DJ Scratchy and the DVA are back! Well, minus the Santa hat….
Lost hit legends can once again rejoice from wherever the heck they’ve been hiding for several decades. It’s Monday, and with the Countdown of Whatever now in the uncracked rearview mirror, that means it’s once again time for The Nest to dig up the combination to the vault and pull another lost platter that matters out of that treasure trove of oldies we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive! I wanted to start off with something a bit mellow…. but after 30 weeks of being put on the back burner, DJ Scratchy wasn’t having any of that shit. And the Sponkies approve…. here’s some classic early 80’s arena rock for your ears!
Among the many popular rock bands that emerged in the early MTV era to blow out the speakers in our 50 pound boomboxes was the group Night Ranger. They may not have been the best known rockers to come out of the Bay Area at that time, but they certainly carved their niche in 80’s lore with…… one of the sappiest rock ballads of the entire decade. “Sister Christian” was Night Ranger’s breakout hit in 1984, climbing all the way up to #5, and you still have to listen to that piece of crap on the radio if you listen to a station that plays something other than Justin Bieber…
MOTORING! WHAT’S YOUR PRICE FOR FLIGHT?
Argh! I hate when halfway decent bands get saddled with such a shitty song as their lone calling card. Luckily, I listened to rock radio before that shit came out… so I already knew who Night Ranger was, and was loving them for the song that got a lot of play in 1983 and demonstrated that these guys actually knew how to rock. Released in 1982 off their debut album Dawn Patrol, here’s Night Ranger’s air guitar masterpiece, “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”…
“Don’t Tell Me” was a Mainstream Rock hit, reaching #4 on that chart. But it was an official Top 40 hit by the skin of its teeth, topping out at #40… meaning poor Casey Kasum probably only got to play this one time on Sunday morning, while he had to play that Sister Christian shit for weeks on end…
Just like his pal Shaggy, Casey got all the crap assignments. I’ll bet Fred liked Sister Christian…
Come back next Monday for another forgotten song that rocks! Well, unless I sneak in that mellow one….
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
isn’t that great? it could be me who played the guitar… thanks parents for forcing me to piano lessons…sigh
It’s kind of hard to play the air piano, too. Or at least you’ll look stupid trying it…
Well that certainly got the blood moving around in these old veins! Talk about energizing music. WOW.
Pam
It sure has a high energy guitar solo for a song that was forgotten about. Much better than the pretty hair metal boys later in the decade could do…
Can’t say I remember this song, but wow it really rocks! \m/
I hear the Sister Christian song at least a couple times a day though. Tired of that one. 🙂
That song gets old fast… and I remember I didn’t like it when it first came out. Probably because I already knew them for this song, and it just can’t compare to how awesome it is!
A snappy way to start out the week. Thanks for a non-mainstream hit! Happy Monday.
How that we’re back to non-mainstream hits, every Monday can flip the bird to the music establishment!
Night Ranger. Ah, the memories. I happened to like “Sister Christian” though. Better than ANYTHING by R.E.O. Speedwagon IMHO, because talk about over played! I used to be an R.E.O. fan a very long time ago. Before virtually every other song was one of theirs, played over and over until you’d want to start screaming and never stop. Same with Billy Joel’s whole “Only the Good Die Young” cadre of songs. Can’t listen to those either now. I used to like ol’ B.J. too. Now it’s only the obscure songs by him that light my fire….
REO gets killed by the fact that their two most played songs on the radio anymore are those two shitty ass ballads they did in the 80’s…. and those songs (Can’t Fight This Feeling and Take It On The Run) are definitely shitty. The rest of their music is actually pretty good…. but nobody plays it anymore! “I Do’ Wanna Know,” which I’ve featured here before, is one of their best songs… and it was intended to be their “Hey, we can still rock!” message to the world. But radio ignored it and went right for that fucking Feeling song, which became THE hit…
We were watching a recent (sort of) episode of Doc Martin and one of his patients gave him a turquoise furry unicorn with glitter. I instantly thought of you.
I have become The Unicorn Man. I will always be remembered for something…
Very 80s rock, no mistaking that sound!
Fun pick.
Love that half of them are wearing onesies -pj apparel has high appeal these days!