Bradley's Buzz

“Why Baby” opens with the background synthesized “aaahs” of some male singers and a breezy new wave country feel. Like most of the songs on the album, the topic is love or lost love but Lisa is riding on different territory so it isn’t so much a song of desperation as it is of confused turmoil. She gave her best but “you were lying” so “Why Baby, why are you back on my mind again?” The song originally appeared in the 1981 TV Movie Valley Of The Dolls where Lisa played the Neely O’Hara character. Apparently Lisa liked it enough to record a different version for this album.

“Johnny’s Always On My Mind” has to be one of those 1980s gems that everyone wanted to do. It’s the rock version of the new wave pseudo hit “Johnny Are You Queer?” telling the tale of a boy named Johnny that the singer is in love with. Unfortunately John has a boyfriend, “His name is Don and he’s a major disappointment.” But that won’t stop Lisa, she’s going to “make it with his roommate” while he’s gone - anything to get Johnny off her mind. It’s hilarious, it’s topical, it’s something she did not perform on Knots Landing. Though with the subtext of Laura and Ciji being lesbian lovers, the song may have been perfect.

Now for the goods, “If Love Must Go” begins with a twang, a ballad of 1980s Urban Cowboy mentality. Lisa performed the song on Knots Landing the very first time she ever donned the famous red alien dress. In the show, she sings the song as the characters’ love lives are falling apart; a poignant moment of the series and a great performance on record. In fact Lisa, whose voice isn’t all that edgy or full of range, performs her little heart out and trying to sing along is a lot harder than you would think. In spite of or even because of the country twang in the song, I really like it. It has the feeling of a smoky small town bar where the lights are coming up, the booze has been drunk and your love life is in the toilet. Lisa has a way of singing about heartbreak in the most delicious manner.

In 1981, another soap star by the name of Rick Springfield made an album called Working Class Dog. The album contained a little ditty known as “Jessie’s Girl” and Rick became an international music star leaving behind his soap opera days. Like Lisa, Rick was originally a singer way before ever trying his hand at acting. Unlike Lisa, Rick found that international success and got to leave the acting behind him.

It’s almost ironic that Lisa chose a Rick Springfield song to cover. Even choosing one off of Working Class Dog but that's exactly what she did with “Hole In My Heart”. Perhaps it wasn't irony at all but just very well thought out publicity since "Hole In My Heart" is also the Lisa song that was most heavily promoted on Knots Landing. (For nit pickers, I said it’s almost ironic, I’m still rather confused – I blame Alanis of course, for a lesbian comedienne recently told me, Alanis did not have “ironic” experiences but rather she had “unfortunate” things happen to her – irony is “a Scottish man cloning a sheep” and not a “black fly in your Chardonnay.” – so whether or not this is ironic, is really up to you – it is at least interesting, right?)

I didn’t have the Rick Springfield album until years later so it was Lisa’s version of “Hole In My Heart” that I heard first. I’m still a little torn between which version I like the best. I know I like the ending of the Rick version better which ends with an overdubbed version of the chorus just hanging mid air, but I have to say Lisa does a bang up killer job on this rocking track.

The imagery of the song, the lyrics, (“I must’ve looked like a prime one/running after you thinking we still could survive/but nobody I ever loved ever hurt me like you did/and I can feel it…”) and Lisa’s best growling through the verses and the long-winded “Iiiiiiveee got a hoooole in my heeeaart” make this one enjoyable ditty and open to repeated listens. Once again it’s a bitch to sing along with, though that doesn’t stop anyone I know.

“Two To Do” begins with keyboards churning, rock guitars crunching, a piano pounding away and Lisa crooning “when you’re alone the night can last forever/it takes love to get you through and love takes two to do.” Not necessarily the most clever lyric but the passionate approach and the general electricity make the track so 1982 enjoyable.

“Games” is pseudo ballad/pseudo new wave in the vein of “Why Baby,” only this time we have some pretty clever lyrics. Comparing love to a game of cards is probably nothing new (“Queen Of Hearts” anyone) but I’ve always liked this particular lyric. It’s also one of Lisa’s best vocal performances declaring, “Those Games that you play/don’t you play them with me.”

