In Praise of Moody Midtempo AOR

Man, there's just something about the late night drive vibe of, for example:

Foreigner, "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
The Who, "Eminence Front"
Eagles, "I Can't Tell You Why"
Alan Parson's Project, "Eye in the Sky"

(Or, more loosely/generously, Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold")

What else fits?

in the air tonight

maybe that one is too slow to be midtempo? idk

That's kind of the ur-one, a la the "Miami Vice" pilot.

the gold standard for this has always been the blue nile for me, but i'm american what do i know.

Michelob Rock iirc

Steve Winwood, “Don’t You Know What The Night Can Do”

Hmm, something like Clapton's re-do of "After Midnight" might indeed fit. The Winwood ... I'll have to think about it. Its chorus is kind of too big, which defeats the melancholy.

Self Control surely?

Ooh, good one! There are probably a lot more moody midtempo Italo disco jams in that vein.

"Live to Tell" for sure, too, duh. I was trying to think of some other Patrick Leonard stuff, like from that Peter Cetera album he did. "One Good Woman" has the same problem as the Steve Windwood song, in that the chorus is too big and disrupts the mood. But for example, the moody coda to "Glory of Love," I kind of wish the whole song was like that.

Hmm, maybe something like "Broken Wings" might fit the mold/mode/mood? Oh, but for sure, "Only the Lonely" by the Motels!

And Quarterflash, "Harden My Heart!"

10cc “I’m Not In Love”
Ace “How Long”
Cars “Drive”
Foreigner “I Want To Know What Love Is”

Self Control surely?

― Uptown Top Scamping (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, December 2, 2020 12:51 PM (twelve minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Ooh, good one! There are probably a lot more moody midtempo Italo disco jams in that vein.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, December 2, 2020 12:57 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

To my ear "Tarzan Boy" is basically the same song as "Self Control."

xpost I considered the last two, which are practically perfect songs, but they seem, I dunno, more straight up ballads to me. And "I Want to Know" has that exultant chorus, too, though I have always detected a certain sadness to it.

"In the House of Stone and Light," aka the poor man's "In Your Eyes."

I've never heard that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIa9UEXd98Q

Mike + The Mechanics “The Living Years”

Though I guess while we are going down that road, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" and "Sara" might both fit. Maybe "Oh, Sherrie" by Steve Perry?

Not sure if this is in the zone or just adjacent but my brain just suggested "Hazard" by Richard Marx. Feels musically similar but culturally different.

Don Henley “Boys of Summer”?

Another dark horse that comes to mind is Dalbello’s “Guilty By Association”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSfmLy54W8Q

Are Rhiannon and Don't Fear the Reaper too early to count?

The song that leapt to mind reading the thread title was Big Log by Robert Plant.

Curious what song would mark the end of this style, chronologically.

Living Years is totally this vibe, yeah.

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" and "Oh, Sherrie" seem a bit too strident to be called moody. "Sara" could work.

Not sure this is AOR but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1_2HhRe1Cc

"End of the Innocence" and probably "Mandolin Rain."

Not sure about "Boys of Summer."

I'd definitely include Big Log! Maybe include Boys of Summer, which pushes the bound of midtempo but is absolutely steeped in mood.

As far as Fleetwood Mac goes, something like "Little Lies" and "Everywhere" are closer in spirit than "Rihannon," imo. BOC is a solid no, though, since it's a bit too fast and has that psychedelic freakout in the middle.

"Burnin' for You" tho?

"Limelight"??

Burnin for You, That comes closer than "Reaper," but it's got that big fist-pumping chorus and key change that kind of throws it off. Limelight, the chorus for sure captures a mood.

Interesting, I'd call Little Lies and Everywhere AM pop instead of AOR. I guess I see AOR as incompatible with drum machines and Fairlight samplers.

"Games Without Frontiers"?

Springsteen’s I’m On Fire & Philadelphia

Jefferson Starship - "Miracles"

may have in fact invented the genre

Jim Capaldi - "That's Love"

Marty Balin - "Hearts"

I would think anything by Ambrosia or Firefall

"Philadelphia" but not "I'm on Fire."

