Chapter 73: Break My Stride (September 1982 - June 1983)

October 1982

A screenshot from the pilot episode, Thomas Down the Mine, filmed 1982. It was later reshot for the first series of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. The above screenshot was reused from the pilot.

It had been a few years in the making since Britt Allcroft first met with Reverend Wilbert Awdry about the possibility of adapting his Thomas the Tank Engine books for television. Having already bought the rights from the publishers, Kaye & Ward, at the cost of fifty thousand pounds, and been provided the money to produce the show by Apple Corps, production on the show could commence.

Between September and October 1982[1], a low budget, pre-production test pilot had been filmed to showcase how the show would look, based upon the story "Down the Mine" from the book Gordon the Big Engine (published 1953). It took only three weeks (fifteen business days) to film the pilot, ten of which were done on the actual filming itself. Reaction to the pilot was generally very positive, giving Allcroft and the rest of the crew the okay to proceed work on a full series.

The question now was, when the series came out, who would narrate the stories?

10 September 1982 - 1 February 1983

Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, 1982. Three duets were recorded between the pair; "The Girl is Mine" was released on the latter's Thriller, recorded April 14-16, 1982. "Say Say Say" and "The Man" were recorded April and May 1981, with additional recording on August 25, 1983, but not released until October 3, 1983 as a non-album single.

JOHN LENNON: "With hindsight, we may not have done Quadruple Fantasy to begin with. We set the bar too high for what many called our Phase Two." (2003)

GEORGE HARRISON: "A lot of people were demanding for a follow up album to Fantasy, and we as the Beatles had been off of the radar for nearly a year. It was like the Mania of the 60s all over again, only with a much bigger crowd of old and new fans. Our backs were up against the wall. What could we have done to meet their demands?" (1995)

PAUL McCARTNEY: "I came up with the concept of war and peace, and the four of us wrote most of the songs around it; we had a few leftovers from when we did Quadruple Fantasy, and we brought them back for War and Peace. The best of the bunch was John's 'Nobody Told Me', which he initially offered Ringo to sing." (2013)

RINGO STARR: "As much as I loved 'Nobody Told Me', I told John that it better suited him than me." (2019)

After a year apart to focus on individual careers as well as their families, the Beatles went back into the studio that September to record War and Peace. A fair number of tracks were connected to the theme of contrasts such as "Keep Under Cover", "That's the Way It Goes", "You Can't Fight Lightning" and "Borrowed Time", as well as the bookend tracks "Tug of War" and "Pipes of Peace". In between were love songs "Wake Up My Love", "So Bad" and "Dear Madeline", the latter of which was dedicated to John Lennon's wife Madeline Kahn. The sessions lasted sporadically up to the beginning of February, with George Martin once again producing. It was later announced that War and Peace would be out this April.

February 1983

Behind the scenes for Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, 1983. The episodes being filmed around this time were Thomas and James and Strike Out!.[2]

Meanwhile, filming had begun work on what would become Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends; it would take up until August to film the thirteen episodes of the show, each ten minutes long, along with a standalone special that would premiere around Christmas. Post-production would wrap up on 24 September. While the series was being filmed, Britt Allcroft set out to find a narrator.

BRITT ALLCROFT: "The family were in the family room, and they were watching television. And I wasn't in the room, I was going past the door and I heard this voice. 'Oh my God; who's that?' And that's it. That's the voice! And I went into the room, and Ringo was being interviewed on a British chat show - I think it was Michael Parkinson. And I said, that's it; that's it! It's Ringo!" (date unknown; possibly late 1980s)

Allcroft's reasoning for Ringo being the narrator was because she thought children would relate to him, not because of his fame as a Beatle. However, he was reluctant to do so since he had never read any of the original Railway Series books as a child (he was almost five when the first book, The Three Railway Engines, was published on 12 May 1945), and thought children would be interested in modern things like dinosaurs with lasers. But it was after reading the books and meeting with Reverend Wilbert Awdry himself that Ringo had changed his mind.

RINGO STARR: "The others asked me where I'd been for a few days, and so I told them about that new children's show being produced under Apple Television. I showed them a few Thomas books and they had varying degrees of interest." (2015)

Ringo Starr with the model of Thomas the Tank Engine, 1983.

JOHN LENNON: "I'd been asked a few years prior and thought the idea of narrating a series of talking railway engines was ridiculous, even told them to fuck off. I brought a few books home with me, Freddie and Alice took interest in them, and Maddy insisted that I give it a proper chance, and so I did." (2010)[3]

PAUL McCARTNEY: "At the time, I had scripted a film about a day in the lives of the Beatles, like A Hard Day's Night, but twenty years later, y'know. The others said that it would never sell, and I was forced to abandon it in the end. Working with Thomas turned out to be a better use of our time, as it turned out. I loved working on it." (2015)[4]

GEORGE HARRISON: "I was somewhere between John and Ringo when it came to enthusiasm, but I played along anyway. Turned out to be more fun than I'd thought it would be." (1999)

With Ringo accepting the role as narrator, the additional enthusiasm from the other three Beatles took Britt Allcroft by surprise. After the initial shock had worn off, it was decided to give the engines their own distinct voices; John would provide the voices for Thomas himself as well as Gordon, Paul as Henry and Percy, George as Edward and James, and Ringo as Toby and Sir Topham Hatt, the Fat Controller. Allcroft would provide additional voices along with director David Mitton and music composers Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell, who based the theme song around the feel of the Beatles' "Mean Mr. Mustard". The recording sessions took around eight days, including Ringo re-doing some lines as the Fat Controller due to the tone of his voice. It would be over a year before the new series was unveiled to the world.

