"Find Another Fool" by Quarterflash

Happy New Year Dialophiles! The Dial in its infinite wisdom, has chosen to kick off your new year with a tasty power-pop track from 1981… give it up for Portland Oregon’s Quarterflash, and “Find Another Fool”!

“I should have learned this lesson long ago, that friends and lovers always come and go”

A self-assured rejection of her former lover by a jilted woman, FAF was extracted from Quarterflash’s debut self-titled LP, peaking at a respectable US #16 on the top 40, and a slightly better #12 on the mainstream rock charts. The band, founded by husband and wife team Marv and Rindy Ross, enjoyed six other charting singles on the Hot 100, beginning with the monster US #3 hit “Harden My Heart”, up through their final appearance, the 1985 #83 single “Talk To Me”. FAF, HMH, and ‘83’s “Take Me to Heart” (US #14), are usually considered the triumvirate of Quarterflash singles due to their iconic sound and familiarity among the MTV generation.

“You let me down, and now your hand is out… well here’s some spare change you can count.”

Even after FAF was retired from top 40 stations a few months after its peak, the haunting way in which Rindy concludes the chorus (“to loooove youuuuu”) would sneak into my memory periodically, even though I drew a blank on the artist name and song title for quite some time. And though I never owned the LP, the album cover of four identical male “ghosts” standing in a field at night went hand in hand (or “mind in mind”?) with the recollection of Rindy’s spectral vocals.

“You pulled this once, you pulled it twice, its time you listened to my advice…”

Despite not recalling the song’s details for years, FAF is one of the many early 80s classics that I associate with weekend visits to my Grandparents’ house. In order to listen to the hot hits as I drifted off to sleep, I tuned my Pop-Pop’s desktop radio to WPGC FM, well before they adopted their current hip hop format. I loved that radio, it was cube shaped, with an extendable antenna, and a single oversized dial on the top. One side featured the speaker, and another side had a slider switch to select between AM or FM frequencies, and TV audio signals. I used to enjoy approximating a stereo sound by watching TV with its normal volume on, and tuning this radio to the same TV channel I was watching so I had the same audio from two sources. But I digress.

Whenever I hear FAF now, I get transported back over 30 years to those nights at my grandparents, stargazing out the window while resting on the guest bed with that beloved radio placed near the pillow. Quarterflash’s hit, and other great tracks like Journey’s “Who’s Crying Now”, Champaign’s “How ‘Bout Us”, and Def Leppard’s “Photograph” all take me back there as well, which is one of the many reasons why to this day, early 80s top 40 is still my favorite style and era of pop music. It represents a simpler and calmer time and place.

As “Harden My Heart” is still spun frequently on terrestrial radio, in contrast to any of Marv and Rindy’s other singles, it’s understandable that somebody could arrive at the conclusion that Quarterflash are one-hit wonders! We here at the Dial hope that this post will help to prevent that misunderstanding from ever happening! We also hope that all of you loyal Dialophiles have an outstanding New Year filled with promise, opportunity, laughs and fun, and as many obscure and forgotten tracks from the past as you can handle!

Keep checking in with the Dial in '14, because the more you listen, the MORE YOU REMEMBER!

“Why don’t you… find another… find another… find another fool to love you. Find another… find another… find another fool to love you.”

"Every Little Kiss" by Sara Evans

Glad you could join us, Dialophiles!

During this holiday season, the Dial brings you the gift of a familiar 80’s light rock classic, recast as a mellow country-tinged cover. Grab a steaming cup of hot chocolate, wrap yourself up in your favorite blanket or snuggie, and settle into your favorite chair as you enjoy the melodic sounds of Sara Evans and “Every Little Kiss”.

Way out here working on the docks, everyone sees the long day through…

The final track of Evans’ double platinum Born to Fly LP (released in 2000), Every Little Kiss was not among the album’s four released singles, three of which (“Born To Fly”, “I Keep Looking”, and the Edwin McCain cover “I Could Not Ask For More”) simultaneously reached the top 5 of the US country chart, and the lower reaches of the top 40.

Written and originally recorded by Bruce Hornsby, ELK tells the story of a dock worker on an extended assignment at a “water town”, several states away from their sweetheart, and presumably, their own home. As the extensive responsibilities of the job wear on the singer, the only comfort found is in the memories of their beloved, and the anticipation of when they will be together again.

Oh what would I do, without the nights… and the phone… and the chance just to talk to you.

Hornsby’s original version, recorded with the help of his ensemble “The Range”, was released as the lead single from his smash 1986 debut “The Way It Is”, but the cut initially stalled at US #72. It wasn’t until after the iconic title track became a #1 runaway hit, and ELK was re-released in early ‘87, that the song of a longing lover finally peaked at #14 on the hot 100.

Being an appreciator of cover tunes, I always considered Sara’s ELK a high point of Born to Fly, and a track worth revisiting regularly. Though she sings the lyrics in an upbeat manner, underneath her smiles resides a clear poignancy that will ring true to anybody whom has ever experienced the longing a long-distance relationship creates.

