POLLnight Blue: 80s Debut Singles from Lead Singers Who Went Solo

I was really into Workbook when it came out and thought See a Little Light was a great, super-catchy single. I listened to it again recently and jeeezus is it repetitive, it had lost its luster.

the thing about Midnight Blue is that the lyrics are aaallmost nonsensical, maybe even kinda dumb in someone else's hands, but Lou sells the shit out of them. It feels so full of ~meaning~ just by virtue of his delivery

also tamborine intro is super classic

dad says son life is simple it's either cherry red or midnight blue

...

cool thx dad (wtf)

but when lou sings it it's like YES OMG MIDNIGHT BLUE OF COURSE

you know guys

Prince could cover "Midnight Blue"

ooh totally

The worst elements of Workbook (overly maudlin) come into focus when considered out of context, but at the time, I'd say it was certainly a risk for Mould to put out a primarily acoustic album, so I'll give him credit for that. Love Heartbreak A Stranger. Mould solo live on the other hand has been practically the same setlist since 1989.

and "Dreaming I Am."

Lou Gramm, "Midnight Blue" (1987)
George Michael, "I Want Your Sex" (1987)
Morrissey, "Suedehead" (1988)
Bob Mould, "See A Little Light" (1989)

one of these

It seems like these albums should be in this conversation too.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/43/Bella_Donna_%28album%29.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/LindseyBuckinghamLawandOrderAlbumcover.jpg

Granted, Stevie's first solo single was actually a duet.

ohhhh man if "trouble" was on here i so would vote for it

i was gonna be all WHERE'S EASY LOVER but apparently, despite the BEHOLD A NEW ERA grandiosity of the video, it was actually the first single from philip bailey's second album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk9-NzavCPg

sadly doesn't qualify because she made a solo album named Manhole in the early '70s

(not sad grace slick made an album called manhole in the early '70s, tho)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIPG15_P3D8

marty balin's '81 debut single was a top 10 hit

btw video gets Not Safe For Life about 2:45 in

this is a good one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMPStLDUhSA

i loved workbook at the time and maybe love it even still, but I'm not giving mould extra credit for a solid album in a singles poll

woah, just recalled a big one no one's mentioned yet

CRAZY TRAIN

for posterity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tRmBD1UnrA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shO8vAqPtKQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqUvNOex8EE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HwmO_GZfzI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUITyhP-C3s

lol

Looking Back with Love is Mike Love's only solo album. It was released in 1981 under Boardwalk Records. The track "Be My Baby" was produced by Brian Wilson, who also sings background vocals on the cut.

Strangely, some copies came with stickers promoting the album as "the first solo album by a Beach Boys member", despite the release of Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue four years earlier, Carl Wilson's self-titled album earlier in 1981, and Bruce Johnston recording solo albums before he even joined the band, in addition to his 1977 album Going Public.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpjtHkPXE2I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=332SqqV-buk

was just about to post homosapien, great song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e72sMIsKdg

unless you want to count "endless love"

Marc Almond - "The Boy Who Came Back" and Ian McCulloch - "Proud to Fall" are nice too.
My vote goes to George Michael.

If it weren't for Midnight Blue, I'd be voting for The Knife Feels Like Justice, some Grade A roots rock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0w8YcyLPmE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GgvoOKH4t8

post-king crimson & UK, pre-Asia

For a second I totally blanked on what "Midnight Blue" sounds like, again, but then just as quickly I remembered it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNAy15RB2vs

dammit apparently paul rodgers played EVERY INSTRUMENT on his '83 solo album but the single aint on youtube

Does Gary Numan's "Cars" count in this?

Wait, that was '79.

Springsteen and "Atlantic City?"

xp Tubeway Army were still Numan backing band for a number of years. They just stopped using the name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3X6KtQ7nxQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG3c79ZxZ38

YEAHHH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgwmLq1acIo

Springsteen and "Atlantic City?"

great single, but nix. even less legit than tom petty, who at least included "& the heartbreakers" on all his previous album covers. and i'd nix petty too if i had the supreme authority.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eevhpfOjyKg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fRZpxGHwDM

i want to thank croup for breaking my browser several times.

sorry

all future obscurities will be linked not embedded

Tommy Shaw - Girls with Guns.

What about Robbie Robertson?

He wasn't the lead singer but he was considered the leader of The Band. Showdown at Big Sky was his debut single, a vintage piece of late 80s Daniel Lanois production.

WHAT ABOUT MIDNIGHT BLUE

killfiling bastards I knew it I knew it

voted Midnight Blue

I hadn't heard it for about 20 years and then it came in a supermarket and I wondered, "Who is this?" and then I thought "Why am I not listening to music that sounds like this all the time?"

It's no Midnight Blue, but we should pay our respects to the great Ray Parker Jr, whom upon leaving Raydio began a doozy of a solo career with his epic The Other Woman.

Nobody understands modern romance like Ray Parker Jr.

Also, what about Daryl Hall, Dreamtime?