Chapter 80: We Are the World (July 13 and 14, 1985)

 July 13, 1985

Wembley Stadium - 7:00 to 8:45 EDT (12:00 to 13:45 BST)

Diana and Prince Charles attending Live Aid, 13 July 1985.

"It's 12 noon in London, 7 AM in Philadelphia, and around the world, it's time for Live Aid! Sixteen hours of live music in aid of famine relief in Africa," announced Richard Skinner. "Wembley welcomes their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales!"

The crowd cheered as Prince Charles and his wife Diana Spencer appeared amongst them in the stands, accompanied by the Coldstream Guards playing to mark their arrival, before taking their seats. Bob Geldof stood by the prince's left as the latter greeted the crowd with a wave.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Royal Salute!" announced Tommy Vance.

The Coldstream Guards kicked off the Wembley show with the first six bars to "God Save the Queen". They'd been performing for the British Army for two hundred years, and it seemed fitting that they be the ones to kick off the show.

"And now, to start off sixteen hours of Live Aid," Vance announced again, "would you welcome, Status Quo!"

Status Quo (7:01 EDT; 12:01 BST) fittingly kicked off Live Aid with a cover version of John Fogerty's "Rockin' All Over the World", following that up with "Caroline" and "Don't Waste My Time". They were soon followed up by the Style Council (7:19 EDT; 12:19 BST - "You're the Best Thing", "Big Boss Groove", "Internationalists" and "Walls Come Tumbling Down!") and the Boomtown Rats (7:44 EDT; 12: 44 BST - "I Don't Like Mondays", "Drag Me Down" and "Rat Trap").

Def Leppard (8:01 EDT; 13:01 BST) kicked off the second hour of Live Aid with "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages", both from their most recent album Pyromania[1]. Following up on them was Ultravox (8:17 EDT; 13:17 BST) with "Reap the Wild Wind", "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes", "One Small Day" and "Vienna".

Wembley Stadium (London) and John F. Kennedy Stadium (Philadelphia) - 8:45 to 17:00 EDT (13:45 to 22:00 BST)

George Segal and Marilyn McCoo introducing Live Aid to American audiences.

"Live from JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, USA!" announced George Segal. "And live from Wembley Stadium in London, England! The Live Aid concert! Welcome to the worldwide Live Aid concert! I'm George Segal in Philadelphia, and I'm here to welcome you to something more than a television show. As of this moment, we're being seen in sixty nations throughout the world, we can be seen on 85 percent of all the television sets on the planet, and we can be heard on 75 percent of all the radios on the planet! We welcome you to a massive, totally unprecedented coming together of all the peoples of our world in support of our neighbors in Africa."

"We've come together today to make a simple and powerful statement," added Marilyn McCoo, "that all men are our brothers, that all women are our sisters, and especially that all children are our children. When one of us suffers as millions today are suffering in Africa, then we all suffer. And as this is the custom in families everywhere, we extend our helping hand. We lift them up until they can stand on their own. And we don't do this because we feel guilt and certainly not because we feel pity. We do it simply because that's the kind of people that we are."

"And so, for the next sixteen hours, we'll all be enjoying what can only be characterized as the hottest acts in music today."

"And they are Crosby, Stills and Nash, Tom Petty, Sting with Phil Collins and the Who, Bryan Adams... you know who Bryan Adams is?"

"I know who he is."

"Oh, alright. Alright. Eric Clapton, the Beach Boys, Wham!, and much more."

"They're all performing free; not only for African famine relief, but also in support of an even larger purpose. Ending hunger in our world forever. But right now, we're going live to London!"

Joan Baez performing at Live Aid at John F. Kennedy Stadium.

The last performer in London just before the Philadelphia portion of Live Aid kicked off was Spandau Ballet (8:46 EDT; 13:45 BST) with "Only When You Leave", "Virgin" and "True". The first artists to play at Philadelphia were Bernard Watson (8:51 EDT; 13:51 BST - "All I Really Want to Do" and "Interview") and Joan Baez (9:01 EDT; 14:01 BST - "Amazing Grace" and "We Are the World"), the latter of whom kicked off hour three of Live Aid. Elvis Costello (9:07 EDT; 14:07 BST) was the next artist performing at London, singing a cover of the Beatles' "All You Need is Love". At the same time, Bruce Springsteen (9:10 EDT; 14:10 BST) played "Born to Run" and "Dancing in the Dark" at Philadelphia[2]. For the next hour and a half, the following artists and their respective setlists were as follows:

Nik Kershaw - 9:22 EDT / 14:22 BST (London)

"Wide Boy"

"Don Quixote"

"The Riddle"

"Wouldn't It Be Good"

Four Tops - 9:32 EDT / 14:32 BST (Philadelphia)

"Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)"

"Bernadette"

"It's the Same Old Song"

"Reach Out I'll Be There"

"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)"

Billy Ocean - 9:45 EDT / 14:45 BST (Philadelphia)

"Caribbean Queen"

"Loverboy"

Sade - 9:53 EDT / 14:53 BST (London)

"Why Can't We Live Together"

"Your Love Is King"

"Is It a Crime?"

Black Sabbath - 9:55 EDT / 14:55 BST (Philadelphia)

"Children of the Grave"

"Iron Man"

"Paranoid"

Run–D.M.C. - 10:12 EDT / 15:12 BST (Philadelphia)

"Jam Master Jay"

"King of Rock"

Sting and Phil Collins - 10:18 EDT / 15:18 BST (London)

"Roxanne" (Sting)

"Driven to Tears" (Sting)

"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Phil Collins)

"Message in a Bottle" (Sting)

"In the Air Tonight" (Phil Collins)

"Long Long Way to Go" (both)

"Every Breath You Take" (both)

Rick Springfield - 10:27 EDT / 15:27 BST (Philadelphia)

"Love Somebody"

"State of the Heart"

"Human Touch"

REO Speedwagon - 10:47 EDT / 15:47 (Philadelphia)

"Can't Fight This Feeling"

"Roll with the Changes”

Howard Jones - 10:49 EDT / 15:49 BST (London)

"Hide and Seek"

David Gilmour performing at Live Aid with the rest of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters at Wembley Stadium.

