Chapter 75: Total Eclipse of the Heart (August - December 1983)

7 August 1983

Black Sabbath - Born Again

Released: 7 August 1983

Recorded: May 1983

Producer: Black Sabbath and Robin Black

Track listing[1]

Side A

Stand Up and Shout

Holy Diver

Disturbing the Priest

Caught in the Middle

Don't Talk to Strangers

Side B

Born Again

Hot Line

Rainbow in the Dark

Zero the Hero

In the wake of Ozzy Osbourne's sudden death, there was a huge wave of nostalgia towards Black Sabbath. Osbourne's two solo albums Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman would go platinum, and the band, with Ronnie James Dio still on lead vocals, had grown closer than ever. A newly-sober Bill Ward had returned to the group after leaving in 1980 to deal with his alcoholism, and he was dead set in his sobriety following Osbourne's death.[2]

RONNIE JAMES DIO: "I came close to leaving Black Sabbath while we were mixing Live Evil. Vinny [Appice] had left the group, and I got into fights with Tony [Iommi] and Geezer [Butler] over their drug use. But then we heard about Ozzy's death, and Tony and Geezer stopped taking drugs and Bill came back to the group. There were far more important things than getting into fights over stupid shit. We had to pull our shit together." (2005)

With a newly stabilized Black Sabbath back in the recording studio, Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Ward (as well as Geoff Nicholls) recorded their follow up to Mob Rules, and brought forth what many would consider some of their greatest music. Upon release, Born Again became a commercial success, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and peaking at #2 in the United States, and was dedicated to the memory of Ozzy Osbourne. Along with the success of "Holy Diver"/"Disturbing the Priest" (4 August - #30 UK, #14 US) and "Rainbow in the Dark"/"Born Again" (21 October - #25 UK), Born Again would eventually hit multi-platinum certification in both countries.

October 22, 1983

Jeff Goldblum in The Big Chill, 1983. That same year, he starred as the eponymous hero in Green Lantern.

The seventh entry in the DC Appleverse marked the introduction of Hal Jordan (a.k.a. Green Lantern), the fifth member of the Justice League. Jeff Goldblum (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Big Chill) appeared in the film as Hal Jordan himself, co-starring alongside Geena Davis as his girlfriend Carol Ferris, John de Lancie as mentor Sinestro, and Geoffrey Rush as the villain Hector Hammond; Paul Newman also appeared as Hal Jordan's father Martin for a few flashback sequences. Tom Mankiewicz once again took on directing duties, with Green Lantern being shot simultaneously with Superman III, hence both films shared sets and locations between them (a billboard advertising Ferris Aircraft appeared in Superman III), with some locations in New York doubling for California. In addition, visual effects for the Green Lantern's powers were done by Virgo-Libra Studios, Apple's animation branch.

Following the funeral of his father during a failed rescue mission, a young Hal Jordan becomes determined to honor his legacy in any way he can. Years later, Hal finds himself working for Ferris Aircraft in Coast City and becomes enamored with the co-founder's daughter Carol (who eventually takes over the company when her father is removed from power). One day, a ship crashes onto Earth near Coast City, and Hal encounters the dying pilot, an alien named Abin Sur who is a member of the Green Lantern Corps, serving to protect all life in Space Sector 2814, where Earth is. When Abin Sur dies, his power ring chooses Hal for his ability to overcome great fear, and he vows to honor Abin Sur's wishes. Hal then meets with Green Lantern leader Sinestro, who explains the history of the corporation to him.

Geena Davis as Grace Fallon in Knight Rider, 1983. She made her cinematic debut in Tootsie in 1982, and the following year, she starred in Buffalo Bill and Green Lantern.

Meanwhile, a criminal by the name of Hector Hammond discovers the fragments of an unusual meteor in Africa in which nearby plants have evolved rapidly, and so he kidnaps four scientists and exposes them to the meteor's radiation, evolving their intellect to which Hammond forces them to create amazing new inventions. Hammond quickly becomes a celebrity thanks to this newfound profit, which catches the interest of Hal and his friend Thomas Kalmaku (John Getz), who helps him out by doubling as the Green Lantern with a duplicate power ring and costume. Hammond thinks Thomas is Hal and after capturing him, steals his ring and turns him into a monkey. The real Hal then confronts Hammond and a battle between them ensures, with Hammond losing when the charge of his ring runs out, and Thomas and the scientists are restored to normal.

Two ending scenes take place after the final battle; the first being Hal and Carol running into Barry Allen, who tells them that he's been travelling the country looking for some of the biggest heroes to prepare for a big threat against the world. The second takes place after the end credits, in which Sinestro comes across a yellow power ring of fear, hinting at a potential sequel.

Reception towards Green Lantern was mostly positive, with praise going towards the onscreen chemistry of Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis as Hal and Carol, respectively; both would eventually marry in 1987. In a 1984 interview, Goldblum revealed that he had signed onto the Justice League film alongside Christopher Reeve, John Travolta, Elizabeth Peña and Thomas F. Wilson, as well as a planned sequel to Green Lantern tentatively subtitled Emerald Knights.

18 November 1983

Pink Floyd - About Face

Released: 18 November 1983

Recorded: August 1983

Producer: Pink Floyd and Bob Ezrin

Track listing[3]

Side A

Until We Sleep

Confusion

Love on the Air

Drop In from the Top

Boo to You Too

Out of the Blue

Side B

Cuts Like a Diamond

All Lovers are Deranged

Do Ya?

