the late '80s re-release craze

This is a subject that I have commented about many times at one point or another on this board, but I believe this makes my first time introducing a new topic specifically about all those minor hits from the early '80s that were reissued during the re-release craze of 1988-1989. You know the ones, "Red Red Wine" (UB40), "When I'm With You" (Sheriff), "Into the Night" (Benny Mardones), "Where Are You Now?" (Jimmy Harnen/Synch), "Send Me An Angel" ('89) (Real Life) and "What About Me?" (Moving Pictures). I'm sure there were others, and feel free to fill me in if I forgot one. I was aware that all these tunes received their "second wind"s when they were reactivated by some radio station in Phoenix. What I really wanted to know was why? What did they do that was so "outside the box"? And why did all the other stations follow along like lemmings? Why didn't other stations try something like this? Did other (competing) stations in or near Phoenix also pick up these songs after they "went national" for the second time? And why were most of these resurrected one at a time (as if they were all singles from the same album)? Multiple reissues didn't start showing up on the charts simultaneously until summer 1989, which was near the end of the craze, and that may well have been what finally killed it. (Either that, or it was the reissue of "What About Me?" which was too lame to have been given a second chance, and didn't even do as well the second time.)

I remember reading in Billboard back about that time (late '80s) that the reason why most of these records weren't bigger hits the first time around is that most of them did not have music videos, which was the "kiss of death" back in the 1982-1983-1984 time frame when most of these records first appeared. But I think it went a little deeper than that. I believe the vast majority of them were simply crushed by the Michael Jackson Thriller juggernaut which dominated the radio airwaves in 1983. Take that away, and I believe most of them, at least those that were originally released around 1983, would have made a better showing the first time.

I somehow knew that Benny Mardones' "Into the Night" would have EVENTUALLY hit - it was TOO GOOD not to... 8)

Andrea

andreajesus said:

I somehow knew that Benny Mardones' "Into the Night" would have EVENTUALLY hit - it was TOO GOOD not to... 8)

Andrea

Click to expand...

"Into the Night" was actually a bigger hit the first time. It reached #11 in the late summer of 1980. Which made the re-release of that one a bit puzzling. Although I didn't mind enjoying it for a second time in the summer of '89. It managed to hit #20 on its second go-round, making it one of only a handful of records to make it into the top 20 twice! 8)

Hate to be that way, but I don't know why "Into the Night" was a hit once let alone twice.

Then again, there are two other re-releases that come to mind...one that pre-dates the late '80's, and another that post-dates it. Both have to do with movies those songs were used in: Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" in 1987, and "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers in 1990 (used in the movie "Ghost").

gr8oldies said:

Hate to be that way, but I don't know why "Into the Night" was a hit once let alone twice.

Click to expand...

I never understood why "I'm So Excited" by the Pointer Sisters was a hit twice! ??? I remember hearing it a lot at the beginning of its second run (1984) and I was wondering why everyone was playing it again all of a sudden! ??? Then I found out it had been reissued. I never knew why. It was not used in a movie, and was not a part of that Phoenix-station-generated reissue craze, and it had only been about two years since its first run as a "hit" (1982). Had it not been a hit the second time around in 1984, I suppose the Phoenix station could have picked that one up, too.

top40ted said:

Then again, there are two other re-releases that come to mind...one that pre-dates the late '80's, and another that post-dates it. Both have to do with movies those songs were used in: Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" in 1987, and "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers in 1990 (used in the movie "Ghost").

Click to expand...

I have intentionally avoided discussing movie-generated reissues, primarily because there was no mystery about why they came back around the second time as hits: they were featured in movies!

However, when Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" became a hit the second time, I bought the "oldies" 45, rather than the then-current reissued 45, just to be different. But I believe that even its second run as a hit was over by the time I bought that 45.

Twist and Shout by The Beatles was re-released after 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off " came out.

kenrayc said:

Twist and Shout by The Beatles was re-released after 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off " came out.

Click to expand...

"Twist and Shout" was also featured in Back to School that summer. Remember Rodney Dangerfield singing it?

But again, rereleases triggered by movies are no big deal. My comments (above) concern reissues that came about for no other reason than because a radio station got them reactivated.

I know this topic is about late 80s ,but had to mention this one from the 70s Drean On by Aerosmith on there debut album was first released in 1973 and reached #56 on the charts, It was re-released in 1976 and hit the top 10.

kenrayc said:

I know this topic is about late 80s ,but had to mention this one from the 70s Drean On by Aerosmith on there debut album was first released in 1973 and reached #56 on the charts, It was re-released in 1976 and hit the top 10.

Click to expand...

Interesting point about that. Aerosmith was able to jump-start their career after "Dream On" reappeared. Same with Hall & Oates with "She's Gone" later that same year. And ditto for Tommy James and the Shondells when "Hanky Panky" was reissued back in the mid '60s.

