Chapter 79: The Power of Love (February - July 1985)

18 February 1985

Phil Collins - No Jacket Required

Released: 18 February 1985

Recorded: May - December 1984

Producer: Phil Collins and Hugh Padgham

Track listing[1]

Side A

Sussudio

The Man with the Horn

Long Long Way to Go

I Like the Way

One More Night

Side B

Don't Lose My Number

Who Said I Would

It's Alright

Inside Out

Take Me Home

Bonus track on CD releases

We Said Hello Goodbye

Phil Collins' third post-Genesis album featured several guest vocalists including Helen Terry of Culture Club, Sting of the recently-disbanded Police and fellow ex-Genesis member Peter Gabriel, as well as current Genesis frontman Kim Beacon. "I did some backing vocals on 'Take Me Home' while we were recording for Prospect Road," Beacon explained years later. "I felt like I owed Phil a favor for helping to produce that album."

Much of No Jacket Required was improvised with a drum machine, particularly "Sussudio", and it still managed to reach #1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. Critical reception was mostly positive. The four singles off of the album - "One More Night" (30 November 1984 - #4 UK, #1 US), "Sussudio" (14 January 1985 - #12 UK, #1 US), "Don't Lose My Number" (15 April 1985 #7 UK, #4 US) and "Take Me Home" (15 July 1985 - #19 UK, #7 US) - were all Top 20 hits. To date, No Jacket Required remains Collins' highest-selling album, being certified diamond status in 2001 in the United States.

May 1, 1985

Christopher Lee, 1980s. Famous for his role as Count Dracula, he portrayed Steppenwolf in Justice League.

After a few years' worth of teasing, Justice League was finally released in theaters to mark the May Day celebrations. The tenth entry to the DC Appleverse was directed by Ivan Reitman and brought together Christopher Reeve, John Travolta, Elizabeth Peña, Thomas F. Wilson and Jeff Goldblum in their respective roles (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern) on the big screen as a group for the first time fighting against the big bad Steppenwolf, portrayed by legendary actor Christopher Lee. Also starring in the film were Supergirl (Helen Slater) and Robin (Tom Cruise), as well as the introduction of Aquaman (a.k.a. Arthur Curry) and Martian Manhunter (a.k.a. J'onn J'onzz), respectively portrayed by Rutgar Haur and Carel Struycken.

For the past few years, Diana Prince has been travelling the United States, trying to learn more about the superheroes that currently reside in man's world. At the same time, Clark Kent is left wondering about the cryptic warning concerning a greater evil coming to Earth, and Bruce Wayne is trying to learn more about the mysterious flying man in the blue suit. By sheer coincidence, Clark and Bruce meet up at a party being hosted at Wayne Manor, and both encounter Diana there as well, who gets the two men in a private room where she reveals herself to be Wonder Woman and explains about her quest to find other superheroes in the United States. Both Clark and Bruce agree to aid Diana in forming a superhero league.

Meanwhile, at Coast City, Barry Allen and Hal Jordan respectively encounter a half-human, half-Atlantean man by the name of Arthur Curry and a Martian known as J'onn J'onzz. Barry and Hal both talk about their findings and invite Arthur and J'onn to partner up and form a team themselves. Unknown to the heroes, however, Steppenwolf, a New God from Apokolips, is leading a horde of Parademons to Earth to find Superman and destroy him, under the command on his nephew Darkseid.

Christopher Reeve as Superman in Justice League, 1985.

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman battle the Parademons when they invade Metropolis, but they are quickly outnumbered. Just as Steppenwolf is about to finish off Superman, he is stopped by the sudden arrival of the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, along with the assistance of Supergirl and Robin. Instead of finishing off Steppenwolf, the villain returns to Apokolips to face his punishment at his failure to accomplish his goal. The Flash then explains that they heard about the impending invasion at Metropolis through Robin, which was how they were able to get there quickly. With Earth's heroes together for the first time, they form the Justice League and begin a new quest to not only protect the Earth, but find new superheroes to help them do so.

In the post-credits scene, Steppenwolf faces the wrath of Darkseid, portrayed by Liam Neeson, who announces that when the time comes, he will be coming to Earth.

The reception towards Justice League was universally positive, even competing with Back to the Future in the box office for most successful film of 1985. Aerosmith's version of the Beatles' "Come Together", featured in the film's end credits, was released as a single in conjunction in the film, giving Aerosmith a creative revival after spinning their wheels in the early 1980s.[3]

10 May 1985

Fleetwood Mac - The Challenge

Released: 10 May 1985

Recorded: 1984-1985

Producer: Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut and Jimmy Iovine

Track listing[4]

Side A

The Challenge

Can't Go Back

Message to My Girl

I Sing for Things

Slow Dancing

Got a Hold on Me

Side B

One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star

Hold Me

The Devil You Know

Time Bomb Town

The Smile I Live For

No Spoken Word

Lindsey Buckingham's re-entry into Fleetwood Mac had been met with great acclaim; having taken a few years away from the band following the aborted Tusk sessions, along with the death of Ozzy Osbourne that made him rethink life choices, Buckingham and the rest of the group looked towards a more optimistic future, as per the lyrics to 1977's "Don't Stop". But now that the band had become a sextet, and four of the members contributed vocals, it became a matter as to how much each member could contribute.

CHRISTINE McVIE: "Stevie, Lindsey, Neil and I each put out solo projects during 1983 and 1984 [Nicks' The Wild Heart, Buckingham's Go Insane, Finn's Conflicting Emotions[5], McVie's eponymous album], but each of us held back a few tracks for our follow up to Mirage. One of the tracks ["Hold Me"] was actually a leftover from those sessions, but when Lindsey came back, we used it for what became The Challenge." (2003)

Crowded House, 1986.

To keep things democratic within the group, it was decided that there would be an even split among the songwriting credits - Buckingham and Stevie Nicks each had three songs, Christine McVie had four ("Hold Me" was a duet with Buckingham) and Neil Finn just two. This averaged out to three songs per songwriter. Nicks found herself working on both The Challenge and her own solo album, Rock a Little, so she didn't contribute much to the sessions on the former aside from backing vocals if needed. Meanwhile, having made few contributions to the album himself, Finn had some other irons in the fire when he formed the Mullanes, which later evolved into Crowded House. By the end of the sessions, he would leave Fleetwood Mac in favor of Crowded House, but they would not release their debut album until 1986.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM: "It was a shame when Neil left, but we respected his decision. He did bring some fresh blood to the band in my... er, absence, and I would've liked to see that formation continue." (1990)

The Challenge was finally released in May 1985 and quickly went to #1 in the United States and peaked at #3 in the United Kingdom. It was Fleetwood Mac's only album as a sextet, and it received acclaim upon release. "Hold Me"/"One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star" (#4 US) was the biggest hit from the album, and "Slow Dancing"/"The Challenge" (#14 US), "Got a Hold on Me"/"The Devil You Know" (#7 US) and "Message to My Girl"/"Time Bomb Town" (#22 US) were also Top 40 hits. The B-side "Time Bomb Town" would make a brief appearance on the radio in Back to the Future when Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) was awoken from his sleep by Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) on the phone.

