Time Stands Still for the Hooters. by Tom Albright
I stood looking at the Kramer double neck guitar/mandola in the beat up anvil road case. “This might be the only one in the world,” said Eric Bazilian and then laughed. I was in the warehouse section of the Rob Hyman of the Hooters’ Elm Street Studios in the Philadelphia suburbs with founders Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian and we were looking at decades worth of vintage musical gear on a Friday afternoon. European tour posters, half a dozen vintage Hammond organs, a late sixties Ludwig drum kit (yes with the wavy silver Beatles finish!), even some vintage arcade games and other stuff that people “just drop off because they know we will want it,” as Eric put it. I was interested in the guitar collection, and in the vault there were some very rare finds. But the story here isn’t the treasure trove of old music equipment I had the luxury of sorting through – the story is that some of the biggest hits of the last 25 years were written and recorded on these very instruments and I was hanging with the guys that wrote them.
The bigger story is that the Hooters are back….
As I try guitar after guitar, Hyman and Bazilian share stories of their bands spectacular history - stories of historical mega concerts and arena tours combined with the secrets of the muse behind their biggest hits. To put the story in perspective here are some thumbnail facts: The Hooter were the band on Cyndi Lauper’s multiplatnum debut album “She’s So Unusual” and co-wrote the biggest hit “Time After Time”. Their double platinum second album Nervous Night saw the song “And We Danced” smash into the top 10 for ten weeks and lead Rolling Stone magazine to vote them best new band in 1985. They opened Live Aid, played at Amnesty International’s Giants Stadium show and performed at Roger Waters The Wall in Berlin in 1990. Their songs have been covered by such musical giants as Prince and Miles Davis. They have written music and for Bon Jovi, Mick Jagger, Sophie B. Hawkins, Willie Nelson, LeAnn Rimes, Amanda Marshall, Billie Myers, Carole King, Robbie Williams and more recently Dar Williams, Jonatha Brooke, JC Chasez, The Scorpions and even Ricky Martin.
That isn’t a typo – Willie Nelson and the Scorpions are on this list…These guys have been around the most important musical turning points of the last 25 years and worked with the largest luminaries in the recording industry. Their first new record in 14 years is out this February with the original band members re-visiting that elusive chemistry which made them such a seminal band in the 80’s.
“We starting touring again in 2001 then after Cyndi had us on to play on her VH-1 special and after so many shows it seemed time for a record,” says Hyman, the band’s singer/keyboardist and a founding member. Hyman plays accordion and a German folk harmonica called a melodica, the slang word is from which the band derives its name. For someone who has penned some of the most recognizable songs in popular music, Rob has a very friendly and understated aura. These are two guys who never let the trappings of fame go to their heads – they served us lunch and doted on us as guests in the kitchen of their studio. This down to earth realism is fused throughout their music – new and old – and is an infectious thread through the new album “Time Stand Still.”
The Hooters formed in Philadelphia in 1980 after Bazilian, Hyman and producer Rick Chertoff all met at University of Pennylvania. They were a staple on the Philly and New Jersey rock scene, which at the time was a vibrant haven of large clubs supporting a thriving independent rock scene. This was Northeast Corridor’s growing season – bands such as the Smithereens, XX and XX were beginning to pop and define the East Coast 80’s rock sound. Few would reach the stellar heights of the Hooters, though. None would have the songwriting prowess and success as Bazilian and Hyman.
Their first independent album in 1983, “Amore” sold over 100,000 copies and included the original versions of band classics “All You Zombies” and “Fightin’ On The Same Side”. To this day “All You Zombies” remains one of their most recognizable tunes and a concert highlight. Its haunting, driving verse was a perfect preview of the sonic elements and type of writing that later would re-emerge in their 90’s hits. During this period, their friendship and association with producer Rick Chertoff lead to Hyman and Bazilian to work on one of the biggest albums of 1983 - Cyndi Lauper’s “She’s So Unusual”. The intensive studio work saw Hyman and Lauper writing one of the most beautiful songs to emerge from that decade – Time After Time.
“We would work on our parts for a large portion of the day and Rick (Chertoff) was a terrific arranger who was showing us how to arrange all the various parts. I wrote Time After Time with Cyndi – knowing it was a good song but not really having any idea what the impact would be. In hindsight it seems it was one of my better creative moments,” says the ever humble Hyman. “Time After Time” went on to be nominated for numerous Grammys, including song of the year. Awards aside, the ultimate testament to the intangible special qualities of the piece may have been revealed when legendgary jazz trumpet player and composing giant Miles Davis recorded a version on his 198X album XX.
“To have Miles Davis cover something you wrote is very humbling. Its quite an indescribable feeling actually,” says Hyman.