22 April 1983

The Beatles - War and Peace

Released: 22 April 1983

Recorded: 10 September 1982 - 1 February 1983

Producer: George Martin

Track listing[5]

Side A

Tug of War

I'm Stepping Out

Wake Up My Love

Keep Under Cover

Dream Away

Borrowed Time

In My Car

Side B

Mystical One

So Bad

Nobody Told Me

That's the Way It Goes

You Can't Fight Lightning

Dear Madeline

Pipes of Peace

War and Peace reached #1 in the United Kingdom for just two non-consecutive weeks, and no higher than #7 in the United States, which was a poor showing by the Beatles' standards. To make things worse, the first single, "Pipes of Peace" backed with "Dream Away" (11 April), despite charting at #1 in the United Kingdom, failed to reach the Top 20 the United States (#23) before quickly disappearing from the charts altogether.

Reception towards the album was overall poor, with one review saying, "Seriously? This is the best the Beatles could come up with after Quadruple Fantasy?" Others were just as harsh, if not more so, with comments such as, "Are the Beatles even relevant in America anymore?" or "With the Rolling Stones having gone off the radar and the Who splitting up, the Beatles now join them by putting out their worst album to date with War and Peace; 1983 looks to be the death knell of the 60s." All four Beatles, but especially Paul McCartney, took the slagging in the press pretty hard.

JOHN LENNON: "You know what a lot of those critics don't understand? Many of us artists from the 60s like the Beatles, Stones, the Who, what have you weren't just the 60s; you don't simply hang on for a decade or longer without feeling like you're part of something new and still have something to say. If this year is the death of the 60s, then why are we still listening to 'My Generation', 'Jumping Jack Flash' or 'Yesterday' on the radio instead of something like 'Pipes of Peace' or 'Athena'? It sounds as though some people are stuck in the 60s." (1983)

If there was any redeeming aspect to War and Peace, it was John's "Nobody Told Me", backed with the non-album B-side "Average Person", released as a single on 10 June. It charted much better in America at #5, while it reached #6 in the United Kingdom, receiving consistent praise from critics. Still, despite John's defiant stance in a television interview a few weeks after the album's release, the Beatles were now worried about their future. Could anything, if at all, be done to salvage their good name, or if they were doomed to remain a nostalgia act, unable to compete in the current market against their past selves or current musical acts like Duran Duran and the Culture Club? Was this the end for the Beatles... again?

3 June 1983

Electric Light Orchestra - Secret Messages

Released: 3 June 1983

Recorded: December 1982 - February 1983

Producer: Jeff Lynne

Track listing[6]

Side A

Secret Messages

Loser Gone Wild

Bluebird

Take Me On and On

Side B

Stranger

No Way Out

Beatles Forever

Letter From Spain

Danger Ahead

Side C

Four Little Diamonds

Train of Gold

Endless Lies

Buildings Have Eyes

Rock 'n' Roll is King

Side D

Mandalay

Time After Time

After All

Hello My Old Friend

Secret Messages was the Electric Light Orchestra's tenth official studio album, twelfth if the compilation albums Light Years (1978) and All Over the World (1980) were included. Much like its predecessor Time, it topped the charts in the United Kingdom for a few weeks, and it topped out at #12 in the United States. Secret Messages was also a double album, and with compact discs having just been released in North America and Europe, it was ELO's first album under that format. As usual, a tour followed the album lasting up to early 1984.

JEFF LYNNE: "One of the tracks on Messages, 'Beatles Forever', was the first to be recorded. By the time the album came out, War and Peace was thrashed by critics, and I kept it on ELO's album as a response to them. Looking back, it was so fawning and over the top that I was tempted to remove it altogether, and maybe redo it at some point." (2018)

Summary of single releases from Electric Light Orchestra's Secret Messages

• "Rock 'n' Roll is King" / "After All" - 6 June 1983 (#6 UK, #10 US)
• "Secret Messages" / "Four Little Diamonds" - 3 September 1983 (#20 UK, #58 US)
• "Stranger" / "Train of Gold" - 5 December 1983 (#17 UK)

Footnotes

1. In OTL, the pilot was filmed in March and April 1983. I moved production forward with the likelihood that with Apple Corps gaining the rights to co-produce and distribute the show, it could be worked on earlier. Likewise, the filming for the first series was moved forward from the original dates of production (September 1983 - March 1984).
2. Thomas and James is OTL's Thomas and the Breakdown Train and James and the Coaches, while Strike Out! is based upon Tenders and Turntables and Trouble in the Shed.
3. In OTL, John Lennon had been offered to narrate the show, but he told the producers to "fuck off". Had he survived past 1980 and saw how successful Thomas the Tank Engine was, I'd imagine that John would've regretted rejecting the gig, even praising Ringo's narration.
4. This means that Give My Regards to Broad Street never gets produced in TTL; the money used to produce it goes onto more worthwhile projects. In OTL, filming had started in November 1982.
5. Tracks are sourced from Paul McCartney's Tug of War and Pipes of Peace, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Milk and Honey, George Harrison's Gone Troppo, and Ringo Starr's Old Wave and Stop and Smell the Roses. "Dear Madeline" is OTL's "Dear Yoko" from Double Fantasy.
6. Track listing is based upon the original double album version of Secret Messages, the 2001 release of which was the primary source. "Buildings Have Eyes", "Mandalay" and "Hello My Old Friend" are all sourced from Afterglow, and "Beatles Forever" remains unreleased officially.

