*These were the final albums of that particular era. All three artists released one or more albums years later, but these three albums represented the end of the initial run.
The Artist: The Knack
The Album: Round Trip
The Year: 1981
Billboard Top 200 Peak: #93
Summer 1979: Everybody got The Knack. The debut album, and its lead-off single “My Sharona,” were all over the radio, spending five and six weeks, respectively, at number one. The follow-up album (…But the Little Girls Understand), released eight months after Get the Knack, sounded like leftover songs not strong enough for the debut. A period of inactivity followed, and the band regrouped with producer Jack Douglas in 1981 to record Round Trip.
The album was supposed to bring the band “from black and white to color,” but both the album and the leading single “Pay The Devil (Ooo, Baby, Ooo)” both flopped. Sadly, the album, which was ignored upon release, has a wide variety of styles on it: Power pop (“Just Wait and See”), funk (“Africa”), country (the aforementioned “Pay The Devil”), jazzy rock (“Lil’ Cal’s Big Mistake”) and psychedelia (“We Are Waiting”).
Two months after a short tour following the album’s release, the band called it quits.
The Artist: Asia
The Album: Astra
The Year: 1985
Billboard Top 200 Peak: #67
Similar to The Knack, Asia’s first album (cleverly titled Asia) bolted to number one on the charts and ended up as the top-selling album for 1982. Also similar to The Knack, the follow-up (Alpha) was filled like half-baked, less good versions of the first album. Except most of the songs were mid-tempo snoozefests.
Then the shakeups occurred, and short story long, former YES guitarist Steve Howe was out, and ex-Krokus axeman Many Meyer was in. The result? Astra, a slamming album of high quality songs that rival the first album. But sadly, a case of too little, too late…
The Artist: Billy Squier
The Album: Tell the Truth
The Year: 1993
Billboard Top 200 Peak: Did Not Chart
Billy Squier had an interesting career. A couple of critically acclaimed albums with a band called Piper in the late 1970s, then a solo career that brought him into the bigtime of AOR stars. A couple albums later, he’s still on top, but then a badly thought-out video for “Rock Me Tonight” comes out…
After that, a mediocre album followed by a great one, but a case of too little, too late. Then another bad album, which pretty much ended things… Suddenly, a Hail Mary play occurs, he hires uber-producer Mike Chapman (Sweet, Blondie, The Knack) to produce his eighth album for Capitol Records in 1993.
Now, understand that 1993 is a lousy time to be an 1980s AOR artist. All the bands like Great White, Loverboy, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, etc. have pretty much died on the vine, it would be understandable if someone like Billy Squier faded away. Instead, he released an album that rivaled his top shelf work – Don’t Say No, Emotions in Motion, Signs of Life… Unfortunately, the suits at Capitol found it cheaper to release and bury the album than otherwise, so it made nary a sound in the world when it was released. But – unlike his previous album (Creatures of Habit), the songs (and cover art) were first-rate. Changing producers and mixing up musicians on this album certainly helped, but sadly, it was a commercial failure.
Note: Students of psychology will note that the lyrics on Tell the Truth often reference psychotherapy.