About the only factor that doesn’t quite translate smoothly between Sara and Bruce’s versions is the idea that Sara’s character is a dock worker. Women aren’t usually associated with harbor jobs, but we can look past that. Perhaps she grew up in a dock working family, and it’s all she ever knew. Regardless, she clearly misses her special someone, and the song comes across as loving and sweet.

A thousand miles away… what I wouldn’t give for only one night… a little relief in sight… or someday when times weren’t so tight…

So take a moment to slow down and relax during this often hectic season with Sara’s lovely cover tune, perhaps while admiring a snowy landscape through a frost-covered window. Sure, it’s not a “holiday” tune, but it’s a charming track with a calming vibe, and that can be appreciated in any month.

So, from all of us here at the Radio Dial, Happy Holidays, Seasons’ Greetings and Merry Christmas! And above all, peace on Earth, and goodwill to all men.

When the day goes down on the water town… when the sun sinks low all around… That’s when I know I need you now… yeah, you’re what I miss. Every little kiss.

"Jungle Boy" by John Eddie

Hey Dialophiles! 

In an effort to stave off the winter chill, the Dial beams you a rockin’, but forgotten, ‘80s track about a young man’s descent into delinquent behavior. Tonight, pop your collar, get your sneer on, and prepare to sing along with John Eddie, and “Jungle Boy”!

“Well, my Mama sheds tears, and my Daddy just spits, Hey! They had it up to here and kicked me out because of it.”

John Eddie, an occasional Bruce Springsteen associate, recorded his self-titled debut LP with members of the E-Street Band. “Jungle Boy” was the album’s first single.

The lyrics are fun and energetic, yet campy, boastful, and rather difficult to take seriously. The listener is introduced to the young man’s parents initially, who are so frustrated over the growing animalistic behavior in their son, that they kick him out of their home. No word on where he lays his head after that.

The second verse details an aggressive cop (with an affinity for a certain fast food chain) that constantly takes off in hot pursuit after the teenager when he speeds on by. Apparently, the young man’s ride is souped up to the point that it always allows him to outrun the hapless lawman.

“Well, there’s a mean old cop in the Burger King lot, Hey, been after me for years, but I ain’t been got…”

During the chorus, Eddie repeatedly warns a “Mrs. Jackson” to safeguard her daughter, because, as he blunt asserts, he’s a “definite threat to her purity”. I’m not sure how you ladies may read that, but that over the top confidence strikes me as rather creepy.

The song takes a decidedly dark turn as the third and final verse begins, as he ends up getting the girl (after belittling her mother), then declares that he has a PLAN, and he has the BULLETS, so he concludes he’ll be a “Jungle Man”. Does this mean that Eddie’s Jungle Boy and Ms. Jackson’s daughter turn to a life of crime instead of, or perhaps in addition to, wanton lust? A modern day Bonnie and Clyde, if you will?

Despite my good-natured ribbing of the subject matter, Jungle Boy is quite the guilty pleasure with its powerful drum and guitar punch, not to mention the infectious “whoa-whoa-whoa… yeah-yeah–yeah” lyric which will be swimming around in your head for days upon giving this one a spin.

Jungle Boy was the only charting single from Eddie’s self-titled 1986 LP, and while it achieved a respectable position on the mainstream rock chart of #17, it stalled at #52 on the hot 100.

The simplistic yet over-the-top music video features Eddie as an 80’s incarnation of a ‘50s tough guy sporting jeans, a leather jacket, Converse All-Stars, and big hair, dancing and gyrating in a dark room under various camera angles, with no other props, alternate scenes, musicians, or actors. As a result, we never see Mrs. Jackson and her daughter, Eddie’s parents, or the burger-eating cop. (picture Sheriff Buford T. Justice for a chuckle). It’s a bit of a lost opportunity. I’d like to get a look at Mrs. Jackson’s daughter myself!

I forgot all about this song until about ten years ago, when I rediscovered it on a three CD set from Sony called “Greatest Hits of the 80s”. This compilation quickly became one of my favorites, because even as it was stocked with well-worn smash hits like “Rosanna” (Toto), “867-5309/Jenny” (Tommy Tutone), and “Baby I Love Your Way / Freebird” (Will To Power), it was also generously peppered with forgotten tracks like Hipsway’s “The Honeythief”, The Godfathers “Birth, School, Work, Death”, and Face to Face’s “10-9-8”, all of which may be Radio Dial features in the near future.

I must confess, however, that when I first read the title “Jungle Boy” on the CD case, I mistakenly assumed it was the quirky new wave/disco hybrid by Baltimora, “Tarzan Boy”. Once I gave Eddie’s track a spin, the memory of his rockin’ stomper came back, and I instantly grew to re-appreciate it as a great slice of mid 80s rock camp.

“‘Cuz I’m a Jungle Boy, Turn up the radio… a Jungle Boy…. Hear me growling low… a Jungle Boy, hey Mrs. Jackson, keep your daughter away from me…”