Author's Comments

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! This is another chapter that I'd been looking forward to writing up, largely because I'd been a fan of Thomas the Tank Engine since I was little, especially with Ringo Starr's narrating the first two seasons of the show. I even spiced it up a bit by having the other three Beatles involved in the production as well. I originally had other actors involved based upon who was popular in the acting scene of the 1980s at the time like Nigel Planer as Henry, Brian Blessed as Gordon, Rowan Atkinson as James and Jim Broadbent as Sir Topham Hatt. Man, I'd have loved to hear what that would've sounded like! That's more or less how I picture the engines' voices in the 1980s.

Outside of that, things aren't going so hot for the Beatles right now; it can't be all positive, after all, but it isn't as bad as it seems for them outside of America. Rest assured, things do get better for them. War and Peace is the last album by them being discussed in this story, but I'm still not done with them yet. Likewise, this is the final major appearance of the Electric Light Orchestra in the story, though they've not broken up (yet).

Meanwhile, I'd like to give a little shout out to both the Something Creative and A Crazy Gift of Time blogs, both of which have gone through a reboot. So far, they're both off to a great restart, and if you haven't already, I recommend checking both of them out. At one point, I do intend on a Strawberry Peppers reboot, but before I can do so, I've got seven more chapters to write up, bringing the total up to eighty, which is a nice round number. At the moment, I'm working on a draft timeline for what I'm calling The Second Coming, and it's constantly evolving. Once I finally start the writing process (whenever that is), I'll be starting up a new blog while this one will stay up as the first draft so you can see the differences between the two versions.

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 63: Whole Wide World (September 1979 - August 1980)

September - October 1979

Small Faces, late 1970s (exact year taken unknown). Rick Wills is on the center-right.

DAVID GILMOUR: "We didn't know what to do next after doing Wish You Were Here. Roger had left Pink Floyd, and it almost seemed like it was the end for the group. Luckily, that wasn't the case. Nick was good friends with Robert Wyatt, and he insisted that we carry on despite Roger's departure. At the time, I was working with Rog on his biggest project to date, The Wall, and the Floyd was on a bit of an indefinite hiatus. I talked to Rick about it, and he agreed. But first, we had to find a new bassist." (2006)

The answer had come to Pink Floyd in the form of David Gilmour's good friend Rick Wills, who was a member of the reformed Small Faces, but had recently split up due to poor reviews and sales of their albums Playmates and 78 in the Shade. Wills had been asked to join Foreigner on bass guitar, but he declined due to his commitments with Pink Floyd. In addition, they were joined by Snowy White as their backing guitarist, reprising his role from the controversial In the Flesh Tour. Along with Robert Wyatt on percussion and additional vocals, the revamped Pink Floyd went into the studio that September to record their first post-Waters album.

RICK WRIGHT: "David and I each wrote some new material throughout 1978 and 1979, but it wasn't until the sessions for Mihalis that we actually recorded them. Nick also brought forth some material he'd written with jazz musician Carla Bley, and gave them to Robert to sing. The sessions went by very quickly, probably the most fun, healthy and relaxed that we had in a while. It really felt like a band effort again." (1995)

30 November 1979

Pink Floyd - Mihalis

Released: 30 November 1979

Recorded: September - October 1979

Producer: Pink Floyd

Track listing[1]

Side A

Mihalis

Against the Odds

Siam

Cat Cruise

So Far Away

Side B

Mediterranean C

Short and Sweet

Deafinitely

Summer Elegy

I'm a Mineralist

Prior to the release of Milhalis, Pink Floyd's situation was bad from an economic standpoint, and they were under a contractual obligation to release another album under Harvest Records, as was Roger Waters. Not only that, Gilmour, Wright and Mason were under constant pressure from being asked by fans, the press and fellow musicians as to why Waters had left the band. "You should ask him, not us!" they would usually reply, wanting to worry about other things, especially Wright, whose marriage with Juliette was falling apart, eventually divorcing in 1982.

The first album by the revamped Pink Floyd, Mihalis, finally came out at the end of November, topping the charts in the United Kingdom, and reaching #3 in the United States. It was preceded that same month with a non-album single, a cover of Unicorn's "There's No Way Out of Here" (whom Gilmour had produced for), which was a surprising success in the United Kingdom and Europe. It was later followed up by the album single "So Far Away"/"Against the Odds" (#4 UK, #11 US) in December. The album received positive reviews from critics, many of whom cited that the sound was different from what Pink Floyd had produced prior, mainly due to the jazz influences from Mason and Wright's songwriting as well as the presence of Carla Bley and Wyatt.

Half of Mihalis was instrumental, with "Against the Odds" being sung by Rick Wright, and David Gilmour ("So Far Away", "Short and Sweet") and Robert Wyatt ("Siam", "I'm a Mineralist") each singing two songs. With renewed energy, Pink Floyd looked set to continue for a long time despite the absence of founding member Roger Waters.

28 March 1980

Genesis - Duke

Released: 28 March 1980

Recorded: November - December 1979

Producer: Genesis and David Hentschel

Track listing[2]

Side A

Duke (Chapters 1-3)

Man of Our Times

Misunderstanding

Heathaze

Side B

Alone Tonight

Cul-de-Sac

Don't Let It Show

Duke (Chapters 4-6)

Duke marked the first album by Genesis as a trio, consisting of Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Kim Beacon. Phil Collins, the previous drummer, had left the group on amicable terms to play with the Who following Keith Moon's death, and had taken up residence in Vancouver, Canada to try and fix his marriage with Andrea Bertorelli. Sadly, this would end up in divorce the following year, and it would be four years before Collins re-married.

