Poison MTV Unplugged (1990)

MTV Unplugged:

Your Mama Don't Dance
Good Love
Every Rose Has It's Thorn
Let It Play
Unskinny Bop
Talk Dirty To Me

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Stone Temple Pilots: MTV Unplugged 1993

Stone Temple Pilots, the hard rock sensation based south of Los Angeles, taped a performance for "MTV Unplugged" in New York City in November of 1993. Band members Weiland (vocals), Robert DeLeo (bass), Dean DeLeo (guitars) and Eric Kretz (drums) perform a rockin' acoustic set featuring tracks off their debut album Core. Recorded 17 November 1993 at Sony Music Studios - New York. Set List: 1. Crackerman; 2. Creep; 3. Andy Warhol; 4. Plush; 5. Big Empty; 6. Sin; 7. Wicked Garden; 8. Sex Type Thing.

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Pearl Jam - MTV Completely Unplugged (1992)

One of the hottest new bands to emerge out of music hot bed Seattle at the time of this taping, Pearl Jam was currently riding high on the success of their debut album Ten. Taped at midnight at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in March of 1992, Pearl Jam band members Eddie Vedder (vocals), Mike McCready (guitar), Stone Gossard (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), and Dave Abbruzzese (drums) gave an unforgettable and captivating performance that unleashed the band's raw, poetic and lyrical genius to the world, also highlighting a point of Eddie's personal and political values that made his music seem more genuine and real. But before we get into the music, lets begin with the heart of this live performance.

One thing to be noted about Pearl Jam during the duration (35 minutes) of this show is their energy and devotion towards the music they play, as well as the pure joy they get out of performing. The camera catches glimpses of Dave smiling and mouthing the words as he rocks out on the drum set throughout the entire show, and you'll notice McCready and Stone start to move their bodies with the rhythm of the music and dedicate their entire mindset and emotion to each song's pivotal guitar solo found within most of Pearl Jam's pieces. However, I find myself completely lost to the world around me when I see Eddie sing. Eddie's voice alone is gripping and intense as he sings the tune is such a way to showcase power, pureness, and patience, but when you put that talent along with his enthralling facial expressions, you get...well...a damn good show. Eddie's face (aside from being absolutely beautiful) leaves you wondering whether or not he's having an epileptic seizure, wanting to kill someone, or just completely lost in the music. His eyes roll in the back of his head, his head jerks around in short, fast movements, and he'll even give you a twisted little smile, raising his cheekbones and pursing his lips, in parts of the song that usually aren't that happy. Passion runs through his blood and it is evident in the way he performs.

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The Alarm

With idealistic spirit, a powerhouse live show, and bigger than big hair, the Alarm were part of an early-'80s wave of bands (the Call, Big Country, and the Waterboys among them) who dealt in soaring anthems inspired by the righteous idealism of punk. Clearly influenced by the impassioned political fervor of the Clash, the Alarm also worked in a mostly acoustic, folk-punk vein that provided a counterpoint to their hard-driving guitar rockers. Their stage look was unquestionably a product of the '80s, with enormous spiked-up hair accompanying a cowboy/old-time cavalry wardrobe. Yet the numerous comparisons to U2 in the press were not unfounded; despite a more conservative sonic palette, the Alarm had much the same earnest intensity, the same messianic ambitions, even the same vague spirituality. Likewise, the Alarm seemed to covet a mainstream breakthrough in the vein of The Joshua Tree's conquest of the pop charts, and polished up their sound accordingly, with mixed creative results. The British music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but this meant little to their zealous following who supported the band to the tune of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles.

The Alarm was formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist Mike Peters, who'd started out in a local punk band called the Toilets along with Alarm drummer Nigel Twist (b. Nigel Buckle). When that band broke up, Peters -- then playing bass -- formed a new outfit called Seventeen (after the Sex Pistols song) with guitarists Eddie MacDonald and Dave Sharp (b. Dave Kitchingman), both local scenesters and longtime friends. Seventeen was initially influenced by the Pistols, the Clash, the mod-revival punk of the Jam, and the punk-pop of ex-Pistol Glen Matlock's Rich Kids. As their songwriting interests grew more socially conscious, and in early 1981, the group reinvented itself as the Alarm, taking the name from a Seventeen song called "Alarm Alarm." Later that year, they moved to London and self-released their debut single, a Peters/MacDonald-penned political rocker called "Unsafe Building," backed with Sharp's folk-punk tune "Up for Murder." By this time, MacDonald and Peters had switched instruments, with Peters taking up rhythm guitar and MacDonald moving to bass.

