Ahhh…. the late 70s/early 80s essentially sowed the seeds for my love of music and coincided not only with the rise of the album oriented rock format but also THE heyday for the bands in today’s Showdown blog post. In the interest of specifics I’m gonna concentrate on the period between 1976 and 1983 and touch on favorites from each band during that timeframe and wrap up the “kings of the ring” choices at the very end. I can’t say I’ve bought anything new from ANY of these five since this timeframe and I don’t listen to them much these days; however, I can’t deny that each band did make its mark on me in my youth. And yeah, I’ll still turn up the knob when I hear one of their classics on the radio!

Boston

From a radio standpoint, Boston really knocked it out of the park with their debut album and kicked the door down for rock music fans looking for something other than the burgeoning disco and punk crazes that started to creep in around 1976. Guitarist Tom Scholz not only wrote some classic radio ready cuts but his studio craft was state of the art for the time and his production/engineering methods (while often lengthy processes to get tones “just right”) in some ways set the standard for AOR radio. Add in the incredible voice of singer Brad Delp helming a boatload of catchy tunes and success was a given.

Maybe a bit unfair in this list given that they only put out TWO albums during this period, but they gotta be included based on influence on radio play alone.

Best Album: Boston

Best Song: “Piece Of Mind”

Most Underrated Song: “Hitch A Ride”

Journey

Like some of the other bands in this Battle Royale, Journey went through a number of lineup changes before finding success and then changed AGAIN before finding even GREATER success (and ended up changing even more post 1983) with a tweak in the songwriting team. When all is said and done Journey is and always will be guitarist Neal Schon’s band (he IS the mainstay) but longtime fans of the radio hits will think of the golden voice of Steve Perry when they think of the band. That Perry/Schon duo (along with additional songsmithery from Gregg Rolie and/or Jonathan Cain) was hard to beat during this period as they cranked out hits left and right. I’m partial to the pre-Escape lineup and material but regardless Journey was the bee’s knees during this period.

Best Album: Infinity

Best Song: “Wheel In The Sky”

Most Underrated Song: “Stone In Love”

Styx

Probably the most “pompy” band on this list courtesy of their mix of prog rock with ornamental flair and theatrical tendencies, Styx (like Journey) had gone through a few lineup changes until finding a core group that was together during our ’76-’83 timeframe. Besides writing some killer tuneage the band could also pen a few sentimental ditties- in some ways singer Dennis DeYoung can be blamed for the power ballad based on hits “The Best Of Times” and “Babe”, two cuts that were a full on 180 degree turn from rockers like “Fooling Yourself (Angry Young Man)” and “Renegade” penned by guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw. Still, that combination plus the skillful thespianism from DeYoung on some of the proggier cuts made for some longstanding classics.

Best Album: Pieces of Eight

Best Song: “Come Sail Away”

Most Underrated Song: “Queen Of Spades”

Foreigner

What is it with these bands making lineup changes BEFORE cutting what’s arguably the biggest album of their careers? Like Journey and Styx, Foreigner (and like REO soon to be too) makes some changes but instead of replacing members, they sack a couple and go from a sextet down to a quartet with much of the focus on the songwriting team of vocalist Lou Gramm and guitarist Mick Jones for their big album, 4. Gramm and Jones make a potent pair; the former with some killer pipes and the latter writing some memorable riffs that stand the test of time; however, both may arguably be more well known for those ballads (the biggest to come via 1984’s gospel tinged “I Want To Know What Love Is”). But those rock cuts still grab my ear to this day.

Best Album: Double Vision

Best Song: “Hot Blooded”

Most Underrated Song: “Dirty White Boy”

REO Speedwagon

Saving the oldest for last, REO has been around since 1971(!) but really didn’t start gaining steam until arguably 1978’s humorously titled You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can’t Tune A Fish. By that time, lyricist/vocalist Kevin Cronin decided to stay for good after being gone for three albums and his songs mixed with the screaming leadwork from one Gary Richrath were a hot ticket for a few more albums as they deftly moved into the MTV age. From a visual standpoint these guys looked like regular cats you’d share a beer with at the local watering hole or strumming the six string singing campfire songs on a cool autumn night. Songs? Oh, plenty of good, earthy and earnest Midwestern rock and roll.

Best Album: Hi Infidelity

Best Song: “Time For Me To Fly”

Most Underrated Song: “Back On The Road Again”

BATTLE ROYALE

OK kids! The time has come to announce THE BEST out of these five bands based on the following categories- best album, best song, best singer, best guitarist, best drummer, and best band. Only ONE choice for each!

Best Album: Boston

Best Song: “Piece Of Mind”

Best Singer: Brad Delp

Best Guitarist: Neal Schon

Best Drummer: Steve Smith

Aaaaaaaand…. drum roll please, for the BEST band in this Showdown…

Yep, Boston… Hot damn that debut is HUGE; it’s one of those albums where you can still hear EVERY song on the radio. Granted you don’t hear ALL of them all of the time but every once and a while you’ll get a nugget like “Something About You” or “Let Me Take You Home Tonight” to make it all worthwhile. And while I have much, much respect for Steve Perry and Lou Gramm I hold Brad Delp’s performance on both the debut and Don’t Look Back in the highest of regards. Those layers upon layers of vocals and that outstanding range is hard to deny and he is missed greatly. Journey probably had the best chops (hence my Schon/Smith picks) but that big Boston sound, fantastic tunes, and the Delp factor pushes the Journey team out of the ring to win the battle!

Regardless of who your favorites are, it’s hard to deny the dominance of these bands on rock radio during that time and even today all are staples of classic rock radio.