could I imagine myself listening while driving through the LA twilight on the way to a) a drug deal that will go catastrophically wrong,
Substitite NJ for LA and you've described The Gasoline Age by East River Pipe, it's not strictly within the purview of this thread of course
― Lamont Dozier Dream House (Deflatormouse), Monday, 14 December 2020 22:23 (three years ago) link
It's almost too literal
― Lamont Dozier Dream House (Deflatormouse), Monday, 14 December 2020 22:24 (three years ago) link
what’s that one italo song where he sings “where did it all go wrong?”... that one fits I think
― brimstead, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 00:51 (three years ago) link
Think the original of Self Control should also be in this thread, especially the 12" version which has that ace rap towards the end
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w1Qo1awwI4
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 12:01 (three years ago) link
Also this Steve Bronski version of Smalltown Boy which is maybe a bit too slow but can totally imagine it being used to soundtrack a more melancholic moment of Miami Vice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXVzyaosPwA
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 12:05 (three years ago) link
Tempo's a bit fast, but here's Jethro Tull doing what they're not known for doing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzJNTNR3_7U
― ... (Eazy), Saturday, 2 January 2021 02:59 (three years ago) link
Tom Petty has several. "You Got Lucky" is mentioned above, but also "A Woman in Love," "Runaway Trains," "Straight Into Darkness," "Dogs on the Run." I guess "Rebels" is a little too anthemic on the chorus?
This vibe was a big part of the radio and MTV landscape in my middle school/high school days, it really is a particular thing. I think glossy early '80s production is part of the key.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 2 January 2021 03:54 (three years ago) link
Moody Blues - "The Other Side of Life"
― Lee626, Saturday, 2 January 2021 04:20 (three years ago) link
The Stones went for this a bit in the '80s;-"Emotional Rescue" the song and the Undercover lp come to mind-but were usually undercut by their Stones-ness. However, they nailed it on "Heaven" from Tattoo You.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-HuYUaSjNU
― "what are you DOING to fleetwood mac??" (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 2 January 2021 05:01 (three years ago) link
I think this was just an 80s stealth cigarette ad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TToLgW7zuc
I'd say this is up with 'Private Dancer' for some 80s sexy sax lines, which would also fit here.
― earlnash, Saturday, 2 January 2021 10:59 (three years ago) link
^^^^ Glenn Frey expression unwittingly showing you his soul
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 2 January 2021 11:17 (three years ago) link
The very title of this thread makes me think of Grateful Dead keyboardist Brent Mydland. Jerry and Bob had their had some dark songs as well, but I think Brent was darker. The moodiest of his songs, Just a Little Light, is too fast to qualify as mid-tempo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovNaCFHgOgw
Blow Away is in the right range.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOtFYt0Uhg0
Far From Me, maybe?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ4CkT8SosU
As with most later-era Dead, these songs aren't very well-served by their studio versions. And, of course, there are much more captivating - but probably too long - versions to be found out there. What do y'all think?
― peace, man, Saturday, 2 January 2021 17:40 (three years ago) link
“how long” by Ace = moody uptempo AOR
― brimstead, Saturday, 2 January 2021 17:47 (three years ago) link
"It isn't even lonely / when no one's ever there" in "Just A Little Light" definitely fits and has the right studio sound. If it's on a 45, would love to hear it at 33 1/3.
― ... (Eazy), Saturday, 2 January 2021 17:58 (three years ago) link
i'm no zz top expert so maybe there are better answers to this thread, but i had 'rough boy' stuck in my head the other day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_4ULKpkLNc
― kites aren't fun (NickB), Saturday, 2 January 2021 18:01 (three years ago) link
Steve Miller puts on some Ray-Bans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-lSRww9S4c
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 4 January 2021 20:53 (three years ago) link
Speaking of Moody Blues, I think "The Voice" might be a rare example of Moody Uptempo AOR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiPzKbT21Vc
But if you lower the speed to 75% it suits the thread surprisingly well.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 4 January 2021 20:56 (three years ago) link
R&B equivalent by way of Enya:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCHgxoXv4g4
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 4 February 2021 19:36 (three years ago) link
Not sure if this fits? Intro is very moody, then it turns into a mix of Dire Straits and i dunno... I don't know if this was big nationally, or just in the Midwest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxPtCADXqdc
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 4 February 2021 23:45 (three years ago) link
ohh these are good ones. that mario one reminds me of the a rap version of this genre, one of my favs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B5uvm34CdE
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 4 February 2021 23:49 (three years ago) link
^^^^^ yesssss such a good one
― brimstead, Thursday, 4 February 2021 23:53 (three years ago) link
my vote for R&B equivalent would be Oran "Juice" Jones' "The Rain"
― trouble with a capital T / big pimpin on B-L-A-D's (crüt), Friday, 5 February 2021 15:09 (three years ago) link
Maybe at least until it goes totally spoken word narrative nuts.
There are a lot of minor key electro sort of things that kind of fit. Even something sort of celebratory, like Shannon's "Let the Music Play," I feel has this pronounced tinge of spooky melancholy. Or something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWUpgzRK1vc
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 5 February 2021 15:30 (three years ago) link
Strafe and Bruce Hornsby, together at last.
