the late '80s re-release craze

[Obtuse1]

Others I recall:

New Order-Blue Monday '88
David Bowie-Fame '90
The Police-Dont Stand So Close To Me '86
Modern English-I Melt With You (Re-recorded).

The phenomenon wasn't confined to the late 80's. There was The Proclaimers "500 Miles". Single first released in 1989, then re-released in the mid 90's to much success.

 

[kenrayc]

The phenomenon wasn't confined to the late 80's. There was The Proclaimers "500 Miles". Single first released in 1989, then re-released in the mid 90's to much success.

The Proclaimers "500 Miles " was re-released when the movie "Benny and June " starring Johnny Depp came out.

 

[firepoint525]

The phenomenon wasn't confined to the late 80's. There was The Proclaimers "500 Miles". Single first released in 1989, then re-released in the mid 90's to much success.

I never suggested that re-issues were unique to the late '80s, only that there were more of them in that 1988-1989 time frame than at any other time before or since, and more importantly, that all these reissues were triggered by radio airplay, NOT from use in movies, which seemed to be the catalyst for most re-releases. It's unlikely that there will ever be that many more reissues stemming from radio airplay, given that radio is extremely afraid to take such chances now! :

And by the way, "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" was not a reissue; it was just a new recording of a new song that just happened to have the same lyrics as their earlier single.

 

[hornet61]

Then there is the double coincidence case of Unchained Melody Instrumental , which was originally the theme from the movie "Unchained" in the 60's, a vocal version released by the Righteous Brothers in 1965, then in 1990 the same 1965 version (again used In a) movie Ghost and peaked at #13. Then it was re-recorded on curb by the Righteous Brothers at the same time 1990, and peaked at #19.

 

[firepoint525]

Then there is the double coincidence case of Unchained Melody Instrumental , which was originally the theme from the movie "Unchained" in the 60's, a vocal version released by the Righteous Brothers in 1965, then in 1990 the same 1965 version (again used In a) movie Ghost and peaked at #13. Then it was re-recorded on curb by the Righteous Brothers at the same time 1990, and peaked at #19.

The real irony there is that Phil Spector (the producer) intended for that 1965 recording of "Unchained Melody" to be a B-side for the Righteous Brothers. So he was no doubt frustrated that it not only became a hit in 1965, but that it became a hit again in 1990! But I have always thought that Spector's 1965 production was better than the 1990 remake. I never understood why the brothers went into the studio and cut it again, unless it was for a competing record label or something. But with "Unchained Melody," the brothers extended their career into a fourth decade, the '90s!

 

[hornet61]

Then there is the double coincidence case of Unchained Melody Instrumental , which was originally the theme from the movie "Unchained" in the 60's, a vocal version released by the Righteous Brothers in 1965, then in 1990 the same 1965 version (again used In a) movie Ghost and peaked at #13. Then it was re-recorded on curb by the Righteous Brothers at the same time 1990, and peaked at #19.

The real irony there is that Phil Spector (the producer) intended for that 1965 recording of "Unchained Melody" to be a B-side for the Righteous Brothers. So he was no doubt frustrated that it not only became a hit in 1965, but that it became a hit again in 1990! But I have always thought that Spector's 1965 production was better than the 1990 remake. I never understood why the brothers went into the studio and cut it again, unless it was for a competing record label or something. But with "Unchained Melody," the brothers extended their career into a fourth decade, the '90s!

I'm guessing here.......since most artists rarely own their recordings someone saw the potential of some heavy record sales of UM due to the popularity of the movie Ghosts, they probably found Bobby Hatfield and quickly released his ver on on Curb to make a few bucks.......that's my guess.

 

[kenrayc]

Here's one, Bringin' On The Heartbreak by Def Leppard. Re-released after Pyromania, Added some keyboards to it and re-released it on a limited re-release of of High 'N' Dry, with an additional song, Me and My Wine.I Actually have the "45" with Me And My Wine as the "B" side, Don't know how far it reached on the Hot 100.

 

[hornet61]

Here's one, Bringin' On The Heartbreak by Def Leppard. Re-released after Pyromania, Added some keyboards to it and re-released it on a limited re-release of of High 'N' Dry, with an additional song, Me and My Wine.I Actually have the "45" with Me And My Wine as the "B" side, Don't know how far it reached on the Hot 100.

peaked at #61, fall of 84

 

[firepoint525]

Then there is the double coincidence case of Unchained Melody Instrumental , which was originally the theme from the movie "Unchained" in the 60's, a vocal version released by the Righteous Brothers in 1965, then in 1990 the same 1965 version (again used In a) movie Ghost and peaked at #13. Then it was re-recorded on curb by the Righteous Brothers at the same time 1990, and peaked at #19.

