Chapter 74: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (June - October 1983)

June 17, 1983

Patrick Stewart in Playing Shakespeare, 1982. That same year, it was announced that he had been cast in the role of Brainiac for Superman III. Robert Vaughn was originally considered for the role before Stewart was cast.

A third Superman movie had been in the planning stages since 1979, just as the production on Superman II was closing down. Ilya Salkind, David and Leslie Newman would return to write the script while Richard Donner would pass on directing duties to Tom Mankiewicz (although Donner would stay on as producer). However, John Williams did not return to score the music due to his commitments to Return of the Jedi, and so Ken Thorne took over as composer, with Williams credited for the original Superman themes. Alongside the return of Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper and Marc McClure, the newcomers were Patrick Stewart as the villain Brainiac, Dudley Moore as Mr. Mxyzptlk and Helen Slater as Kara Zor-El/Linda Danvers, also known as Supergirl.

A mysterious asteroid lands on Earth, which prompts interest from Clark Kent; it turns out to be a space pod from the planet Colu, and its sole occupant is a young woman by the name of Kara Zor-El, who takes on the civilian identity of Linda Danvers, who is later revealed to be Clark's cousin. A flashback reveals that when Krypton exploded, Kara was originally meant to arrive on Earth alongside the baby Kal-El, but her space pod had been knocked off course and she ended up in suspended animation for over twenty years before landing in Colu instead, where she is raised by Brainiac who becomes her surrogate father. While Linda adjusts to life on Earth, she and Clark come across an impish trickster from the fifth dimension known as Mr. Mxyzptlk, who uses his abilities to play pranks.

Some time later, Brainiac lands on Earth, having followed Linda the whole time, hoping that she'll use her abilities to cause destruction, but thanks to Clark's guiding hand, she's using them for good, and if even dubbed "Supergirl" in the press. In retaliation, Brainiac uses a personality machine to corrupt and manipulate Superman, therefore turning him evil. Supergirl fights him and with the help of Lois Lane, restores Superman back to good. A final battle with Brainiac then commences after the group time travels to a fiefdom in the Middle Ages that the villain has taken over, leading to him getting stuck there while the heroes return to the present. At a café, Clark and Linda meet up with Mr. Mxyzptlk (who had helped them travel back to the present) who gives them a cryptic warning about a greater evil coming to Earth.[1]

Helen Slater as Kara Zor-El/Linda Danvers/Supergirl in Superman III, 1983. Not even twenty years old upon the film's release, Superman III marked Slater's cinematic debut, and her performance was acclaimed by critics and fans alike.

CHRISTOPHER REEVE: "For an early draft of Superman III, Ilya wanted to have Brainiac fall in love with Supergirl, his 'daughter', but she was in love with Superman instead, and the cousins would possibly even marry at the end. However, Margot didn't like that, and nor did I, Helen or Patrick. We felt it devalued Superman and Lois' relationship from the first two movies, and so the romance plot was cut out entirely." (2008)

In contrast to the two previous Superman films, critical reaction to the third film ranged from mixed to positive, with criticism being directed at the complexity of the plot and the villain's motivations (although Patrick Stewart's performance was acclaimed; even then, Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, who did not appear, was generally viewed as the better villain, as was Terence Stamp as General Zod). On the other hand, Helen Slater's performance as Supergirl was praised, as was Dudley Moore as Mr. Mxyzptlk, and the ending left many moviegoers excited about a potential team-up film about the Justice League. This was later confirmed in a press release at the end of 1983, and Justice League was due for a release date in the spring of 1985.

8 July 1983

The Yardbirds - Carouselambra

Released: 8 July 1983

Recorded: 1983

Producer: Robert Plant and Jimmy Page

Track listing[2]

Side A

Other Arms

In the Mood

Messin' with the Mekon

Big Log

Side B

Thru' with the Two Step

Horizontal Departure

Carouselambra

The Yardbirds' fifteenth album was their first since 1969's Going Down Like a Lead Zeppelin to not reach #1 in either the United Kingdom (#3) or the United States (#5) - while Stairway to Heaven and Axe Ivy both reached #1 in the former country, they stalled out at #2 in the latter. Despite this, "Big Log" managed to chart fairly well in the Top 40 on both sides of the Atlantic (#4 UK, #11 US), as did "In the Mood" (#30 UK, #14 US), with both receiving music videos of their own. Critics were mixed towards Carouselambra, and many seemed to reflect on Jimmy Page's thoughts during the recording process:

JIMMY PAGE: "I personally thought Axe Ivy was our best album of the 80s, but Robert and [John Paul] Jones were in over their heads by playing too many synthesizers for Carouselambra. I felt that my work as a guitarist was being pushed to the side and wasn't shy in saying so. I even tried to tell them that if they didn't get a clue, sooner or later, the Yardbirds would be dead faster than you could play the entirety of Robert Johnson's music." (1997)

3 October 1983

Tony Banks, 1982.

