80's Rock Blog Posts

     I've always thought of Foreigner as a 70's band, and why not. The band's first album was released in 1977 and immediately cracked the top ten with, "Feels Like The First Time"(#4) and "Cold As Ice"(#6) . The next year saw eve...

     When The Runaways broke up in the early 1979, the focus went to the careers of Cherie Currie and then a couple of years later to Joan Jett as both went solo. Lead guitarist Lita Ford took some time to continue working on her...

     Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are nominees, and like almost all of others, can be debated on the merits of it's recorded output. What is not debatable is mentioning Jett without first talking about The Runaways.   &...

     The band Heart revolved around sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, although the genesis of the band began before the Beatles hit American shores...      Bassist Steve Fossen, along with brothers Roger and Mike...

     Some of you may have already heard this, but here are the nominees for the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:      The Paul Butterfield Blues Band      Chic      Deep...

     I've talked to a lot of people over the years who either really like this song, or really hate it. Either way, it is one of the most distinctive hits to come out of the 80's. The hybrid of soul and Irish music was an interest...

     Discussing music in general is so fun for me because there are generally no fully right answers, and it's as varied as the people who make the music. It's been my opinion that taking the 1980's as a whole, that Def Leppard wa...

     Am not totally sure why, but with all of the music that was so wedded to the 80's, whenever "Don't Dream It's Over", comes on the radio, I instantly return to that decade. It's a timeless tune which launched Neil Finn and his...

    Over the years of studying popular music, one comes to the conclusion that most of the hits over the years were that way because they ARE good. However, to just dismiss all other songs as unworthy is musically throwing the baby out...

     By the time Phil Collins began releasing solo projects, he already had a varied and full career. He was a child actor who had his first major role as The Artful Dodger in the London production of Oliver! He was an extra in Th...

     By the time, "Rock the Casbah" had been released in 1981, The Clash had established themselves as the cream of the crop of the punk movement. So much so that they had pretty much transcended the genre by this time anyway. Fir...

You know....it's great to have friends here who can point out the obvious. I got a note yesterday from a fan who said, "I would have never known you were on the radio by looking at your blog". Lo and behold, he was right. The actual Bus website has a...

You want a daily update on what's going on with the bus? Well...we are now on twitter. Follow us at @rokandrollomnibus. Thanks!!

     From the early days of it's conception, Rock and Roll gestated and blossomed through the clubs. "Can you Dance to it?" was an early question when it came to the success of a band and it's music. In the over 50 years since the...

     Brownsville Station was another of the bands to come from the fertile Detroit rock scene of the late 60's. They had 7 songs on the top 100 over their 10 year career, but only one is thought of today. "Smokin' in the Boys Room...

    Arguably, Bon Jovi is the only hair metal group to come out of the 80's with it's artistic and personal dignity in tact.        For almost 30 years, they have continued their winning musical formula combin...

     Sometimes the term "one-hit wonder" is used in music as as somewhat derogatory, when in fact some of them have provided us with the best music of a certain decade, as in this one.       Big Country...

    By the time of Pat Benatar's first album in 1979, she was still a relative newcomer to rock. She grew up studying classical music and theater with the initial goal of going to Jullard. Instead, she married and worked as a bank tell...

     I've always been a bit conflicted about Asia. They were born out of the general meltdown of the progressive rock movement and the lineup certainly had the rep; John Wetton, Geoff Downs, Steve Howe, and Carl Palmer had all bee...

     Listening to this song, I'm wondering where the genesis of the"power ballad" developed? From about this period until the early 90's, many a hard rock band grasped at the golden ring (i.e. hit single) for a nice payday while a...