Arena rock. The regular guy look was out, glitz and glamour was in.

So my picks for my Arena rock songs of '83?

Disc 1:

Kansas - Fight Fire With Fire

John Elefante takes over for Steve Walsh on vocals and let's out a wail over a pounding riff as a giant mosquito bites his neck. One of the first records I ever bought. I used to get a lot of crap from my friend because it wasn't Metallica.

38 Special - If I'd Been The One

The video where the first Mrs. Springsteen shoots the singer and then drives off while the horses run free. A song where 38 asks a lot of "what if's", like what if I'd been the one to say goodbye, the one that makes you want to cry, the one that never fades away...dude, get over it!

Sweet Comfort Band - Don't Bother Me

Trying to be a completest here so despite my personal lack of spirituality I couldn't completely ignore Christian rock's contributions to the Arena rock genre. So I picked the most secular song I could find by a Christian rock band.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Runner

The 80's had these awesome synth rockers that were meant to sound futuristic and cool like this one. Would go great with a Logan's Run montage.

The Tubes - She's A Beauty

Maybe the most clean cut sounding song about a strip joint ever. In the video, I still can't believe what they got away with what's painted on the door the amusement park cart goes through towards the start.

Tony Carey - I Won't Be Home Tonight

Ex-Rainbow keyboardist strikes out on his own with a solid chunk of pop rock. And that's all I got here.

Genesis - That's All

Phil Collin's balladeer instincts began to kick in here though the group is clever enough to dress it up in an upbeat keyboard bit and tasteful guitars.

Vandenberg - Burning Heart

Flick your bic for a mighty fine power ballad courtesy of Adrian Vandenberg. This guy just has a name that is born to rock. Say it - Van Den Berg!

Def Leppard - Rock of Ages

The prime purveyors of Pop Metal get downright biblical on their hard rock stomper and introduce an unforgettable catchphrase to a generation - unta gleebin glossen globen.

Charilie - It's Inevitable

A song made for video arcades and miniature golf, this sounds awesome when you're trying to sink that last hole for a free game.

Eric Martin Band - Sucker For A Pretty Face

One of my favorite records back in the day, EMB aka 415 kicked out this blazin' ode to guys in Izod shirts with their collars up gettin' used by beautiful girls.

Billy Squier - Rock Me Tonite

The last of Squier's big run, of the Arena rockers to fail to transition to the video age few crashed harder than Squier. His fey dancing and rolling around in this clip has been cited as the killer of his career.

Alcatrazz - Hiroshima Mon Amour

Another Rainbow alumni, singer Graham Bonnet brought in guitar phenom Yngwie Malmsteen to burn up the fret boards like an A bomb.

Queen - Radio Ga Ga

Faced with the growing popularity of a medium they helped perpetuate, Queen takes on the music video era with a tribute to radio.

Night Ranger - Don't Tell Me You Love Me

Twin guitar fury hits like a locomotive. Night Ranger arrives on the scene guns blazing and Brad Gillis' whamming.

Journey - Faithfully

While "Open Arms" broke new ground for the Bay Area band's power balladry, "Faithfully" was the one that put the patent on it.

Dan Fogelberg - The Language of Love

Mr. Sensitive longer than same old lang syne dropped the misty eyed sentimentality for a second to find his inner cow bell.

Saga - On The Loose

More proof that Canada rocks, the Proggy Arena rockers lay down a thunderous groove for spinny keyboards and guitars to dance over.

Disc 2:

Def Leppard - Photograph

One of the first groups to really benefit from MTV exposure, the Lep unleash a butt load of hooks from the opening guitar riff to the "Oh!" chants to the cushy synths under the chorus to rock you in your living room.

I Ten - Alone

Songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly originally performed what would become a power ballad standard following Heart's remake in 1987.

Chris DeBurgh - Don't Pay the Ferryman

Before that whole "Lady in Red" thing, DeBurgh was a pop rocker with a dramatic flair.

Randy Newman - I Love L.A.

Sublime songwriter that he is, Newman went AOR in the early 80's penning one of the top rock anthems of the decade. The song became shorthand for the decadent feel good consumerism of the time.

Kiss - Lick it Up

The make up came off in '83, revealing...four pretty ugly dudes. Yet the trick worked, Kiss successfully switched from fading glam metal to hair band in a snap.