Kicking off the fifth hour of Live Aid was Pink Floyd (11:03 EDT; 16:03 BST), reuniting with Roger Waters for the first time since 1978[3]. Their setlist began with "Speak to Me" and "Breathe", along with the reprise of the latter before transitioning to "Money", all from The Dark Side of the Moon. Before they began their next song, Roger Waters addressed the crowd.

"It's actually quite emotional to be standing up here with these three guys again, after all these years - standing to be counted with the rest of you," he said as they began to play "Wish You Were Here". "Anyway, we're doing this for the people who're not here - and particularly, of course, for Syd."[4]

Concluding Pink Floyd's setlist was "Comfortably Numb" from Roger Waters' The Wall. David Gilmour was especially receptive to this, as Waters had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to play the song live with Pink Floyd. The next two artists playing at Philadelphia were Crosby, Stills and Nash (11:12 EDT; 16:12 BST - "Southern Cross", "Teach Your Children" and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes") and Judas Priest (11:29 EDT; 16:29 BST - "Living After Midnight", "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" and "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"), while the next London artist was Paul Young (11:40 EDT; 16:40 BST), performing the the intro of "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Come Back and Stay", "That's the Way Love Is" as part of a duet with Alison Moyet, and "Everytime You Go Away". For the next hour and a half, the following performances were made:

Bryan Adams - 12:01 EDT / 17:01 BST (Philadelphia)

"Kids Wanna Rock"

"Summer of '69"

"Tears Are Not Enough"

"Cuts Like a Knife"

U2 - 12:19 EDT / 17:19 BST (London)

"Sunday Bloody Sunday"

"Bad" (w/snippets of "Satellite of Love", "Ruby Tuesday", "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Walk on the Wild Side")

The Beach Boys - 12:39 EDT / 17:39 BST (Philadelphia)[5]

"California Girls"

"Help Me, Rhonda"

"Wouldn't It Be Nice"

"Good Vibrations"

"Surfin' U.S.A."

Dire Straits - 13:00 EDT / 18:00 BST (London)

"Money for Nothing" (with Sting)

"Sultans of Swing"

George Thorogood and the Destroyers - 13:26 EDT / 18:26 BST (Philadelphia)

"Who Do You Love?" (with Bo Diddley)

"The Sky Is Crying"

"Madison Blues" (with Albert Collins)

Freddie Mercury and Brian May performing at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium.

Smile (13:41 EDT; 18:41 BST) would go on to mark one of the most iconic performances of Live Aid, first beginning with the ballad portion of "Bohemian Rhapsody" with the guitar solo transitioning towards "Radio Ga Ga". After a brief vocal improvisation between Freddie Mercury and the crowd, Smile played "Hammer to Fall", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "We Will Rock You" before concluding with "We Are the Champions".

Simple Minds - 14:05 EDT / 19:05 BST (Philadelphia)

"Ghost Dancing"

"Don't You (Forget About Me)"

"Promised You a Miracle"

David Bowie - 14:23 EDT / 19:23 BST (London)

"TVC 15"

"Rebel Rebel"

"Modern Love"

"Heroes"

Pretenders - 14:41 EDT / 19:41 BST (Philadelphia)

"Time the Avenger"

"Message of Love"

"Stop Your Sobbing"

"Back on the Chain Gang"

"Middle of the Road"

The Who - 14:59 EDT / 19:59 BST (London)

"My Generation"

"Pinball Wizard"

"Love, Reign o'er Me"

"Won't Get Fooled Again"

Santana with Pat Metheny - 15:21 EDT / 20:21 BST (Philadelphia)

"Brotherhood"

"Primera Invasion"

"Open Invitation"

"By the Pool"

"Right Now"

After The Who (with Phil Collins on drums) had finished up their set list, Bob Geldof walked on stage to introduce the next artist.

"This could be the most important performance of the entire concert, let alone the entirety of rock music history," he said. "So, please let me introduce to you, the act you've known for all these years..." He paused for dramatic effect; there was some scattered chuckling at the reference Geldof had just made, but they were drowned out by unstoppable clapping and screaming the moment he said their name...

"THE BEATLES!"

Paul McCartney performing with the Beatles at Live Aid at Wembley.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr walked onto the stage, clutching their guitars and (in Ringo's case) drumsticks, a sense of excitement and anxiety shared amongst them. Despite this sense of nervousness, at 15:25 Eastern Time, 20:25 British Summer Time, they kicked off their setlist with "Come Together", with the outro being accompanied by the guitar introduction to "Revolution", transitioning into "Back in the U.S.S.R.". The crowd was beside itself with excitement the whole time, which, to the Beatles, was a good sign that their performance was going well.

The next song of the Beatles' setlist was George's vocal spot "Something". Backstage, the Beatles' families were watching the performance on the television set. Olivia had the biggest smile out of the Beatles' wives; although the song had been written back when George was married to Pattie Boyd, it didn't make the song any less resonant to her.

Back on the stage, Paul had put down his bass guitar and sat at the piano to perform the next number. "This song's a little something that we played twenty years ago," he told the crowd as he played the first chords. "Since this little number came out, God knows how many people have performed it, and I think you can guess what it is by the first lyric... Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away..."

For the rest of the song, the crowd sang along with Paul. They cheered again as "Yesterday" drew to a close, and John picked up the acoustic guitar to perform the next song.

"This little number is dedicated to all the people we've met over the years, including those who are no longer with us," he said. "I would also like to dedicate it to a few very special people, wherever you are and even if you're not watching..."