20 May 1985

The Yardbirds - Shaken 'n' Stirred

Released: 20 May 1985

Recorded: 1984

Producer: The Yardbirds, Benji Le Fevre and Tim Palmer

Track listing[6]

Side A

Hip to Hoo

The Only One

Too Loud

Trouble Your Money

I Get a Thrill

Side B

Little by Little

Doo Doo a Do Do

Crackback

Sixes and Sevens

JIMMY PAGE: "I told Robert and John [Paul Jones] that they were driving the Yardbirds into the ground by using more synthesizers and less guitar, and Shaken 'n' Stirred was proof of that. I liked maybe a few of songs on there, but the rest I could've done without. The critics weren't a fan of it, and neither were I and Bonzo." (2010)

The Yardbirds' sixteenth album was a flop by their standards - it didn't broach the Top 10 in either the United Kingdom or the United States (#11 UK, #15 US), and its sole single, "Little by Little"/"Pink and Black" (#83 UK, #36 US) didn't fare any better either. Reception towards Shaken 'n' Stirred was harsh, being cited as one of the Yardbirds' lower efforts, with critics wondering if the band had outstayed their welcome as a group. It would be a few years before the Yardbirds regained some lost ground.

July 1985

John Lennon and his aunt Mimi Smith, circa mid-1960s.

…we came in? The following is excerpted from John Lennon's autobiography, Nowhere Man, originally published under Apple Books, July 1990:

"Bob Geldof and the concert organizers for Live Aid wanted the Beatles to take part in the concert as they believed having a group of 'elder statesmen' of British music would give it greater legitimacy in the eyes of those politicians whose opinions we had to shape up. At first, we didn't want to do this, but we ended up agreeing to perform as it was our kids who persuaded us to take part.

Maddy, Freddie, Alice and I flew out to England like Paul, Ringo and their families did (George, Livvy and Dhani were already there), but while they went to Liverpool to reflect, I wanted to head towards Poole, Dorset first. Aunt Mimi had been living at that bungalow I'd bought for her for the last twenty years, and was still living there at the age of eighty-two. Up until that point, she'd never set eye on Maddy, Freddie and Alice, but she had met Julian and Cynthia before. Even though Mimi was less than half my age, she still wanted to ensure that I was keeping myself out of trouble.

'The guitar's all right, John, but you'll never make a living out of it' was what she'd often tell me in my teenage years, but who'd have thought that thirty years on, she'd still be around to see how much success I'd achieved? I still remind her about that, but Mimi would admit to me that she'd been wrong.

Mimi and I spoke for a long time, and eventually, I asked her, 'Will have the telly on this coming Saturday?'

'Whatever for?' she asked me. I told her about Live Aid and that the Beatles were taking part; this was basically twenty-eight years in the making for us, beginning with meeting Paul after a Quarrymen show in 1957, and although the Beatles have since then had their ups and downs - our reputation was at a low point by then in America, despite having regained some lost ground in England with Thomas the Tank Engine - Live Aid would make or break our good name. I was nervous, and I thought Mimi was the only other person outside of Maddy and the other guys that I could openly express my worries to.

Neither of us said anything for what seemed like an eternity. It was Mimi who broke the silence.

'Well, John,' she said, 'I'll be first to admit that I'd been wrong in saying you'd never make a living out of playing the guitar, but by doing so, from what I've read and heard, you and the rest of the Beatles changed the world and influenced God knows many people. I don't think it should matter to you that much whether or not the performance is good or bad, so long as you're doing what you do the best. Playing music on the stage and entertaining the crowds.'

Again, there was silence. I didn't say anything, but I pulled aunt Mimi in for a hug. She was supporting me right to the end, and I couldn't have been more grateful to have her in my life. I don't recall how much longer we stayed at Mimi's, but I knew we had to head to Liverpool and meet up with the boys.

When we finally arrived there, Paul asked me how the detour went, and I said, 'Just had to see someone from childhood.' I didn't say anymore, but Paul knew exactly who I was referring to.

The thirteenth of July came sooner than we expected, but it was time for the Beatles to head on down to London and play at Wembley Stadium. I was the last one to get down there with Paul, George, Ringo and their families.

'Ah, good morning, John,' Paul said upon noticing my arrival. 'You ready for Wembley?' My response was a nod and a smile. No matter what, it was going to be a hell of performance."

Mimi Smith ended up seeing John Lennon play with the rest of the Beatles at Live Aid on television. She and John continued to remain in contact until her death on 6 December 1991, at the age of 88. Isn't this where…

Footnotes

1. Most tracks are sourced from OTL's No Jacket Required; "The Man with the Horn" and "I Like the Way" are sourced from Other Sides, and "It's Alright" is a live track from the deluxe edition of Hello, I Must Be Going!. In OTL, it was performed live during the No Jacket Required World Tour, which concluded with Live Aid.
2. The story takes loose inspiration from the ultimate edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League, but with Superman's death being removed altogether.
3. In OTL, Aerosmith recorded "Come Together" for the Sgt. Pepper film in 1978, and was generally regarded as one of the highlights to the soundtrack. This is also an homage to Gary Clark Jr. and Junkie XL's version of "Come Together" being featured in OTL's Justice League from 2017.
4. All of Christine McVie's solo tracks are sourced from her eponymous 1984 album. "Slow Dancing" is sourced from Lindsey Buckingham's Go Insane, and "Time Bomb Town" is from the Back to the Future soundtrack. "I Sing for Things" and "No Spoken Word" are from Stevie Nicks' Rock a Little, with "One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star" found on the compilation album Enchanted. Both of Neil Finn's tracks come from Split Enz's Conflicting Emotions. "Can't Go Back" and "Hold Me" are both from Mirage, the only actual Fleetwood Mac songs on The Challenge.
5. Conflicting Emotions consists of Neil Finn-penned material form Split Enz's album of the same name (excluding "Message to My Girl" and "The Devil You Know") and See Ya 'Round.
6. Most tracks are sourced from Robert Plants' Shaken 'n' Stirred. "The Only One" (featuring Robert Plant) is from Jimmy Page's Outrider, "I Get a Thrill" (featuring Jimmy Page) from The Honeydrippers: Volume One and "Crackback" (again, featuring Jimmy Page) from John Paul Jones' Scream for Help.

Author's Comments

So here we are with the penultimate chapter of the first draft, and boy, was it a bit of a pain to write up! But I figure it was worth it as we're finally heading towards the endgame.

Not much to say in regards to No Jacket Required, although picking out material for The Challenge wasn't that hard; it was simply a matter of determining the order of the track listing, and how much I wanted to leave the solo projects intact so they could coexist with the new Fleetwood Mac album. Not much to comment on with Shaken 'n' Stirred either, but thankfully, this is the last time I'll have to make a new Yardbirds album as picking out the material was not easy.