Bon Jovi - Runaway

Jon Bon Jovi makes his mark as a Foreigner styled rocker a few years before making the jump to premier hair band status.

Zebra - Who's Behind the Door?

One of the great forgotten power trios of 80's rock, Zebra mashed up Rush and Zep into a compelling sound.

Taxxi - I'm Leaving

Occasionally British bands would forget their from England and take a wholly American character. Point in case: Taxxi.

LeRoux - Carrie's Gone

Could vocalist Fergie Frederiksen be denied a spot on my CDs? Hell no!

Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel The Noize

The "Smells Like Teen Spirit" of the 80's, Quiet Riot's successful streamlining of a Slade classic ushered in the hair band era in an explosion of hair spray and spandex.

Toto - Africa

Showing the softer side of Arena rock, Toto gets mythical about "blessing the rains down in Africa" giving karaoke singers in the low vocal range something to shout about.

Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

Own up to it, you would look for docks and warehouses to jump around in and do that grabbing the wrist of your shaking fist with your other hand thing for the "break those chains that bind you" part. Or maybe it was just me.

Michael Bolton - Fools Game

In one of his previous lives, Michael Bolton was a super cheesy rocker who oversang all over his backing track. As opposed to a super cheesy R&B crooner who oversang all over his backing track.

Asia - Don't Cry

The Fab Four of Prog rock score one more Top 10 hit before ego battling each other to the bitter end. And then coming back again two decades later.

Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield

You know, at the time "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" was her signature tune but now it's been supplanted by this one. Because taxi dancers need love too.

Loverboy - Hot Girls in Love

Did you ever notice in this video that the girl wasn't particularly hot? Or that the drummer was playing the drums with gas pumps? Or that no one was in love?

707 - Megaforce

Singer Kevin Chalfant strikes in this brilliant theme song to a craptacular movie about a military unit that rides rocket launching flying motorcycles and dune buggys. My younger brother loved this movie so of course I had to make fun of it, often referring to it as "Megafake".

Styx - Mr. Roboto

Japanese lessons courtesy of Dennis DeYoung, the song has become a kitsch classic that still gets referenced today. Even the Japanese guy who won an Oscar last week said "Domo Arigato Mr Roboto."

That's it for 1983, MTV makes an even greater impact on the next round. See you in 1984.

Mr. Mike Project 1982

Buda-Buda-Buda...on restrictions from watching Buck Rogers? Then find yourself some Rock & Roll on the radio.

1982, the year that essentially created this blog. I wasn't doing well in school and was restricted to staying indoors to do homework without access to television or baseball (my two childhood obsessions) to improve my grades. For entertainment the only thing I had was my clock radio, so I left it on while I did homework. Then I started to like some songs more than others, like Blondie's "The Tide is High" or Toto's "Rosanna". At the end of the year, Casey Kasem and America's Top 40 (Billboard) ran a program on New Years Eve counting down the Top 100 songs of the past 12 months. So I decided to sit down and record the whole program (it was hours long and took about all nite). The best songs of the year for free! I played those tapes incessantly afterwards, leading me to buying music resulting 27 years later with what we have in the present (me and a lot of music).

1982 was also the last year of true Arena Rock. The music industry was in a slump, sales were down and the industry complained about home copying as much as possible to anyone that would listen (sounds familiar?). MTV had just started the year before and was a channel dedicated to Rock music only (big controversy at the time) meaning music hadn't been Hollywood-ized yet. Rock bands didn't have to be pretty, just play music well. Michael Jackson's Thriller was released in '82, but it wouldn't be until the next year that there would be a push to put him on MTV and change music forever. But that was in the future, now it's 1982. Here's my picks for Arena Rock CDs for my car.

Disc 1:

Journey - Open Arms

The song most credited with starting the power ballad, Steve Perry makes the girls weep with his special brand of epic sensitivity and pre-American Idol melisma.

Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra

The Bay Area invasion continues, the 70's rocker got his last run at the pop charts in with this synthy dance cut. He heats up and can't cool down. I heard this was written about Diana Ross, wonder if that's true?

Survivor - Eye of the Tiger

Boxing gets a new theme song as this track from Rocky III scores a knockout. I remember the first time I heard it, got dragged into a friend's house after a baseball game because he wanted to play everyone a tape of the rockinist song ever.