Near the End

Funky Deux

RICHARD WRIGHT: "I was in a bad state during 1982; I'm surprised I made it through the Fictitious Sports Tour at all. Juliette [his wife of eighteen years] and I had gone through a divorce and I almost left the Floyd. I needed a holiday to refresh my mind, but I didn't warn anyone in advance." (2001)

DAVID GILMOUR: "When we started work on About Face, I'd written a few songs with Pete [Townshend] and was eager to get them recorded. Rick hadn't shown up for a couple of weeks and we became concerned. I called him, but no one was home, but we did receive a letter from Rick explaining what was going on. Even then, we had to record the album around his absence with Dave Harris." (1994)

About Face would mark the last album by Pink Floyd to feature tracks that had been written during the sessions for both Mihalis and Fictitious Sports, as well as the first to feature Dave Harris as a member, who helped to fill in for Rick Wright in the midst of his absence. Wright did eventually return to the studio to overdub his parts, and he would later remarry to a woman named Franka in 1984, and they would remain together until his death in 2008.

A promo for the Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument). It was first manufactured in 1979 and discontinued in 1989 before being manufactured again in 2011. Among the artists to use it included Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Trevor Horn, Rick Wright and Stevie Wonder.

NICK MASON: "Our new engineer Tim [Palmer] introduced us to the Fairlight CMI; Bob [Ezrin] was very familiar with it, and we used it a lot on About Face. At least, Rick and Dave did. We later ended up using it for Identity and Learning to Fly; the CMI was innovative for the time, but it had become obsolete by the end of the 80s." (Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd, 2004)

When came to "All Lovers are Deranged", a co-write between David Gilmour and Pete Townshend, Wright took it as a thinly-veiled reference to his relationship with Juliette, which Gilmour had denied. Fortunately, the matter was resolved fairly quickly between them, with Gilmour writing "Out of the Blue" as an apology to Wright. Both songs ended up making the album.

About Face finally came out in mid-November and received mixed reviews from critics and fans, being cited as Pink Floyd's most 80s-sounding album, although that didn't stop it from hitting the Top 10 in either the United Kingdom (#2) or the United States (#6). In retrospective years, Gilmour and Wright would not speak very kindly about About Face (although Wright would claim he didn't regret doing it), although Nick Mason and Rick Wills tended to be more friendly in their views, admitting that they could've done it better.

9 December 1983

David Bowie - Let's Dance

Released: 9 December 1983

Recorded: August 1983

Producer: David Bowie and Nile Rodgers

Track listing[4]

Side A

Modern Love

China Girl

Let's Dance

Blue Jean

Without You

Dancing with the Big Boys [w/ Iggy Pop]

Side B

Loving the Alien

Ricochet

Tumble and Twirl

Shake It

Under Pressure [w/ Freddie Mercury]

David Bowie's first album since Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) showcased a new sound for the former Rolling Stone, delving into post-disco/dance-pop territory. In between Scary Monsters and Let's Dance, Bowie would pursue non-music projects such as portraying John Merrick in The Elephant Man on Broadway (John Hurt would also play the role for the film adaptation of the same name in 1980), and making film, television and radio appearances such as in Christiane F., Baal, The Hunger and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, as well as recording the title song for Cat People.

While filming for Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Bowie grew fond of artists from the 1950s and 1960s such as James Brown, Buddy Guy, Elmore James and Albert King. Their musical ideals would influence Let's Dance, produced with Nile Rodgers of Chic, which marked the peak of Bowie's popularity and commercial success. The album topped the charts in the United Kingdom and peaked at #4 in the United States. "Let's Dance" (#1 UK and US), "China Girl" (#2 UK, #7 US), "Modern Love" (#2 UK, #10 US), "Blue Jean" (#4 UK, #5 US) and "Loving the Alien" (#10 UK) were all also big hits in 1983 and 1984.

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from OTL's Born Again and Dio's Holy Diver. In addition, Ronnie James Dio sings all of the lead vocals.
2. In OTL, Bill Ward did indeed return to Black Sabbath to record Born Again (with Ian Gillan of Deep Purple on lead vocals, taking over for Ronnie James Dio), but he left again prior to the tour because of his difficulty in remaining sober.
3. Tracks are sourced from David Gilmour's About Face, Zee's Identity, Richard Wright's Wet Dream and Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports.
4. Tracks are sourced from OTL's Let's Dance and Tonight. For vinyl releases, "Modern Love", "China Girl", "Let's Dance" and "Loving the Alien" are the single remixes that can be sound on the boxset Loving the Alien (1983-1988), while for CD releases, the full length versions are used. "Under Pressure" is the Rah Mix found on Greatest Hits III.

Author's Comments

At long last, we have come to the 75th chapter! It's not exactly big in terms of length, but it does mark the end of the 1981-1983 period (well, save for an Apple update in the next chapter), so we're getting close to the end of the first draft with five chapters to go. The Black Sabbath storyline was inspired directly from In the Heart of Metal, in which Ozzy Osbourne died in 1982 and the band continues with Ronnie James Dio, which butterflied away the band Dio. The timeline never gave complete track listings to any of the fictional albums, so for Born Again, I went by what was listed as being on the album and filled the gaps from there. Hopefully it sounds good track by track.

Not much to say about David Bowie here; this is his final appearance in the series until the finale. Similarly, Pink Floyd has one more album; I originally wasn't going to have them make an album for 1985, but I ended up making one anyway. You'll see what it's like when it comes out. And as for the Green Lantern movie, I had difficulty coming up with the cast, but I got a bit of help out from Helter Skelter on Discord, although I was very much on my own for the storyline. Believe me; coming up with fictional films is even harder than making fictional albums!