Ready For The World's Melvin Riley in "Oh Sheila"
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Remember Ready For The World’s Prince-inspired hit?

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A fresh look at Ready For The World's 1985 hit, "Oh Sheila"
GRAMMYs
May 12, 2011 - 7:00 am
GRAMMY.com

Welcome to Forgotten Videos. For some, these videos are forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or vice-versa…. We're not here to judge, we just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

Ready For The World
"Oh Sheila"
1985

The comments on this song's official YouTube page probably say it all. Like this one, for example: "For those that say this song sounds nothing like Prince you are out of your minds :) This song is very Prince influenced. You don't have to be a soundalike to be influenced. It was the hot sound at the time and this isn't the only band that did it. That being said, I love it and Prince."

Yes, Ready For The World were no doubt riding the Prince wave in 1985, just like, oh, say, Roy Orbison rode the Elvis wave or Gerry And The Pacemakers rode the Beatles wave. There's nothing wrong with riding a wave when you do it well.

Ready For The World was a microcosm of '80s R&B, evidenced by the Prince-flavored semi-mechanized funk, dapper suits and Jheri curls wrapped in headbands. But here are some props for RFTW's individuality: In two years they scored three singles that hit the Top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 without turning to Hollywood-based production Svengalis. The Michigan-bred band wrote and produced their own hits. "Oh Sheila" was the big breakthrough for the group — featuring lead singer Melvin Riley along with John Eaton, Gregory Potts, Gordon Strozier, Willie Triplett, and Gerald Valentine — rising all the way to No. 1 on the Hot 100. They followed the same year with "Digital Display" and in 1986 with the ballad "Love You Down."

The video for "Oh Sheila" is a fairly ordinary performance clip. Later, for "Digital Display," having scored a hit, RFTW was allowed to create a video with a storyline, though apparently not with an exponentially greater budget.

To add a bit more spice to the Prince comparisons, there were rumors (at least according to Wikipedia, which may have started them), that the Sheila in question was Sheila E., a former Prince flame, though Riley says the song's subject was a fictional character.

Also like Prince, who just staged a 21-night Los Angeles stand in April and May primarily at the Forum, Ready For The World is still, well, ready for the world. The band has its own label and is available for bookings at www.readyfortheworld.net. Or, you can watch their videos on your digital display.

Did you think "Oh Sheila" was a Prince song the first 438 times you heard it? Got any Forgotten Video recommendations? Leave us a comment.

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Europe In 3, 2…1

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Sweden's biggest rock export ushers in "The Final Countdown" in this week's Forgotten Videos
GRAMMYs
Jun 8, 2011 - 4:00 am
GRAMMY.com

Welcome to Forgotten Videos. For some, these videos are forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or vice-versa…. We're not here to judge, we just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

Europe
"The Final Countdown"
1986

The introductory keyboard riff to Europe's "The Final Countdown" is arguably one of the most recognizable rock keyboard riffs ever. Go ahead, try and get it out of your head.

Emerging from the neutral country of Sweden, Europe ascended to popularity in the United States appropriately during the height of the Cold War in the mid '80s. Penned by frontman Joey Tempest, the title track to Europe's third album seemingly served as a viable alternative for escaping a world on the verge of nuclear warfare, with post-apocalyptic allusions in the form of departures to Venus and light-year-long searches across the universe for many "things to be found."

The video almost tricks viewers into believing the end is actually near with the inclusion of vast wastelands, dramatic skyline views, dark control rooms, and countdown clocks. But armed with spotlights, fireworks and healthy coiffures, the Swedish rockers explode onstage to the roar of the crowd, as if they are either oblivious to the countdown and impending doom, or they're happy to bring on the apocalypse.

"The Final Countdown" was Europe's first song to launch into the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 8 in 1987, and impressively catapulted to No. 1 in 25 countries. Europe had become Sweden's most recognizable export this side of ABBA.

Unfortunately, Europe's final countdown to obscurity elapsed in 1991 when Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and his flannel-wearing friends ushered in a new sound and style that had little to do with keyboards and hair care. As a result, Europe left solid ground in 1992 only to later reemerge for a special outdoor performance of "The Final Countdown" as the calendar turned from 1999 to Y2K on New Year's Eve in Stockholm.

The band — featuring Tempest, drummer Ian Haugland, bassist John Leven, keyboardist Mic Michaeli, and guitarist John Norum — mounted a full-scale comeback with a new studio album, Start From The Dark, in 2004, and has since released Secret Society (2006), Almost Unplugged (2008) and Last Look At Eden (2009) while continuing to tour, mainly in the UK.

As the band forges on, "The Final Countdown" has passed 17 million views on YouTube, maintains constant footing on the iTunes rock singles chart (currently No. 10 as of this writing), and continues to be played at sporting events worldwide.

What is it about "The Final Countdown" that has continued to resonate with listeners for 25 years?

"I think people around the world have different ideas what the song means to them," opined Tempest in a recent interview.

Or perhaps AllMusic.com's album review sums it up best: "One of the most glorious launches in history, the title track for the thrice-platinum The Final Countdown is so bombastically brilliant, such glorious garbage, that this nuclear hair assault could only spew from the vacuous '80s…. You could live without [it,] but why?"
 

Have you gotten the keyboard riff to "The Final Countdown" out of your head yet? Got any Forgotten Video recommendations? Leave us a comment.

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Rick James Is Too Freakin' Cool

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Rick James and friends get their "Super Freak" on in Forgotten Videos
Tammy La Gorce
GRAMMYs
May 23, 2012 - 11:54 am
GRAMMY.com

Welcome to Forgotten Videos. For some, these videos are forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or vice-versa. … We're not here to judge, we just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

Rick James
"Super Freak"
1981

f there is one thing the video to the 1981 hit "Super Freak" illustrates about the late Rick James, it is that he was hardly in denial about his own superfreakiness.