TONY BANKS: "Mike, Kim and I were feeling quite refreshed after putting out solo albums in 1979, establishing ourselves as solo artists outside of Genesis. But of course, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." (2007)

Each member of the band contributed two songs; Banks brought forth "Heathaze" and "Cul-de-Sac", Rutherford "Man of Our Times" and "Alone Tonight", and Beacon "Don't Let It Show" as well as a co-write with Collins, "Misunderstanding". All three members brought forth ideas for the 28-minute epic "Duke", and it was originally going to take up the entirety of the first side while the second side would be entirely self-contained tracks; however, that felt too similar to Rutherford's Smallcreep's Day, which also had the same arrangement. Instead, it was split in half to bookend the album, beginning with chapters one through three and ending with chapters four through six, the latter portion of which included the hit "Turn It On Again".

Duke was Genesis' first #1 album in the United Kingdom, and it also ranked very highly in the United States at #4. Likewise, "Turn It On Again ('Duke' Chapter 4)"/"Evidence of Autumn" (8 March, #1 UK, #23 US) and "Misunderstanding"/"Open Door" (10 May, #7 UK, #4 US) were also big hits. Critical reception was also very positive, with many even saying it was their greatest album since Selling England by the Pound, possibly of the Beacon era of Genesis. The tour to support the album in the United Kingdom and North America from April to June was also hugely successful, with tickets selling out within hours.

9 May 1980

Roger Waters and the Bleeding Hearts Band - The Wall

Released: 9 May 1980

Recorded: December 1978 - January 1980

Producer: Roger Waters and Bob Ezrin

Track listing[3]

Side A

When the Tigers Broke Free

In the Flesh? (Behind These Cold Eyes)

The Thin Ice

Another Brick in the Wall (Reminiscing)

Goodbye Blue Sky

The Happiest Days of Our Lives

Another Brick in the Wall (Education)

Mother

Side B

Welcome to the Machine

Young Lust

One of My Turns

Don't Leave Me Now

What Shall We Do Now?

Another Brick in the Wall (Drugs)

Goodbye Cruel World

Side C

Hey You

Is There Anybody Out There?

Nobody Home

Vera

Bring the Boys Back Home

The Final Cut

Comfortably Numb

Side D

Who's Sorry Now?

In the Flesh (Isn't This Where We Came In?)

Run Like Hell

Waiting for the Worms

Stop

The Trial by Puppet

Outside the Wall (It's Never Too Late)

ROGER WATERS: "I was in a bad way after Syd died in that bus accident in Germany. Couple that with the [In the] Flesh Tour and leaving Pink Floyd, I felt distanced from everyone, even the rest of the band. That was why I ended up leaving, and I haven't looked back since. The Wall was inspired by all the shit I'd been through since I was a child." (1999)

With the help of producer Bob Ezrin, known for his work with Alice Cooper, Kiss and Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters set to work on his first solo album, tentatively titled Bricks in The Wall (the Bricks portion was later discarded). Along with Ezrin on keyboards and piano, Waters also brought in Gilmour on guitar and vocals (the latter even contributed an unfinished song that would eventually become "Comfortably Numb", as well as several other lyrical contributions and vocals to some songs), and Jeff Porcaro from Toto on drums. With the band assembled, recording had begun back in December 1978, and would last all the way into January 1980.

DAVID GILMOUR: "It was kind of relieving that Roger had left the band; Hitch Hiking felt more like a solo album than a Pink Floyd album, and had he stayed on, his obsession with concept albums would've dominated our sound, leaving me and Rick in the dust. Still, he would get pretty irritable if we didn't play to his liking, the nadir being which we got into an argument and I told him, 'Were you even like this when Syd was still alive? His death's had an impact on you, you know.' In hindsight, I wish I hadn't said that, and Roger got so angry that he told me to get out. I almost thought he take a guitar and shove it where the sun don't shine." (2006)

In his isolation from Waters following that outburst, Gilmour would record Mihalis with the rest of Pink Floyd, and a few days after the sessions had been completed, he received a phone call from Waters. "You were right, Dave," he said over the phone. "I've been nothing but a complete dick to everyone since Syd's death, and I can't apologize enough for my behavior." Gilmour apologized as well for the argument, and shortly afterward, he returned to the sessions for The Wall.

A live concert of The Wall, climaxing with the wall being knocked down, 1980.

ROGER WATERS: "David and the rest of Floyd put out Mihalis that November, and I was surprised that they were able to record and album, much less release it, and they were in a crisis that was a little bit worse than I was. I hadn't heard the album when it first came out, but when I finally got the chance to do so, I was impressed with what they had done. Maybe a few songs that I felt a bit iffy about, but still. I was glad that they were able to get out of this crisis, and they for me too." (2006)

The Wall was finally released on 9 May 1980, a little over five months since Pink Floyd's Mihalis. It had been preceded earlier that year with "Another Brick in the Wall (Education)" in January, which hit #1 in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and "Run Like Hell" in April. The third and final single, "Comfortably Numb", was later released in June. The Wall was a rock opera showing the struggles of a rock star by the name of Floyd Pinkerton, based upon Waters himself as well as Syd Barrett, building a metaphorical wall around himself, eventually isolating himself altogether from society.

