Never Enough of Patty Smyth

If you grew up in the 80s listening to delicious guitar-driven power pop, chances are Scandal’s The Warrior is somewhere in that dusty vinyl collection you keep stored in the closet. And visions of lead singer Patty Smyth with face painted in streaks of red and blue belting out that first miraculous note easily fill your head.

Unfortunately Scandal’s time in the limelight was short-lived. Their breakthrough EP produced the memorial must-have-on-your-iPod classic, Goodbye to You. Followed by the full length album The Warrior which broke on MTV and helped introduce us to the power house vocals of Patty Smyth.

After the band dissolved, Smyth continued on as a solo act but the music career was no longer her primarily ambition releasing only two albums in the past 20 years.


In 2004 VH1’s Bands Reunited brought Smyth together with her old band mates and has sparked an ongoing reunion tour that is well worth the price of admission if they come a city near you.

I consider myself privileged to have seen Patty on her two solo tours in 1987 and 1994 but must admit that her recent stop in Nashville ranks as one of the best live performances of any artist that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. In this day and age it takes a lot to surprise me, but Patty Smyth did more than that, she shocked me. Shocked me by how energetic she was. Shocked me by how funny and playful she was. And more importantly she shock me by how truly fantastic she sounded. Vocally you couldn’t get any better. This woman in the real deal! I would hold her up beside Ann Wilson and Pat Benatar as one of the greatest female rock vocalist to grace this earth.

But Smyth wasn’t on stage alone. Original Scandal members, Keith Mack and Benjy King were joined by Eran Asias and Tom Welsch and played as if these songs were a part of their soul. The set list was a brilliant mixture of Scandal classics and Smyth’s solo highlights. There was a brief moment when I thought they were reading my mind and playing the songs that I so desperately wanted to hear. But soon realized that there is not a song in their catalog that would not have thrilled me.

ESSENTIAL SCANDAL:
Goodbye to You
Love’s Got a Line on You
The Warrior
Beat of a Heart
Hands Tied

ESSENTIAL PATTY SMYTH
No Mistakes
Heartache Heard Round the World
Tough Love
Isn’t It Enough
Downtown Train
I Should be Laughing
River Cried
Look What Love Has Done
One Moment to Another
Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough

Cover Me Up

Growing up I hated cover songs. They were always pale in comparison to the originals. Or worse yet, barely resembled the songs that I had treasured. But throughout the years I have discovered a few gems along the way (The Zoot’s Eleanor Rigby, Richard Marx’s Miami 2017, Amy Grant’s Big Yellow Taxi, Nickelback’s Saturday Night’s All Right for Fighting, Celine Dion & Anastacia’s You Shook Me All Night Long (seriously), George Michaels’ Somebody to Love, Gloria Estefan’s Everlasting Love, India Arie’s The Heart of the Matter, Trisha Yearwood’s You Can Sleep While I Drive, and even Mandy Moore’s One Way or Another).

It’s never been unusual for an artist to include a cover track on an album or perform a song or two as filler at a concert. They are usually songs the artist grew up loving and it’s fun for them even if it may not be so fun for the audience. For an artist whose career spans more than 15 years, it seems that releasing an entire album of covers has become as much of a staple as live albums use to be. Rod Stewart’s career has soared in a new direction by releasing an unprecedented 5 albums of covers/standards. Would it surprise you to know that Def Leppard, Rick Springfield, Duran Duran, John Mellencamp, Paul Young, Kim Wilde, Donny Osmond, Gloria Estefan, George Michael, Tiffany, Annie Lennox, Cyndi Lauper, and Erasure have all released albums consisting entirely of covers?



As with any departure from an artist’s customary commodity there are going to be hits and misses. This week Poison makes an addition to our list with Poison’d, a collection of new recordings in addition to a few previously available cover tracks. The moment I saw that The Romantic’s What I Like About You was part of this assortment, the CD’s release date was marked down in my calendar. This stellar tune is a perfect fit for Brett and the boys. Without ever sampling a clip, can’t you just hear them kicking down the doors on this song? And this is the approach that Poison has taken, for the most part, selecting songs which fit their musical tear-it-up style. The Who, Kiss, The Rolling Stone, Alice Cooper. For me the biggest surprise was the David Bowie classic Suffragette City. At first glance I was taken back by this choice but Poison’s rendition is top-notch, as is the whole disc.

In the ‘80s I wasn’t the biggest Poison fan. There was a sea of hair-metal bands and for whatever reason I just didn’t gravitate in their direction. But over the past few years, I have grown to appreciate their brand of pure-fun, hard rock and I have some catching up to do with their back catalog.

So tell me what you think? Do you have some favorite cover songs? And does anyone know where I can get my hands on Donny Osmond’s version of Play That Funky Music?

It Won't Be Soon Before Long

My first reaction to the new Maroon 5 CD was, Songs About Jane it is not…and that’s a good thing. A common thread we see so often in the music industry is for a successful first commercial release to be followed up by a usually not-so-successful carbon copy. But as many of us know, Songs About Jane was a phenomenon. A rarity that produced charted singles for 4 years. And an album that will likely be praised as a classic for decades.

But with such a musical marvel comes the difficult task of what to do next. One of the best things I think Maroon 5 opted to do was take some time and put some distance between themselves and their previous release.

The first single, Makes Me Wonder, was a surefire attention grabber to put the boys back into the consciousness of mainstream radio. However the song seems a bit out of place among the other tracks on the album. Much of the same could be said about Harder to Breathe on Songs About Jane. Don’t take this as a bad thing. If Harder to Breathe led you to Songs About Jane and you are thankful then It Won’t Be Soon Before Long by way of Makes Me Wonder isn’t a bad path to take if it leads you to the same conclusion.

It Won’t Be Soon Before Long is the type of album that might not hit the ball out of the park with the first pitch. With my experience it took time to savor the subtle complexities and appreciate what a fine album this really is. I knew I was onto sometime when I woke up one morning with Won’t Go Home Without You dancing in my head. And when I would pop the CD into the car stereo and didn’t automatically FF to Makes Me Wonder but to songs like Wake Up Call, Kiwi, and Back at Your Door.

IWBSBL doesn’t simply stop with the 12 album tracks, there are at least 7 bonus tracks available in some form or fashion. I have heard most of these and they are all worth adding to your collection. Too bad it takes so much effort to get them. I would have easily paid extra for a deluxe edition that included all of these.

Bottom Line: A nice addition

If you enjoy this album, I implore you to check out The Yahoo Nissan Live Sets Performances.

Additional links:
AOL Music Sessions
Star 98.7
Wal-mart’s Soundcheck

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This blog is a spin-off of the www.80smusicbeat.com website which is devoted to the music and artists we grew to love in the '80s and the music that still flourishes from them today. The site is very much a work in progress and I have many many things planned for it. So stop by sometime.

However this blog extends beyond the website.

I am a music lover! There is simply no other way to put it. It intoxicates me. I am completely fasinated by the power of it. How it can completely transform a mood, resurrect a forgotten memory, or inspire a mountain of people to come together, rejoice, and ascend in celebration.

My love of music did not begin nor does it end with the '80s. My primary admiration is for guitar rock with an emphasis on singer-songwriters and evolves from there. I am always on the lookout for a new musical discovery. If you have a recommendation. I would love to hear it!