As you can tell, we've come back to where we started with the prologue, first published way back in January 2019 (jeez, has it been that long?), and so here we are, two years and seven-and-a-half months later. It's been a long, bumpy road, and I've learned quite a lot when it came to this project. Still, just one more chapter to go.

Chapter 71: Ashes to Ashes (April - September 1982)

23 April 1982

The Yardbirds - Axe Ivy

Released: 23 April 1982

Recorded: September 1981 - January 1982

Producer: Robert Plant and Jimmy Page

Track listing[1]

Side A

Burning Down One Side

Moonlight in Samosa

Pledge Pin

Fool in the Rain

Mystery Title

Side B

Worse Than Detroit

Fat Lip

Sea of Love

Swan Song

The Yardbirds' first album of the 1980s, the long-awaited follow up to In Through the Out Door, brought back the return to their rock roots with some rhythm and blues influence. Among them was a cover version of Phil Philips' 1959 hit "Sea of Love", which was released as a single shortly before the release of Axe Ivy, peaking at #3 in the United States. However, it did not chart as well in the United Kingdom, at a comparatively lowly #56. But even that didn't stop the album from topping the charts there (it stalled out at #2 in the United States, kept out of the top spot by Fleetwood Mac's Mirage).

JOHN BONHAM: "The album title Axe Ivy was a play on words; it was the Yardbirds' fourteenth album, and in Roman numerals, it's X-I-V [pronounced "acks"-"eye"-"vee"]. Get it? I came up with it myself; no one else had a good enough idea for the title, so it stuck." (2007)

Axe Ivy received generally positive reception from critics and fans, being regarded as a return to form for the Yardbirds, and the tour that followed up ensured that they would stick around for a long time and still hold their place in the rock and roll world.

14 May 1982

The Clash - Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg

Released: 14 May 1982

Recorded: 1980, September 1981 and November 1981 - January 1982

Producer: The Clash

Track listing[2]

Side A

Straight to Hell

Know Your Rights

Rock the Casbah

Red Angel Dragnet

Side B

Should I Stay or Should I Go

Ghetto Defendant

Sean Flynn

Side C

Car Jamming

The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too

Atom Tan

First Night Back in London

Side D

Inoculated City

Death is a Star

Cool Confusion

Idle in Kangaroo Court

For the past few years, the Clash was one of Apple's most successful punk rock groups, and proved to critics and listeners that they were willing to put anything in their music. Even the most stupid-sounding shit, they turned to gold. But by the end of 1981, the cracks in their relationship were beginning to show.

JOE STRUMMER: "We were basically in two camps by that point; me and Paul [Simonon] on wanting to return to our more punk roots, and Mick [Jones] and Topper [Headon] wanting to continue evolving our sound. It didn't help that Topper was in the midst of a drug addiction." (1997)

MICK JONES: "I was unhappy; I felt estranged from the rest of the group and I was living with Ellen [Foley; his then-girlfriend] in New York. I thought, 'This must have been how Paul McCartney felt when he felt estranged from John, George and Ringo in the early 70s.' It felt like lightning was about to strike twice at Apple Records." (2009)

The Clash in Philadelphia, 1982.

Between January and March, the Clash embarked on their Far East Tour in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Thailand. Shortly afterward, they returned to London to listen to the music recorded in New York and decide what to do with the material. In the middle of arguing over how their next album should sound, they heard the news of a tragedy from the other side of the pond.

PAUL SOLOMON: "One of us caught a newspaper article saying that Ozzy Osbourne had choked on his own vomit. What really got to all of us was what Randy Rhoads said concerning his final words to Ozzy. 'You'll kill yourself, you know? One of these days.' It was very damning to read, and that made us realize that one of us could drop dead and we'd live the regret of never making up with him before then. We felt closer as a group, realizing that if we were to stay together, we'd have to cut the crap and make the album that all of us wanted to put out. And after that, we'd take a break for a while." (2007)

Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg came out that May, backed by singles "Know Your Rights" (#30 UK), "Rock the Casbah" (#14 UK, #5 US) and the double A-side, "Should I Stay or Should I Go"/"Straight to Hell" (#10 UK, #37 US), respectively released 23 April, 11 June and 17 September. The album topped the charts in the United Kingdom and peaked at #4 in the United States, becoming the Clash's best selling album to date. As the band was taking a hiatus to sort out their differences and drug problems, it would be a while before the world heard from them again.

Meanwhile, the original album art depicting the execution of Viet Cong member Nguyễn Văn Lém in 1968, photographed by Eddie Adams, sparked controversy due to insensitivity despite that it expressed the direct lyrical references to the Vietnam War and the notion of "urban warfare" that were prominent in the album. In wake of the controversy, the cover was replaced by a band photo.

25 June 1982

Fleetwood Mac - Mirage

Released: 25 June 1982

Recorded: November 1981 - March 1982

Producer: Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat

Track listing[3]

Side A

Love in Store

Dirty Creature

That's Alright

Log Cabin Fever

Gypsy

Only Over You

Side B

Take a Walk

Straight Back

Put a Candle in the Window

If You Were My Love

Hello Sandy Allen

Wish You Were Here

Fleetwood Mac's first album since 1977's Rumours had come out the week following Crosby, Stills & Nash's Daylight Again under Apple Records, and it was their first to feature Neil Finn as guitarist and vocalist. Mirage carried on with the band's soft rock sound from Rumours and topped the charts in the United States for five weeks, and topped out at #3 in the United Kingdom. Finn's "Dirty Creature", Stevie Nicks' "Gypsy" and Christine McVie's "Love in Store" were all Top 20 hits in the United States.

MICK FLEETWOOD: "It was just before Mirage came out when Lindsey reached out to me and John a few days after Ozzy Osbourne was declared dead from excessive drinking. I could see that he clearly regretted his behavior following the aborted Tusk sessions, and it seemed as if a few years away from us had given him a lot of time to work on his behavior." (1998)

STEVIE NICKS: "Christine and I were reluctant to let him back into the band - Neil didn't have an opinion on the matter, for he stayed to the sides to see what would unfold. Lindsey had hurt Christine the most, and she was afraid of being in the same recording studio as him, just in case he had another meltdown. But still, we gave Lindsey the benefit of the doubt and let him join us for our short American tour." (2014)

Fleetwood Mac, 1982. Not pictured: Neil Finn.