Aunt Mimi was at home watching Live Aid on television and smiled; even though John wasn't here with her right now, she knew exactly who he was referring to. As did Madeline, watching the performance with the rest of the Beatles' families as John sang "In My Life".

"In my life... I love you more..." As the song drew to a close, the crowd once again began cheering loudly as the number of donations to support Ethiopia began to triplicate.

"For those who've not done anything yet," called John, "let's come together and donate what we can to help all the people of Ethiopia in their fight against famine!"

"Just standing here and playing with the guys," added Paul, "it's an amazing feeling, especially in fighting a cause that we all wished did not exist."

"This is a big deal, what we're doing right now," said George. "The world's watching us and they need to contribute to Live Aid."

"Peace and love, wherever you are!" finished Ringo. "Come on, everybody! Let's bring the house down!"

That was when the Beatles began the last song in their set, "With a Little Help from My Friends". Once again, the crowd was singing along, even during the extended outro to the song that transitioned towards "The End".

"And in the end... the love you take... is equal to the love you make..."

If the crowd wasn't in a frenzy before, they certainly were now! All four Beatles walked to the front of the stage together, arm in arm, and bowed before the crowd before leaving the stage again, feeling a strong sense of satisfaction with their performance. Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia, Ashford & Simpson (15:57 EDT; 20:57 BST) performed "Solid" and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", the latter of which was performed with Teddy Pendergrass.

Elton John performing at Live Aid at Wembley.

There was one hour left to go at Wembley, beginning with Elton John (16:00 EDT; 21:00 BST) whose setlist consisted of "I'm Still Standing", "Bennie and the Jets", "Rocket Man", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", the latter two of which were duets with Kiki Dee and Wham! (George Michael on lead vocals), respectively.[6] Back at Philadelphia, Madonna (16:27 EDT; 21:27 BST) performed "Holiday", "Into the Groove" and "Love Makes the World Go Round", the latter of which was with Thompson Twins and Nile Rodgers.

With just fifteen minutes left for the Wembley performance, Freddie Mercury and Brian May (16:48 EDT; 21:48 BST) returned to the stage to perform "Is This the World We Created...?".

"Thank you very much," said Freddie after the song came to an end. "And now a man with glasses will return to the stage, and I think you can tell who he is! Ah, there he is now!"

"Thank you, Freddie," said John Lennon as he walked onto the stage again and to the piano. "There's still time left to donate, so let's fight against poverty not just in Ethiopia, but in the entire world! Every action is needed so we can... Well, you know what this next number's about, don't you?"

And that was when John began to play "Imagine" before transitioning to "Give Peace a Chance", being backed by David Bowie, Bob Geldof, Alison Moyet and Roger Waters.[7] The Wembley Stadium portion of Live Aid came to a close with Band Aid singing "Do They Know It's Christmas?", a song composed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure telling listeners about the Ethiopia famine.

"Thank you, everybody!" called Bob as the performance came to an end. "That's the end of our show, you've been a fantastic audience! Thank you, and good night! Over to you, Philadelphia!"

July 13 and 14, 1985

John F. Kennedy Stadium - 17:00 to 23:00 EDT (22:00 to 4:00 BST)

Tom Petty performing with Mudcrutch at Live Aid at John F. Kennedy Stadium.

The remaining six hours of Live Aid at JFK Stadium began with Tom Petty and Mudcrutch (17:02 EDT; 22:02 BST) by performing "American Girl", "The Waiting", "Rebels" and "Refugee". They were followed up by Kenny Loggins (17:30 EDT; 22:30 BST) with "Footloose" and The Cars (17:39 EDT; 22:39 BST) with "You Might Think", "Drive", "Just What I Needed" and "Heartbeat City". The following two hours went as follows:

Neil Young - 18:06 EDT / 23:06 BST

"Sugar Mountain"

"The Needle and the Damage Done"

"Helpless"

"Nothing Is Perfect (In God's Perfect Plan)"

"Powderfinger"

The Power Station - 18:42 EDT / 23:42 BST

"Murderess"

"Get It On"

Thompson Twins - 19:21 EDT / 0:21 BST

"Hold Me Now"

"Revolution" (with Madonna, Steve Stevens and Nile Rodgers)

Eric Clapton - 19:38 EDT / 0:38 BST

"White Room"

"She's Waiting"

"Layla"

Robert Plant and Jimmy Page playing with the Yardbirds at Live Aid at John F. Kennedy Stadium.

Badfinger (20:00 EDT; 1:00 BST) made a surprise appearance at Live Aid; Mike Gibbins and Pete Ham had lived in America over the past decade, and the latter called up Tom Evans and Joey Molland about a one-off reunion for Live Aid, to which he found surprising agreement from both of them as well as Mike Gibbins, who had also played with Crosby, Stills and Nash and Eric Clapton. Badfinger performed "No Matter What" and "Without You" for their brief appearance at Live Aid[8]. Although it was intended to be a one-off reunion, Badfinger would perform for other charity concerts until Gibbins' death in 2005, their last performance being at Live 8 that same year.

Shortly following Badfinger was the Yardbirds (20:10 EDT; 1:10 BST) performing "Rock and Roll", "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway to Heaven"[9]. Marvin Gaye (20:39 EDT; 1:39 BST) came next with "What's Going On" and his newest hit, "Dodging a Silver Bullet"[10].

Duran Duran - 20:46 EDT / 1:46 BST

"A View to a Kill"

"Union of the Snake"

"Save a Prayer"

"The Reflex"

Patti LaBelle - 21:20 EDT / 2:20 BST

"New Attitude"

"Imagine"

"Forever Young"

"Stir It Up"

"Over the Rainbow"

"Why Can't I Get It Over"

Hall & Oates - 21:50 EDT / 2:50 BST

"Out of Touch"

"Maneater"

"Get Ready" (with Eddie Kendricks)

"Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (with David Ruffin)

"The Way You Do the Things You Do"

"My Girl" (with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin)

Ronnie Wood, Bob Dylan and Keith Richards performing at Live Aid at John F. Kennedy Stadium.

