You could make an outstanding CD comprised of tunes, mainly of the new wave/alternative classification, that were never significant hits during the 1980s, yet have become recognized as standards or classics today. Kick it off with 1980’s “What I Like About You” by the Romantics, which only made it to # 49 on the pop charts (it fared better when Johnny Cougar renamed it “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”). 1981’s “Tempted” may be Squeeze’s signature song, but it too stalled at #49; their instantly forgettable “Hourglass” clawed its way to #15 five years later. 1983’s “I Melt With You” by amateur meteorologists Modern English hit #78 in the States, yet generated a career that is still ongoing. Neither Wall of Voodoo’s “Mexican Radio” nor Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never” received one mention from Casey Kasem.
The last great miss of the decade came from The Call, lead by Oklahoma native Michael Been. Been wasn’t a rookie, he had been a member of the Chicago psychedelic band Aorta and the H.P. Lovecraft spin-off group (think about that concept for a second) Lovecraft in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Been founded The Call in 1980 and had his first flirt with fame with 1983’s “The Walls Came Down.” The band had another minor hit in 1986 with “I Still Believe,” which sounds like Simple Minds would have if Jim Kerr had ever exited puberty.
In 1989, Been and The Call released their song for the ages, the stirring rocker “Let the Day Begin.” It was an anthem to herald fresh starts, new beginnings – an earnest salute to doers, movers, and shakers. It sounded better than almost anything else on radio that year, but still only made it to #59 on the pop charts, reflecting payola’s maddening inefficiency. Both Al Gore and Tom Vilsack would later use the song in political campaigns.
While Michael Been was exploring his viability in the music business, his son Robert was busy growing up in the Bay Area. In 1998, the twenty year old, second generation bass player founded the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. B.R.M.C. have released two albums that achieved gold status in England and remain respected by music fans on both sides of the pond. Michael Been’s gig after The Call disconnected was working as a sound engineer for his son’s band; he suffered a fatal heart attack in 2010 when B.R.M.C. were touring in Belgium.
Which brings us to 2013 and Specter At The Feast!, the new B.R.M.C. album. The first single is a winning cover of “Let the Day Begin.” It’s impossible to hear the song without thinking about the family connection – a father and son connected by a positively eternal song (with blessings from above) and by their devotion to music.
Here’s to musicians who make sacrifices to do what they love.