Music N' Other Drugs

I wasn’t alive in 1985, but listening to Eric Bazilian describe how crazy things became for The Hooters following the release of “Nervous Night” made me wish that I had been. They sold two million copies in the United States alone, played Live Aid in front of nearly 90,000 people in Philadelphia, and were named “The Best New Band of the Year” by Rolling Stone despite never having a Top-10 single.

Their new album, “Rocking & Swing,” couldn’t be more different from the glory days of MTV, but, if you’ve been on The Hooters train since 1980, their return to ska is likely to be right up your alley. How the nostalgia-hungry audience at Fallsview Casino on Wednesday night will respond to the shift remains to be seen.

Bazilian was kind enough to speak to me from the road about the release as well as the success he’s had as a songwriter away from the band.

MNOD: “Rocking & Swing” marks the band’s first recording since 2010. Why did now feel like the right time to get back at it?

Bazilian: The hiatus just kind of happened. We never actually thought that we would make another record, because we were going to Germany every summer and playing our usual three-hour shows. We’re not as prolific as others, but the opportunity to put new material together came about and we were excited to see what could come from it.

MNOD: What was behind the decision to get back to the ska roots of the band?

Bazilian: It was a happy accident. We resurrected old songs that were written between 1980 and 1981 as well as put new songs together. Rob and I constructed demos with a lot of experimentation. Some of them were taken directly from 4-track PortaStudio cassettes and transferred into ProTools, which gave them a blend of old and new technology. What you hear is music from 1984 with vocals that were recorded in the present day, which is really cool. We didn’t feel like it was taking a step backwards. I don’t know how well the new stuff goes over in Germany, because that audience knows us from ‘One Way Home’ on and prefers the folkier version of The Hooters. But Philadelphia loves it, because they love the early ska version of the band. Ska music is the most happy, fun music on the planet, so we had a blast going back to that time in the band’s history.

MNOD: Unlike other bands from the ’80s, your core lineup has remained intact since the classic period. To what do you attribute the stability?

Bazilian: I would say persistence as well as a mutual love and respect for one another. Like any family, we’ve fought and had disagreements, but we always worked through them and moved on.

MNOD: “Nervous Night” is the album that broke you guys on a major scale. How do you reflect back on that time?

Bazilian: That album was everywhere. Of course, it was the heyday of MTV, so we fit right into what they wanted at that time. We toured the US with Loverboy, we played MTV’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve concert, and we played Live Aid in Philadelphia all without having a Top-10 radio hit. The planets aligned definitely aligned just like they have now with this new album.

MNOD: “All You Zombies” is such a unique lyric and the mood set by the instrumentation makes it one of my favorite songs of the ’80s. What led to the decision to record it again after it had already appeared on 1983’s “Amore?”

Bazilian: The version on ‘Nervous Night’ was actually the third version we did. The first one appeared on a 1981 live album from Emerald City. It was the first song for The Hooters and we used to play it at the beginning of the set. We would play three or four sets at biker bars and play ‘All You Zombies’ first, because we figured no one would hear it. Our producer, Rick Chertoff, felt that the song deserved more, so we reworked it into what wound up on the album. He wanted us to bring the song into the Floydian world, because our mantra during that whole process was ‘What would Roger do?’ It worked, because Roger Waters ended up coming to our show in London and introduced himself as a fan. We then played with him at The Wall concert in Berlin in 1990, which was incredible. WMMR in Philadelphia started playing the song and it really picked up steam later on. You weren’t hearing lyrics about Moses and Noah outside of churches and synagogues, so it really was unique from that standpoint.

MNOD: You’ve been quite successful as a songwriter outside of The Hooters, as well. What do you think makes your approach work across different styles?

Bazilian: When I’m working with another artist, my job is to get inside their head or heart and figure out what they want to say. However, I’m also bringing myself to the process, which is why I was brought it. I’ve developed great friendships from working with such a wide variety of artists, because I’m able to adapt to their style while putting my personal touch on the song at the same time. Working with Joan Osborne is perfect example of this. I wrote ‘One of Us’ by myself and it was an exact expression of my worldview at that time, but, when I played the demo for Joan and then heard her sing it, I knew that we had caught lightning in a bottle. The rest is history.

MNOD: The 1999 album “Tuesday’s Child” by Amanda Marshall is another album that your worked really shined on. Her voice is amazing and everything came together to sell 300,000 copies in Canada. How do you look back on that album now?

Bazilian: She’s amazing and I’m so glad that she put out another record. Her early stuff was a bit generic, but I knew that I could get the best out of her by doing something a little left of center. She’s just a dynamo who deserved more attention.

MNOD: You’ll be opening for Rick Springfield in Niagara Falls this week. Prior to this tour, had you ever had any interactions with him?

Bazilian: Not in the past. I watched him on ‘Californication’ and he was just amazing. He played himself perfectly. When the tour came up, I was all for it. He’s a freak of nature. Great voice, great band. It’s a really fun tour.

You can catch The Hooters at Fallsview Casino Niagara Falls, ON on Aug. 9 as part of the “I Want My ’80s Tour” featuring Rick Springfield, Paul Young, and Tommy Tutone.

See http://www.fallsviewcasinoresort.com or http://www.hootersmusic.com for details.

“Rocking & Swing” is out now wherever music is disseminated, but do us all favor and pay for a physical copy.