Blue Jean by David Bowie

Like many of my readers, I am guessing, I was shocked to hear of the passing of David Bowie earlier this month.  I had had no idea he was even battling cancer.

I'm not going to attempt to write up his long and successful career in this space.  There are lots of other places on the net which have done so, and almost certainly better than I could have done it.   Instead, let's pick up in 1984.  Mr. Bowie was flying high, helped by the success of the platinum Let's Dance the year before.  And then, according to Ultimate Classic Rock:

Concerned that he’d lose his expanded pop audience if he didn’t return with a new album quickly, he rushed out Tonight in the fall of ’84. Bowie later admitted that he hadn't had enough time to get an LP’s worth of material together.

Still, fans were happy with a new Bowie album, and sales earned it a platinum certification, so perhaps it wasn't quite as bad as its reputation now appears to be.

(Tonight peaked at #11 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart. Album ℗1984 Virgin Records.  Photo courtesy Amazon.com.)

While the album was apparently a disappointment to some, including Mr. Bowie himself, the first single from Tonight, "Blue Jean", performed rather well on the charts for a song that Mr. Bowie once described as follows (from a 1987 interview as quoted by--sorry--Wikipedia):

"'Blue Jean' is a piece of sexist rock 'n roll. [laughs] It's about picking up birds. It's not very cerebral, that piece."

Not cerebral, but it had a good beat, and you could dance to it.  And in 1984, perhaps that was just what the listening public wanted.

"Blue Jean" entered Billboard's Hot 100 the week ending September 15, 1984* and peaked at #8 seven weeks later.  It had a good run on the charts, lasting 18 weeks on the Hot 100.  It apparently just missed Billboard's Hot 100 of 1984, though, interestingly, it charted at #88 on American Top 40's top 100 of that year.**

Personally, I have not heard "Blue Jean" on the radio probably since it fell off the charts in early 1985.  I've heard a number of other David Bowie songs on the radio more recently, which is a good thing, but it would be nice for "Blue Jean" to join that number.

* Google's archive of old Billboard magazines does not include this issue at present.

** While American Top 40 used the Billboard Hot 100 as its exclusive source until November 1991, it did not always use Billboard's Hot 100 for its year-end countdowns for some reason. 

Find Another Fool by Quarterflash

It seems like an unlikely start for a band, but Quarterflash got its start when a couple of teaching students met and fell in love.  Marv and Rindy Ross were a good foundation for the bands in which they played; Marv played guitar, and Rindy sang and, for good measure, also played saxophone.  And so they formed a band and gave it a name few people would forget:  Seafood Mama.

Thankfully, the name "Seafood Mama" didn't last once that band and another band merged, and instead they settled on "Quarterflash".  Quarterflash's own bio page doesn't explain the origin of the name, but this archived page at Classic Rock Revisited explains it:

The group’s producer had just returned from Australia and pulled out a book he brought back that listed Australian and New Zealand phrases. When the group came across the phrase Quarterflash, which Australians used to describe newcomers to their land as one-quarter flash and three-parts foolish, the search was over.

After getting a record deal, Quarterflash didn't have to wait too long for its first taste of success, as its first single, a re-recorded version of a Seafood Mama song, "Harden My Heart", shot right up to #3 on Billboard's Hot 100.  The group's eponymous debut album rode the success of "Harden My Heart".

(Quarterflash peaked at #8 on Billboard's Hot LPs and Tape chart. Album ℗1981 Geffen Records.  Photo courtesy Amazon.com.)

Ask most people about Quarterflash now, and they would probably tell you that the band's story began and ended with "Harden My Heart".  Except, of course, that it didn't happen that way.

As might be expected, the success of the first single meant that there would have to be a second single.  "Find Another Fool" was released in early 1982 and had a very similar subject matter to that of  "Harden My Heart"--that of a failed relationship--though "Find Another Fool" was a little harder-rocking.  And it, too, made a good showing on the charts, though not quite as good as its predecessor.  "Find Another Fool" entered the Hot 100 at #87 for the week ending February 13, 1982 (the same week that "Harden My Heart" hit its peak); it peaked at #16 for the week ending April 17 before exiting the Hot 100 a month later, after 13 weeks on the chart.

Quarterflash continued to record for a few more years, even hitting the Top 20 one more time.  However, tastes were changing, and Quarterflash found diminishing returns on their albums.  The group broke up in 1985 after Geffen dropped them, though Marv and Rindy Ross, still married over 30 years later, have released new material in the 21st century under the Quarterflash name.  The Rosses can still be found playing the occasional venue, mostly in Oregon.

Of course, "Harden My Heart" still gets a good amount of airplay on radio today.  Unfortunately, radio has forgotten "Find Another Fool" completely.