The song alone does little to distill this: its subject, the girl who's "very kinky" (and "the kind you don't take home to moth-ah") is described in fairly explicit detail — she rides in limousines; she likes the boys in the band; she's partial to incense, wine and candles. But what about James himself? If it wasn't for this video, shot well before the public escapades that led to his considerable legal troubles and heightened TV visibility, listeners the world over might never have known they were lending their ears to a bona fide male super freak.


That is not to say the superfreakiness on display in this low-budget video is on par with the superfreakiness with which fans of modern pop music have become accustomed (chances are nobody can out-freak Nicki Minaj nowadays). But check out James in the opening 15 seconds: not only do his hair and outfit announce a super freak — his lion-from-The Wizard Of Oz-inspired mane is doused in glitter and his Kiss-inspired costume features a rhinestone top and lightning bolts down the legs of his shiny black tights — but he appears to be missing a tooth. James proceeds to give the band of female dancers, who collectively act out the role of the titular freak, a run for their freaky money. In the back of the limo, he shares a smooch with one, while nearly taking a bite out of another's knee.

If this was James' way of outing himself as a freak, history proved ready to embrace him. Though 1978's "You And I" (No. 13) charted higher, "Super Freak" (No. 16) arguably became James' signature song and netted him his first GRAMMY nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male. The song is culled from his fifth album, Street Songs, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, his highest-charting album performance. And in true freaky fashion, James would go on to land the sole GRAMMY of his career in 1990 when M.C. Hammer won for Best Rhythm & Blues Song for "U Can't Touch This," a song that heavily sampled "Super Freak."

Are you a super freak? Got a Forgotten Video recommendation? Leave us a comment.

(Tammy La Gorce is a freelance writer whose work appears regularly in The New York Times, and on All Music Guide and Amazon.com.)

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Pre-Auto-Tune

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Roger's funky vocals in this week's Forgotten Video
GRAMMYs
Aug 5, 2010 - 10:42 am
GRAMMY.com

Welcome to Forgotten Videos. Well, for some forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or, we'll be giving a fresh look at a video that deserves to be collecting dust. We're not here to judge, we just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

Roger
"I Want To Be Your Man"
1987

Are you a fan of Auto-Tune? Or do you think it's the vocal equivalent of cheating on an exam? Either way, look no further than Roger as one of the early proponents of treating a vocal like it's any other instrument, open to studio tricks. But whether you think that's a good thing or an unforgivable affront to every singer who has ever cut a vocal track without overdubs or edits (whoever that might have been…), there's no denying "I Want To Be Your Man" is enormously catchy R&B (despite opening with what seems like a Jerry Lewis parody). Roger Troutman was the leader of his family group Zapp, but "I Want To Be Your Man" was from a solo disc, Unlimited!, an album that also featured "I Really Want To Be Your Man." "I Want To Be Your Man" climbed to No. 3 in early 1988, and other Roger songs were ultimately sampled by Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre — whose Roger-sampled "California Love" earned a Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group GRAMMY nomination in 1996 — and others. Sadly, Roger was shot to death by his brother Larry in a murder-suicide in 1999. 

Got a Forgotten Video recommendation? Leave us a comment.

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In Line With Billy Ray Cyrus

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Achy Breaky dance moves in this week's Forgotten Video
GRAMMYs
Sep 30, 2010 - 4:00 am
GRAMMY.com

Welcome to Forgotten Videos. Well, for some forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or, we'll be giving a fresh look at a video that deserves to be collecting dust. We're not here to judge, we just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

Billy Ray Cyrus
"Achy Breaky Heart"
1992

Hailing from Flatwoods, Ky., Billy Ray Cyrus was close to taking his turn at bat instead of inside a recording studio. While attending Kentucky's Georgetown College on a baseball scholarship, Cyrus purchased a guitar, which led him to rethink his career path. Eventually, he signed with Mercury Records and released his debut album, Some Gave All, in 1992. Following the lead of the romping "Achy Breaky Heart," which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992, the album has sold more than nine million copies.

Achy breaky lore has it that the song was initially offered to the Oak Ridge Boys, but they passed since lead singer Duane Allen did not like the words "achy breaky." Their loss was Cyrus' break, as the song became his signature and garnered a GRAMMY nomination for Record Of The Year in 1992.

While perfectly styled country lyrics such as "You can tell your ma I moved to Arkansas/You can tell your dog to bite my leg" provide enough fodder for discussion (as do Billy Ray's power mullet and Elvis-like hip shakes), the song is arguably most notable for its video, which helped spearhead the line dancing craze of the early '90s. The Achy Breaky dance became hugely popular at local bars, taverns and dives nationwide, and the legend is still intact today thanks to YouTube. (If the passage of time has clouded your memory of how the dance goes, check out this helpful tutorial.)

Like so many songs that become pop culture phenomena, "Achy Breaky Heart" was either loved or hated. The song was No. 2 on VH1's 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs list (losing out to Starship's badly awesome "We Built This City") and also placed on Blender magazine's 50 Worst Songs Ever list. But AOL country music website The Boot named the song one of the top 10 catchiest country tunes of all time.

Cyrus would not plate a Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hit again until 2007 with "Ready, Set, Don't Go" — the same year his daughter Miley first broke the Top 10 with "See You Again." Also in 2007, Cyrus was a contestant on "Dancing With The Stars," but his achy breaky moves were only good for fifth place.

On a scale of one to 10, how would you rate Billy Ray's mullet? Got a Forgotten Video recommendation? Leave us a comment.

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