For the final hour of Live Aid, Mick Jagger (22:15 EDT; 3:15 BST) performed "Lonely at the Top", "Just Another Night", "Miss You", "State of Shock" and "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)", the latter two of which were with Tina Turner. Fellow Rolling Stone members Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood played with Bob Dylan (22:39 EDT; 3:39 BST) for "Ballad of Hollis Brown", "When the Ship Comes In" and "Blowin' in the Wind". Live Aid concluded with USA for Africa performing "We Are the World".

Outside of JFK and Wembley Stadiums, various other countries were pitching in to help the cause, such as Australia (Oz for Africa), Japan (Off Course, Eikichi Yazawa, Motoharu Sano and Meiko Nakahara), the Netherlands (B.B. King) and West Germany (Band für Afrika), with Cliff Richard even making a performance in the United Kingdom with "A World of Difference". Deep Purple was originally going to perform via satellite from Switzerland, but they pulled out as Ritchie Blackmore wanted nothing to do with the performance.

END OF PHASE THREE

Footnotes

1. Adam Ant played "Vive Le Rock". He later criticized Live Aid and regretted performing it. "It was the end of rock 'n' roll," he commented. In addition, as Rick Allen didn't lose his arm in his car accident in TTL, Def Leppard is able to perform, accepting Bob Geldof's invitation, which also happened in OTL, but they declined as they were waiting for Allen to recover.
2. The Hooters played "And We Danced" and "All You Zombies". In addition, Bruce Springsteen had declined to take part in Live Aid despite his popularity at the time, although he would come to regret this decision.
3. Bryan Ferry played "Sensation", "Boys and Girls", "Slave to Love" and "Jealous Guy" with David Gilmour on guitar. Pink Floyd's setlist is the exact same as that from when they performed at Live 8 in 2008.
4. Roger Waters' quote at Live 8 taken verbatim.
5. A one-off reunion with Dennis Wilson, who is still living by 1985.
6. Elton John's final song in his setlist was a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Can I Get a Witness".
7. Paul McCartney played "Let It Be". In addition, Pete Townshend played alongside David Bowie, Bob Geldof and Alison Moyet for the performance.
8. Phil Collins played "Against All Odds" and "In the Air Tonight" after flying out to Philadelphia to play a short solo set there, having also played alongside Eric Clapton for his solo set.
9. Phil Collins played drums for Led Zeppelin shortly after playing his solo set in Philadelphia.
10. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young played "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and "Daylight Again/Find the Cost of Freedom".

Author's Comments

And so concludes Phase Three of Strawberry Peppers, as well as the first draft altogether! After a period of over thirty months and eighty chapters, I never imagined I'd get this done, as writer's block and unintentional abandonment are very much the bane of every alternate universe writer, I'd imagine. Still, hopefully I managed to do this finale justice and ended things on a strong note. I did have to gloss over some performances by listing who performed what, sticking mostly to what happened in OTL, with changes made to accommodate the butterflies that have occurred in the past twenty years. The Beatles' performance, of course, was the piece de resistance, hence it has the most focus out of the performances listed.

The first draft may be over, but there's still a few more posts to go, beginning with a standalone post showing my own version of Let It Be that'll come out this Friday. After that will be a new 1985 album for the Clash as part of an Extra Scene (remember those?) along with an information post about the DC Appleverse. Following that will be part four of An Alternative Beatles Discography - No Covers, focusing on the 1984-2009 period, and then what I have in mind for The Second Coming. Make sure to keep an eye out for those!

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!

Chapter 70: I Love Rock 'n' Roll (August 1981 - October 1982)

24 August 1981

The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You

Released: 24 August 1981

Recorded: 22 January - 19 October 1979 and October 1980 - June 1981

Producer: The Glimmer Twins

Track listing[1]

Side A

Hang Fire

Everything is Turning to Gold

Petrol Blues

Lost and Lonely

Neighbours

Side B

Down in the Hole

Heaven

Let Me Go

She's So Cold

The Rolling Stones' most recent release marked the end of a quadrilogy of albums featuring tracks that were written at the tail end of the 1970s and into the start of the 1980s. Tattoo You hit #1 in the United States for two weeks in the middle of the Beatles' return to the spotlight with Quadruple Fantasy; however, the Stones' album was kept off the top spot in the United Kingdom by the Beatles' album. The sole single off of Tattoo You, "Hang Fire" backed with "Neighbours" (#7 UK, #2 US), was released on 14 August, ten days before the album. Critical reception was generally very positive.

MICK JAGGER: "We were feeling pretty burned out by the time we'd finished up Tattoo You before we toured America in 1981 and Europe in 1982. Keith and I were at one another's throats half of the time, and we really needed a break from each other. So, *chuckles* the Beatles got back together in the 80s, and the Stones took a break that same time as well." (2012)

The Rolling Stones' last concert was on 25 July 1982 in Leeds, the day before Mick Jagger's 39th birthday, and shortly afterward, he, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts took a hiatus as a group to focus on side projects and sort out their differences. It would be about six years before they were together again as a group.[2]

20 November 1981

Pink Floyd - Fictitious Sports

Released: 20 November 1981

Recorded: May - August 1981

Producer: Pink Floyd

Track listing[3]

Side A

Holiday

No Way

Mad Yannis Dance

Hot River

I Can't Breathe Anymore

Side B

Waves

Cry from the Street

I Was Wrong

Raise My Rent

Pink's Song

Pink Floyd's follow-up to Mihalis consisted of material that was written during the same sessions, but they were held back for a follow-up shortly after the tour. Like Mihalis, Fictitious Sports was recorded fairly quickly, with "Hot River" occupying a week to record during the sessions, with Karen Kraft making a guest appearance alongside Robert Wyatt on vocals. Although the production credit went to Pink Floyd as a group, it was mainly David Gilmour and Nick Mason who did most of the production work.