Waters' debut solo album had received a mixed critical reception upon release, peaking at #10 in the United States but stalling out at #2 in the United Kingdom, but over time, reviews became mostly positive, even ending up at #87 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list in 2003. Waters would later go on tour for The Wall, performing the album in its entirety and featuring elaborate theatrical effects. Pink Floyd, meanwhile, had also gone on their Mihalis Tour, even featuring Unicorn and Robert Wyatt as opening acts.

27 June 1980

Olivia Newton-John - Xanadu

Released: 27 June 1980

Recorded: 1979-1980

Producer: John Farrar and Jeff Lynne (track 4 only)

Track listing[4]

Side A

Magic

You Made Me Love You

Suddenly [w/ Cliff Richard]

Xanadu [w/ Electric Light Orchestra]

Side B

Suspended in Time

Dancin' [w/ The Tubes]

Fool Country

Whenever You're Away From Me [w/ Gene Kelly]

Xanadu was the latest Apple Films project, being directed by Robert Greenwald and starring Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly and Michael Beck. One of the Nine Muses of Olympus, Terpsichore, returns to Earth after a mural of the Muses is brought to life, and taking the identity Kira, she falls in love with a failing freelance artist named Sonny Malone, whose drawing had hit the mural after being thrown into the wind. Some roller-skating antics and musical moments ensure whenever possible.

The film was released on 8 August, several weeks following the release of the soundtrack featuring Olivia Newton-John's vocal performances, which would go on to help the film break even at the box office (about $41 million) despite the negative reception from critics. In later years, however, the film would gain cult following, and the soundtrack (#2 UK, #4 US) remained one of the best things about Xanadu. Twenty years later, Jeff Lynne would re-record the title track, even calling it his favorite song that he had ever written.

1 August 1980

Electric Light Orchestra - All Over the World

Released: 1 August 1980

Recorded: 1972-1980

Producer: Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood (tracks 1-5)

Track listing[5]

Side A

Baby, I Apologize

Everyone's Born to Die

Poor Boy (The Greenwood)

Dark City

One Summer Dream

Surrender

The Quick and the Daft

Latitude 88 North

Side B

Little Town Flirt

I'm Alive

Don't Walk Away

All Over the World

The Fall

Drum Dreams

Initially, the Electric Light Orchestra was going to put out an extended play featuring the songs they had performed for Xanadu, but upon remembering various outtakes recorded throughout 1972 to 1979 that never made it onto the albums or the compilation Light Years, Jeff Lynne decided instead upon another compilation album. Although All Over the World (#7 UK, #30 US) did not chart as highly as Xanadu did, it still holds up as a fine collection of outtakes, concluding with the five songs recorded for the film.

Summary of single releases from Xanadu

• "Magic" / "Fool Country" by Olivia Newton-John - 23 May 1980 (#30 UK, #1 US)
• "I'm Alive" / "Drum Dreams" by Electric Light Orchestra - 24 May 1980 (#11 UK, #6 US)
• "Xanadu" (with Electric Light Orchestra) / "Whenever You're Away from Me" (with Gene Kelly) by Olivia Newton-John - 6 June 1980 (#1 UK, #2 US)
• "All Over the World" / "The Fall" by Electric Light Orchestra - 2 August 1980 (#3 UK, #5 US)
• "Suddenly" (with Cliff Richard) / "You Made Me Love You" by Olivia Newton John - 24 October 1980 (#11 UK, #18 US)
• "Don't Walk Away" / "Little Town Flirt" by Electric Light Orchestra - 22 November 1980 (#16 UK)

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from David Gilmour's 1978 eponymous album, Rick Wright's Wet Dream and Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports. In addition, Snowy White played guitar on Wright's debut album, Rick Wills on bass guitar for Gilmour's, and Robert Wyatt for Mason's, further explaining why Pink Floyd became a sextet.
2. All tracks are sourced from OTL's Duke, excluding "Don't Let It Show" from Kim Beacon's Talking to Myself. As usual, all songs are sung by Beacon, barring the instrumental "Duke's End". In addition, "Duke" in its entirety is this universe's equivalent to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by utilizing the bookend technique for the album. Chapters 1-3 consist of "Behind the Lines", "Duchess" and "Guide Vocal", while Chapters 4-6 consist of "Turn It On Again", "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's End".
3. A fuller guide as to how I edited the album together can be found here.
4. All tracks are sourced from the Xanadu soundtrack along with two Olivia-Newton John B-sides. "Fool Country" is the B-side to "Magic" in the United States, and "You Made Me Love You" is the B-side to "Suddenly".
5. For Side A, the tracks are sourced from ELO 2, On the Third Day, Eldorado, Face the Music, A New World Record and Out of the Blue. For Side B, all tracks are sourced from the Xanadu soundtrack excluding "Little Town Flirt", sourced from Discovery. "Drum Dreams" is a non-album B-side to "I'm Alive" and "All Over the World".

Author's Comments

Finally, we leave the 70s behind and move into the 80s, which means that Strawberry Peppers is now forty years behind from today! And we got to that point in less than two years since starting in January 2019. Wow!

Pink Floyd continuing without Roger Waters is an interesting concept to explore for sure, and luckily for us, there's enough solo material by David Gilmour, Rick Wright and even from Nick Mason (assuming they also invited Robert Wyatt to join) to go down that rabbit hole. I've taken some influence from Mass' seemingly discontinued So You Think You Can Tell timeline and a bit from Auran's Gummaumma (though it's not as prominent as it was before) for that portion of the chapter.