In 1982, the Alarm signed with IRS and issued another single, "Marching On." On the strength of their live shows, U2 tapped them to open their 1983 supporting tour for War, which helped make the group's next single, the Stephen King retelling "The Stand," into an underground hit. The Alarm's self-titled debut EP appeared later in 1983, compiling previous single releases, and setting the stage for the release of their first proper album, Declaration, in 1984. A Top Ten U.K. hit, Declaration spun off several popular singles, including the Seventeen holdover "Sixty-Eight Guns" (which made the pop Top 20), "Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?" (which just missed), "The Deceiver," and the live staple "Blaze of Glory." Non-LP singles followed in a cover of "The Bells of Rhymney," the new wave dance tune "The Chant (Has Just Begun)," and the British Top 40 hit "Absolute Reality."

The Alarm's sophomore effort, 1985's Strength, was another U.K. success, and brought them into the Top 40 of the U.S. album charts for the first time; additionally, the single "Spirit of '76" was a Top 40 U.K. hit. Strength displayed greater subtlety and maturity in both their songwriting and arrangements, and was often hailed as the group's best overall album. The Alarm took a break after the supporting tour, and returned in 1987 with Eye of the Hurricane, which featured more polished, mainstream production reminiscent of U2. The gambit helped them gain some rock radio play in America with the singles "Presence of Love," "Rescue Me," and especially the more danceable "Rain in the Summertime," and they landed a tour slot supporting Bob Dylan. A concert EP, Electric Folklore: Live, followed in 1988.

1989's Change was an homage to the group's native Wales, and was accompanied by an alternate Welsh-language version, Newid. Produced by Tony Visconti, Change spawned the group's biggest modern rock radio hit in America, the bluesy "Sold Me Down the River," which also put them in the U.S. pop Top 50 for the first and only time. "Devolution Working Man Blues" and "Love Don't Come Easy" also earned radio airplay, and the track "A New South Wales" boasted an appearance by the Welsh Symphony Orchestra. Although it was hugely popular in Wales, it didn't sell as well as the group's earlier works, and internal band dissension -- exacerbated by deaths in both Peters and Twist's families -- made 1991's Raw the original Alarm's final effort. "The Road" was their final radio hit, but with the band's impending breakup, IRS found little reason to promote it.

Mike Peters and Dave Sharp both embarked on solo careers. Sharp issued albums in 1991 and, after relocating to New Orleans, in 1996. Peters, meanwhile, issued his solo debut in 1995 and was subsequently diagnosed with lymphoma; fortunately, the "cancer" turned out to be benign, and Peters completed two more solo records before forming Colorsound with former Cult guitarist Billy Duffy. Peters subsequently reunited the original Alarm lineup for several live appearances, and then formed a new unit consisting of guitarist James Stevenson (Gene Loves Jezebel, Chelsea), bassist Craig Adams (the Cult, the Mission UK, Sisters of Mercy), and drummer Steve Grantley (Stiff Little Fingers).

 In February 2004, this lineup of the Alarm pulled off a masterful hoax on the British music industry by issuing a garagey punk-pop single, "45 RPM," under the fictitious name the Poppy Fields. Peters, having gotten positive feedback on the song, decided to disassociate it from his veteran band to have it judged on its own merits, and recruited a young Welsh group called the Wayriders to lip-sync the song in the video. The so-called Poppy Fields took "45 RPM" into the U.K. Top 30 before the hoax was revealed, setting the stage for the new Alarm's first album together, In the Poppy Fields. Soon after the album's release, production for a film based on Peters' manipulating of the music industry began with Shrek producer John H. Williams backing the project. 

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Kansas

Fusing the complexity of British prog rock with an American heartland sound representative of their name, Kansas were among the most popular bands of the late '70s; though typically dismissed by critics, many of the group's hits remain staples of AOR radio playlists to this day. Formed in Topeka in 1970, the founding members of the group -- guitarist Kerry Livgren, bassist Dave Hope, and drummer Phil Ehart -- first played together while in high school; with the 1971 addition of classically trained violinist Robbie Steinhardt, they changed their name to White Clover, reverting back to the Kansas moniker for good upon the 1972 arrivals of vocalist/keyboardist Steve Walsh and guitarist Richard Williams.