Fictitious Sports reached #1 in the United Kingdom just as the hype over the Beatles' Quadruple Fantasy was calming down, and #4 in the United States. The success of Mihalis ensured that Pink Floyd would recover financially, and Fictitious Sports would go on to prove that it wasn't just a lucky break, even though there were no singles to promote the album at first. "Holiday" and "I Can't Breathe Anymore" would end up being released as a single due to audience demand. Roger Waters would call Fictitious Sports his favorite Pink Floyd album following his departure.

15 January 1982

Kim Beacon - Talking to Myself

Released: 15 January 1982

Recorded: 1981

Producer: Kim Beacon and David Hentschel

Track listing[4]

Side A

Tempted

Destiny

Hurt Inside

Third Time

Behind the Lines

Side B

Crossfire

Honest Man

If I Had You

Foolish Isle

Back Again

Kim Beacon's follow-up to Ravenna had been recorded in 1981, but with Phil Collins' Face Value and Genesis' Abacab coming out that same year, it was decided to hold back Talking to Myself for next year. However, the lead single, "Tempted" backed with Beacon's re-recording of "Behind the Lines", was released in December for a Christmas release. Elvis Costello and Chris Difford of Squeeze contributed backing lines to the A-side, originally intended for Squeeze's own East Side Story.[5]

March 19 - 21, 1982

Ozzy Osbourne performing live, one of his final performances prior to his death in 1982.

Following his departure from Black Sabbath in 1979 due to drug and alcohol problems, Ozzy Osbourne had taken on a solo career beginning with 1980's Blizzard of Ozz and following that with 1981's Diary of a Madman. Both albums were well-received and charted very well with hits such as "Crazy Train", "Mr. Crowley" and "Flying High Again". For how talented Osbourne was, his behavior off stage was very well documented.

In 1981, when invited to a meeting with the head of CBS Europe in Germany, Osbourne was intoxicated and had performed a goose-step up and down the table and took a piss in the executive's wine.[6] That same year, after signing his first solo career record deal in Los Angeles, Osbourne had bit the head off a dove, initially planning to release doves into the air as a peace offering, but again, because of his intoxication, he had forgotten. On January 28, 1982, Osbourne bit the head off a bat that he thought was rubber in the midst of a performance at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, resulting in him being treated for rabies. A few weeks later, on February 18, while wearing his fiancé Sharon Arden's (daughter of Don Arden, former manager of Electric Light Orchestra) dress, Osbourne had drunkenly urinated on a cenotaph near the Alamo that was dedicated to those who died at the famous battle in Texas. Osbourne had been arrested and was later banned from San Antonio.

His antics were becoming frustrating to deal with to his backing band Randy Rhoads (guitar), Rudy Sarzo (bass), Tommy Aldridge (drums) and Don Airey (keyboards). Osbourne was in a state of near-constant inebriation and whenever he was hungover, he would not perform; when he did, performances would suffer due to Osbourne's voice being damaged from excessive smoking and drinking. His mood swings when drunk had gotten so unpredictable and violent that everyone involved was at the end of their rope.

Randy Rhoads performing live during the Diary of a Madman Tour, December 1981.

RANDY RHOADS: "'You'll kill yourself, you know? One of these days.' That was the very last thing I ever said to Ozzy while we were heading to the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando. I was fed up with his heavy drinking and was planning to leave and learn classical guitar at UCLA. I still did so, but I wish I'd parted ways with Ozzy on better terms." (2002)[7]

The performance at Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Tennessee turned out to be Ozzy Osbourne's final ever show, as on the morning they were due to perform at the Tangerine Bowl, he was found dead; an autopsy confirmed that he had choked on his own vomit. A promising solo career had been cut short, and as a result of Osbourne's death, the rest of the Diary of a Madman Tour was cancelled. Many rock and heavy metal acts paid tribute to the fallen pioneer of heavy metal.

Black Sabbath had been at odds with their new vocalist Ronnie James Dio over the mixing of their live album Live Evil, but in the wake of Osbourne's death, they put their differences aside, becoming closer than ever before. They would continue with Dio until his death in 2010. Lindsey Buckingham was affected greatly by Osbourne's death despite not knowing him personally, and he began reaching out to his former Fleetwood Mac bandmates beginning with Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, who were willing to speak with him again following his meltdown during the aborted Tusk sessions. Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks, however, were a different matter altogether, but they gave Lindsey the chance to prove that he had changed for the better.

Thelma Riley, Osbourne's ex-wife, was now the guardian of his estate, and their daughter Jessica (born 1972) would not be able to inherit his royalties from both his solo career and time in Black Sabbath until she was eighteen. The Osbourne family fought hard to protect what would become Jessica's inheritance that would lead to a legal fight lasting up until next year. Meanwhile, Sharon Arden would continue her role as manager while Thelma acted as guardian to Osbourne's estate.

21 May - 1 October 1982

Genesis - 3x3

Released: 21 May 1982

Recorded: May - June 1981

Producer: Genesis

Track listing[8]

Side A

Keep It Dark

Who Dunnit?

Side B

Another Record

Genesis' newest release was an extended play, their second following 1977's Spot the Gorilla, which had consisted of three outtakes from Wind & Wuthering. Like Spot the Gorilla, 3x3 consisted of three outtakes from the Abacab sessions, these being the more esoteric tracks that didn't fit the tone of the album. Alongside the release of the extended play, "Keep It Dark" and "Who Dunnit?" (#20 UK) were released together as a single, albeit on 15 May. 3x3 was not one of Genesis' stronger releases despite reaching #10 in the United Kingdom, but it would later go down as a collector's item.