The real irony there is that Phil Spector (the producer) intended for that 1965 recording of "Unchained Melody" to be a B-side for the Righteous Brothers. So he was no doubt frustrated that it not only became a hit in 1965, but that it became a hit again in 1990! But I have always thought that Spector's 1965 production was better than the 1990 remake. I never understood why the brothers went into the studio and cut it again, unless it was for a competing record label or something. But with "Unchained Melody," the brothers extended their career into a fourth decade, the '90s!

I'm guessing here.......since most artists rarely own their recordings someone saw the potential of some heavy record sales of UM due to the popularity of the movie Ghosts, they probably found Bobby Hatfield and quickly released his ver on on Curb to make a few bucks.......that's my guess.

Seems to me that if just one version of "Unchained" had been re-released in the fall of 1990, that it might have been strong enough to go top 10. As it was, the two competing versions split the airplay between them, and probably limited the sales of both. So instead of one top 10 hit, you had two top 20 hits. Your theory is probably correct.

And the obligatory cover version for the country charts (this time by Ronnie McDowell) soon followed, not to mention still another cover version by the "karaoke queen" herself, LeAnn Rimes, later in the '90s!

 

[firepoint525]

Here's one, Bringin' On The Heartbreak by Def Leppard. Re-released after Pyromania, Added some keyboards to it and re-released it on a limited re-release of of High 'N' Dry, with an additional song, Me and My Wine.I Actually have the "45" with Me And My Wine as the "B" side, Don't know how far it reached on the Hot 100.

peaked at #61, fall of 84

Do you have a Billboard book that tracks the entire Hot 100, or is there some place on the internet to look that up? If that #61 peak was from its reissue date (and the late 1984 time frame seems to suggest that it was, since Pyromania (the album) came out in 1983), I would be curious to know how it did in its initial release.

And in the wake of Def Leppard's later success with Hysteria in the late '80s, this particular single might have made an especially good choice for a reissue in that time frame, along with all those others that I previously mentioned at the beginning of this thread. The only difference is that all of those others were, at least at that time, one-hit wonder groups. (And most of them still are.)

 

[hornet61]

Here's one, Bringin' On The Heartbreak by Def Leppard. Re-released after Pyromania, Added some keyboards to it and re-released it on a limited re-release of of High 'N' Dry, with an additional song, Me and My Wine.I Actually have the "45" with Me And My Wine as the "B" side, Don't know how far it reached on the Hot 100.

peaked at #61, fall of 84

Do you have a Billboard book that tracks the entire Hot 100, or is there some place on the internet to look that up? If that #61 peak was from its reissue date (and the late 1984 time frame seems to suggest that it was, since Pyromania (the album) came out in 1983), I would be curious to know how it did in its initial release.

And in the wake of Def Leppard's later success with Hysteria in the late '80s, this particular single might have made an especially good choice for a reissue in that time frame, along with all those others that I previously mentioned at the beginning of this thread. The only difference is that all of those others were, at least at that time, one-hit wonder groups. (And most of them still are.)

If you search hard enough I'm sure there is somewhere on the net you can find the charts..... you can get The Joel Whitburn "Top Singles book" that lists every song that ever charted hot 100, 1955- present,, originally, re-chart, re-hash whatever....data listed by artist, by song, easy to use....whitburn also has the Chart book that features every weekly chart in its entirety by decade from 1955 to the present....by decade there are obviously 520 per book. his books are a wealth of info for professional programmers or the every day hobbist.every artist entry has the data in chronological order ,debut date , peak position, weeks on the chart ,label, producer, b-side.

 

[kenrayc]

Here's one, Bringin' On The Heartbreak by Def Leppard. Re-released after Pyromania, Added some keyboards to it and re-released it on a limited re-release of of High 'N' Dry, with an additional song, Me and My Wine.I Actually have the "45" with Me And My Wine as the "B" side, Don't know how far it reached on the Hot 100.

peaked at #61, fall of 84

Do you have a Billboard book that tracks the entire Hot 100, or is there some place on the internet to look that up? If that #61 peak was from its reissue date (and the late 1984 time frame seems to suggest that it was, since Pyromania (the album) came out in 1983), I would be curious to know how it did in its initial release.

And in the wake of Def Leppard's later success with Hysteria in the late '80s, this particular single might have made an especially good choice for a reissue in that time frame, along with all those others that I previously mentioned at the beginning of this thread. The only difference is that all of those others were, at least at that time, one-hit wonder groups. (And most of them still are.)

