Footloose (soundtrack) (30th anniversary)

Today (January 31st) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Footloose and its accompanying soundtrack album. This has been a long favorite of mine ever since it was first released.

The record spent sixty-one weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, including ten weeks at the number 1 spot.

To read my full album review, click here.

Grace Slick - Software

Yesterday (January 30th) marked the thirtieth anniversary of Software, the fourth and last (to date) solo studio album from Grace Slick, lead singer of Jefferson Airplane in the 60's and Jefferson Starship in the 70's. This 1984 release stalled at number 206 on the US Billboard Album chart. Most of the tracks featured lyrics written by Slick and music by Austrian musician Peter Wolf (not to be confused with the member of the J. Geils Band); Wolf also played keyboards and synth bass on the record.

Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me

Today (January 30th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Somebody's Watching Me, the debut studio album from Rockwell. Born Kennedy William Gordy, Rockwell is the son of Motown founder and CEO Berry Gordy. The record went Gold in the US, reaching number 15 on the Billboard Album chart and number 5 on the Billboard R&B chart. It also went to number 52 in the UK and number 34 in Canada.

Joe Jackson - Look Sharp!

Earlier this month (January 5th) marked the thirty-fifth anniversary of Look Sharp!, the debut album from Joe Jackson. Joining him on the 1979 release were Gary Sanford (guitar), Graham Maby (bass) and David Houghton (drums). The record went to number 40 in the UK and number 20 on the US Billboard Album chart. It was also very popular on US college radio station with a number of songs hitting the top twenty of the CMJ College Radio Tracks chart.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Milk and Honey

Yesterday (January 27th) marked the thirtieth anniversary of Milk and Honey, the final album release of John Lennon and Yoko Ono from the 80's. It was culled from the final record sessions after 1980's Double Fantasy release; it took Ono three years to be able to complete their final work together. This posthumous 1984 record went to number 34 in New Zealand, number 20 in Germany, number 16 in Italy, number 15 in Canada and Switzerland, number 12 in Austria, number 11 on the US Billboard Album chart, number 10 in France, number 7 in Norway, number 4 in Australia and the Netherlands, and number 3 in Japan and the UK.

Christine McVie - Christine McVie

Today (January 27th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Christine McVie, the self-titled solo album from the Fleetwood Mac singer. The 1984 release went to number 58 on the UK charts and number 26 on the US Billboard Album chart. It was her first and only solo album in the 80's; her previous solo effort was 1970's Christine Perfect.

Generation X - Valley of the Dolls

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Sunday.

Today (January 26th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Valley of the Dolls, the second studio album from Generation X. Produced by Ian Hunter, this album went to number 51 on the UK charts in 1979.

Cher - Take Me Home

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday.

Today (January 25th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Take Me Home, the first album from Cher in 1979 and her first on the Casablanca Records label. It was her fifteenth album overall. Produced by Ron Dante and Bob Esty, with most songs written by Michele Aller and Esty, it went to number 42 in Norway, number 32 on the US Billboard R&B chart, number 25 on the US Billboard Album chart, and number 24 in Canada.

Sister Sledge - We Are Family

In 1978, the R&B siblings of Kathy, Debbie, Joni and Kim Sledge were paired with Chic super-producers Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. The result was pure gold. This month marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of We Are Family, the third studio album from Sister Sledge. The 1979 Platinum seller hit number 45 in New Zealand, number 37 in Australia, number 33 in the Netherlands, number 7 in the UK, number 4 in Canada, number 3 on the US Billboard Album chart (with thirty three weeks on the chart), and number 1 on the US Billboard R&B chart.

Whitesnake - Slide It In

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Slide It In, the sixth studio album from the British rock band Whitesnake. It was released in Canada and the UK in January of 1984, where it number 9 on the latter charts. The remixed US debut would come in April, where it would peak at number 40. It also charted at number 46 in New Zealand, number 12 in both Sweden and Switzerland, and number 11 in Norway.

Anthrax - Fistful of Metal

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Fistful of Metal, the debut album from the thrash-metal band Anthrax. The line-up for this 1984 album included Charlie Benante (drums), Scott Ian (guitar), Dan Lilker (bass), Dan Spitz (guitar) and Neil Turbin (vocals).

Bon Jovi - Bon Jovi (30th anniversary)

Today (January 21st), the New Jersey rock band Bon Jovi released their self-titled debut album. Bon Jovi went to number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 200, number 38 in Japan, number 39 in Australia and number 71 in the UK. It has since sold over 3.5 million copies.

Click here for my complete review of the album.

Utopia - Oblivion

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Oblivion, the ninth studio album from Utopia. It went to number 94 in Canada and number 74 on the US Billboard Album chart. The band’s line-up at this point in 1984 included Todd Rundgren (vocals and guitar), Kasim Sulton (vocals and bass), Roger Powell (vocals and keyboards) and John “Willie” Wilcox (vocals and drums).

Rick James - Bustin’ Out of L Seven

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Sunday.

This month (January 26th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Bustin’ Out of L Seven, the second studio album from Rick James. The album went Platinum and charted at number 16 on the US Billboard Album chart and number 2 on the US Billboard R&B chart in 1979.

Anne Murray - New Kind of Feeling

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday.

This month marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of New Kind of Feeling, the thirteenth studio album from Canadian singer-songwriter Anne Murray. The Platinum selling album went to number 23 on the US Billboard Album chart, number 6 on the Canadian Pop chart, number 2 on the US Billboard Country chart, and number 1 on the Canadian Country chart.

