Ignored Obscured Restored
In 1985, the Philadelphia based band The Hooters, released the album Nervous Nights that contained three Top 40 hits – “Day by Day” (#18), “Where Do the Children Go?” (#38), and “And We Danced” (#21).
The song title — “And We Danced”— is perfect for this ‘80s dance club, power-pop nugget. The Melodica (a hooter) and mandolin intro draw you in, then the song explodes with enough energy to “shake the paint off the walls.”
The Hooters were formed by Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian who had met over a decade earlier when they were both students at the University of Pennsylvania. Hyman co-wrote “Time After Time” with Cyndi Lauper, which was a #1 hit for her in 1984 from the She’s So Unusual album. (Hyman and Bazilian also provided most of the musical accompaniment on that album.)
Earlier, Hyman and Bazilian were recording albums together in a late ‘70s band called Baby Grand. Their sound is of its time. It sure ain’t punk rock, but it is music that is arranged and played well, and displays its own songcraft. Worth a listen in the same way that you might enjoy Journey, Foreigner, or Toto.
“Never Enough” was revived by producer Rick Chertoff as a hit for Scandal singer Patty Smyth in 1987, albeit with rewritten lyrics.
Enjoy… until next week.