Lindsey Buckingham's return to Fleetwood Mac for their Mirage Tour (September 1 - October 31) also coincided with the band headlining the first US Festival in San Bernardino on September 5, for which they were paid half a million dollars. Among other artists during September 3-5 included the Ramones, Talking Heads, Dave Edmunds, the Cars, Pat Benatar and Tom Petty & Mudcrutch, some of whom were under Apple Records or its two subsidiaries, Highway 61 or Swan Song.[4]

The tour was met with a few hiccups, but fortunately, none were connected to band relations. On October 5, Stevie Nicks' best friend, Robin Anderson, had died from leukemia at the age of 34, following a pregnancy leading to a premature birth to a baby boy, Matthew - thankfully, he survived. After the death of Robin, Nicks would give off some of her most electrifying, heartfelt performances as a tribute to her fallen friend, later impulsively marrying her widower Kim Anderson in 1983, thinking that it would be best for Matthew. Sadly, Stevie and Kim would separate after only three months, and divorce by 1984.

Around the time of Robin's death, two shows were postponed when Nicks suffered from walking pneumonia, but soon recovered. The October 22 show at The Forum in Inglewood was filmed and later released under the title Fleetwood Mac In Concert - Mirage Tour '82 under Apple Films. Lindsey Buckingham would remember that for just about every show, it felt as though he had never left to begin with, finally being integrated back into the band. When asked what Fleetwood Mac's plans for the future were, he said, "Who knows? We might do another album. Hopefully it won't take five years to put out!"

Summary of Fleetwood Mac releases, 1982

• "Dirty Creature"  / "That's Alright" - 11 June 1982 (#85 UK, #14 US)
• Mirage - 25 June 1982 (#3 UK, #1 US)
• "Gypsy" / "Cool Water" - 4 September 1982 (#34 UK, #7 US)
• "Love in Store" / "Take a Walk" - 18 October 1982 (#10 US)
• "Hello Sandy Allen" / "Only Over You" - 12 December 1982 (#71 UK)

4 September 1982

The Who - It's Hard

Released: 4 September 1982

Recorded: June 1982

Producer: Glyn Johns

Track listing[5]

Side A

Athena

It's Your Turn

Cooks County

It's Hard

Dangerous

Eminence Front

Side B

I've Known No War

One Life's Enough

One at a Time

Why Did I Fall for That

Man on the Corner

Cry If You Want

The Who's second post-Keith Moon album, It's Hard (#11 UK, #8 US), received polarizing reviews from critics. Some praised it and even considered it a spiritual sequel to Lifehouse from a decade prior, while others condemned the album, some even going so far as to say Phil Collins had "ruined" the Who. Having a solo career alongside his position as their drummer likely didn't help the hostility towards Collins either. "Athena" backed with the non-album B-side "A Man is a Man" was released as a single at the same time as It's Hard, reaching #40 in the United Kingdom and #28 in the United States. Neither of the follow up singles - "Eminence Front" (25 December 1982) and "It's Hard" (February 1983) - reached the Top 40 in either country.

PHIL COLLINS: "It was a pretty miserable time to be a part of the Who; Pete [Townshend] was depressed, often under heroin and constantly fighting with Roger [Daltrey] and John [Entwistle] over what to play on stage. I just sat there and let everything unfold. I almost regretted leaving Genesis in the first place, wondering what might have happened had I decided to stay with them." (2002)

The Who would embark on a farewell tour in North America with the Yardbirds as support, with the final show taking place on December 17 in Toronto, Canada.[6] Pete Townshend would spend part of 1983 writing new material for a potential follow-up to It's Hard, but was unable to come up with music that would be good enough for the Who to record, and so on 16 December 1983, he announced his departure from the Who, which ended the band for good. This left Phil Collins free to focus on his solo career for the remainder of the 1980s, although he would still play with them for live performances up until 1989.[7]

Footnotes

1. "Fool in the Right" is sourced from In Through the Out Door, "Sea of Love" from The Honeydrippers: Volume One, and "Swan Song" is "Midnight Moonlight" from The Firm. The remaining tracks all come from Robert Plant's solo album Pictures at Eleven.
2. Track listing is based upon what Mick Jones proposed for Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg before it was pruned down to become Combat Rock. The four outtakes ("The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too", "First Night Back in London", "Cool Confusion", "Idle in Kangaroo Court") can be found on the 2013 box set Sound System.
3. Neil Finn's tracks ("Dirty Creature", "Log Cabin Fever", "Take a Walk", "Hello Sandy Allen") are all taken from Time and Tide, due to Split Enz breaking up earlier than in OTL. The remaining tracks are sourced from OTL's Mirage, with "Put a Candle in the Window" and "If You Were My Love" being outtakes from the same sessions, found on the 2016 deluxe edition. The latter track was eventually re-recorded for Stevie Nicks' 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault in 2014.
4. This actually happened in OTL, except it was during Lindsey Buckingham's final tour with Fleetwood Mac until 1997.
5. "Man on the Corner" is sourced from Genesis' Abacab, taking the place of "A Man is a Man". Otherwise, It's Hard follows the exact same track listing as OTL. In addition, Roger Daltrey takes lead vocals on "Man on the Corner" while Phil Collins sings co-lead on "Cooks County" instead of Pete Townshend.
6. In OTL, the Clash went on tour with the Who; because of the former taking a hiatus by that point, the Yardbirds take their place instead.
7. In OTL, Kenney Jones played with the Who for one-off performances at Live Aid in 1985 and at the BPI Awards Ceremony in 1988, as well as their 25th anniversary tour in 1989. He was not, however, invited for their performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in 1990, and in 1996, Zak Starkey became the Who's new touring drummer starting with their Quadrophenia Tour. With Phil Collins on board, all of this will happen.

Author's Comments

Not much to comment on here; a fair number of storylines are coming to close. The Yardbirds' 1980s discography will draw parallels to Robert Plant's (I mean, he is the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, after all), and those of the Clash and Fleetwood Mac will be revisited once more in 1985 in universe. The Who's storyline is just about finished barring their appearance at Live Aid, which I'm sure most of you can predict, but we will hear from Phil Collins once more in 1985.

Chapter 69: We Got the Beat (May - December 1981)

15 May 1981

The Clash - Sandinista!

Released: 15 May 1981

Recorded: February - August 1980

Producer: The Clash and Mikey Dread

Track listing[1]

Side A

The Magnificent Seven

Police on My Back

The Leader

Charlie Don't Surf

The Call Up

Somebody Got Murdered

Side B

Rebel Waltz

Let's Go Crazy

Junkie Slip

Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)

Washington Bullets

Broadway

The Clash's fifth album, Sandinista!, was the sister album to last year's Something About England, recorded during the same sessions as the 1980 album. In contrast to England's wildly experimental tone and various guest musicians, Sandinista! was seen as a bit more traditional. It topped out at #3 in the United Kingdom and #5 in the United States and was preceded on 10 April with "The Call Up"/"Stop the World" (#33 UK). The follow-up single, "The Magnificent Seven"/"Radio One" (#20 UK, #17 US), was released 19 June. The only other release by the Clash in 1981 was the non-album single "This is Radio Clash"/"Radio Clash" (#38 UK, #14 US), released 20 November. At the moment, they were working on their sixth studio album, due for release next year.