I’ve always loved female performers but I am especially partial to those that are sassy, no holds barred, not to be messed around with women. Of course I’m also an 80s aficionado who loves a good pop hook and this song pretty much has it all. The background “Aaahs”, the keyboards, the guitar solo all help to make this song one of the best on the album. Again, it’s a song she performed on Knots Landing so Lisa must’ve enjoyed it as well. Lookie here as she performs it (starting at :44) though a drunken Gary Ewing does break up the recording session:

Like “Hidin’ From Love” and “Why Baby” it borders on the country pop line but with its stops and starts, the keyboard running through it, the guitar solo and Lisa screaming, “no baby no baby no no!” at the end, it rises up above those two songs and I love it! It’s another I have to wonder, "Why baby, why wasn’t this a hit?"

Where “If Love Must Go” was the ballad with the guitar, “Miss You (Like I Do)” (and B-side to the single "Hidin' From Love") is the full on piano ballad. It’s fairly reminiscent of the material Lisa did on her previous album, 1979’s Hold On, but instead of being 1970s shtick, it’s very modern (1982 modern but modern nonetheless). Thanks to the minimalist instrumentation this one may stand up in the contemporary world than others on the album.

One of my favorite Lisa ballads is “Don’t You Love Me Anymore” from Hold On and this one is a close runner up to that song. Lisa’s high pitched crooning, emphasizing every note and word, touches me somehow. Like any good ballad, the song starts slow and quiet and gears up from there. The first verse is piano and then the drums and guitars kick in, then the bridge. I am a sucker for a good bridge and this song has one of the best, “For some folks it can be so hard/depending on who thought who was true/but as it stands/ well all I’ve got/is too much time trying to figure out/ how a love so strong/ could go so wrong/I miss you like I do” then a guitar solo. I tell you this song has it all. It’s a sweet little number that I always end up replaying after I listen to it.

The album’s closers are where Lisa really letserock (get it?). It’s rock and rock in 1982 new wave fashion and probably not coincidentally these two songs seem to be the most popular among her fans as well. It’s really no wonder once you hear them.

“Don’t Let Me Go” kicks in with a hard new wave drumbeat, cowbells(??) and guitar then Lisa takes it from there, growling and squeaking her vocals. “Oh baby don’t let me go/I’ll do what you do (oouh!)/I’ll go where you go/still I don’t know/what’s going on/ between you and me/it’s not like it’s supposed to be/I sit around by the telephone/I wait for your call/you left hours ago/and I’m tired of waiting around/hanging around/just a goin’ around.”

The song is obviously a plead not to be thrown away by her lover but the power that lies in the thumping beat and Lisa’s hardcore vocal take lead you to believe she doesn’t really care if you let her go or not. Perhaps Johnny is still on her mind. The versatile song combining high hats, a great guitar solo and drum rolls severe could’ve been a hit for anyone from Josie Cotton to Olivia Newton-John to the Go Go’s. The performance and the music is new wave at some of its finest. Again, why wasn’t this a hit? I would’ve roller-skated to it.

The final track of the original album is “New Romance (It’s A Mystery)” which is a song whose story and connections could probably write a full biography. Written by Holly Knight and Anton Fig of the band Spider it was a top 40 (#39) hit for the band in 1981. It would be their only single chart success but tucked away inside of the band’s two albums was not only this little nugget but a song called “Better Be Good To Me” which Tina Turner made into a hit, “Changes” a hit for John Waite and “Little Darlin’” a song that Rachel Sweet took to new levels. Spider (with lead vocals by Amanda Blue) would only have a hit with “New Romance” but Holly would go on to better things – not only as co-writer of the above mentioned songs but also “The Warrior” (Scandal), “Love Is A Battlefield” and “Invincible” (Pat Benatar) and a few more for just about every artist involved in 80s rock.

I recently found the two Spider albums conveniently released on one CD. I hadn’t known how exactly I was going to react to their “New Romance” as to me it will always be Lisa’s song. I was particularly afraid I might like the original better. Luckily, I was wrong. Lisa takes the song to completely different levels. Amanda’s voice is low and manly and somewhat off key while Lisa does a Benatar impression and I think it’s her version that should’ve hit the top 40. Incidentally, Spider’s version of “Better Be Good To Me” is killer.

