Ep. 12: 3 Underrated, Under the Radar 80s Rock Bands that Never Hit the Top 40

RockPopandRoll

RockPopandRoll / Episode 12

• A legendary – maybe the most legendary Australian rocker - who couldn’t break through in the US
• An influential Cowpunk band that had big names push them
• A rock band from the United Kingdom that had millions of fans and only one American sorta hit.

This week on RockPopandRoll, our show is:
"3 Underrated, Under the Radar Rock Bands that Never Hit the Top 40"

Host Rob Nichols, a radio vet and longtime music writer, revisits rock and roll and pop music from the playlist of the decade of the 80s

The Alarm

Originally a punk band formed in Wales, The Alarm played with U2 in 1981 while they were still gigging with three acoustic guitars. In December 1982, they played four shows with U2 with Bono joining them on stage. In 1983, the Alarm went on their first tour of the U.S., supporting U2 on the War Tour. The Alarm's highest charting single in Britain was 1983's "Sixty Eight Guns", which reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart. The Strength album brought them into the top 40 of the US Billboard 200 album chart for the first time and they got some rock radio play in America with the single "Rain in the Summertime". Bowie producer Tony Visconti helped them to their biggest rock his with "Sold Me Down the River" They sold more than five million albums worldwide. But no US Top 40 hits. They sounded like U2. Maybe, in retrospect, too much like U2.

Jimmy Barnes

Cold Chisel was an Australian band that became a great live band, and the biggest band in Australia for a time. Barnes went solo in 1984, and released a song "Working Class Man" in 1985 in the U.S., written by Journey’s Jonathan Cain, and got his first small taste of American love. He had a rock radio hit with the great “Good Times”, with INXS for Lost Boys soundtrack and then went on to accumulate nine Australian number-one studio albums and lots of hit singles including "Too Much Ain't Enough Love", which peaked at No. 1 in Australia. Barnes was inducted into Australian music hall of fame for his solo career and with Cold Chisel. He is still making music today, just not as an American music star.

Lone Justice

Lone Justice had its chance - and the right people helping out - but for some reason never really made it. Lead singer Maria McKee had the chops and the music was written and produced by superstars. But the punk-roots-rock-pop sound just never did it for them until their influence was figured in years later. Their self-titled debut in 1985, followed by a tour in support of U2, got them noticed, but gave them no hits. The single, “Ways to Be Wicked”, was written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell while “Sweet, Sweet Baby” was written by Little Steven and Benmont Tench. The second album, “Shelter”, had two singles co-written with Steve Van Zandt. Still, no chart love. They broke up, but had an influence on the alt-country movement that came a decade later.

LINKS

Hear Spotify playlist: The Alarm/ Jimmy Barnes / Lone Justice with bonus cuts

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