Wait are we just describing sophistopop? In which case "Life in a Northern Town" and Spandau Ballet's "True" qualify

Hall & Oates - "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)"

Bryan Ferry’s The Name of the Game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvJ5VkOrz4w

Shares a lot of musical DNA with Live To Tell, then again it’s a Patrick Leonard co-write.

I'm actually not totally sure what we're describing. I first thought we were talking about songs that would have been on album-oriented rock radio stations in the early 80s with a driving beat but more atmospheric feel, combining guitars and synths (which would not include Spandau Ballet or Madonna) - but some of these seem like something p different from that.xps

Eric Carmen “Hungry Eyes”

Steve Miller “Abracadabra”

Hall & Oates again, with "One On One"

Alan Parson Project again, with "Breakdown"

Sund4r, I think "moody" is pretty subjective - you know moody when you hear it. Not sure "a driving beat" is essential; rather something that is good to drive to. Josh in Chicago's first examples were

Foreigner, "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
The Who, "Eminence Front"
Eagles, "I Can't Tell You Why"
Alan Parson's Project, "Eye in the Sky"

"Eminence Front" is a fucking JAM with huge drums. "Eye in the Sky" has some rock edge as well, especially in the chorus. The other two are understated in terms of "driving beat."

All do have atmospheric feel, and combine guitars and synths, so perhaps that's part of the recipe. Ultimately only the OP can say if we're hitting the mark.

I think there is a lot of crossover with sophistipop. But I also think of stuff like, for example, Tina Turner's Mad Max song, which is not sophistipop.

Yeah, I think I was mainly thinking of "Eminence Front" and "Eye in the Sky".xp

those Hall & Oates songs are interesting examples as well I think. I don't think I would call them sophistipop, though they share some DNA.

"I'm Not In Love" strikes me as the epitome of this thread description, which reminds me:

Godley & Creme - "Cry"

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3pbQAqnpbc

My grasp of cosmology is shaky but it stands to reason that if there are any alternate universes, the logical conclusion is that there are an infinite number of alternate universes.

So there is either precisely one reality, or an infinite number of realities. Once you get past one, there is no reason to cap the number of universes. If there are a hundred, why not five hundred? If there a thousand, why not twenty thousand?

This is a long way of saying that maybe there's a universe in which Phil Collins is the lead singer of Black Sabbath.

And Queen is fronted by George Michael. For some reason, Whitesnake never existed and the Chicago River always flows eastward.

The only dipping sauces available for McNuggets are ranch and guacamole.

I would like to hear the first Queen album fronted by a 10 year old George Michael

but I won't live in a world without Whitesnake

Don't worry, ums, in that reality Coverdale starts a band with John Mellencamp and they call it CougarSnake.

Picturing Coverdale singing “Suckin’ on a Chili Dog”

i just wanna get close to you
taste your lovin' hog
and i just wanna make love to you
suck on yr chili dog

Here I go again on my own
Suckin on the only dog I've ever known

^^^ loooool!

Crumblin' down slow and easy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Fy7NhD_co

Phil Manzanera - Listen Now

not sure what song this Seahawks edit is of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEHX-Hp2GbA

Sanford Townsend Band - Moolah Moo Mazuma (Sin City Wahh-oo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBIi5AEiN9A

(not a response to brimstead)

A dollop of Michael Franks:

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g_3Ffo0MHA
The Comsat Angels - I'm Falling

Aax Donnell and Eric Malone - “Golden Cage”

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

pants

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y43Ia8Ettqc

*searches YouTube on "icehouse no promises extended mix" and looks for longest one*

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

Icehouse were never played on any AOR station in my neck of the woods (we have a classic rocker and a more metal leaning one) but they WERE played quite a bit on a AAA that was new here in 1984. They featured a mix of progressive rock, alternative rock, jazz and new-age music, an approach similar to stations such as WXRT in Chicago and KBCO in Denver. Other influences reach back even farther, to progressive FM rock stations from the 1960s and 1970s. (thanks, wiki.)

"Man of Colours" by Icehouse got played a lot, along with a couple others below; maybe more downtempo than mid, but certainly moody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtWjYRNL9uE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swUdXb94LB0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXWypJvmO_g

Three Dog Night – Easy Evil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j3IKMUQe1w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_Hm5mrHFsA

Listen to the build up on this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQl62w71Ets

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmslaEudR3M