Not much to say with Genesis here; things happen as they did, only with Phil Collins gone and with Kim Beacon as a member. Though as the 80s progress, their albums become better received and they can be easily separated from Phil's solo career. Similarly, ELO will continue past the 80s and into the 90s, even though I intend to finish the first draft at 1985. (Side note: I apologize if the covers for both Xanadu and All Over the World are a bit crap; it was the best I could do.)

There's only three more chapters in the 1978-1980 portion of Phase Three to go; after that is the 1981-1983 portion, which I've yet to fully map out. Hopefully I will by the end of the year.

Chapter 60: Mr. Blue Sky (September 1978 - May 1979)

In Honor of John Lennon's 80th Birthday

Without Whom, The World of Rock and Roll Would Be a Much Different Place

1940 - 1980

15 September 1978

Electric Light Orchestra - Light Years

Released: 15 September 1978

Recorded: 1972 - 1977

Producer: Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood (1972-1975 tracks)

Track listing[1]

Side A

Ball Park Incident
Momma
Roll Over Beethoven
See My Baby Jive

Side B

Showdown
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Daybreaker
Rock and Roll Winter
Illusions in G Major

Side C

Can't Get It Out of My Head
Are You Ready to Rock
Strange Magic
Evil Woman
Indiana Rainbow

Side D

Turn to Stone
Wild West Hero
The Whale
Sweet Talkin' Woman
It's Over

Concerto for a Rainy Day had inevitably led to an extensive, nine-month, 92-date world tour, which would later become the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point. There was no room for Jeff Lynne to write music for a new album in 1978, and so, as a stop gap release, the Electric Light Orchestra instead put out the compilation album, Light Years (#3 UK, #25 US), covering their non-album singles and B-sides from 1972 ("Ball Park Incident") to 1978 ("Sweet Talkin' Woman"). The follow-up album, Discovery (#1 UK, #2 US), would be released on 31 May 1979 and include Top 10 hits such as "Don't Bring Me Down", "Last Train to London", "Shine a Little Love", "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp".

10 November 1978

Paul McCartney & Smile - Rockestra

Released: 10 November 1978

Recorded: June - October 1978

Producer: Paul McCartney, Roy Thomas Baker and Chris Thomas

Track listing[2]

Side A

Rockestra Theme
Fat Bottomed Girls
Getting Closer
Spin It On
Again and Again and Again
Old Siam, Sir
Arrow Through Me

Side B

Weep for Love
Goodnight Tonight
Fun It
Leaving Home Ain't Easy
Baby's Request
More of That Jazz

FREDDIE MERCURY: "Mary [Austin, his girlfriend from 1970-1976] broke off our engagement when I came out to her as bisexual; she insisted that I was gay, and I was heartbroken when she left. She was the love of my life, and I almost felt lost without her, even if we remained friends. That was where Elton came in." (1995)

ELTON JOHN: "I had come out in 1976 as bisexual, the year after I broke up with John Reid [his manager up until 1998]. I'd known Freddie since he joined Apple in 1973, and I was good friends with Paul, Denny, Brian and Roger as well. I took pity on him when I'd heard about his breakup with Mary, and wanted to do something to make him feel better. I went over to his house one day in 1977, and... well, things got a bit 'hot' between us, let's just say. *chuckles*" (2004)

The sexuality of both Freddie Mercury and Elton John was a mystery to the public, although the latter wouldn't fully come out as gay until 1988. There were rumors from the music grapevine that both men were now in a relationship and had been kept in secret for the past year or so. The members of Smile - Paul McCartney, Brian May, Roger Taylor and Denny Laine - were among the first to be told about the relationship and supported them for it. Mercury himself soon felt more comfortable about his own sexuality, as could be heard in his music from 1978 such as the Top 10 hit "Don't Stop Me Now". The relationship between Elton and Mercury would last up until 1983, although they still remained friends; the former would marry Renate Blauel in 1984 but would divorce in 1988, and the latter would become partners with Irish hairdresser Jim Hutton in 1985. Mercury and Hutton would remain together until Hutton's death in early 1996 from complications with AIDS.[3]

"Mary and Jim were the only real loves of my life," Freddie would say years later. "The rest have been occasional flings."

Paul McCartney and Keith Moon, 1978.

Paul McCartney & Smile's sixth album, Rockestra, featured varying musical styles, whether they included hard rock ("Old Siam, Sir", "Fat Bottomed Girls"), R&B and funk ("Arrow Through Me"), disco ("Fun It", "Goodnight Tonight") or instrumental rock ("Rockestra Theme"). The album was given both praise and criticism for its varied music styles, with the defenders even noting that "never, at one point, do Paul and his bandmates ever sit still." Roger Taylor was critical of the album in later years, despite liking a select few songs on it.

The title track, credited to the Apple Rockestra, was composed by McCartney to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the formation of Apple Records, and featured various members from its artists including Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac, Rat Scabies of The Damned, Steve Jones of Sex Pistols, and Mike Gibbins of Badfinger. While the variety of artists from the past decade was praised, there was criticism over artists from Highway 61 and Swan Song Records having little representation, as the only prominent musicians from either label were Jeff Porcaro from Toto, Nancy Wilson from Heart (both from Highway 61), John Paul Jones from The Yardbirds and Gerald Casale from Devo (both from Swan Song).