10 July 1981

Electric Light Orchestra - Time

Released: 10 July 1981

Recorded: Early 1981

Producer: Jeff Lynne

Track listing[2]

Side A

Twilight (Prologue)

Yours Truly, 2095

Ticket to the Moon

When Time Stood Still

The Way Life's Meant to Be

Julie Don't Live Here

Another Heart Breaks

Side B

Rain is Falling

From the End of the World

Lights Go Down

Here is the News

21st Century Man

Hold on Tight

The Bouncer (Epilogue)

The Electric Light Orchestra's first official studio album of the 1980s centered around a man from 1981 who finds himself in the year 2095 where he is confronted by the dichotomy between advanced technology and longing for a long dead romance. Time briefly hit #1 in the United Kingdom for two weeks in the midst of the Beatles' big reunion with Quadruple Fantasy, while in the United States, it topped out at #10. Reviews ranged from mixed to positive.

Unlike ELO's usual orchestral sound, Jeff Lynne chose to focus on electronics, hence the use of synthesizers to give the album a futuristic sound. It became the second album to not involve Mik Kaminski (violin), Hugh McDowell and Melvyn Gale (cello), all of whom had not partaken on Discovery or the songs featured in Xanadu. The core for ELO had now been reduced to Lynne himself, drummer Bev Bevan, pianist Richard Tandy and bassist Kelly Groucutt, although Mik Kaminski would rejoin for the tour supporting Time, lasting from September 1981 to March 1982.

Summary of single releases from Electric Light Orchestra's Time

• "Hold On Tight" / "When Time Stood Still" - 17 July 1981 (#2 UK, #4 US)
• "Twilight" / "Julie Don't Live Here" - 10 October 1981 (#9 UK, #15 US)
• "Ticket to the Moon" / "Here Is the News" - 11 December 1981 (#17 UK)
• "Rain Is Falling" / "The Way Life's Meant to Be" - 15 January 1982 (#86 US)

August 28, 1981

Elizabeth Peña, the first actress to portray Wonder Woman on the big screen, 1980s. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in 1982.

Following the success of the first Superman movie directed by Richard Donner and starring Christopher Reeve as the titular hero, plans were being made to produce other films starring other DC superheroes under a single banner that would be labeled by fans the Appleverse. A film featuring John Travolta as Batman and directed by Martin Scorsese was intended to become the third entry, but due to various rewriting going around along with work on a planned sequel, Wonder Woman - starring Elizabeth Peña as the titular heroine, Raquel Welch as her mother Hippolyta, John Schneider (The Dukes of Hazzard) as love interest Steve Trevor, and for the villains, Sigourney Weaver (Alien) as Baroness Paula von Gunther and Ian McKellen as Ares, god of war - ended up becoming the third entry in the Appleverse instead, and was released to critical acclaim. Wonder Woman was directed by Ivan Reitman and the script was co-written with Tom Mankiewicz[3], with the score by James Newton Howard. Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" also played during the end credits.

Set in the early to mid-1940s, during World War II, United States army pilot Steve Trevor lands himself in Paradise Island[4], a segregated land of women, and meets one of its residents, Diana, the daughter of Queen Hippolyta. After explaining that the world of man is under war, Steve brings Diana to the world outside of Paradise Island, the latter believing that the god of war Ares is responsible for the cause of the war. Along the way, Diana encounters Baroness Paula von Gunther, a cold-blooded Nazi spy for Hitler, who pretends to ally with her and Steve so she can kill them; unknown to everyone, however, she is a pawn in Ares' game to exterminate Diana, who is later revealed to be the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta. In the end, the Baroness and Ares are killed, and the war comes to an end following the collapse of Nazi Germany. In the present day (1980, according to the film), Diana reunites with an elderly Steve Trevor, and they see a bat-shaped signal in the sky, with Diana going off to see what it could mean.

November 10, 1981

Kiss - Music from "The Elder"

Released: November 10, 1981

Recorded: March - September 1981

Producer: Bob Ezrin

Track listing[5]

Side A

Fanfare

Just a Boy

Odyssey

Only You

Under the Rose

Dark Light

Side B

A World Without Heroes

The Oath

Mr. Blackwell

Escape from the Island

I (Finale)

Things had changed drastically for Kiss at the turn of the decade. Their 1979 album Dynasty sold fairly well, backed by the hit single "I Was Made for Lovin' You", although their 1980 follow-up, Unmasked, did not do as well commercially or critically. For Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Eric Carr (Peter Criss, the original drummer, had left the band in May with Carr taking over three months later), this next album would either salvage Kiss as a commercial force, or they would implode on themselves.

ACE FREHLEY: "It was an in-between; Kiss didn't really fall apart, but they didn't quite bounce back either. Peter had left, Eric came in, and Paul and Gene had taken over the band by that point. I felt like a man out of place by that point." (1996)

Music from "The Elder" was a concept album, fronted mainly by Stanley and Simmons, and there were hopes that it'd bring the band back to their roots. Bringing in producer Bob Ezrin, having co-produced Roger Waters' The Wall the year prior, they also included medieval horns, strings, harps and synthesizers, making it sound more like progressive rock rather than hard rock. Frehley was constantly frustrated during the sessions, feeling that his voice (and guitar) wasn't being heard during voting decisions.

The lineup for Kiss, 1981. Eric Carr replaced Peter Criss, going by the persona, The Fox. He would remain the band's drummer from that point on, save for reunions with Criss in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The story of "The Elder" was that a young boy had been recruited by the Council of Elders belonging to the Order of the Rose, an unknown group whose main goal was to combat evil. Elderly caretaker Morpheus guides the boy on his journey, whose feelings are described in the album's lyrics, overcoming his initial doubts and finally getting ready to undertake his odyssey. Spoken dialogue was included in between the songs to provide exposition and further clarify the story.

GENE SIMMONS: "People were pretty divided about "The Elder"; some loved it, some hated it, and some were very mixed, feeling like it wasn't any better or worse than Unmasked." (2011)

Music from "The Elder" peaked out at #75 in the United States compared to Unmasked's #35, while in the United Kingdom, the former reached #51. Critical reaction was overall divisive, and the album's sole lead single released November 17, "A World Without Heroes" (#55 UK, #56 US), got lost in the crowd. By the end of February 1982, Music from "The Elder" was all but forgotten about, and Ace Frehley, arguably the most beloved member of Kiss, would leave following the release of next year's Creatures of the Night, leaving half of the founding lineup intact. In Ace's place was Vinnie Vincent, formerly of Black Satin and the Hitchhikers, who had partaken in the recording of Creatures of the Night. Once again, personality clashes would rise between the members...

