June 1986
POWER STATION
AS IT DEVELOPS!
J. Kordosh
Welcome, dear readers, to another jam-packed issue of ROCK-SHOTS. This month, see we’ve got a real mixture of the old and the new. We’ve got features (and pix) on some of our favorite new acts—hopefully yours, tool—like Mr. Mister, A-Ha and he Hooters.
CONTENTS
JOHN WAITE: KWIK KWOTES!
After spending his formative years in the Babys, John Waite has struck out on his own, orging a highly successful solo career based on lbums like No Brakes and Mask Of Smiles. Here, the personable and energetic Waite gives a ew of his opinions—based on years in the music usiness—on his own up-and-down career and op music:
QUIDNUNC'S CONFIDENTIAL!
Michael Logan
Madonna may be Miss Unpredictable in most regards but there’s one thing the Los Angeles Police Department can positively count on her to do. Never one for small change, the supersongstress can’t be bothered with all those silly parking meters that slow down her wild shopping sprees.
ARCADIA: KWIK KWOTES!
With the release of “Election Day”—and the hit album it appears on, So Red The Rose— Arcadia have reaffirmed that Duran Duran are, indeed, talented enough to support at least three bands. Here are some of the things Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon have been saying about their successful spin-off group, music and life itself!
BRYAN ADAMS FOR ALL SEASONS
Bryan Adams released his Reckless LP at a time when he’d be up against some stiff competition. After all, Bruce Springsteen had released Born In The U.S.A. months earlier and the LP and tour were still strong. John Cougar was said to be recording songs for his next LP; even Bob Seger was writing songs...and Adams had often been compared to each of these three.
KWIK KWOTES!
Ms. Sade (pronounced Shar-day) Adu seems to ave risen in no time at all from a unknown igerian by way of England songstress to the op of the international pop charts. It’s a unique end that Sade brings to her music, almost jazzke—and she’s definitely one of the biggest ccess stories of today.
ABC: The New Zillionaries
Few bands have been up, down and then up again as quickly as ABC. It was as recently as 1982 that the sophisticated, clean-cut quartet broke through on the charts in a big way with their Lexicon Of Love album. Including such hits as “Poison Arrow” and “Tears Are Not Enough,” the guys from Sheffield, England (the hometown of superstars like Def Leppard, Joe Cocker and the Human League) looked like they were well on their way to a long and prosperous career.
A-HA THE NEXT DURAN DURAN
When it comes to gorgeous pop groups, it would seem that Duran Duran has cornered the market. After all, apart from the music, a major element of the Duran boys’ success has been their good looks But move over, Simon, Nick and the rest of you guys, ’cause competition is here in the form of three strikingly handsome guys fro Norway who are collectively know as A-Ha!
YOU’RE A WINNER WITH ROCK-SHOTS
In our last issue, we asked you to answer a few questions—and did you ever! We’d like to thank everyone who responded...and rest assured we’re considering your suggestions and comments seriously. Our first prize winner in the drawing from that questionnaire is Fanny Ling, seen here with her new stereo cassette player.
THE STARSHIP TAKES OFF...AGAIN
This City On Rock ’N’ Roil” and “Sara” been two of the biggest hits of the last several months, leading some people to wonder if this Starship group is some new band. Well, the answer to that is both yes and no. The Starship is a new band on one hand.
DAY BY DAY WITH THE HOOTERS
Cyndi Lauper called them her “band before I had a band.” One of their founding members, Rob Hyman, co-wrote “Time After Time,” Lauper’s multi-platinum hit, and a song nominated for a Grammy Award last year. And both Hyman and Eric Bazilian played on Lauper’s album, She’s So Unusual.
CARS A GO GO!
Cars have been an important part of rock ’n’ roil ever since the music began over three decades ago. Chuck Berry wrote and sang about them in almost every song. Elvis Presley not only sang about pink Cadillacs, he owned a whole fleet of them. The Beach Boys idealized those four-wheeled American Dream chariots in songs like “409” and “Fun, Fun, Fun.”
PRINCE
MIKE RENO OF LOVERBOY
BONO OF U2
MADONNA
Mr. Mister's Real World
It seems as if Mr. Mister jumped onto the music charts out of nowhere with their hit single, "Broken Wings.” “Kyrie,” their second single, is now fast on its way up the charts to bypass "Broken Wings,” from Mr. Mister’s second LP, Welcome To The Real World. Members Richard Page and Steve George have been involved in the music business for over 10 years.
BEHIND THE SCENES AT MTV
It's hard to believe, but MTV will five years old later this year. When the then-fledgling music video channel began broadcasting on August 1, 1981, few could've predicted how successful the channel would be. "There was no such thing as a music video channel before then," says Jay Sykes, one of MTV's first executives.
WHAM! MAKE IT BIGGER?
Do the names Andrew John Ridgeley and George Michael Panos mean anything to you? Unless you live on a desert island, we're betting they do! Of course the pair of them are better known as Great Britain's wonderful Wham! And from their very start as recording artists, Wham! have been receiving more publicity than any band since Duran Duran!
LOVERBOY: TURN ’EM LOOSE!
Lovin’ every minute of it? We here at ROCK-SHOTS are betting that Loverboy are! This very famous Canadian quintet have been making headlines for years with their hardrockin’, hit-making sound, and their most recent LP—called Lovin’ Every Minute Of It, of course—is hanging on the charts like it just doesn’t want to leave!
HEART ATTACK!
Heart certainly attacked recordbuyers everywhere in 1985 with their platinum LP, Heart. The subsequent hit singles—“Never” and “What About Love”—drew wide attention, with videos featuring lead singer Ann Wilson providing a strong vocal range, aided by sister Nancy, a talented guitar player with sexy, pouty expressions.
ZZ TOP: TEXAS BEARDO HOT SHOTS
Just a I’il ol’ band from Texas.
VAN HALEN: KWIK KWOTES!
If it’s not out now, it soon will be. Van Halen’s latest album, that is.
TEARS FOR FEARS: KWIK KWOTES!
They came from England and, at first, not many people knew of them. But by the end of 1985, Tears For Fears became one of the best-known bands in the world. Songs From The Big Chair, their immensely successful second album, is the reason why. Curt Smith and Roland Orzabel have made quite a few new friends.
Thompson Twins: The Future Is Now
extravagant and odd,” says Alannah Currie, the female Thompson Twin. mean, you watch TV in America— or any country—and the basic sort of people that appear are actually quite normal. And then you have these ecentric pop groups and kids are realattracted to that sort of thing in the same way they’re attracted to caroons, because cartoons are utrageous.”
JUMPIN' JACK SMASH!
Michael Logan
Although he'd be among the first to acknowledge the obvious comparisons, Jack Wagner can't help but plant his tongue firmly in cheek and ask "Who's Rick Springfield?" Both, of course, made it to the bigtime via TV's hottest soap opera, General Hospital.
JULIAN LENNON
ROCK-SHOTS