In Praise of Moody Midtempo AOR

for rnb equivalents, I'll submit jermaine jackson, do what you do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sneQ1AaIbC0

ozark mountain daredevils, "jackie blue"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xuW-aI-haw

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

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".

xp The Ambrosia song got played a lot on the AOR stations I listened to up until the mid Eighties.

Yeah, in retrospect maybe it got played on mine back then, but it's now been focus-grouped off the playlist.

Firefall's "Strange Way" fits in with "70s AOR that stayed around in the moody mid-80s."

38 Special, "You Got The Deal":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLsEm8pku_M

I lived my life one way too long
Deal me straight, I can't go wrong
A gambler's fate's in the cards he takes
And now I know it's just a mistake

Noel emits posted “burning feeling” earlier but this is my fav lovelock jam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8tJDPoknXA

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.

That is lovely, but it also reminds me of @IraParks from Twitter who tweets out fake YouTube comments that have exactly the same kind of rhythm as that.

Well I got shagged to this song in the bathroom of a Wendy's

how was the baked potato?

You should have seen the salad bar.

Right in front of my salad bar.

I might be stretching to meet the criteria, and I'm not sure these are worthy of praise, but here are a few I thought of. Purposely not embedded...

Emerson Lake & Powell - Touch & Go
The Hooters - All You Zombies
The Firm - Satisfaction Guaranteed

Olivia Newton-John “Magic” is core curriculum for me in this area, so smooth and ominous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8thfhpKzYg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbHiY-DvMg0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3soJBmu_cFI

thread desperately needs a spotify playlist.

surprised there's not an AI tool that can scrape the text and youtube links and uh, do that for us.

Pet Shop Boys - "Later"
Duran Duran - "Save A Prayer"

I made one a while back

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/17ioxB7tYdJvbZFaMksZFi?si=HZzWmro3Sd-SDfWn985Q2A

Benjamin Orr "Stay the Night"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ySLmwsfP4Q

Foreigner "Waiting for a Girl Like You", similar vibe

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

Walter Egan - "Hot Summer Nights"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oZyT9z9Fmc

I can't tell you why

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odcn6qk94bs

Electric Light Orchestra – Sorrow About To Fall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnAbyd8oT-E

surprised benny mardones "into the night" had never been mentioned

Pedo anthem

Too croony, not moody.

"Waiting for a Girl like You" and "I Can't Tell You Why" mentioned in the first post

My bad, President K. Both tracks still rock tho

added egan, elo, eagles (which i missed somehow), and benjamin orr to the playlist - all great picks

that Orr song rules. a childhood favorite that I only rediscovered a year ago

I really like "Skyline" off that Orr album - that one's too optimistic-sounding for this thread though

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Alien

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

i love ARS. would also totally pay for a tee with that album design on the front.

Benjamin Orr's reputation has suffered only because he was the second most talented member of a world-class, top-tier band.

He's the 80s version of George Harrison. He would have been the standout star performer of almost any band he joined... except for the band he was actually in.

thread needs some atlanta rhythm section imo

― budo jeru, Sunday, December 13, 2020 2:09 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol

Schmit has to be among the top ten tenors of all time. His voice in that video co-stars with his luxuriant hair and the 'stache of Joe Walsh.

The music is good, sure. But let us please reflect that this was a truly epic period for Eagles hairdos.

He would have been the standout star performer of almost any band he joined... except for the band he was actually in.

Reminds me of Mike Mills saying that he's a good singer who just happens to be in a band with one of the greatest rock singers ever.

Prez K yep but there is more to being a frontman than singing.

A hypothetical nonBeatles fronted by George Harrison goes exactly as far as Badfinger.

A hypothetical nonREM fronted by Mike Mills goes exactly as far as Poi Dog Pondering.

A hypothetical nonEagles fronted by Timothy B. Schmit goes exactly as far as Poco.

A rock band fronted by the Edge goes as far as Big Country.

A folk group fronted by Art Garfunkel goes nowhere.

A new wave act fronted by Andy Summers goes nowhere.

A soul group fronted by John Oates goes nowhere.

Ego is a hell of a drug, but a lack of it is also, apparently, fatal. Major acts seem to need at least one person with messianic dreams

Is "Fast Car" to slow?

You want moody, looks at any song with a video directed by Matt Mahurin.

Great post, YMP.
Would be a fun thread (reminds me of Imagine if John Lydon had died in 1980 and Ian Curtis was making adverts for Country Life butter)

How far would Genesis have gone if they let the drummer sing?

it's fun to think about what happens to zeppelin if page got his wish and terry reid was the singer

A solo John Oates could have written and sung a handful of hits in the late 70s, think of all the comparative non-entities who had moderate success in that era.

I love Oates but he is not an ambitious fellow.

What if, in 2007, Journey hired a 40-year-old Filipino cover band singer to replace Steve Perry?

it's fun to think about what happens to zeppelin if page got his wish and terry reid was the singer

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, May 11, 2023 3:24 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

i remember reading an itw with Tony Iommi in some guitar mag c. early 90's and he said Phil Collins was the singer he most wanted to work with, he loved Phil's voice and wanted him to sing for Black Sabbath.