18 December 1981

Lindsey Buckingham - Tusk

Released: 18 December 1981

Recorded: Winter 1980 - Summer 1981

Producer: Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat

Track listing[6]

Side A

Suma's Walk

The Ledge

Save Me a Place

What Makes You Think You're the One

Book of Love

That's All for Everyone

Not That Funny

Side B

Empire State

That's Enough for Me

Oh Diane

I Know I'm Not Wrong

Goodbye Angel

Tusk

Eyes of the World

Throughout the winter of 1980 all the way up to the summer of 1981, Lindsey Buckingham was kept incredibly busy following his isolation from Fleetwood Mac. In fact, with producer Richard Dashut, he had recorded enough material for a double album, but it was decided to release two individual albums instead.

The first of these, Tusk, consisted of Buckingham's material from the failed 1979 Fleetwood Mac album as well as new material. Tusk reached #3 in the United Kingdom and #8 in the United States and received positive reviews. The title track was released as a single with "Not That Funny" (#6 UK, #8 US) in November 1981, while the following single, "Oh Diane" / "Teen Beat" (#9 UK, #35 US), would come out in February 1982.

The follow-up album, Law and Order, while recorded during the same sessions, would be released in November 1982.[7] In between solo album releases, Buckingham would find himself mending fences with his former bandmates.

Footnotes

1. All tracks are sourced from OTL's Sandinista!.
2. All tracks are sourced from OTL's Time. In addition, the track listing is based upon the original double album track listing, although "When Time Stood Still" and "The Way Life's Meant to Be" have swapped positions, and "The Bouncer" is moved towards the end, being combined with "Epilogue". Likewise, "Prologue" and "Twilight" are combined into a single track. "Sad Affair" and "Time Transporter" currently remain unreleased.
3. In OTL, Ivan Reitman was attached to direct a Batman film written by Tom Mankiewicz, starring Bill Murray as Batman, David Niven as Alfred, William Holden as Commissioner Gordon, and David Bowie as the Joker. Reitman later left the project following the deaths of Holden and Niven as well as various rewrites to the script; Joe Dante then entered the project, but the film was cancelled altogether. In the mid-1990s, Reitman was attached to direct a Wonder Woman film, but that too never saw the light of day.
4. Paradise Island (sometimes called the Amazon Isles) was the original name to Themyscira, Wonder Woman's home island. The current name of Themyscira was given in the first issue of Wonder Woman Vol. 2 in February 1987, and it originated from an ancient Greek town in northeastern Anatolia. According to Greek mythology, it was the capital city for the Amazons.
5. The track listing is based upon the intended order; when Music from "The Elder" was first released, the order was rearranged so both sides would start with the songs that Casablanca Records wanted to be singles, explaining why the story on the American edition made no sense. The 1997 reinstates the songs in the proper order.
6. Tracks are sourced from The Alternate Tusk and outtakes and early versions from Mirage.
7. In OTL, Lindsey Buckingham's Law and Order was released on October 3, 1981, the month before Fleetwood Mac started recording for Mirage.

Author's Comments

Man, this chapter took longer to write up than I was expecting; the stories for Something About England, Time and Tusk both came out fine (although the album cover to the latter did leave a bit to be desired; then again, I've made far worse), but it was the Kiss and Wonder Woman parts of this chapter that kept it from being finished earlier. I had little to no idea what to do with either of them, the latter more so as coming up with fictional movies and their plotlines, cast and crews is difficult, as I soon found out. I wanted to utilize actors who were well known or just starting out during that time, just to keep things as authentic as possible. Hopefully it all came out okay.

I promise that the next chapter will be better and won't come off as a bit half-baked, especially since it'll be the 70th of the story.

Chapter 62: Radio, Radio (March - December 1979)

30 March 1979

The Rolling Stones - Give Us Some Neck

Released: 30 March 1979

Recorded: January - March and October - December 1978

Producer: The Glimmer Twins

Track listing[1]

Side A

Start Me Up

I Love You Too Much

So Young

Do You Think I Really Care?

Black Limousine

Infekshun

Side B

Claudine

Don't Be a Stranger

When You're Gone

No Spare Parts

Keep Up Blues

The Rolling Stones' follow-up to Some Girls consisted entirely of tracks that were originally recorded during the same sessions, but were later given overdubs in the last quarter of 1978 to sound more contemporary. As usual, there were problems surrounding Keith Richards over his drug use and he was given evaluations by Dr. Anita Stevens, his new psychiatrist. This didn't stop the Rolling Stones from appearing on Saturday Night Live, however, nor did it slow down the release of Give Us Some Neck, which hit #1 in both the United States (for one week in the midst of Bee Gees domination) and the United Kingdom (for three non-consecutive weeks in the midst of the punk rock movement). The two singles off of the album - "Start Me Up"/"Claudine" (#7 UK, #1 US) and "No Spare Parts"/"Infekshun" (#19 UK, #3 US) - were released in March and July, respectively.

Shortly after completing the work on Give Us Some Neck, their last album of the 1970s, the Rolling Stones were once again in the studio working on what was set to be their first album of the 1980s, Emotional Rescue.

13 September 1979

Left to right: Don Bluth, John Pomeroy and Gary Goldman. In 1979, they left Disney to become part of Virgo-Libra Studios under Apple.

For the past few years, Don Bluth, an animator for Walt Disney Productions from 1955 to 1957, and again since 1971, had been working a little side project with several other young animators such as Gary Goldman in his garage over many nights and weekends to try and rediscover the secrets of classical animation that Bluth believed had been lost at Disney. It was inspired by a real-life experience of Bluth when he was living on a farm, and the family cat, who lived in a woodpile nearby, had suddenly disappeared, only to return to the farm several weeks later. Originally considered to be a feature-length film, it was cut down as a short to reduce the risk of padding. Banjo the Woodpile Cat had been pitched to Ron Miller, the studio head of Disney and later CEO, as a potential Disney property, but it was turned down when Miller saw no value in it.

DON BLUTH: "I didn't know what to say after that. Some time later, me and the team of Banjo ended up leaving Disney while they were in the midst of production for The Fox and the Hound, and then, while Toby [Bluth, his younger brother] and I were at a restaurant in New York, who should we come across but John Lennon?" (1997)

JOHN LENNON: "Maddy and I were surprised when we saw these two brothers walking over to us. Appreciative of the company, we talked for a while before the elder brother told us about this little animation he and a team had been working on for the past few years. They didn't have anyone to turn to, and so I recommended that they contact Brian Epstein about their little project to see what could be done." (2001)

The eponymous character from Banjo the Woodpile Cat, the first animated production by Virgo-Libra Studios, released December 1979.

