Take a ride into the way back machine, to a time when life was simpler (or maybe not) – your high school days. Back then, things were clearly divided, with each group (cool kids, stoners, jocks, nerds, etc.) only hanging with others in their tribe – unlike the factions that separate us adults today. (Wrong again!)
But one thing that that we all DO remember (whether you were a jock or not), was the concept of Varsity and Junior Varsity (JV) teams in high school sports. In short, the varsity players were the big boys (or girls), mainly upperclassmen, those with a couple more years of experience behind them. The JV team were the up-and-comers, younger students that would hopefully take over when the older players graduated and left openings.
But what does this have to do with rock and roll? Well, a lot, actually. There are always a lot a “junior varsity” bands that follow the footsteps of the superstar bands. Perhaps they’re following because they share the same influences. Or maybe, the record company is looking for the next [fill in the successful band name here], because they’ve spotted a winning formula and (hopefully) lightning will strike twice.
So, as the 1970s turned into the 1980s, there are several examples of these JV bands. There are some cases of “who came first?” that I’m not touching here – situations like Sweet and Queen. (Fact: Sweet was making records before Queen did.) Would there be a John Cafferty without Bruce Springsteen? A Knack without The Beatles? Hell, even an early Bruce Springsteen without Bob Dylan? Doubtful, highly doubtful.
But in all my examples, the JV band has some serious success of their own. (Unlike Pretty Boy Floyd, who in the final months of the 1980s, released Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz, an album whose cover art did as much to kill hair metal than all the grunge bands combined.) So, if you’re ready to rock, let’s go!
Varsity Band: Rush
Definitive album: Moving Pictures (1981)
Rush is that famous power trio from Canada, best known for Geddy Lee’s vocals and bass, and Neil Peart’s drumming (and pretentious lyrics.) Starting small and working their way up the touring food chain, the band hit paydirt with 1980’s Permanent Waves, and didn’t look back for the next 35 years, releasing successful album all along the way. The band called it quits in the middle of the 2010s, and sadly, Peart passed away a few years later.
Junior Varsity Band: Triumph
Definitive album: Allied Forces (1981)
Similar to Rush, Triumph was a hard rocking band, whose early output relied on heavy rock, boogie stuff, and some prog thrown in for good measure. Also working their way up the success ladder through heaving touring, the band reached arena heights in the early 1980s with successful albums Allied Forces (1981), Never Surrender (1983), and Thunder Seven (1984). However, their staying power was nowhere like that of Rush, and by the end of the 1980s, the band was defunct. Unlike Rush, Triumph featured two lead vocalists (both guitarist Ric Emmet and drummer Gil Moore sang lead on popular Triumph songs).
Varsity band: Journey
Definitive album: Escape (1981)
We all know the story of Journey – a spin-off band from Santana who stumbled through three non-commercial albums that made little noise outside musico circles. Then somebody got the bright idea of adding a lead singer, and with crooner Steve Perry out front, the band started having FM radio hits, then top 40 hits. And once the 1980s hit, the band shaved their collective facial hair, replaced founder Gregg Rolie with Jonathan Cain (formerly of The Babys), and suddenly Escape hits #1, and eventually is considered the greatest AOR album of all time. Sadly, it was hard to hold on, because the Escape lineup of the band only released one more album (Frontiers), before the dreaded “musical differences” caused them to jettison the rhythm section for Raised on Radio, the final album (and tour) of the decade. the band did make one Escape-lineup album in 1996, but Perry limped out before a tour could commence. Journey continues to tour today with their third fake Steve Perry fronting the band.
Junior Varsity Band: Survivor
Definitive album: Vital Signs (1984)
Chicago’s Survivor, a spinoff from the Jim Peterek band (which itself was a spinoff of one hit wonders The Ides of March) formed in the late 1970s, right around the time Journey started hitting the big time. The band’s first album barely scraped the charts; the follow up, 1981’s Premonition, gave the band its first top 40 single, “Poor Man’s Son,” but it was the third album, Eye of the Tiger, whose title track was the theme to 1982’s “Rocky III”, brought the band paydirt. Caught In The Game, a stiff follow-up to Tiger brought a change in singers; original vocalist Dave Bickler was given his walking papers, and in came Jimi Jameson. Luckily for JJ, timing was everything, and he walked in a band with a bunch of classic songs ready for him, and the resulting album, Vital Signs is ranked right below Escape within AOR circles. And just like Journey, the band released a somewhat successful follow-up, and then lopped off the rhythm section for their final album of the 1980s. The band still toured well into the 21st century, sometimes with both former singers, and other times with some clowns who weren’t even in the original band.
Varsity band: Scorpions
Definitive album: Love At First Sting (1984)
Hanover, Germany’s favorite sons have been around since the mid-1960s (yes, 1960s!) but the “real” band came together in the early 1970s. Featuring vocalist Klaus Meine and guitarist Rudolph Schenker (and sometimes his kid brother Michael), the band released five studio albums that were ignored (at least in America), until the band changed labels and management (as well as bringing in guitarist Mattias Jabs) in 1979. Suddenly, they jumped on the American hard rock touring circuit, and the albums started selling. By the 1980s, they were a pop-metal (or is that metal-pop?) force to be reckoned with. However, after 1990s Crazy World, things started to sour; bassists and drummers came and went, and the band released one of the all-time stinker albums, Eye II Eye, along with a bunch of atrocious “unplugged” and “orchestra” albums. Fortunately, the band has gone back to its classic sound and remains a live favorite to this day.
Junior Varsity Band: Accept
Definitive album: Balls to the Wall (1984)
Hitting the record racks at the tail end of the 1970s, Solingen, German’s Accept spent its first few albums trying to nail down its sound. Once it released Restless and Wild in 1982, it had sealed the deal as far as being a contributor to modern metal. Right out of the gate, the opening track, “Fast as a Shark” showed the world that it was a serious contender. The follow-up, 1983’s (or 1984’s, depending what territory you lived in) Balls to the Wall was an instant classic. The band, fronted by diminutive vocalist Udo Dirkschneider and imposing guitarist Wolf Hoffman grazed the U.S. charts, but never could get the foothold that they had on the continent, but remained a favorite of metal fans in the know. By the end of the 1980s, the band was finished. A mid-1990s reunion produced three mediocre albums; a 2010 regrouping with American vocalist Mark Tornillo produced a series of outstanding albums, and the band still tours today.