70's, 80's 'Feel Good' Music

Ph.D. were a British group best known for their UK Top 10 hit "I Won't Let You Down" in April 1982, although the song had been a hit the previous year throughout Europe. The band took its name from the initial letters of its three founding members' surnames; Phillips, Hymas and Diamond. The name was written so as to be a visual pun on the letters denoting a degree of the same name.
Singer Jim Diamond formed the group with former Jeff Beck Group members Tony Hymas and Simon Phillips in the early 1980s. Their self-titled début album, originally released in 1981, spawned a hit with their ballad "I Won't Let You Down" which peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart in 1982, and number five in Australia. Following the single's success the album was re-issued and finally entered the UK Albums Chart.
Their video for "Little Suzi's on the Up" was notable for being the fifth video shown on MTV's first broadcasting day, being 1 August 1981 in parts of the U.S. They released their second album Is It Safe? in 1983. The first single, "I Didn't Know," failed to make the UK Top 40, but did well in Europe.
A short time later Diamond contracted hepatitis. Prevented by his illness from touring, the group disbanded. Diamond returned some time later as a solo artist and scored a UK No. 1 single in November 1984 with "I Should Have Known Better". Diamond and Hymas reformed the group as a duo in 2006.
Hard rock band Tesla's cover version of "Little Suzi's On The Up", (as "Little Suzi") was an American radio hit in 1986.
Hymas appeared on Diamond's self-titled 1988 album.
Diamond confirmed that the two studio albums could be added to iTunes. Reissues of the first two albums were released by Voiceprint Records. The label also released Three on 2 February 2009.
Jim Diamond died on 8 October 2015, effectively dissolving the band

Hey lady, you lady
Cursing at your life
You're a discontented mother
And a regimented wife
I've no doubt you dream about
The things you'll never do
But, I wish someone had talked to me
Like I wanna talk to you
Whoooa, I've been to Georgia
And California and anywhere I could run
Took the hand of a preacher man
And we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places
And friendly faces
Because I had to be free
I've been to paradise
But I've never been to me
Please lady, please, lady
Don't just walk away
'Cause I have this need to tell you
Why I'm all alone today
I can see so much of me
Still living in your eyes
Won't you share a part
Of a weary heart
that has lived million lies
Whoooa, I've been to Nice
And the Isle of Greece
While I've sipped champagne on a yacht
I've moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo
And showed 'em what I've got
I've been undressed by kings
And I've seen some things
That a woman ain't supposed to see
I've been to paradise
But I've never been to me
Hey, you know what paradise is
It's a lie
A fantasy we create about people
And places as we'd like them to be
But you know what truth is
It's that little baby you're holding
And it's that man you fought with this morning
The same one you're going to make love with tonight
That's truth, that's love
Sometimes I've been to crying
For unborn children
That might have made me complete
But I, I took the sweet life
I never knew
I'd be bitter from the sweet
I've spent my life exploring
The subtle whoring
That costs too much to be free
Hey lady, I've been to paradise
But I've never been to meeeeeee
I've been to paradise
(Never been to me)..

"Trouble" is a song written, composed and performed by Lindsey Buckingham and released as the lead single from his 1981 debut solo album Law and Order.
The single was Buckingham's first hit as a solo artist, peaking at #9 in the US and #31 in the UK, where it remained charted for seven weeks. It was most successful in Australia, where it topped the chart for 3 weeks and became the 8th biggest selling single of 1982.
Buckingham approached "Trouble" differently from his other songs, wanting the song to have more of a "live feel". He recruited his Fleetwood Mac bandmate, Mick Fleetwood, to play drums. However, Buckingham believed none of the takes were solid from start to finish, so a taped loop of the drum track (about four-seconds long) was used throughout the song: "The irony of that was that the original reason for having Mick play on the song was to approach the track completely live, as opposed to my usual technique." Buckingham would later overdub some additional drum fills and cymbal crashes, in addition to other percussion instruments, creating the illusion of live drums. George Hawkins was brought in to play bass guitar. Hawkins had worked with Fleetwood on his first solo album earlier that year. "Trouble" was the only track on "Law and Order" on which Buckingham played neither bass or drums. Buckingham was also particularly proud of the Spanish guitar solo.

Some of Buckingham's vocals for the song are sung in falsetto.

"Only You" is a song written by musician Vince Clarke. He wrote it while with Depeche Mode, but recorded it in 1982 after forming the duo Yazoo with Alison Moyet. It was released as Yazoo's first single on 15 March 1982 in the United Kingdom. Upon its UK release, the single became an instant success, hitting number two on the charts. In the US, the song was released in November 1982 and charted at number sixty-seven on Billboard Hot 100, a feat only attained by one other Yazoo single (coincidentally, that single was "Situation," the original UK B-side of "Only You"). "Only You" also made the US Adult Contemporary chart at number thirty-eight.
A remix of "Only You" made the UK Top 40 again in 1999, while reaching number sixteen on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The music video for the new version was created using the Houdini 3D animation software package.