The final release of the year by Genesis, either as a group or by an individual member, was Mike Rutherford's Acting Very Strange (#16 UK, #84 US), released 7 September 1982. The lead single, "Halfway There", was a minor hit in the United States, peaking at #29. Although Rutherford was not normally known for his vocal performances, the single's modest success encouraged him (as well as Tony Banks) to consider getting a few vocal spots on later Genesis releases.

Peter Gabriel, 1982.

KIM BEACON: "At the start of October, we had a reunion concert with Peter [Gabriel] and Steve [Hackett]. It had been a while since Mike, Tony and I played with Steve - and back when Phil was still in the band - and I'd interacted with Peter before. Chester [Thompson] and Daryl [Stuermer] were there, but Phil wasn't, due to his commitments with the Who. We were in Buckinghamshire, and they were to play at the St. Paul Civic Center in America tomorrow. No way Phil could've played at both shows back to back. I do wish he had been available that day; we'd have had every member of Genesis since 1971 playing on the same night together." (2015)

The Seven of the Best concert took place at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England, shortly following Genesis' tour of North America and Europe in August and September. The concert had been organized by their former front man/lead vocalist Peter Gabriel to raise money for his World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) project which had been in severe financial debt after its disastrous debut in 1980 due to lack of suitable transport to the venue and a lack of publicity.

Genesis with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett - Seven of the Best, 1 October 1982[9]
The National Bowl, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England - 1 show

Setlist:

1. Back in N.Y.C.

2. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

3. The Carpet Crawlers

4. Firth of Fifth

5. The Musical Box

6. Solsbury Hill

7. Turn It On Again

8. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

9. Fly on a Windshield

10. Broadway Melody of 1974

11. In the Cage

12. Supper's Ready

13. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

14. The Knife

Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett had come in a week earlier to rehearse with the band, playing for the whole show. When it came to playing "Turn It On Again", the roles were switched up; Kim Beacon took lead vocals, Peter Gabriel on drums, Steve Hackett on bass, and Mike Rutherford on rhythm guitar (he had also done so for some older songs). Only Tony Banks remained on keyboards throughout. Daryl Stuermer traded some lead guitar lines with Hackett, doing some dual lead work akin to the Allman Brothers. Weather conditions were very good, so the entire concert was filmed and later released as a live album and film, Seven of the Best, credited to Genesis with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett, and even released under Apple Films.

PHIL COLLINS: "Not playing with the rest of the group for Seven of the Best is one of my biggest regrets. If the Who weren't on tour during that time, I'd have come on board to play drums with them. I still see Kim, Tony or Mike, sometimes all three, at parties and other things like that, but we're all busy with our own thing, so we don't collaborate that much. We're all still good friends, but they don't see a need for me to come back." (2011)

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from Tattoo You and Emotional Rescue; the exceptions are "Everything is Turning to Gold" (a non-album B-side), "Petrol Blues" (from the 2011 reissue of Some Girls) and "Lost and Lonely" (from Ronnie Wood's Gimme Some Neck).
2. Between 1982 and 1989, the Rolling Stones put out two albums - Undercover (1983) and Dirty Work (1986) - neither of which are viewed very positively among critics and fans. Some songs might exist as solo releases, but I will not be going into heavy detail about that.
3. Much like its predecessor Mihalis, tracks are sourced from Richard Wright's Wet Dream, David Gilmour's 1978 eponymous album, and Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports.
4. All tracks are sourced from OTL's Talking to Myself, excluding "Tempted" from Squeeze's East Side Story and "Behind the Lines" from Phil Collins' Face Value.
5. For East Side Story in TTL, the B-side "Yap Yap Yap" takes the place of "Tempted".
   
6. That is the story according to Sharon Osbourne; Ozzy claimed that he performed a strip tease on the table and kissed a CBS Europe executive on the lips. Sharon claims that Ozzy was too drunk to remember.
7. Randy Rhoads was intending to take up classical guitar at UCLA before he was killed in the plane crash (the second flight does not take place in TTL). His last words to Ozzy Osbourne are verbatim to OTL.
8. All tracks are sourced from Abacab. Kim Beacon sings lead vocals on all of the tracks.
9. In OTL, the performance took place on October 2, Mike Rutherford's 32nd birthday. In addition, weather conditions were poor, and several audience recordings have since come out.

Author's Comments

So here we are with the seventieth chapter of Strawberry Peppers Mark 1! This also marks the last major appearance of the Rolling Stones as a group, although not to fear; we shall see from David Bowie once more in a later chapter. Pink Floyd's story will also continue for a few chapters more, as will that of Roger Waters' solo career. As for Genesis, the most frustrating storyline for Mark 1, they'll receive some focus for a few more chapters as we get into the 1983-1985 part of the story. The final runtime for Mark 1 will be 80 chapters, if you exclude the prologue and two intermissions, which is a nice round number.

And of course, there's a brief vignette with Ozzy Osbourne dying in the midst of his Diary of a Madman Tour, with the second flight that killed Randy Rhoads never taking place. That was very much inspired from the seemingly abandoned alternate history timeline, In the Heart of Metal, from which I also took influence for the DC Appleverse. Even though it's a minor subplot at most, it does have an impact which you'll soon see within the next ten chapters. Here's hoping I get them all done by the end of 2021! And on a more frequent basis.

Chapter 64: Love Will Tear Us Apart (May - November 1980)

23 May 1980

The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue

Released: 23 May 1980

Recorded: 22 January - 19 October 1979

Producer: The Glimmer Twins

Track listing[1]

Side A

Dance (Part 1)

Summer Romance

Send It to Me

Little T&A

Indian Girl

Side B

Where the Boys Go

F.U.C. Her

Emotional Rescue

No Use in Crying

All About You

Keith Richards had been exonerated from a drug charge in Toronto, Canada that could have landed him in prison for years. In between, the Rolling Stones had been able to complete Give Us Some Neck for a 1979 release, and they had just put out their first album for the 1980s. Reportedly, about twenty songs had been recorded for Emotional Rescue, but only ten were chosen for release, with the rest being left aside for next year. The album reached #1 in both the United Kingdom and the United States, with the title track being released with "F.U.C. Her" on the same day as a single (#9 UK, #3 US). "All About You" / "Send It to Me" (#33 UK, #26 US) would later be released on 25 August that same year.