Moving Pictures -What About Me

The Australian smash hit ballad did little business here in the U.S., but was a sign of the growing influence of Arena Rock worldwide.

38 Special - Caught Up In You

Don Barnes best vocal in my book, the 38's give Urban Cowboys something romantic to say to their best cowgirls.

Toronto - Your Daddy Don't Know

A kickin' track that...I can't figure out why it matters that your Daddy don't know what your Mama's gonna do tonight. I guess it means you're telling someone their Mom is sleeping around? Not the nicest thing to say! But it makes for a killer Canadian hit. I've read the New Pornographers covered this too.

Asia - Heat of the Moment

Take three of the greatest Prog bands of all time (Yes, ELP, King Crimson), pour into a cup add water and stir.

Spys - Don't Run My Life

While looking for songs for these CDs, I finally got an answer to a lifelong question: what happened to those dudes that were fired from Foreigner? Answer: they formed this band.

REO Speedwagon - Keep the Fire Burnin'

Did you know that there was a band called REO Speed Dealer? Too funny. Oh, this song is freakin' great in that "Roll With The Changes" kinda way.

Judas Priest - You Got Another Thing Comin'

Rob Halford drops another hint to his fans of what's what. And then sells burgers with it two decades later.

Fleetwood Mac - Hold Me

Lindsey Buckingham kicks his production skillz into overdrive for this overdub classic built on yet another sturdy Christine McVie tune.

Bad Company - Electric Land

You know what sucks? I can't find a cheap copy of "No Smoke Without A Fire" anywhere. Anyway, gotta represent the original lineup where I can, so all I got is "Electric Land".

Bryan Adams - Straight From The Heart

Bri Dog's first big hit was this ballad, maybe I should have went with "Lonely Nights"? I included "Heaven" later, did I really need two Adams ballads?

Dio - Rainbow in the Dark

Ronnie James throws his fists skyward and screams about rainbows.

Quarterflash - Harden My Heart

Swanky sax and a Pat Benatar vibe goes the distance on this big hit.

Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky

I asked my wife to sing this song to me recently, it was beautiful. The song itself with it's Orwellian fears, so ahead of its time.

Joan Jett - I Love Rock and Roll

Snarling, simplistic and catchy as hell. Joan Jett "Ow!"s her way to greatness.

Headpins - Just One More Time

Another Canadian band to do decent business up North, I always liked the name of this group. They had this one video where their faces were on bowling pins, it was cool in that early 80's kinda way.

Disc 2:

Aldo Nova - Fantasy

Awesome futurism, I mean the guy's name is ALDO NOVA and he has helicopters and laser guns in his song. Like Buck Rogers with a guitar. Twiki rocks out.

Tane' Cain - Holdin On

Jon Cain's then wife shows Quarterflash a thing or two in the Pat Benatar copycat department. And then becomes a B movie actress appearing in movies like Illicit Dreams 2 and Bikini Academy. Speaking of futurism, she appeared and sang in the first Terminator movie too.

Supertramp - It's Raining Again

The group's final hit with Roger Hodgson was this sing songy confection complete with the children's rhyme at the end.

Axe' - Rock and Roll Party in the Streets

I heard if you take this record and spray it on you that chicks can't resist you.

Steel Breeze - You Don't Want Me Anymore

Blazin' keyboards and fired up guitar, this is what music is about! State of the Art rock for 1982. Where's my Rubik's cube?

Kiss - I Love it Loud

This is a song I got into from hearing it on Music Choice over the past few years instead of listening to it back then. But what the hell, may as well include some makeup era Kiss if I can.

Journey - Don't Stop Believin'

As Sammy Hagar once said, what is understood does not need to be discussed. A song for the ages.

Rainbow - Stone Cold

Downbeat dramatics rule as Joe Lynn Turner and Richie Blackmore get the cold shoulder. Oooh, ice cold.

Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You

Upbeat dramatics rule as Lou Gramm and Mick Jones give a warm welcome. Having those cascading Thomas Dolby synthesizers didn't hurt either. You know that line in the verse "When we make love it's understood", who understands it? I would think the two people having sex already understand they are having sex. Are they having sex in public?

Toto - Rosanna

As I learned from Casey Kasem, that synthesizer solo took several passes of overdubbing to get the right sound. Rosanna Arquette, inspiration to all musicians everywhere.