MADELINE KAHN: "Don and his team really poured their hearts into making this project a reality, and they even showed it to us and a few Apple executives to see if it had potential. Judging by Freddie's reaction, who was almost three at the time, it was accepted, and John remarked, 'That'll show those at Disney what real storytelling is all about!'" (1992)

A new subsidiary was soon created under Apple, based in Burbank, California. It was originally going to be called Don Bluth Productions, but because of the involvement of John Lennon and Madeline Kahn in its founding, it was later renamed Virgo-Libra Studios, after their respective astrology signs - Bluth, born September 13, a Virgo, and Lennon and Kahn, respectively born October 9 and September 29, both Libras.[2]

FREDDIE LENNON: "I don't remember much about seeing Banjo for the first time; I was very little at the time, so can you blame me? *chuckles* But mom would tell me that I reacted positively to it. Looking back, it's kind of dated, but it still has its own charm. Around that time, Don Bluth and his team were working on an animated adaptation of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, to which my parents would often read to me at night." (2012)

12 October 1979

Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks - Sisters of the Moon

Released: 12 October 1979

Recorded: 1978-1979

Producer: Dennis Wilson, Lindsey Buckingham, George Harrison and Ronnie Wood

Track listing[3]

Side A

Angel

Brown Eyes

Storms

Honey Hi

Sisters of the Moon

Side B

Over and Over

Sara

Never Make Me Cry

Beautiful Child

Never Forget

Ever since they had become part of the Apple Records roster back in 1968, Fleetwood Mac had faced many ups and downs. But with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joining the group in 1975, and then the release of their second self-titled album that same year and later Rumours from 1977, Fleetwood Mac had reached a new peak of popularity. What could possibly go wrong? Well, just about anything, really.

CHRISTINE McVIE: "1976 was a very big year for Apple. Apart from moving from EMI to Warner Brothers, it also marked the beginning of the high of punk music with Elvis Costello, Wreckless Eric, Nick Lowe, Sex Pistols, the like. Even though Rumours was a big success for the label, Lindsey felt rather threatened by what he called 'those damned kids of punk' and was worried that Fleetwood Mac would fall into obscurity." (2002)

Afraid about the possibility of following a formula, Buckingham had wanted to create an album that was nothing at all like Rumours. Luckily for them, Apple had already established a "hands off" policy that would allow its artists, whether it be for music or for film, creative freedom, especially after Brian Epstein's failed attempts at censoring the more controversial moments of Blazing Saddles (the policy was also why Richard Donner was able to maintain his vision for Superman II). The band's drummer, Mick Fleetwood, had suggested that their next album, Tusk, would be a double album and it would be recorded at Apple's recently constructed Studio D.

Christine McVie and Dennis Wilson, circa 1978.

MICK FLEETWOOD: "You could say Lindsey became sort of... controlling. Making the album, or at least, trying to, sort of drove him mad." (1994)

JOHN McVIE: "One day, he'd turn a knob half-circle from where it was to see what would happen, and the next, microphones were duct taped to the studio floor. Nobody but he knew what the hell he was trying to say! Actually, I don't think even Lindsey knew what he was trying say." (2007)

DENNIS WILSON: "Hearing of and witnessing Lindsey's eccentricities for myself, I kept thinking, 'Fucking hell, it's Smile all over again.'" (2001)

Buckingham's behavior was so disruptive that the last straw was when he screamed into Christine McVie's face and, as described by Stevie Nicks, "just left [the rest of the band] standing there in shock while Christine sobbed into her hands." (1979) Due to the constant chaos in the studio, Dennis Wilson, Christine's then-boyfriend, ended up leaving the project altogether, presumably due to bad memories over the recording for the Beach Boys' Smile twelve years prior. But for now, the fate of Fleetwood Mac and the Tusk project were left in the air.

Ronnie Wood recording with the Rolling Stones, 1978.

STEVIE NICKS: "Goodness knows what could've happened to the band after Lindsey's outburst. At the time, Roman Polanski had been caught and arrested for raping a girl, and there were suspicions surrounding Gary Glitter unapologetically defending him. We didn't know if Lindsey would be put on probation or kicked off of Apple altogether, and how that decision would affect Fleetwood Mac. Thankfully, Ronnie and George had come to finish the job Lindsey had started, but not as a Fleetwood album..." (1997)[4]

RONNIE WOOD: "Mick met up with me the week after the sessions for Tusk ended in disaster. Christine was with him, still badly shaken, and they showed me a lot of the material they were working on. I had just finished up recording for both Give Us Some Neck [with The Rolling Stones] and Backless [with The Ladders], but despite the end of 1978 being so busy for me, I agreed to help out, even bringing in George to help finish their project." (2005)

The McVies, Fleetwood and Nicks reunited in Studio D in January 1979, with Ronnie Wood as guest guitarist and both he and George Harrison in the producer's chair. Both Christine and Stevie had each written written enough songs to fill up a whole side of an album, although one of the former's tracks, "Think About Me", would be set aside for a Fleetwood Mac single along with Buckingham's "Walk a Thin Line" as the B-side (#20 US). No longer called Tusk, the album was now tentatively titled McVie Nicks, credited to both singer-songwriters, and with Harrison even choosing to salvage some of the Wilson/Buckingham recordings and reworking them. (Buckingham was not credited as producer until 2004 due to his behavior.)

Split Enz, 1979. Neil Finn is wearing a yellow and black vertical striped shirt.

With far smoother recording sessions, the McVie/Nicks album Sisters of the Moon (#1 UK, #4 US) was finally released in October, credited to McVie Nicks and backed by the single "Sara"/"Brown Eyes" (#7 US) in November. An eleven month tour soon followed with George Harrison initially playing as their guitarist, but afterward, he returned home and was soon replaced with New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn of Split Enz (who had recently put out True Colours), who later joined the band as full-time guitarist following his previous band's collapse in the midst of recording Waiata.[5]

GEORGE HARRISON: "Playing with Fleetwood Mac for a few months on stage was all well and good, but after playing with John, Paul and Ringo at Eric and Pattie's wedding, I got this nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I couldn't keep ignoring it as we got into the 80s. The Beatles had to get back together again." (1997)

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM: "I'm actually surprised that Apple let me stay on despite my behavior that led to Tusk being reworked into a McVie Nicks album. I read that it did very well despite my absence, and I even sent them a congratulatory telegram, though I doubt they actually read it, and I don't blame them for it. I'd done a lot of soul-searching for the next few years, especially after the Polanski scandal, and I realized that I wouldn't go very far with an attitude like the one I displayed in the studio. It wouldn't be for another few years that I was accepted back into the band." (2003)

October 19, 1979

Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - Damn the Torpedoes

Released: October 19, 1979

Recorded: 1978-1979

Producer: Jimmy Iovine and Tom Petty

Track listing[6]

Side A

Refugee

Here Comes My Girl

Even the Losers

It's Rainin' Again

Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)

Century City

Side B

Nowhere

You Tell Me

What Are You Doin' in My Life?