Later that September, former Rolling Stones member David Bowie would put out his second post-Stones album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), which also hit #1 in the United Kingdom and topped out at #5 in the United States. It would be three years before he would put out his next album.

July 11, 1980

Crosby, Stills & Nash - Thoroughfare Gap

Released: July 11, 1980

Recorded: June 1978 - February 1980

Producer: Crosby, Stills & Nash

Track listing[2]

Side A

Drive My Car (Needed to Ride)

Tomorrow is Another Day

Barrel of Pain (Half-Life)

Thoroughfare Gap

Out on the Island

Side B

Feel Your Love (Tears in the Light)

Love Has Come

Distances

Helicopter Song

Dear Mr. Fantasy

GRAHAM NASH: "We were all feeling like hell by the time we'd finally put out Thoroughfare Gap. Neil had left to pursue a full-time solo career, David was on the coke, and Stephen and I tried finishing up solo albums, but they went nowhere. The few songs that we did end up salvaging for CSN ended up on the album." (2016)

The title track to Crosby, Stills & Nash's first album without Neil Young since 1969 had originally been written back in 1972 for the first Manassas album, but after several attempts at recording it, the effort was abandoned as they couldn't get the right take. Six years later, it had been brought back and re-recorded for the first CSN album of the 1980s. Originally intended for a Christmas 1978 release, Thoroughfare Gap was consistently delayed until July 1980, having been recorded sporadically between June 1978 and February 1980.

A big factor in the album's delay was David Crosby himself, who was constantly under the influence of cocaine and barely contributing any songwriting material himself. This would result in a near-death experience before he ended up in prison and rehab years later. By the time Thoroughfare Gap was released, the music scene had changed a lot, especially in the UK, where the album and its three singles got lost in the shuffle in the midst of new wave and punk groups. The 80s were going to be a long decade for Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Summary of Crosby, Stills & Nash releases, 1980

• "Thoroughfare Gap" / "Distances" - May 22, 1980 (#15 US, #57 UK)
• Thoroughfare Gap - July 11, 1980 (#10 US, #44 UK)
• "Out of the Island" / "Feel Your Love (Tears in the Light)" - July 14, 1980 (#22 US, #89 UK)
• "Drive My Car (Needed to Ride)" / "Helicopter Song" - October 20, 1980 (#47 US)

18 August 1980

Yes - Song of Seven

Released: 18 August 1980

Recorded: November 1979, April - June 1980

Producer: Yes and Trevor Horn

Track listing[3]

Side A

Everybody's Song

Some Are Born

I Hear You Now

Countryside

Machine Messiah

Side B

Days

Into the Lens

High

White Car

Song of Seven

In 1977, Yes had put out Going for the One which had received a mostly positive reception from critics, citing it as a return to more accessible music, even reaching #1 in the United Kingdom for two weeks. However, the follow-up album from 1978, Tormato, was not as well-received despite hitting the Top 10 in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Despite intending to put out the album in two parts, it was released as a single album instead. Yes would go on tour lasting all the way up to June 1979, and afterward, the band would take a short hiatus.

JON ANDERSON: "In between the last show of the tour and reconvening that November to start work on the follow-up in Paris, I recorded a few improvised songs with Vangelis. It was all very spontaneous and we had a lot of fun with them, and I thought about asking him to be part of Yes. We didn't release them due to being on different labels at the time, but I kept them on the back of my mind when we reconvened in November." (2004)

Despite bringing in Roy Thomas Baker as their producer, conflict among the members of Yes were taking place; Chris Squire, Alan White and Steve Howe all wanted a heavier sound, while Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman wanted a lighter, folk-oriented sound. Enough songs for an album were recorded, but nobody could agree on what to do with them, and the sessions came to an abrupt halt after White broke his foot while roller-skating. Tensions were so great that Wakeman ended up leaving the group altogether, and he almost took Anderson with him. What was Yes going to do?

STEVE HOWE: "Rick just went said to me, Chris and Alan that he wasn't taking our crap anymore, and he just up and left us. Jon almost wanted to leave as well, but he was conflicted. He went to live with Vangelis for a few days, told him about what was going on, and even invited him to a session. We regrouped without Rick but with Vangelis, and we came up with an agreement to make an album of contrasts. But we needed a producer after Roy left the project." (1997)

Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn, the Buggles, 1979.

CHRIS SQUIRE: "At the time, we were being managed by Brian Lane, who was also manager for the Buggles, who were signed onto Swan Song Records. He presented to us with their new hit single, 'Video Killed the Radio Star', and we were pretty blown away by it. Trevor Horn's voice almost reminded us of Jon in a way. We invited Trevor to the sessions, and presented some ideas we add for the follow-up to Tormato." (2000)

The Buggles were a new wave consisting of Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn, formed in 1977 and joined Swan Song Records in 1978. They were enjoying commercial success from their debut album The Age of Plastic, backed with its lead single "Video Killed the Radio Star". After several meetings with Brian Lane, manager for both the Buggles and Yes, the latter band was able to transfer from Atlantic Records and onto Swan Song Records. It was the beginning of a new era for Yes, now with Vangelis on keyboards and Trevor Horn as co-vocalist.

ALAN WHITE: "It really felt like we had been through a rebirth after those Paris sessions; having Trevor and Vangelis on board certainly kept conflict to a minimum. At first, we didn't know what to call the album, but then Jon came up with a track that served not only as the title for the album, but also the finale for the album." (2005)

Song of Seven marked the first album by Yes released under Swan Song Records, comprised of the best tracks not only from the initial Paris sessions, but also new tracks with Trevor Horn as co-producer, as well as a reworking of one of the tracks Jon Anderson and Vangelis recorded together, "I Hear You Now" (#5 UK, #43 US), which was a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. The album briefly hit #1 for a week in the United Kingdom, and topped out at #14 in the United States to generally positive reception.