In 1984, the Hooters signed with Columbia Records and their debut major label release, “Nervous Night” quickly followed in 1985 featuring hits such as “Day by Day,” “And We Danced”, “Where Do The Children Go” and “All You Zombies”. In July, as the pop world was using the power of music to respond to hunger in Africa, the band were chosen to be the opening act the LIVE AID concert in their home town of Philadelphia. The landmark concert would be one of a string pivotal performances that from the fabric of this band’s career. “Nervous Night” quickly achieved worldwide Gold and Platinum status all over the world. The year closed on an even higher note, when Rolling Stone magazine named the Hooters “Best New Band Of The Year” in. The next year saw the band play at the landmark “Conspiracy of Hope” concert for Amensty International to 80,000 fans at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
The next record, “Zig Zag” (Columbia 1989) featured an updated version of the deeply personal and introspective “500 Miles” with Peter Paul and Mary on backing vocals. The record achieved additional Gold and Platinum success and the attention of Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters who was busy organizing a performance of the Wall at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Soviet occupation of East Germany.
The 1990 multimedia extravaganza featured such music greats such as Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, The Band, Bryan Adams, Thomas Dolby, The Scorpions and Cyndi Lauper. The Hooters performing before the concert as an opening act and during the song “Mother” with Sinead O’Connor. For many years, the concert held the record as the largest outdoor concert ever to date with over 500,000 people in attendance. More importantly it remains the definitive example of the healing power of music as Soviet soldiers actually participated as cast members in the rock opera and the cross section of rock superstars represented the sense of moral responsibility now deeply embedded in pop music. The Hooters had been part of the three of the biggest socially conscience musical events of the period, and deservedly so.
In 1993, the two songwriting partners began work on what would be one of the signature sounds of the 90’s and one of the most beautiful albums of the decade. Joan Osborne’s 1995 debut album “Relish” was largely co-written and played by Eric and Rob. Bazilian’s masterfully penned “One of Us” shot up the charts spending eight weeks in the Top 10. “Relish” and particularly the song “One of Us” were nominated for seven Grammys in 1996, including Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Once again, after all the awards and accolades subsided, a ringing endorsement came when none other than musical genius Prince laid down a spectacular version of the song.
1996 began an extended hiatus for the Hooters as Rob and Eric pursued various projects and the other band members continued recording solo records, collaborating with other artists or forming unrelated businesses. In 2000, Ricky Martin covered the English version of “Private Emotion” on his debut Grammy nominated self-titled album. By now, Bazilian and Hyman were world renowned songwriters – their string of successes and collaborations was truly unprecedented. I asked Bazilian about how the contrast felt between the commercial pop success and the respect as songwriters the band has achieved – knowing the two often don’t go hand in hand.
“We were playing in Sweden recently at their equivalent of Carnegie Hall, and we played Carnegie Hall here in the USA, and its just a great feeling to be doing your own music in these grand concert halls where the great composers play,” he shared.
The Hooters reunited in 2001 for one show which set in motion an extensive series of tours throughout Europe over the next several years and then November 2005 Cyndi Lauper invited them to perform with her on her VH-1 Decades television special. That prompted the band to return to the studio to begin working on their new album.
“We had been playing together on tour for a while, and after we did the VH-1 special we agreed it was time to make another record, so in we went,” explains Hyman.
The Hooters’ first new album in 14 years, “Time Stand Still,” was completed in 2007 and will launch in February. It’s a collection of 10 songs that possess the classic Hooters feel and ambiance with a new energy and optimism that make the album worth the wait.
The lead track “I’m Alive,” is a driving, jangling rock song reminds listeners there is a lot to be fascinated with above the daily routines we sometimes allow to diminish our smiles. “I’m Alive” sets the tone for the whole record – there is still much to happy about, and much to be grateful for. As one gets lost in the record, you re-emerge with a newfound perspective that may just put a spring in your step.
“I don’t think I will ever stop being fascinated with life,” muses Bazilian.
The title track, “Time Stand Still” captures the quintessential Hooters sound and thoughtfulness with elements of ska and folk overlayed with Harmonica and mandolin tones.
The album contains an acoustic version of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer,” in which Hyman breathes unbelievable feeling and emotion. To take an iconic song and re-make it to where it sounds fresh and arguable better than the original version requires both a unique insight and an ability to communicate over and above man performers. These guys possess both, and its glaringly evident. Time Stand Still likely will be one of the biggest records of 2008 and is a very obvious next step in the Hooters story line. Old fans will re-discover why they used to love the band and the great new music and younger fans will appreciate the maturity in the songwriting that begat such young artists like Fountains of Wayne.
We closed the open guitar cases, put the odd folk instruments and double neck guitars back in their cases and covered the ancient organs. I could have spent all evening in the warehouse which to this reporter was more of a museum than a storage space. I said my thank you’s for the tour and the discussion of their music and left the guys with one last question – perhaps the most important for those of you reading this article: Are you going to tour?
“You can count on it,” said Eric as he and Rob both gave huge smiles. “We start in New York in March!”