But of all the artists whose minor hits from the early '80s were given second chances later on in the decade, really only UB40 was able to capitalize on it, and continue, or at least restart, their careers. Most of the other bands had already broken up by the time their former hits resurfaced, although the lead singer of Sheriff would return a couple of years later with his new band, Alias.

Then you've got 1976's Bohemian Rhapsody, re-released in '92 again and fared better.

Wasn't that another movie-related re-release? The famous lip-synching/air guitar scene in 'Wayne's World'! ;D

I remember WGTZ Z-93/Dayton, OH. playing Donnie Iris's "Ah Leah!" in the Summer of 1989. It wasn't an official re-release, but it was strange to hear on a tightly programmed CHR with zero gold at the time. ???

alans613 said:

I remember WGTZ Z-93/Dayton, OH. playing Donnie Iris's "Ah Leah!" in the Summer of 1989. It wasn't an official re-release, but it was strange to hear on a tightly programmed CHR with zero gold at the time. ???

Click to expand...

That one would have been a good candidate for a rerelease, except that by the summer of '89, the rerelease craze had run its course.

I thought "Shock the Monkey" by Peter Gabriel would also have made an excellent choice for a reissue, but maybe his subsequent success with the So album ("Sledgehammer," "In Your Eyes," "Big Time," etc.) was a factor in "Shock the Monkey" not being selected for a reissue.

Did Nik Kershaw's "Wouldn't It Be Good" (from 1984 originally) have a re-release in 1989? Not long ago I was listening to an aircheck of the 1989 year-end countdown from WLOL in Minneapolis/St. Paul and that song was listed (albeit only somewhere in the 90s). If it was re-released, it didn't make the Hot 100 the second time around (having only hit #46 the first time).

I think "that station in Phoenix" was also responsible for Bryan Adams' "Heaven" eventually becoming a #1 pop hit. The song was first issued to AOR stations in early 1984 from the soundtrack of A NIGHT IN HEAVEN but some Top 40s in Canada also played it at the time (i.e. CFUN in Vancouver). Later in 1984 Adams' album RECKLESS came out and I believe Guy Zapoleon was the one who was responsible for starting the ball on the song's success at CHR radio and eventually reaching #1 on the Hot 100.

In the U.K. reissues were actually a very common occurrence in the '80s and '90s (not sure if that still holds true today), and many times the reissue charted as high as, if not higher than, the original release. Here's one late '80s example: Elton John's "Healing Hands" failed to make the top 40 in the U.K. on its original release in 1989 but then a few months later the song was reissued as a double A-side with "Sacrifice" and shot to #1. In the U.S. both songs hit the top 20 (but individually, not collectively) and "Healing Hands" was also a #1 Adult Contemporary hit.

I recall the "slow burn" of Bryan Adams' "Heaven." It seemed like it was on my local CHR's playlist for the better part of a year, or maybe even a year and a half! Might explain why I'm not really a fan of Bryan Adams anymore! Anyway, I was never sure if that was a re-release, or just one that was slow to catch on. There were some others like that. "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, #67 in summer 1984, then went top 10 in early 1985. And "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon. It was originally released, along with the Graceland album, but didn't really become a hit until April 1987, and even then, it only reached #23. I always felt like "You Can Call Me Al" was sort of "forced" on us by radio. It didn't do anything when initially released in '86, and even in its second release (or maybe the first release just got a second wind), it still only became a minor hit. I believe it was just never able to live up to all the hype.

alans613 said:

I remember WGTZ Z-93/Dayton, OH. playing Donnie Iris's "Ah Leah!" in the Summer of 1989. It wasn't an official re-release, but it was strange to hear on a tightly programmed CHR with zero gold at the time. ???

Click to expand...

It used to be much more common for CHR's to dig up a song you hadn't heard in ages and play it just once. This happened more on smaller stations and in smaller markets though. It almost never happens now.

I know Z-93 did play some gold at the time. "Ah Leah!" would have been unusual for them though.

oldies76 said:

Then you've got 1976's Bohemian Rhapsody, re-released in '92 again and fared better.

Click to expand...

There were several factors in that one becoming a hit again:
1. The aforementioned Wayne's World.
2. It had been 16 years since the first time it had been a hit, so the teenagers of 1992 didn't remember it.
3. The second release of "Bohemian Rhapsody" was only a few short months after Freddie Mercury's death.

ChrisInMI said:

In the U.K. reissues were actually a very common occurrence in the '80s and '90s (not sure if that still holds true today), and many times the reissue charted as high as, if not higher than, the original release. Here's one late '80s example: Elton John's "Healing Hands" failed to make the top 40 in the U.K. on its original release in 1989 but then a few months later the song was reissued as a double A-side with "Sacrifice" and shot to #1. In the U.S. both songs hit the top 20 (but individually, not collectively) and "Healing Hands" was also a #1 Adult Contemporary hit.

Click to expand...

"The Joker" by Steve Miller Band was a #1 British hit in 1990. I have no idea if it had been released there previously (I must assume it was), nor how well it had done during that initial release.