"Save Your Love" is a song which, when performed by duo Renée and Renato, was a UK Number one hit in December 1982. It remained at the top of the chart for four weeks before being knocked off by Phil Collins' "You Can't Hurry Love". The song was written by Johnny Edward (creator and voice of fictional robot TV character Metal Mickey) and his wife Sue.
"Save Your Love" entered the UK Singles Chart on 13 November 1982 at number 38. However, it began to pick up sales during the Christmas period, and six weeks after its debut was at the top of the charts, resulting in it being played on Top of the Pops and many radio stations.[citation needed] Renée (whose real name was Hilary Lester), did not appear in the video for "Save Your Love"; instead, she was replaced by a model.

"Moonlight Shadow" is a song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983 by Virgin Records, and included in the album Crises of the same year. The vocals were performed by Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had been collaborating with Mike Oldfield since 1980. It is Oldfield's most successful single, reaching number one on a number of charts around Europe.

"Come Back and Stay" is a song that was first recorded in 1981 by its writer Jack Lee. In 1983, singer Paul Young released his version as a single from his album, No Parlez, and it became an international hit.

"Never Gonna Let You Go" is a popular song from 1983 credited to Brazilian musician and bandleader Sérgio Mendes and sung by Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller. Songwriters Cynthia Weil (lyrics) and Barry Mann (music) composed the song, which appears on Mendes' 1983 self-titled album.
Weil and Mann originally submitted "Never Gonna Let You Go" to American funk band Earth, Wind & Fire, but they decided not to record the song. Dionne Warwick had previously recorded the song, which appears on her 1982 album Friends in Love. Stevie Woods had also recorded the song for his 1982 album The Woman in My Life.
Mendes, preparing for the release of his 1983 album, was quoted as saying, "All the other songs on the album were up and festive. I needed a ballad on the album, just to change the pace a bit."

"Just the Two of Us" is a 1981 R&B single written by Bill Withers, William Salter and Ralph MacDonald, which was recorded by Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers. The song originally appeared on Washington's 1980 album Winelight. An edited version reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, staying there for 3 weeks, behind "Morning Train (9 to 5)" by Sheena Easton and "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes. The song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. Bill Withers included the edited version on the 1981 compilation Bill Withers' Greatest Hits and many subsequent greatest hits collections.

"I'll Be Over You" is a hit single by the American rock band Toto. Taken as a single from their 1986 album, Fahrenheit, the song reached number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late 1986. Lead vocals were sung by guitarist Steve Lukather with Michael McDonald providing the vocal counterpoint on the recording. He reportedly received a huge paycheck for his services.
In addition, it spent two weeks at number one on the adult contemporary chart, Toto's second song to top this chart (following 1983's "I Won't Hold You Back")

"Rocket 2 U" is a song by the American sibling group, The Jets. It was written and produced by Bobby Nunn. The single received a nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989.
Released as the third single from The Jets Magic, in 1988, the song was the second most successful single released from the album, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the R&B chart

"Lonely Won't Leave Me Alone" is a song co-written by Jermaine Jackson, David Foster, Tom Keane, and Kathy Wakefield. It was recorded by Jackson in 1986, and later by Glenn Medeiros in 1987.
"Lonely Won't Leave Me Alone" was later recorded by American pop artist Glenn Medeiros. It was the second single released from his self-titled debut album. It reached number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 30, 1988. "Lonely Won't Leave Me Alone" was covered in a Cantonese version as "?????" or named as "????? (A Hundred Billions of Night)". It was recorded for the album ??????? by George Lam in 1987.

"Right Back Where We Started From" is a song written by Pierre Tubbs and J. Vincent Edwards which was first recorded in the middle of 1975 by Maxine Nightingale for whom it was an international hit. In 1989, a remake by Sinitta, then 25, reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart.

"Don't Rush Me" is a song written by Alexandra Forbes and Jeff Franzel and performed by American singer Taylor Dayne. It was released in the late summer of 1988 as the fourth single from Dayne's debut album Tell it to My Heart.
The single reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week (held out of the top spot by Phil Collins's Two Hearts), becoming Dayne's highest-charting single at the time, as well as number 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart and number 6 on the Dance chart. The music video also earned heavy rotation on VH-1 and MTV. The music video featured Dayne performing live during her promotional tour.
The photo featured on the single's cover would eventually become the cover for the re-release of the Tell It To My Heart making the original cover hard to come by and a collector's item.

"That's What I Like" is a song by Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers. It was the second single from the album just entitled The Album and was released in late 1989. It followed "Swing the Mood" to number one in the UK, Ireland and Spain and went top ten in several countries. In the U.S it failed to build on the success of the group's first hit, peaking at #69.

"My Angel Baby" is a 1978 song by Toby Beau. "My Angel Baby was written by band members, Danny McKenna and Balde Silva. The single, from the group's self-titled album, went to number one on the Easy Listening chart for one week, and peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100. "My Angel Baby" was the group's only Top 40 single.

"Gonna Fly Now", also known as "Theme from Rocky", is the theme song from the movie Rocky, composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta West and Nelson Pigford. Released in February 1977 with the movie Rocky, the song became part of American popular culture after main character Rocky Balboa as part of his daily training regimen runs up the 72 stone steps leading to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia and raises his arms in a victory pose, while the song plays. The song was written in Philadelphia. The song is also often played at sporting events, especially at sporting events in the city of Philadelphia or featuring sports teams from there.