― The return of our beloved potatoes (the table is the table), Friday, 5 February 2021 17:34 (three years ago) link
Hmm this may fit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41P8UxneDJE
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 17 June 2021 00:47 (two years ago) link
I thought of this thread the other day when I heard Kenny Loggins' "This Is It" on the radio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS52sEUqxMo
― eisimpleir (crüt), Thursday, 17 June 2021 00:49 (two years ago) link
“These Dreams” definitely feels like a food court where aims have lunch during a mall-job shift, or a strip club mid-afternoon with only a few isolated patrons scattered around the place.
― too cool for zen talk (Eazy), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 18:58 (two years ago) link
hell yeah, crutCan I get a hell yeah to this spacey loggins epic?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAq0oonN9Kc
― brimstead, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 19:08 (two years ago) link
"This is It" was ruined for me (relatively speaking) because I think it was used as the theme to some news show in Philadelphia when I was a kid.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 19:48 (two years ago) link
That's exactly the reason why the song is iconic to me.
― enochroot, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 20:04 (two years ago) link
I can't find it right now but didn't we have a list thread somewhere of songs that are about giving it your all, going for it, reaching for the stars, not givin' up, etc.?
Like "Man in Motion," "This is It," and other inspiring songs that go well over the training montage in an 80s action movie?
― Ludacristine McVie (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:26 (two years ago) link
oh wait, now I found it
Cheesy '80s Songs About Heart and Soul and Overcoming and Winning and Givin' it All That You Got (RIYL Action Movies and Training Montages and Cocaine)
― Ludacristine McVie (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:28 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogMKZ5Zto2Q
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Thursday, 24 June 2021 11:33 (two years ago) link
Ooh, that's a good one. Just moody enough.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 24 June 2021 12:23 (two years ago) link
These Dreams is one of my favorite Heart songs.
― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 19:40 (two years ago) link
the gold standard for this has always been the blue nile for me
I wouldn't classify the blue nile as AOR
I like These Dreams a lot.
― akm, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 21:05 (two years ago) link
This track was a pretty big FM radio tune (at least where I was at) that Mark Sandman really did not get with Morphine. (Although Morphine was a pretty hip group seemingly loved by NPR and college stations somewhat even today I suppose.)
I had not heard for a long time until I heard it in the piped music at the local Redi Mart (which plays all sorts of wacky stuff that you would not expect in a small town in KY - LOTS OF Depeche, New Order and Cure...deep cut 80s stuff).
Treat Her Right - I Think She Likes Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyOo-aheGIU
― earlnash, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 23:51 (two years ago) link
That blues harp dude is inexcusable.
― enochroot, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 01:35 (two years ago) link
i'll submit player, "baby come back"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLtmmFjxSoc
― andrew m., Thursday, 16 September 2021 16:52 (two years ago) link
occurs to me now that it could as easily have been a hall n oates jam.
― andrew m., Thursday, 16 September 2021 16:53 (two years ago) link
for rnb equivalents, I'll submit jermaine jackson, do what you dohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sneQ1AaIbC0
― andrew m., Thursday, 16 September 2021 16:54 (two years ago) link
ozark mountain daredevils, "jackie blue"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xuW-aI-haw
― andrew m., Thursday, 16 September 2021 16:59 (two years ago) link
I don't know if "Holdin' on to Yesterday" ever got played on AOR; it didn't on my local station. I don't even remember it much on Top 40, though it charted at #17 on US Billboard. Love this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1jeVdUo1-I
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 16 September 2021 17:00 (two years ago) link
This genre can feel creepy or spooky in a good way, especially if you're out in the middle of nowhere and all you have to listen to is a classic rock station.
Was never much of a Journey fan, but in recent years, I discovered "Who's Cryin' Now" as kind of creepy.
A favorite of mine has always been Pat Benatar's "I'm Gonna Follow You".
― Night of Olay: The Resurrection (I M Losted), Thursday, 16 September 2021 17:22 (two years ago) link
xp The Ambrosia song got played a lot on the AOR stations I listened to up until the mid Eighties.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Thursday, 16 September 2021 17:42 (two years ago) link
Yeah, in retrospect maybe it got played on mine back then, but it's now been focus-grouped off the playlist.
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 16 September 2021 17:50 (two years ago) link
Firefall's "Strange Way" fits in with "70s AOR that stayed around in the moody mid-80s."
― ... (Eazy), Thursday, 16 September 2021 18:00 (two years ago) link
38 Special, "You Got The Deal":https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLsEm8pku_M
I lived my life one way too longDeal me straight, I can't go wrongA gambler's fate's in the cards he takesAnd now I know it's just a mistake
― aegis philbin (crüt), Friday, 17 September 2021 00:25 (two years ago) link
Noel emits posted “burning feeling” earlier but this is my fav lovelock jam:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8tJDPoknXA
― brimstead, Friday, 17 September 2021 01:43 (two years ago) link
Speaking of .38 Special, does this fit the bill, too?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRkaPdfjzEk
Very bittersweet montage/end-credits ballad vibe, but the tempo might be just mid-tempo enough to work.
BTW, lovely youtube comment:
My Girl and I had just split prior to my 3rd deployment to Iraq. Friends of mine acquired tickets to see 38 Special in Dallas. what I didn't know was they had managed to meet with band members and during the concert my Girl and I were called on stage and they played this song for us while we danced. We have been married for 16 years now. I proposed that night. A night I will never forget.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 October 2021 19:50 (two years ago) link