Golden Earring - Twilight Zone

You know half of that song "Radar Love" kicks soooo much ass. Oh, this was their other hit.

J. Geils Band - Centerfold

So provocative back in the day, Peter Wolf shuffles his feet and fantasizes about girls in girlie magazines. Interesting compared to now where Centerfolds can have their own TV shows and what not. Not that I'm complaining.

Cheap Trick - She's Tight

The Tricksters lay down their last great rock song, Arena Rock with a touch of punky urgency and ribald sense of humor. No accident Green Day ripped off this song years later.

Eddie Money - I Think I'm in Love

A highlight from last Summer when we saw the Money man play at the Santa Cruz boardwalk, the staggering one stands and delivers a straight ahead shot of AOR.

Shooting Star - Hollywood

Before videos took hold, bands would occasionally get ambitious and tell their musical theater dreams on record only. Also ran AORsters Shooting Star were no exception, I bet Dennis DeYoung was ecstatic when he heard this.

Tommy TuTone - 867 5309 Jenny

Is there anything harsher than putting a real phone number in a hit song? And then making it about getting a girl's number off the wall? Burn!

Billy Squier - Everybody Wants You

Squier brings the beats again on this zippy, bangin track. If it's good enough for the CW, it's good enough for me.

John Waite - Change

Proof that Pat Benatar had male copycats too, Waite hooked up with Benatar's guitarist for this rocker that was only a medium sized hit despite two attempts at chart success (in 1982 and then re-released as a single in 1985 for the Vision Quest soundtrack).

And that's it for the year that was 1982. Next up, MTV takes hold of the video and airwaves.

Mr Mike Project 1981

OK, we're up to 1981. A year that saw the people who practically invented the genre make their final significant contribution to their legacy (The Stones, The Who). Arena rock was in full swing with Styx, REO, Foreigner and Journey dominating the charts. A year to remember indeed.

One of the big debates I had with myself was where to draw the line between mainstream rock and Arena Rock. It was a tough call sometimes. I immediately removed anything that seemed hardcore Metal, so no Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, etc. New Wave artists who were considered Arena Rock later on, i.e. The Police and U2, didn't make the cut. Also, I had to rule out most Midwestern rock, so no John Mellencamp (though "Hurts So Good" came close to making my list), one Bob Seger song and no Tom Petty. The only major Midwest rocker I included was Bruce Springsteen, just because I've seen him twice and its hard to sit through a stadium of people sing along to "Hungry Heart" and not consider him a little Arena Rock. That and other people on my discs were heavily influenced by the Boss so it seems strange to not have him there.

What made it close even for Springsteen is what I consider to be the overriding element of Arena Rock: Cheese. There must be cheese. Not smooth, tasty cheese either. It must be government cheese, cheap and strong like a pimp's cologne. You can smell it a mile away. It must be overblown and a little pretentious to become real AOR. Like standing downwind from a sewage treatment plant, you must sense the overpowering nature of Arena Rock!

Disc 1:

Loverboy - Working For The Weekend

The Canadian rockers pumped up the wavy synths and came up with the all time anthem for weekend warriors everywhere. Get ready 'cause it's flag football time.

AC/DC - For Those About To Rock

No subtlety allowed in the land of Album Oriented Rock, you gotta give it up to a band that literally pulls out the canons to blow you away.

Rush - Tom Sawyer

It's probably my old age, but geekdom was tougher in the old days. You didn't have as many computers to do the thinking for you, games required dice and calculating imaginary statistics. Watching movies required going to a movie theater. And the bands you listened to had musical prowess and science fiction lyrics. Yet all the wisdom points in the medieval world couldn't match the awesome power of Rush. If you spent hours playing Star Raiders on Atari with a wore out joy stick then this is your jam.

Pat Benatar - Fire and Ice

Remember those old all weather tire advertisements that would put the tire through heat and cold? That has nothing to do with this song, Pat wails about those head playin' dudes.

Jefferson Starship - Find Your Way Back

Guitarist Craig Chaquico tears it up with this catchy rocker that plays well off of Mickey Thomas' soaring voice. Did Paul Kantner have a clue that he was losing control of his band? Hmmm...

38 Special - Hold on Loosely

What can I say about this song I haven't said already? How about calling this "Important dating tips from heavily bearded men."