The group spent the early part of the decade touring relentlessly and struggling for recognition; initially, their mix of boogie and prog rock baffled club patrons, but in due time they established a strong enough following to win a record deal with the Kirshner label. Kansas' self-titled debut LP appeared in 1974; while only mildly successful, the group toured behind it tirelessly, and their fan base grew to the point that their third effort, 1975's Masque, sold a quarter of a million copies. In 1976, Leftoverture truly catapulted Kansas to stardom. On the strength of the smash hit "Carry on Wayward Son," the album reached the Top Five and sold over three million copies. Released in 1977, Point of Know Return was even more successful, spawning the monster hit "Dust in the Wind." While the 1978 live LP Two for the Show struggled to break the Top 40, its studio follow-up, Monolith, the band's first self-produced effort, reached the Top Ten. That same year, Walsh issued a solo record, Schemer-Dreamer.

 In the wake of 1980's Audio-Visions, Kansas began to splinter; both Hope and Livgren became born-again Christians, the latter issuing the solo venture Seeds of Change, and their newfound spirituality caused divisions within the band's ranks. Walsh soon quit to form a new band, Streets; the remaining members forged on without him, tapping vocalist John Elefante as his replacement. The first Kansas LP without Walsh, 1982's Vinyl Confessions, launched the hit "Play the Game Tonight," but after only one more album, 1983's Drastic Measures, they disbanded.

In 1986, however, Kansas re-formed around Ehart, Williams, and Walsh; adding the famed guitarist Steve Morse as well as bassist Billy Greer, the refurbished band debuted with the album Power, scoring a Top 20 hit with "All I Wanted." When the follow-up, 1988's In the Spirit of Things, failed to hit, seven years passed before the release of their next effort, Freaks of Nature. The London Symphony-assisted Always Never the Same followed in 1998, and in 2000 Kansas issued Somewhere to Elsewhere, their 14th studio album (and last to date), which saw the return of founder singer/songwriter Kerry Livgren.

Subsequent years found Kansas continuing to tour and release compilations and live albums, culminating in their 2014 inductions into the Kansas Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, which coincided with the group's 40th anniversary. Miracles Out of Nowhere, a DVD/CD career retrospective, followed in early 2015.

 

 

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Christopher Cross

Christopher Cross was far and away the biggest new star of 1980, virtually defining adult contemporary radio with a series of smoothly sophisticated ballads including the chart-topping "Sailing"; seemingly as quickly as he shot to fame, however, his star descended, although he continued recording and touring for years to come. Born Christopher Geppert in San Antonio, TX on May 3, 1951, Cross first surfaced in the Austin-based cover band Flash before signing a solo contract with Warner Bros. in the autumn of 1978.

His self-titled debut LP appeared two years later, with the lead single "Ride Like the Wind" rocketing to the number two spot; the massive success of the second single, "Sailing," made Cross a superstar, and in the wake of two more Top 20 hits, "Never Be the Same" and "Say You'll Be Mine," he walked off with a record-setting five Grammys in 1981, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Sailing." He soon scored a second number one as well as an Academy Award with "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," which he co-wrote with Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen for the smash Dudley Moore film comedy Arthur.


Cross' much-anticipated sophomore effort, Another Page, arrived in 1983, but except for the Top Ten entry "Think of Laura" (popularized through its constant presence on the daytime soap phenomenon General Hospital), the album failed to repeat the success of its predecessor, and somewhat amazingly, he never returned to the Top 40 again. Every Turn of the World appeared to little notice in 1985, and when 1988's Back of My Mind failed to chart altogether, Cross was dropped by Warner. His next album, Rendezvous, did not appear until five years later on BMG. Window followed in 1995, and in 1998 he signed to CMC International for Walking in Avalon, a two-disc effort split between new studio material and live recordings of his past hits.

Cross returned in the spring of 2000 with The Red Room. Two years later, Rhino released the comprehensive hit collection The Very Best of Christopher Cross. Cross closed out the decade with a Christmas album in 2007 and an acoustic album called The Cafe Carlyle Sessions in 2008. Dr. Faith, his first collection of new songs in ten years, appeared in the fall of 2010.

 

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