The Hooters are a Philadelphia-based band I was crazy about in the 80s. Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman made up the core of the band, and wrote much of the music. With them, David Uosikkinem, Bobby Woods and John Kuzma were The Hooters. The band formed in 1980, first playing live in Philly, and then branching out to the East Coast as their popularity grew. In 1982, they were asked to work with a little-known talent, Cyndi Lauper. They played, arranged, and wrote for her debut CD. Hyman co-wrote the song Time After Time for her. Between the success of their live shows and their songwriting skills, The Hooters were signed to a major label in 1984.
In 1985 they released their first label release, Nervous Night. And We Danced was the first song released to radio, and it scored the highest of all the Hooters Billboard Top 100 rankings, getting to 21. But on the Mainstream Rock chart, it zoomed up the #3. The Hooters brought many influences to their music, from zydeco to rock to folk to ska, using instrumentation not big on radio at the time. But the explosive power of the songs and their tight production made them threats to jump on the charts with every release. Here is And We Danced.
The Hooters had another 5 songs climb to the Mainstream Rock Top 20 in the 80s, including Day By Day, Satellite, Johnny B, 500 Miles, and All You Zombies. Brother Don't You Walk Away and Where Do The Children Go just missed, landing in the 30s. Here is a personal favorite of mine, All You Zombies.
Although Nervous Night went double Platinum, and the follow-up, One Way Home, went gold, it was really performing live that was the bread and butter for The Hooters. Their shows were legendary in the Philly area, known for the charismatic nature of the band, fueled by the energy of a crowd primed to love them. They also made inroads in the European market with live shows. The band is still performing both in the US and Europe, with Hyman and Bazilian still firmly entrenched with the Hooters.
To find out more about The Hooter, check out their website here. They just released a new CD, Both Sides Live, with them playing some of their greatest hits and favorite songs live in concert, and also in a studio recorded live. I have it, and will be reviewing soon!
I saw them years ago when I lived in Indianapolis, and they were a great live band!
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered about these guys. I loved them!
ReplyDeleteBeth, Some complained they could never capture the amazing live shows on studio albums. I liked their studio stuff!
ReplyDeleteLarry, they are fantastic. The new CD, Both Sides Live, is very good, especially if you like The Hooters. Still sound great.
Hooters - another MTV staple in the mid 80's. I thought that all you Zombies was their 1st charting hit? My sister had a crush on the guys (I liked the drummer heheheh).
ReplyDeleteThis was a really strong debut which showed the writing skills and musical ability of this band. Too bad Day by Day and "And We Danced" did not make Top qo. But my faves are "And We Danced" and "Where Do The Children Go (with Patti Smyth).