Foreigner - Urgent

"You're not shy / You get around" Lou Gramm sets up the story early about his hard rock bootie call punctuated by Junior Walker's magnificent sax solo.

Rod Stewart - Young Turks

I couldn't fit "Infatuation" in on 1984, hated "Baby Jane" and didn't think "Lost in You" had enough impact so I settled for "Young Turks". My wife said I didn't like this song. Maybe I didn't, but it fits the bill in representin' Rod in the AOR 80's.

Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl

Two words: Pure. Genius.

Def Leppard - Bringin' On The Heartbreak

The Lep make the jump to the big time with this pounding ballad, can't you see...can't you see......No! No-oauh! Noooaahhhh! And then a decade later Mariah Carey would transform this song into an epic disaster.

Point Blank - Nicole

Two fisted drinking bar band sound with a slight California polish. Makes me want to grab Janet and Chrissy for a drink at the Regal Beagle.

Triumph - Fight The Good Fight

The poor man's Rush set their flash pots for kill on this, er, triumphant salute to power rock. Oh, and I totally mean that as a compliment, I love Triumph!

Styx - Too Much Time On My Hands

Tommy Shaw's sardonic tale of unemployment blues strikes a chord as much now as it did then.

Rainbow - I Surrender

Restraint has never been Richie Blackmore's strong suit, but here he stays out of wailin' Joe Lynn Turner's way.

Spider - New Romance

Would you believe this early 80's band wrote and performed John Waite's "Change" and Tina Turner's "Better Be Good To Me" first? I couldn't either but it's true. Classic upbeat 80's power pop dressed up as AOR.

Santana - Winning

One of the great sports montage tracks of the time, I remember a local commercial featuring a lot of jogging in slo mo to the tune of this track.

Bruce Springsteen - Hungry Heart

Really this came from '80 but I decided to place the Boss on my discs at the last second. Would you believe this was originally written with The Ramones in mind?

Kansas - Hold On

Another 1980 track, I just had to have some classic lineup Kansas thrown in if I could.

Disc 2:

The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up

Is that the sound of Window's '95 loading? The last great Stones rip gets their swagger on in a big way. I'm still curious about how this sounded when they tried to make it reggae.

Chilliwack - My Girl

Always loved this bands name. Alternating between sunny and dark as the girl in question stone cold leaves Chilliwack in the dust.

REO Speedwagon - Take It On The Run

Arguably the Illinois band's best known track, we all took the "Heard it from a friend who" section hook line and sinker.

April Wine - Just Between You and Me

Myles Goodwin gets all sentimental and French thinkin' misty eyed thoughts.

Journey - Who's Cryin' Now

The addition of keyboardist Jon Cain gave vocalist Steve Perry the writing partner he needed to sell heartfelt ballads to the muscle T masses.

Blue Oyster Cult - Burnin For You

You know you want to throw on some shades and drive your El Dorado to the park to chug a lug some brew when you hear this song. Admit it!

Peter Frampton - Breaking All The Rules

Because I wasn't covering the 70's I was really worried I would have nothing to represent the guy who ushered in the Arena Rock era in earnest. Then I found this cut on ITUNES. I was so freakin' happy.

Night - Hot Summer Nights

I found out about this group on ITUNES too. Never heard of them before that, but you can't beat this laid back good time rock with a quintessential 80's band name.

Red Rider - Lunatic Fringe

This is one of those songs that hung around all decade long but never seemed to become a big hit.

Van Halen - Unchained

My all time favorite Van Halen track, monster guitars and David Lee Roth throwin' attitude all over. Hey hey, one break comin' up!

Prism - Don't Let Him Know

Another of Canada's finest serves up electro hand claps and razzle dazzle keyboards to a marching beat.

Sammy Hagar - There's Only One Way To Rock

...and it's Sammy's way.

Genesis - Abacab

I don't know much about playing musical instruments, but I was blown away when it was revealed the title is a chord progression.

ELO - Hold On Tight

A great song. So why have all my memories of this cut been obliterated by a commercial for pain relievers?

Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen

My favorite witchy woman let's her white winged dove loose to a jittering guitar riff.

The Cars - Shake It Up

Is it mainstream rock or is it New Wave? We'll never know, The Cars were the only band to straddle that line perfectly.