Casa Dega

Louisiana Rain

With Pete Ham busy recording for newer Highway 61 artists like Cheap Trick and Talking Heads, as well as continuing his work with Heart, he didn't have much time to spare for Tom Petty & Mudcrutch, and so they brought in Jimmy Iovine (known for his work with Bruce Springsteen and Meat Loaf) as their producer for their fourth album. Despite the change of producers, Damn the Torpedoes (named for a famous quote by Admiral David Farragut in the American Civil War) turned out to be the band's biggest success in the 1970s, hitting #1 in the United States for a few weeks and #18 in the United Kingdom.[7] The album's three singles - "Refugee"/"It's Rainin' Again" (#7 US), "Here Comes My Girl"/"Louisiana Rain" (#15 US) and "Even the Losers"/"Casa Dega" (#10 US) - were all Top 20 hits in America as well, adding to the positive critical reception toward the album.

Damn the Torpedoes marked a major leap forward for Tom Petty & Mudcrutch, not just in songwriting, but in production as well. In 2003, it was ranked #313 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, but later ranked at #315 in the 2012 revision.

December 14, 1979

Kal-El/Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) with his biological father Jor-El (Marlon Brando) at the Fortress of Solitude in Superman II, released December 1979.

Released just one year after the original film, Superman II had been filmed alongside it on the same $55 million budget, and was completed after the first film had been released. Superman II was released to a similar critical acclaim and success as the original, raking in $245 million in the box office; not as much as the original, but still a success regardless.

In the cold opening on Krypton, General Zod, Ursa and Non are sentenced to eternal banishment inside the Phantom Zone by Jor-El for insurrection and murder, amongst other crimes. Thirty years later, Superman unknowingly frees the villains from the Phantom Zone when he diverts one of the missiles into outer space as depicted in the first film. Lois Lane suspects that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person, and when they pose as newlyweds to investigate a scam at Niagara Falls, she tricks Clark into confessing that he is Superman. Afterward, Superman transforms himself into a human by exposing himself to red Kryptonian sunlight which removes his powers. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor escapes prison and discovers the Fortress of Solitude, even tracking down Zod and his minions, after hearing of the impending doom they will bring to Earth, who have taken over the White House in Washington D.C..

"Kneel before Zod!" Ursa (Sarah Douglas), Non (Jack O'Halloran) and General Zod (Terence Stamp) infiltrate the White House and confront the President of the United States (E.G. Marshall) in Superman II.

When he hears of Zod's conquest of the world, Clark returns to the Fortress of Solitude to restore his powers, even fulfilling the Kryptonian prophecy of "the father becoming the son", but it is at the cost of sacrificing the remaining Kryptonian energy, rendering the Fortress inoperable. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor teams up with Zod and his minions to find Superman, even using Lois as bait. After an intensive fight in and over Metropolis, Superman flies to the Fortress of Solitude, feigning defeat to the villains. It turns out that he has altered the process to expose Zod, Ursa and Non instead, rendering them powerless while Superman retains his. With the villains defeated, Superman and Lois have a tearful goodbye, realizing that a relationship simply wouldn't work between them, but to undo everything, Superman spins the Earth back in time by a few days, meaning that Zod, Ursa and Non will have never escaped from the Phantom Zone. The ending has since sparked controversy among fans and critics as to whether or not it should have taken place.[8]

When Superman II first came out, it was paired with Don Bluth's Banjo the Woodpile Cat as a double feature, with the latter first playing before the former.[9] The decision was controversial to some people, wanting to go to the movies to see Superman on the big screen again and not some cartoon cat, sometimes wanting to arrive late at the theaters just to skip over the short. However, others didn't mind the double feature, liking the experience of going to see two movies at once for a cheap price. Either way, fans were kept wondering as to which superhero Apple would focus on next, and there was pre-production in place for movies focusing on Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as planning stages for a movie based around the Flash. It would be two years before the next installment of the Appleverse would come out...

Footnotes

1. All tracks are sourced from the 2011 reissue of Some Girls, excluding "Start Me Up" and "Black Limousine" (both first started in 1978 during the sessions for Some Girls) from Tattoo You and "Infekshun" from Ronnie Wood's Gimme Some Neck.
2. In OTL, Don Bluth Productions, later the Bluth Group, went bankrupt in 1984 and the following year, Bluth formed Sullivan Bluth Studios with American businessman Morris Sullivan. The studio then became defunct again in 1995 shortly following the founding of Fox Animation Studios in 1994, which then became defunct in 2000 shortly following the release of Titan A.E.. It was taken over by Blue Sky Studios (founded 1987), which is still active to this day, becoming acquired by Disney in 2019.
3. All tracks are sourced from Fleetwood Mac's Tusk. It was inspired from a project Uncle Dan had done in 2018 in changing the album into a McVie/Nicks album. Credit goes to him for the original concept.
4. This is a reference to an extra scene I had planned concerning Roman Polanski getting arrested for his crimes in 1978 after a failed escape attempt, but never got around to actually writing. This would've sparked an earlier Me Too movement and see the likes of Gary Glitter, Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile being caught in the act far earlier than in OTL; I intend on including that for the second draft.
5. Something similar actually happened in OTL, albeit in 2018 and with Mike Campbell after the Heartbreakers' dissolution following Tom Petty's death.
6. All tracks are sourced from OTL's Damn the Torpedoes. "Nowhere" can be found on the bonus edition of the album; "It's Rainin' Again" and "Casa Dega" are non-album B-sides also featured on the bonus edition. "Don't Do Me Like That" is left off of the album, having already been featured on 1975's Tom Petty & Mudcrutch.
7. Because Tom Petty is under Highway 61 Records, he does not go through the contractual issues he went through when ABC Records was sold to MCA, and then later signing up to Backstreet Records in OTL. In addition, Damn the Torpedoes was kept off the #1 spot in America by Pink Floyd's The Wall (which will be covered in the next chapter).
8. The synopsis for TTL's Superman II closely follows what Richard Donner had intended in OTL, but has a few changes to reflect on what is to come for the DC Appleverse.
9. In addition to above, Banjo the Woodpile Cat preceding Superman II is this universe's equivalent to Rupert and the Frog Song preceding Give My Regards to Broad Street (in TTL, neither Rupert nor Broad Street are made).

Author's Comments

Not much to say in regards to the Rolling Stones or Tom Petty & Mudcrutch; at the moment, they're carrying on like OTL, and in the former's case, we get one final album from them in the 1970s. As Phase Three will progress, some story arcs will drop from the radar for a while while new ones pop up.

Case in point, the Fleetwood Mac story. As said in the footnotes above, it was inspired by a post Uncle Dan had made back in April 2018, with a bit of dramatic license taken as to why they put out a McVie Nicks album rather than a Fleetwood Mac album. I have this unusual mindset to not throw anything away, hence I did the CSNY solo albums of the 1970s, and even had Fleetwood Mac put out a non-album single instead of a full album. The original story had been written back in February 2019, but I'd given it some tweaks to accommodate some changes made since. Sometimes, a story evolves in a way you never expected them to.

Lastly, I'd love to do more regarding the DC Appleverse. I've got a few ideas in mind as to how the next eight movies will go up to 1985, though I will need help in choosing out actors for who I'd like to appear, who would direct, write, compose music for, how the story would play out, etc.