Personnel for The Apple Rockestra, 3 October 1978

• vocals - Paul McCartney
• bass - Paul McCartney, John Paul Jones, Gerald Casale, Steve Jones
• piano - Vangelis, Elton John, Graham Nash
• keyboards - Christine McVie, David Bowie
• electric guitar - Denny Laine, Brian May, Stephen Stills, Eric Clapton, Nancy Wilson
• drums - Roger Taylor, Mick Fleetwood, Rat Scabies
• percussion - Jeff Porcaro, Nicky Headon, Paul Cook, Mike Gibbins
• horns - Howie Casey, Tony Dorsey, Steve Howard, Thaddeus Richard

Summary of Paul McCartney & Smile releases, 1978 - 1979

• "With a Little Luck" / "Children Children" - 20 February 1978 (#5 UK, #1 US)
• "It's Late" / "Name and Address" - 8 May 1978 (#39 UK, #17 US)
• "Goodnight Tonight" / "Fat Bottomed Girls" (double A-side) - 6 November 1978 (#5/#3 UK, #5/#12 US)
• Rockestra - 10 November 1978 (#2 UK, #6 US)
• "Getting Closer" / "Dead on Time" - 19 March 1979 (#14 UK, #6 US)
• "Arrow Through Me" / "To You" - 9 July 1979 (#10 US)
• "Wonderful Christmastime" / "Daytime Nighttime Suffering" - 19 November 1979 (#6 UK)

December 15, 1978

Christopher Reeve as the titular superhero in Superman, 1978.

The first film in what would later be known as the Appleverse, Superman, was released with wildly positive reception from critics and fans alike. At the time, it was the most expensive film ever made, on a budget of $55 million, but it was still a box-office success by earning $300 million for Apple Films. Christopher Reeve's performance as the Man of Steel himself was met with acclaim, as were the performances of Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor) and Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) and the score of John Williams, having achieved similar success with Jaws and Star Wars earlier that decade.

The film begins on the fictional planet of Krypton, which is under threat of destruction when its red supergiant sun goes supernova. Jor-El sends his infant son Kal-El to Earth on a spaceship, where his dense molecular structure would give him superhuman strength and other powers. Kal-El is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kansas, and given the name Clark Kent. After his father dies, Clark journeys to the Fortress of Solitude where he meets a hologram of Jor-El, living there for twelve years to learn about his reason for being sent to Earth. Returning to society, Clark Kent becomes a reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis, where he meets Lois Lane and develops a romantic attraction for her. When she gets involved in a helicopter accident, Clark uses his powers publicly for the first time and rescues her before helping other citizens in need and stopping criminals in their tracks, being given the name "Superman" by Lois.

Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor in Superman. In his hand is a kryptonite necklace which he uses to weaken Superman to prevent him from ruining Luthor's evil plans.

Meanwhile, criminal genius Lex Luthor, along with his minions Otis and Miss Teschmacher, learns of a joint nuclear missile test between the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy and reprograms one of the missiles to detonate in the San Andreas Fault. Knowing that Superman could defeat him, Lex and his accomplices retrieve a piece of unknown mineral from a meteor from the planet Krypton and expose it to Superman after luring him to their lair, weakening him. Teschmacher betrays Luthor upon learning that the eastbound missile could kill her mother, who lives in Hackensack, New Jersey, and she frees Superman, who sends the eastbound missile into outer space. Not fast enough to stop the westbound missile from hitting the San Andreas Fault, Superman is still able to mitigate the effects by sealing the fault line, and even saves Lois from suffocating when her car falls into a crevice from one of the aftershocks. Afterwards, Superman brings Luthor and Otis to prison.

After the end credits played, there was a brief teaser to Superman II, which was to feature General Zod, Ursa and Non (respectively played by Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran) as the villains.[4] The Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky" was included twice in the film; the first time was during the montage sequence of Superman helping citizens in times of trouble and catching criminals in the act, and the second time was during the end credits following John Williams' "Superman March", shortly before the ending stinger. (Jeff Lynne was reported to have spoken very positively about its inclusion.) Already, fans were anticipating what Richard Donner had in mind for the next Superman movie, and wondering if Apple was going to produce movies featuring their other favorite DC superheroes, including Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc.

16 February 1979

The Dark Horses - Backless

Released: 16 February 1979

Recorded: March - November 1978

Producer: George Harrison and Glyn Johns

Track listing[5]

Side A

Love Comes to Everyone
Watch Out for Lucy
Breakin' My Heart
Wings
Roll It
Faster

Side B

Who Needs a Heart
Tell Me That You Love Me
Your Love is Forever
Early in the Morning
If You Believe

As far as music business was concerned, 1978 was mostly quiet for George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The former, along with Apple Films president Denis O'Brien, had helped to finance Monty Python's next film, Life of Brian, which was due for a summer 1979 release; Harrison had mortgaged Friar Park just to finance the film, which to Eric Idle would later call "the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket in history."[6] Life of Brian would later go on to gross $21 million at the box office in America, and be regarded as one of Apple Films' greatest features alongside Willy Wonka, Superman and Young Frankenstein, affirming the production company's status as one that brought out "everything for everyone".

On 1 August 1978, George and Olivia Harrison's first-born child, Dhani, was born at Princess Christian Nursing Home in Windsor, Berkshire. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo, as well as their respective families, sent their congratulations to the man who people used to believe was "the Quiet Beatle".