7 November 1980

The Clash - Something About England

Released: 7 November 1980

Recorded: February - August 1980

Producer: Mikey Dread and The Clash

Track listing[4]

Side A

Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)

Version City

Look Here

The Crooked Beat

Ivan Meets G.I. Joe

One More Time

Something About England

Side B

Corner Soul

Junco Partner

If Music Could Talk

The Sound of Sinners

Midnight Log

The Equalizer

The Street Parade

By the end of the 1970s, The Clash were one of Apple's biggest punk rock acts, having achieved success with their eponymous debut album from 1977, followed by Give 'Em Enough Rope and London Calling, the latter of which was regarded as their greatest album, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time. So where were they going to go from there? After all, London Calling was a double album, so surely they would try and top that with a triple album, right?

JOE STRUMMER: "We decided upon a triple album at first, having recorded a shit-ton of music. But going through the material with Mikey [Dread, co-producer], we realized that we might have gone overboard with it." (1995)

MICK JONES: "I dunno whose idea it was, but we ended up deciding to spread the material we'd recorded over two albums to make it more digestible to the public. That meant some tracks ended up on the cutting room floor, probably rusting away in some tin in the vaults at Apple, but hey - somehow, it worked out for us and the public." (2007)

Something About England (#8 UK, #13 US), the Clash's fourth album, covered a wide variety of musical styles such reggae, rockabilly, jazz, R&B, and what would later be called hip-hop. The album was initially met with some confusion among critics and fans, but it did go on to win some polls in 1981. It was backed with the non-album single "Hitsville UK"/"Kingston Advice" (#22 UK, #19 US) on 12 December, the A-side featuring Ellen Foley on co-lead vocals. But what about the material that had been left to the side? It would be six months before it was released as Sandinista!, featuring the less experimental music from the sessions, though it would still be regarded as the sister album to Something About England.

Footnotes

1. All tracks are sourced from OTL's Emotional Rescue, excluding "Little T&A" and "No Use in Crying" from Tattoo You and "F.U.C. Her" from Ronnie Wood's Gimme Some Neck.
2. Tracks are sourced from disc four of the CSN box set, Daylight Again, Stephen Stills' Thoroughfare Gap, Graham Nash's Earth & Sky and David Crosby's Oh Yes I Can.
3. Tracks are sourced from Jon Anderson's Song of Seven, Jon and Vangelis' Short Stories, Drama and bonus tracks from Tormato. "Everybody's Song" was later reworked into "Does It Really Happen?" for Drama, "Countryside" into "Corkscrew" for Steve Howe's 1991 solo album Turbulence, and "High" to become "Sketches in the Sun" for GTR's debut album, featuring Steve Hackett (Genesis) and Howe (Yes, Asia). "Some Are Born" and "Days" were auditioned by Yes, but later re-worked by Anderson for Song of Seven.
4. All tracks are sourced from Sandinista!. The tracks included feature various members that the Clash worked with on the OTL album such as Mikey Dread, Gary Barnacle and his father Bill (real name Arthur), Tymon Dogg, Davey Payne, Rick Gascoigne, Bill Barnacle and Lew Lewis.

Author's Comments

Not much to say about the Rolling Stones or Crosby, Stills & Nash; we're not going to be seeing much of them for the remainder of Phase Three, though I will say that the Stones could either have an improved 80s for them, or they take a hiatus during that decade. Yes, on the other hand, was more difficult to figure out, especially with keeping Jon Anderson from leaving to pursue a solo career. What I've came up with was probably not my best work, but hopefully it came out okay.

I wasn't originally going to make Something About England, but after reading a bit about Sandinista!, I thought, what if the Clash had put out two single albums instead of a triple album? How I arranged the two albums (the other will come out next year) was by focusing on those that featured the likes of Mikey Dread and Tymon Dogg, some of which overlap on some songs, and then go from there. Here's a list as to who appeared on which tracks:

1. Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice) - Tymon Dogg
2. Version City - Lew Lewis
3. Look Here - Lewis, Mikey Dread
4. The Crooked Beat - Davey Payne, Gary Barnacle, Dread
5. Ivan Meets G.I. Joe - Payne, Rick Gascoigne, G. Barnacle, Bill Barnacle
6. One More Time - Dread
7. Something About England - Dogg, Payne, Gascoigne, G. Barnacle, B. Barnacle
8. Corner Soul - Lewis
9. Junco Partner - Dogg, Lewis
10. If Music Could Talk - Payne
11. The Sound of Sinners - Dogg
12. Midnight Log - Lewis
13. The Equalizer - Dogg, Lewis
14. The Street Parade - Gascoigne, G. Barnacle, B. Barnacle

There was also "Lose This Skin" that featured Dogg, Payne, Gascoigne and the Barnacles, but I left it off because it featured Tymon Dogg on lead vocals, which automatically disqualified it in my books. I also excluded any dub versions of songs ("One More Dub", all of side six barring "Version City") to avoid repetition, as well as "Mensforth Hill" ("Something About England" but backwards and with overdubs), which narrowed the song list down to just twenty-eight. Fourteen ended up on Something About England, along with "Hitsville UK" and "Kingston Advice" being released as a non-album single. That means the remaining twelve songs will end up on the revised Sandinista!, so nothing ends up being lost. (Except maybe "Lose This Skin", but that could probably work better as a Tymon Dogg single featuring the Clash.) This overall little experiment was partially inspired from Uncle Dan's attempt at splitting up Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion albums into three single albums. How would you have handled Sandinista! if you were to cut it down into a single album or two? Your results may vary, I imagine!