If the one-hit wonder "The Promise" by When In Rome doesn't make you think about tetherball, then you missed out on one of the best movies of the 00s.
Like The Wedding Singer years before, the classic indie film Napoleon Dynamite dipped into the 80s for its soundtrack.
"The Promise" has an undeniably wondrous chorus. It exudes an appropriate level of sappiness without overdoing it compared to many of the ballads that topped the charts in the 80s ("Sara", "The Power Of Love" and anything by Air Supply and Whitney Houston come to mind).
Like The Wedding Singer years before, the classic indie film Napoleon Dynamite dipped into the 80s for its soundtrack.
"The Promise" has an undeniably wondrous chorus. It exudes an appropriate level of sappiness without overdoing it compared to many of the ballads that topped the charts in the 80s ("Sara", "The Power Of Love" and anything by Air Supply and Whitney Houston come to mind).
An important new wave factoid: released in 1988, "The Promise" was one of the last gasps from the golden age of synth before the domination of rap, R & B and eventually the grunge. Incidently, the glam metal "hair" bands of the 80s followed a similar rise and fall during the decade. Guess it was time for a change.
There was another decent track in the 80s called "The Promise".
In 1985 following their ascent to global domination of the singles charts, Duran Duran took a break and split in half to pursue side projects. Bassist John Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor went off with Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson to form the rock/funk supergroup The Powerstation (more on them later), while vocalist Simon LeBon, drummer Roger Taylor and keyboard wizard Nick 'The Controller' Rhodes created the synth-driven art rock outfit called Arcadia.
Arcadia's So Red The Rose album produced four singles including the #1 hit "Election Day", but for me it's the haunting "The Promise" that stands up the best. Featuring some sweet guitar work of David Gilmour (yep, Pink Floyd), and backing vocals from some Sting fellow Simon ran into during Band-Aid, "The Promise" is a slick piece of production reminiscent of vintage Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry that shows off LeBon's underrated vocal range.
There was another decent track in the 80s called "The Promise".
In 1985 following their ascent to global domination of the singles charts, Duran Duran took a break and split in half to pursue side projects. Bassist John Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor went off with Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson to form the rock/funk supergroup The Powerstation (more on them later), while vocalist Simon LeBon, drummer Roger Taylor and keyboard wizard Nick 'The Controller' Rhodes created the synth-driven art rock outfit called Arcadia.
Arcadia's So Red The Rose album produced four singles including the #1 hit "Election Day", but for me it's the haunting "The Promise" that stands up the best. Featuring some sweet guitar work of David Gilmour (yep, Pink Floyd), and backing vocals from some Sting fellow Simon ran into during Band-Aid, "The Promise" is a slick piece of production reminiscent of vintage Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry that shows off LeBon's underrated vocal range.
Go Arcadia, I have no idea what that first Promise song was but in 1988 I was busy.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't paying as much attention then as well. There are definitely fewer songs from the 88/89 years on here and the ones that do will be mainly found in the back 50.
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