Lisa’s “New Romance (It’s A Mystery)” is a new wave confection, starting with a keyboard whirlwind and a drumbeat roll blended by a thumping guitar lick which pushes through the first verse … “I fell in love today/never thought I’d feel this way/been so tired of one night stands/now I’m ready for a new romance” before the “ooh’s” kick in and the beat changes, “oooh it’s a mystery/I can’t figure it out/oooh it’s a mystery/do you know what I’m talking about”, then the beat changes again adding a harder edged kick, “Do you love me? Do you want me? Maybe it’s crazy/Give it a chance/I think I like this New Romance.” Then the whole idea starts over for the second verse.

On Knots Landing, this song could arguably be dubbed as Lisa’s (and thus Ciji’s) theme song. It’s the first song Ciji is actually able to lay down a track for when recording her album and the episode “Celebration” which is the one in which Ciji ends up dead on the beach, begins as a pseudo music video for the song.

The episode begins with different shots of Ciji riding her bike through Knots Landing. Wearing short shorts cut in one side red/one side white, she whizzes through the street as the song plays. We get practically the whole song in those first three minutes of the show and it’s a great send off not only for the Ciji Dunne character but for the Letterock album as well. Again...single? Hit? Why? Check out the “video” here:

When Lisa Hartman signed onto Knots Landing in 1982 it was for the sole purpose of exposing more people to her music. She had just released Letterock when filming began and she thought it would be the perfect vehicle for such a thing. For some reason, it didn’t work out that way. After Lisa had been back on the show and again making a splash in the waves off of Knots Landing, the album was re-released and re-named Lisa Hartman. The front and back cover was switched around putting the shot of Lisa in her neon blue negligee front and center. There was even a huge sticker stuck to the front, declaring, “Lisa Hartman, singer of TV’s Knots Landing.” Again, the album didn’t sell.

In between leaving and returning to Knots Landing, Lisa starred in a little known series called High Performance and got her big movie break. She took one of the leads in yet another classic remake when she starred in Where The Boys Are ‘84.

The movie is about four-college girls heading to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break. Lisa is a music major who meets one of her friend’s classic music loving cousins. Meanwhile, a more rock and roll guy also has his eye on Lisa. The movie is pure T&A comedy so typical of the 80s but it gave Lisa a chance to release one more single in the theme song.

I had the luxury of seeing her perform “Where The Boys Are” on Solid Gold when I was a kid and the sheer excitement of it all was a tad too intense for my little frame. I had to see the movie, but alas I couldn’t for it was “filth” in my mother’s words. Eventually, I would see it and so typical of almost everything Lisa has done, it’s yet to see an official DVD release – just like this CD!

When I wanted to do a cover of a Lisa Hartman song my intitial choice was of course "New Romance" but once those beats starting dripping out of my head, I knew a pop dance cover of "Where The Boys Are" was the way to go. Actually, it came to me one day while listening to this very album. I thought, "What a great song to cover," and initially the song was going to be a lot closer to this version. Of course, Lisa's version isn't all that different from the original Connie Francis version so I took a completely different direction. And MOST people seem to enjoy it, I wonder what the queen Mrs. Black would think of it, someone will have to ask her! You can download the Swivek version here.

The "Where The Boys Are" single, like the Letterock album, and to some extent, the movie itself, didn’t make much of a dent in the charts, or pop culture for that matter, and just like the single, the Letterock album and the movie, the reasons for the lack of success aren't very clear. Lisa’s musical performances are of no less caliber than any of the female rockers of the day who happened to have hits.

Lisa definitely had the look, she had the talent, and she had the sass, plus she seemed down right likeable. Perhaps it was timing, musical tastes were changing, other females were coming up, perhaps it was the radio stations. Pat Benatar said even during her highest career point some radio programmers would tell her they were already playing one female on the radio and didn’t have room for more.

By the mid 80s (and Lisa’s next album) the landscape was different, but again it didn’t work out for our girl, perhaps by then there were just too many women rock performers. Whatever the reasons, and there are plenty of them, Letterock didn’t take off but it hasn’t left my CD player since I made this reissue or anyone else’s who happens to have a copy of it… and that should say something about the lasting power of Lisa Hartman’s music.

LISA HARTMAN - LETTEROCK (bub47)
Track List:
01. Hidin' From Love 02. Why Baby 03. Johnny's Always On My Mind 04. If Love Must Go 05. Hole In My Heart 06. Two To Do 07. Games 08. Miss You (Like I Do) 09. Don't Let Me Go 10. New Romance (It's A Mystery)
Bonus Track:
11. Where The Boys Are

DOWNLOAD LISA HARTMAN - LETTEROCK