In the midst of an eight-month break between the members of Genesis, Tony Banks had recorded his second solo album, The Fugitive, which was later released that June. This was his first album in which he sang the lead vocals instead of relying on a guest vocalist. While A Curious Feeling had some pop elements, they were more upfront in The Fugitive. The album received a mixed to positive response from critics and topped out at #33 in the United Kingdom. "This is Love" was the single preceding the album that May, peaking at #47 in the United Kingdom.

TONY BANKS: "Mike, Kim and I got back together in the spring of '83 to record the follow-up to Abacab, but we didn't have any songs ready for it. We just played some jams and then based the songs around them." (2005)

KIM BEACON: "Tony and Mike each thought about taking a lead vocal on the album, each having done so for their respective solo albums around that time, and I favored the idea, wanting to show that I wasn't the only guy behind Genesis. We were a group effort, and always have been. I think Shapes proves that." (2013)

Genesis - Genesis (The Shapes Album)

Released: 3 October 1983

Recorded: Spring 1983

Producer: Genesis and Glyn Johns

Track listing[3]

Side A

Mama

That's All

Home by the Sea

Promises

Side B

When It All Comes Down

Taking It All Too Hard

Just a Job to Do

Silver Rainbow

It's Gonna Get Better

Genesis' self-titled release, often referred to as The Shapes Album because of the cover, marked their first since 1974's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in which all the music was credited to all the members. In addition to that, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford showed more prominence in performing the backing vocals than they had ever done on any previous album. Among the tracks that has been left unfinished was "Illegal Alien", which was intended to be a satirical approach on undocumented immigrants coming into the United States, although it was abandoned due to the insensitive nature of the lyrics.

Reception to The Shapes Album was generally very positive, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching #3 in the United States, and the first two singles - "Mama" and "That's All" - also reached the Top 10 in both countries, the former even topping the charts in the United Kingdom. The album displayed Genesis heading towards a more radio-friendly approach, and Banks considered the overall sound as something that the band had longed for even when Peter Gabriel was their lead singer. Rutherford would also refer to The Shapes Album as one of his favorite Genesis albums.

Summary of single releases from Genesis' The Shapes Album

• "Mama" / "It's Gonna Get Better" - 22 August 1983 (#1 UK, #5 US)
• "That's All" / "Taking It All Too Hard" - 3 October 1983 (#7 UK, #2 US)
• "Home by the Sea" / "Second Home by the Sea" - 23 January 1984 (#28 UK, #16 US)

Footnotes

1. The plot synopsis for Superman III is based upon a treatment written by Ilya Salkind in December 1980 and released online in 2007. It was rejected for being too complex and expensive to shoot, which resulted in an entirely different Superman III directed by Richard Lester and a standalone Supergirl movie directed by Jeannot Szwarc in 1984. Both films were critically panned, with the latter becoming a box-office bomb.
2. All tracks are sourced from Robert Plant's The Principle of Moments, excluding "Carouselambra", taken from In Through the Out Door.
3. All tracks are sourced from OTL's Genesis (The Shapes Album), excluding "Promises" and "When it All Comes Down", both from a performance by Kim Beacon in 1989. As has been stated many times before, all tracks are performed by Beacon.

Author's Comments

Well, that was the latest chapter for Strawberry Peppers Mk1 done and dusted. It came out later than I would've liked, but I've had a lot of projects to deal with lately, so I ended up working on and off on it; sorry about that. I've only got six more chapters to write up until this first draft is finished. Not much else to talk about here; Genesis and its members are carrying on like normal, Superman's got the third movie it might have gotten with Richard Donner on board, and the Yardbirds are continuing down Robert Plant's solo trajectory from OTL. I was going to include Yes' 90125, but I ended up cutting it instead. That's why I've posted a shorter chapter than usual.