The Who - You Better You Bet

How many CSI shows do you think they'll have to make before this gets made a theme song? You Better (shine a flashlight on a dead body) You Better (look constipated viewing through a microscope lens) You Bet (act like a big shot at a crime scene). CSI Tacoma anyone?

The Little River Band - The Night Owls

When the bass player sang lead on this track, little did they know that it would eventually result in his taking over the band. He wasn't even an original member! But Little River Band still tours to this day, the bass player is the only guy that was there for the hitmaking years.

That's 1981, my next set of CDs go to the year that got me hooked on music - 1982.

The Mr. Mike Project

I haven't been posting much lately, mainly because my free time has been spent burning CDs for my car. Burning CDs for car stereo playing should be an easy task - unless you're a music obsessed person who likes to hear things a certain specific anal retentive way. In my case, for a long time I've wanted a set of CDs to play that focus on my favorite genre of Rock music: Arena Rock.

Arena Rock aka AOR for Album Oriented Rock is the ultimate expression of Rock music for me. Rock music stripped of deep meaning, endlessly hooky with flashy instrumentation and choruses meant to be shouted in basketball stadiums and hockey rinks. This is the least respected of all Rock music genres. It's referred to as Corporate Rock, Commercial, Lowest Common Denominator Appeal, the list goes on. Heavy Metal, Punk, Alternative rock all have nice shiny well researched box sets to sum up their styles nicely. But Arena Rock? Arena Rock gets clumsily slapped together comps from Time Life or what not, endlessly repackaging Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" with Warrant's "Cherry Pie" in every way conceivable. Plugged, unplugged, original recording, re-recording - so many different ways to do the same thing over. So I've set out to make my own box set of sorts, a bunch of CDs that follow the evolution of Arena Rock from it's early 80's zeitgeist to it's evolution into Hair Metal with bits of Soft Rock, Hard Rock and Prog Rock thrown in. And yes, "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" is included.

I debated on if it was worthwhile to blog about this, but dammit if you can't be excessively self indulgent on your own blog then where can you do it? I burned two CDs for each year in the 80's and to kick this thing off is the magical year 1980. The Seventies had just ended, Disco was dead, Punk and the New Wave were threatening to become the main voice of Rock as 70's Arena Rockers steamlined their sonics to include comfy synthesizers. To represent this wonderful time of tube socks and George Brett chasing a .400 batting average, here's my two CDs of 1980.

Disc 1:

The Tubes - Talk To Ya Later

Fee Waybill and his Bay Area gang of theatrical misfits tried to have it both ways by selling out and being ironic simultaneously. With the help of Producer David Foster and axe man Steve Lukather, they made it work for two albums.

Santana - All I Ever Wanted

I didn't hear this blazing track until I bought the Greatest Hits CD, my wife was sooo happy she knew a song that I didn't.

Jefferson Starship - Girl With The Hungry Eyes

A Bay Area trifecta, Paul Kantner lays down his last decent song about the girl with the perfect lips.

The Sherbs - I Have The Skill

Cheap guitars and cheaper synths make the magic on this ditty with the brain dead lyric "If there's a chance, I'll take my chances". And yet this song's hook sticks in my head for days.

Greg Kihn - The Break Up Song

Bay Area rock continues with this Kihntageous track. they don't write 'em like this anymore. They also don't write "Jeapordy" or allow it for download either. WTF!

Ted Nugent - Wango Tango

Well, had to include something from the Motor City Madman even if the 80's weren't kind to him. Wango Tango has a good dose of the wild crazy Nuge that he's famous for.

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight

The first single from Phil Collins as a solo artist suggested he would be keeping a Genesis based prog pop approach, but a few years later he was bopping to Su-Su-Suddio and lamenting every social cause under the Sun.

Alan Parsons Project - Games People Play

Before Dr Evil had them create the "LASER", Alan Parsons had this driving ode to empty nest syndrome.

Meat Loaf - Dead Ringer For Love

The follow up to Bat Out Of Hell didn't disappoint, other than in terms of popularity, song quality and record sales. But still, this manic riff on "Summertime Blues" is outrageous fun with a game Cher throwin' 'tude to boot.

AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long

It's now a rock & roll standard, AC/DC's biggest hit delivers a monster hook with all their sleazy urgency intact.