Pretenders - Learning to Crawl

Today (January 17th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Learning to Crawl, the third studio album from the Pretenders. This 1984 Platinum seller reached number 38 in Germany, number 30 in Switzerland, number 19 in New Zealand, number 18 in Australia and Norway, number 11 in the UK, number 5 on the US Billboard Album chart, number 4 in Canada, and number 3 in Sweden.

Cameo - She’s Strange

Today (January 16th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of She’s Strange, the tenth studio album from Cameo. In 1984, it spent twenty-four weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 27. It also spent thirty-two weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart and reached the number 1 spot. Singer/actress/model Vanity once again appeared on the album cover (she also appeared on the cover of the band’s 1982 album Alligator Woman).

Wang Chung - Points on the Curve

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Points on the Curve, the second studio album from Wang Chung (their first was 1982’s self-title album when they went by the name of “Huang Chung”). The 1984 release charted at number 34 in the UK, number 30 on the US Billboard Album chart, and number 25 in New Zealand.

Dan Fogelberg - Windows and Walls

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Windows and Walls, the seventh studio album from Dan Fogelberg. This 1984 release went to number 52 in Canada and number 15 on the US Billboard Album chart.

Nina Hagen - Fearless

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Fearless, the English version of the 1983 album Angstlos from German singer and actress Nina Hagen. It spent eight weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 151.

KC - KC Ten

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of KC Ten, the tenth studio album from KC and the Sunshine Band. It spent eighteen weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 93. It would also be their last album before the band disbanded; it would be another decade before they reformed again.

Tavares - Madam Butterfly

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday.

This month marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Madam Butterfly, the seventh studio album the five Tavares brothers. The record spent eleven weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 92. I also hit number 90 in Canada and number 13 on the US Billboard R&B chart.

Dwight Twilley - Jungle

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Jungle, the third solo release from Oklahoma born Dwight Twilley. It spent twenty-one weeks on the US Billboard Album chart in 1984, peaking at number 39.

Van Halen - 1984 (30th anniversary)

Today (January 9th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of 1984, the smash album from Van Halen.

This was one of the early albums I reviewed on the blog, back in 2011, when I was just getting into doing these kinds of posts. Click here to read the full post.

Ebn-Ozn - Feeling Cavalier

Coming out of the New York City music scene in the early 80’s was the duo Ebn-Ozn (Ned Liben on synthesizer and Robert Rosen on organ and vocals). The two spent a lot of time in the city’s club scene, listening to a lot of dance music. Rosen was a Broadway actor/singer while Liben was the owner and founder of Sundragon Recording Studios. Their sole album was Feeling Cavalier which peaked at number 185 on the US Billboard Album chart in 1984. Today we’ll give this one a spin in honor of its thirtieth anniversary.

Ron Banks - Truly Bad

Ron Banks was a member of the Detroit R&B group the Dramatics from its formation in 1962 until his death in 2010. After a dozen albums with the group, he decided to put out his first and only solo album entitled Truly Bad which spent eight weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart in 1984, peaking at number 62. Today we will give this one a listen to mark its thirtieth anniversary.

Dolly Parton - The Great Pretender

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of The Great Pretender, the twenty-sixth studio album from Dolly Parton. The collection of cover tunes went to number 73 on the US Billboard Album chart, number 69 on the Canadian Album chart, number 9 on the Swedish chart and number 7 on the US Billboard Country charts back in 1984.

Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Armed Forces

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Sunday.

Today (January 5th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Armed Forces, the third studio album from Elvis Costello and the first to officially credit the Attractions on the cover. This 1979 release charted at number 13 in the Netherlands, number 12 in Norway, number 11 in Sweden, number 10 on the US Billboard Album chart, number 9 in Australia and New Zealand, number 8 in Canada, and number 2 in the UK.

Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith

Today (January 4th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Defenders of the Faith, the ninth studio album from the British heavy metal Judas Priest. This Platinum selling album from 1984 went to number 21 in Germany, number 19 in the UK, number 18 on the US Billboard Album chart (it spent thirty-seven weeks total on the chart), number 17 in Canada and Norway, number 12 in Switzerland, number 9 in Denmark, number 5 in Finland, and number 2 in Austria and Sweden.

The Deele - Street Beat

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Street Beat, the debut album from the Deele. This Cincinnati, OH, based band was made up of Darnell Bristol (vocals), Stanley Burke (guitar and keyboards), Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds (keyboards, guitar and vocals), Carlos Greene (vocals), Antonio “L.A.” Reid (drums) and Kevin Roberson (bass). The record went to number 78 on the US Billboard Album chart and number 9 on the Billboard R&B chart.

Alabama - Roll On

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Roll On, the fifth studio album from country artists Alabama. This multi-Platinum selling 1984 release went to number 37 in Canada, number 21 on the US Billboard Album chart, and number 1 on the US Billboard Country chart.

Real Life - Heartland

Welcome to 2014, the year Martin’s View takes a detailed focus at the music of 1984 as well as the occasional album from 1979. It is all for this year’s round of anniversary albums.

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Heartland, the debut release from the Australian band Real Life. The roster included David Sterry (vocals and guitar), Richard Zatorski (violin and keyboards), Alan Johnson (bass) and Danny Simcic (drums).