In between these developments in Harrison's personal life and business affairs, along with Starr, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood and Vangelis, he was able to record the second Dark Horses album, Backless, co-produced with Glyn Johns. The album and its singles reflected on the positive feelings he was going through at this point in his life, having written his own songs in the tranquil setting of Maui in Hawaii. However, the Dark Horses would not go on tour for the album, as Ronnie Wood was busy recording new material with the Rolling Stones, Vangelis had been given the invitation by Jon Anderson to consider joining Yes (as well as thinking about joining Swan Song Records at the start of 1980), and Slowhand himself was about to get married...

Summary of Dark Horses releases, 1979

• "Wings" / "Golden Ring" - 12 February 1979 (#47 UK, #12 US)
• Backless - 16 February 1979 (#18 UK, #8 US)
• "Love Comes to Everyone" / "Buried Alive" - 16 April 1979 (#10 UK, #4 US)
• "Watch Out for Lucy" / "Soft Touch" - 16 July 1979 (#37 UK, #9 US)

19 May 1979

Pattie Boyd and Eric Clapton on their wedding day, 19 May 1979.

GEORGE HARRISON: "It felt very strange, going to Eric and Pattie's wedding. I mean, we're talking about my best friend marrying my first wife, and in the early 1970s, we sort of fought for her heart, but in the end, Eric won the battle. But as long as both were happy with each other, so was I, especially after marrying Olivia a couple of years before. Now me and Eric were husbands-in-laws." (1997)

At the wedding reception, George was not the only ex-Beatle to make an appearance. Paul McCartney (along with Linda and their kids) and Ringo Starr soon turned up, shortly followed by John Lennon along with Madeline Kahn and their son Freddie. Feelings between all four members of the world's biggest band were highly positive, and they even played a little jam session together along with other musicians like Pete Townshend, Mick Jagger, Jack Bruce and Elton John.[7] The four caught up on how the others were getting on, with John commenting, rather cryptically but with a bit of a smirk, "Maddy and I just filmed a scene or two for a movie about puppets." He was, of course, referring to The Muppet Movie, not due for release until June in America (May in England), and he and his family were big fans of the characters created by Jim Henson.[8]

None of them knew this at the time, but this little jam session at the wedding would eventually pave the way for something even bigger in the next decade. However, that almost would not have happened, because the prior month, Starr had become severely ill with intestinal problems relating to his childhood bout of peritonitis and had been rushed to the Princess Grace Hospital in Monte Carlo, Monaco. During an operation on 28 April, several feet of intestine had to be removed, and Starr narrowly survived this health scare. To this day, he's lucky to still be alive.

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from Wizzard Brew (1, 4 and 6), ELO 2 (2 and 3), On the Third Day (5 and 7), Introducing Eddy and the Falcons (8 and 11), Eldorado (9 and 10), Face the Music (12 and 13), Mustard (14) and Out of the Blue (15-19). "Roll Over Beethoven" is the single edit as can be found on the compilation album Light Years: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra.
2. Tracks are sourced from Back to the Egg, Jazz and McCartney II. "Weep for Love" is sourced from the bootleg Studio Rarities Volume 2.
3. For TTL, Freddie Mercury never meets with Paul Prenter, let alone get into a relationship with him. As a result, he doesn't catch AIDS in the 1980s, although Freddie does contract it much later in the mid-1990s, some time after he and Elton John have broken up, but are still friendly with each other. In addition, Jim Hutton died in 2010 from cancer, having been diagnosed with AIDS in 1990 and living with them until his death.
4. For TTL, Richard Donner will be able to complete his vision for Superman II, and it is released December 1979 as was intended. In addition, Superman is able to rescue Lois Lane in time, as explained in the synopsis for the film, which prevents the infamous moment in which Superman reverses time by spinning the Earth in reverse.
5. Tracks are sourced from George Harrison's eponymous album from 1979, Backless, Gimme Some Neck, Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy. "Love Comes to Everyone" is the single edit sourced from Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989.
6. Verbatim.
7. Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all played together for a jam session at Eric Clapton's wedding with Pattie Boyd in OTL; why John Lennon never joined the others remains unclear to this day. The next time all three would be together would be for "All Those Years Ago" on Somewhere in England.
8. John Lennon plays the pianist at El Sleezo (done by Paul Williams in OTL) while Madeline Kahn plays the patron who hits on Kermit, much like in OTL. Her first involvement with the Muppets was on the ninth episode of the second season which premiered on September 30, 1977. By that point, she had married John and had little Freddie with him. Madeline would later record inserts for Sesame Street in 1978 (various episodes between 1106 and 1174), played herself as a bird watcher in 1981 (episode 1576) and then the Commissioner of Fun in 1993 (episode 3136). She even made appearances in episode 2370 (during season 19) and Sesame Street, Special in 1988. All of these will still happen per OTL.

Author's Comments

So here we go with another milestone reached for the story; sixty chapters! Four more, and there's going to inevitably be a Beatles reference in play. As the 1970s draw to a close, we're getting closer and closer to the long-awaited Beatles reunion. We won't be seeing much of them for the next few chapters, but I'm fairly certain that the wait is going to be worth it.

Hopefully, I'll be able to finally do something for Yes in the 80s; Jon Anderson left the group in 1980 to pursue a solo career, and that affected their music when he did so. This time around, he won't leave, he'll be joined by Vangelis, and Yes will end up on Swan Song Records (though I need to figure out how that will play out). Why is there so much idealism in this chapter? Well, it's to counter what is to come for the next chapter...

Album cover for Rockestra designed by Auran.