Black Sabbath - Heaven & Hell

C'mon, it's Sabbath with Dio. How can anyone say no?

Joe Walsh - All Night Long

Another oddball (same disc as Ted Nugent), Joe Walsh's struttin' rocker is a classic good time jam.

Journey - Any Way You Want It

The definitive Arena Rock band kicks out the definitive Arena Rock anthem or at least a killer ring tone.

Queen - Another One Bites The Dust

Freddie Mercury and co. find a way to make a slightly menacing dance song with a disco beat. Probably one of the best remembered songs of my generation.

J. Geils Band - Love Stinks

The Boston rockers serve up Stonesy swagger with a biting sense of humor to create an anti-love song.

Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Pat in her original sexed up body suit wearin' tough chick persona, taunting the object of her affection backed by future husband Neil Geraldo's slashing guitar.

Kenny Loggins - I'm Alright

The beginning of his Soundtrack God reign started with this feel good classic that broke him out of his Yacht Rock shell and powered the film Caddyshack.

Rossington Collins Band - Don't Misunderstand Me

Surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd initally formed this unit, showing that while Ronnie Van Zant's charismatic story telling was gone they could still stir up a commotion.

Disc 2:

Yes - Tempus Fugit

The only Yes album to not feature spacey singer Jon Anderson showed the aging proggers in a more punky, new wavey form.

Donnie Iris - Ah Leah!

He looked like Buddy Holly while bringing a unique personal touch to anthem rock.

AC/DC - Back in Black

The Aussie rockers bring down a burgeoning riff that makes every man, woman and child believe they're a badass.

Loverboy - Turn Me Loose

Like a Reeses Peanut Butter cup, this Canadian quintet mashed together Arena Rock with New Wave in an innovative way. And they even brought tha funk too.

Genesis - Turn It On Again

Nobody writes concert opening tracks like Arena Rock bands and Genesis fired up rock geek nation with proggy classiness.

REO Speedwagon - Keep On Loving You

One of the original power ballads, REO drove to the top of the charts with this love song for guys who like to hear their voice echo and the girls who like to hear them.

Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

Randy Rhoads plays on this. You do the math.

Touch - Don't You Know What Love Is

I didn't find out about this band until a few years ago, they're fondly remembered among the melodic rock crowd. I've got to admit after hearing this song for a week, I'm hooked.

Angel - I Ain't Gonna Eat My Heart Out

Still not sure if this is from 1980 or 1978 but I figured what the hell, gotta have some Angel. Mainly known as the dorky band that wore all white and tried to rip off Van Halen's version of "You Really Got Me" a few months before VH's debut, Angel keyboardist Gregg Giuffria would go on to form a group I really liked, Giuffria.

Michael Stanley Band - He Don't Love You

Remember when hard working bar bands could write clean cut good time rock & roll and sell it to people?

Judas Priest - Living After Midnight

A headbanging party anthem for the ages all done up in spikes and leather.

April Wine - I Like To Rock

Canada strikes again, no other country (not even the States) had an appreciation for meat and potatoes Arena Rock quite like our neighbors to the North. Watch in awe as the Myles Goodwin simply states his case and then interpolates the Beatles "Daytripper" towards the end.

Heart - Even It Up

The last gasp of classic era boogie rock Heart, when the public would see them again they would have gaudy clothes and hair teased up to the stratosphere.

The Babys - Back On My Feet Again

Just before joining Journey, keyboardist Jon Cain teamed up with AOR mainstay John Waite for two albums of strong Arena Rock. This clean, anthemic ballad hinted at what was to come.

Jackson Browne - Boulevard

Browne was still trying to keep up with the times in the 80s as he applied his literate lyrics to straight ahead pop rock like this tune.

707 - I Could Be Good For You

I just wrote about this song recently, a sleek piece of pop rock straight from the Bay.

Billy Squier - The Stroke

'Ol Billy dominated Arena Rock for a few short years, kicking it off with this inventive ode to, uh, rowing his boat?

Rush - The Spirit of Radio

"But glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity, yeah." Is there a better lyric in 1980? I think not!

That's it, my first two CDs of my Car CDs are done. Of course I couldn't fit in nearly all the songs I wanted to, but if I did include all those songs I would end up burning probably 100 CDs instead of just 20. Next time this story continues, we'll be in 1981!