If you search hard enough I'm sure there is somewhere on the net you can find the charts..... you can get The Joel Whitburn "Top Singles book" that lists every song that ever charted hot 100, 1955- present,, originally, re-chart, re-hash whatever....data listed by artist, by song, easy to use....whitburn also has the Chart book that features every weekly chart in its entirety by decade from 1955 to the present....by decade there are obviously 520 per book. his books are a wealth of info for professional programmers or the every day hobbist.every artist entry has the data in chronological order ,debut date , peak position, weeks on the chart ,label, producer, b-side.

There is a place to get old charts, Go to Google Books and pull up Billboard Magazine ,they have most issues on-line from 1942-1990. Its kind of a hassle to find the page with the Hot 100 ,just find the table of contents on page 2 or 3 and go from there.

 

[kenrayc]

heres the link to billboard magazine,

http://books.google.com/books?=GgwEAAAAMBAJ&client=firefox-a

If that don't work go to page 12 in the "Off The Air "board click that link.

 

[kenrayc]

Try this one for Billboard magazine at Google books, I lefted out 2 letters in the last link.


http://books.google.com/books?id=GgwEAAAAMBAJ&client=firefox-a

 

[firepoint525]

Anyone know how to search anything on that site? Seems like you would need to know when (specific dates, not just year) something charted, in order to be able to find it.

 

[rageradio]

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

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.

The Pointer Sisters "I'm So Excited" was used in a movie, National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

 

[firepoint525]

The Pointer Sisters "I'm So Excited" was used in a movie, National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

Okay, but by the time the single was released for the second time, the movie itself was well over a year old, and had even been on video for quite some time by then. The song actually wasn't even all that old at the time it was used in the movie. (Could have been called a "recurrent" or possibly "recurrent gold" by then.) The movie clearly wasn't a factor in the song's rerelease.

 

[shadough]

That same station in Phoenix, as I recall, introduced us to Glen Medieros. The station manager picked up a copy of his song "Nothings gonna change my love 4U" from a station in Hawaii after vacationing there, so the story goes.

Was Squeezes song "Tempted" ever re-released? I certinaly heard it more long after it was a hit then when it was. Only 1 other song comes to mind for 're-release'. It was Skid Rowes "I remember you", which I clearly heard it played quite a lot on area stations in the summer of '89, but this might of been the result of the stations in the Norfolk area trying to "one up" the competition. It didn't crack the charts till 1990. Z104 an 97star were just obsessed w/ trying to beat the other guy in regards to breaking new songs. Compared to the other station in the surrounding markets, listening to Norfolk stations was like stepping into the future, during the late 80s.

 

[johndavis]

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.

Cutting my teeth in the Phoenix market in the late 80's...

UB40's "Red Red Wine" came about one afternoon during a contest at KKFR. We were doing this stupid contest where you had to know the first song in the 12 song set and the last song in the 12 song set to win play money. At the end of the book, you used your play money to bid on traded out prizes. Because the object of the game was to win as many times as possible, the prize pigs loved the game, and the midday jock/music director was sick of the prize pigs (he'd play the psycho strings every time one particular person won)... so he set out to find a song that would fit the station but people might have trouble identifying the title and artist to make the contest interesting. It worked - it took quite awhile to get a winner... but then we started getting calls for the song. So what the hell, we played it. The market was in the middle of a 3 way CHR battle, so the other stations started playing it. And next thing you know, so was everyone else.

Another song that grew out of Phoenix in the 80's was the Glen Medieros ballad "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You" which popped up at KZZP after Guy Zapoleon heard it while on vacation in Hawaii and brought it home.

There's two reasons Phoenix stations sought out obscure songs and treated them as new...

1. There was a shortage of good new music
2. The market was competitive, so if you could pull something out of your closet and bang it hard enough, you could claim the "new" music first position for a couple of weeks while the other stations tried to hunt down a copy. Then, those songs would get shared with allied stations in other markets who tried to do the same thing to their competition.

I'm not sure if you can credit Phoenix with all of those bringbacks, but you can definitely blame the market for giving you Red Red Wine, Into The Night, and Send Me An Angel. We played the crap out of them long before the rest of the country. (Also, in the 90's, you can blame Zapoleon and the new KZZP for giving you Sarah McLachlan's dreadful "I Will Remember You" which he found on some forgotten movie soundtrack. Guy would always rather have you bring back something he thought was forgotten but good than add something new that was destined to peak at #28.)

 

[Mid West Clubber]

I was thinking red red wine from ub40 was from fall of 1988, but the cd says its a 1983 release, so it must have been a re issue... Another song that comes to mind is that, If I could fly, id pick yolu up... I sorry if these where previously mentioned....