They took their name from a Steely Dan song, covered one of their songs, and even had their guitarist produce their only two albums! Pretzel logic that focused should've paid off!
Yet another coulda, shoulda, woulda kind of story that happens so often. I’m always left wondering what might’ve made the difference with bands like this that would’ve pushed them over the top.
Believe me, Mark….the artists engage in that same hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing wondering “what went wrong”! A year before, a year later….a different label, a different producer, the label’s superstar act had their latest album NOT released the same time as your single…..so much out of an artist’s control once they’ve done everything in their power to get it onto wax!
And, there’s always the label to possibly blame…did they do everything in their power to promote the single, and to the “right” radio stations?
Stephen Michael Schwartz was generous and brave enough to “hand-wring” in print (about his ‘75 release from RCA Records) in a couple of his 20 articles for FR&B!
I can only imagine how much the artists must engage in that hand-wringing after putting their heart and soul into something, and creating something that they believe in, only to have it not see the success that it’s due (in the artists’ eyes). It must be devastating. And for those that don’t “make it”, it must be extremely difficult to get over that and to not spend your life wondering what went wrong or feeling resentful.
And, as you might guess, it’s happened all ways after that initial disappointment…..A) hang in there, and they finally have a hit, if not a decades-long career B) throw in the towel, and change careers, going home to lay drywall, or C) stay in music, but find another niche….like Stephen: Early ‘80s, he formed a children’s music trio, Parachute Express, and they ruled the kiddie music lane for a couple decades!
It’s impossible to not be inspired and impressed by that career re-boot!!
Here’s Stephen’s account of that heel-turn after that ‘75 RCA contract-cut:
What a great deep dive! Do you reckon the performances by Sneaker are live or mimed? They sound way too perfect to be fully live, but talented musicians are often accused (in some cases, wrongly) of lip-synching.
What I like about "More Than Just The Two Of Us" is how unpretentious it is. True, it's a bit cheesy, like Steve says, but trust me, I've consumed (and still consume) my fair share of cheese, and I can confidently say... at least there's no obvious key change, or a big belt at the end! 🤣
Now, the other song, the Steely Dan cover, "Don't Let Me In", is probably an underappreciated gem. I love some rock 'n' roll with bluesy vibes, sliding vocals and some edgy rhythm! I must confess I prefer the Sneaker version, particularly the vocals. They just hit the notes more precisely (just off the top of my head, I haven't done any research on this, but I suspect this might be due to the age difference between the respective singers at the time of recording).
Merv Griffin's comments on their hair though 😂😂 oh, how times have changed!
Thanks, Andy! I did a lot of careful staring at the videos, and I’m seeing wires from the guitars (in Bandstand, Merv, and the Yokohama). If they were miming, they wouldn’t bother with the charade. Also, I was watching Michael’s breathing while singing, and lips…it all seemed live to me. Here’s another dynamic I bet they were thinking of at the time (assuming the show gave them the option):
New band, they were anxious to show their chops. Journey or Bon Jovi appears, they couldn’t care less, and they’d be happy to slow walk a performance synching to their track. They’d have nothing to “prove.” Also, for the ballad, there’s so little to have to try to synch if they were miming….like, nothing to really worry about synching to track.
They “might as well play live”….there’d be fewer ways to tell if they weren’t. If there were massive drum fills, or difficult solos or tandem playing, they might’ve opted to mime, and hoped no one noticed!
On “Don’t Let Me In,” their amps are right next to them, hinting, I think, at either studio booms hanging above, or floor mics just downstage to pick up their guitars. Plus, Mitch’s guitar solo is too well-synched to be mimed….I’m callin’ it: It’s live! I actually think I nixed the notion of including their studio recording of it/them because they DID play so well on these shows. For “Don’t Let Me In,” I might check the studio version (especially Mitch’s solo…any alteration/variation at all from recording studio to TV studio would lead us to believe the TV ones are live).
I’m confident they were confident enough in their rehearsal times and proficiency to WANT to play live, and not “have to rely on” miming. More to lose (and harder), I think (for them) to make it look like they were playing live than to actually play live!
Michael Carey Schneider hasn’t seemed to be on his FB page for a good decade. If I run into any of them online (or elsewhere), I’ll be happy to ask!
However “cheesy” their original ballad may or may not be, I’m just impressed by anyone’s talent to write a song so good as to have a label grant you permission to release it, and think enough of it to have it be a single! After it’s released, people can offer their opinions, and we know it’s all subjective, so, it’s all good. But, I’d be proud to have written it!
Thanks for going into all these details! Shrewd eyes and ears, my friend! That’s why we come here 😉
Yes, it is very likely and conceivable that they were “that good”. The sound is so neat! Many others who enjoyed more commercial success could never!
I love the ballad, however cheesy or not cheesy it may be. I mean, the stuff I listen to? And then a hero comes along… 🤣🤣 not a care in the world. If it’s good, and if it moves us… then the music will have done what it was meant to do!
And, so many “bigger” artists who appeared on those shows had strings and horns backing their arrangements on record, so, for them, it became pointless to even consider “live playing.” Just push “play” and let us mime along! Once you realize a choir and/or a horn section have no place to fit on the TV stage, you realize…”hey, that ain’t live”!
Which is what whelped a lot of hilarity, like Mott the Hoople (poking fun at the ludicrous nature of it all) synching to track, with their drummer “playing” drums with canoe paddles, and Ian Hunter (WITH OPEN MIC) purposely harmonizing with “himself” and his recorded lead vocal coming out over the speakers!!
Lol 🤣🤣 Yes, some very funny things have happened. In an Argentinian TV show, a famous singer (from Spain, I think) was miming and the CD started skipping 😱😱 so she RAN BACKSTAGE in shame 😅😅😅😅you can’t make certain things up!
You know I like a cheesy ballad from the ‘80s as much as anyone, but this one was too much for me. It could be that I just ate pumpkin pie and so adding cheese on top of that made me nauseated, but I have a feeling this song isn’t gonna ‘sneak’ up on me anytime soon.
I had not heard of them, and always appreciate you not just unearthing, but fully exploring unsung or one-hit-wonder bands of our past. I do like the Sneaker Pimps and Shoes, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some more footwear bands. Oh, The Sandals are a surf band. There’s probably a band called Birkenstock. I see a playlist theme forming!
I must admit I feel the same, Steve! I love singing along to it, but at the end of the day, it’s like polishing off a bag o’ O’reos (am I the only one to realize that’s a cookie with rare Irish origins?) in one sitting!
They feel so good going down, but it’s the kind of song that attracted the phrase “guilty pleasure” to the pop’n’rock arena! Almost like you have to listen to a Band or Dylan album after to cleanse your “authenticity” palate!
But, I’ve got news for you, my musically serendipitous bud…there’s another one just like it that happens to pop up on this Tuesday’s Tune Tag (long before I decided to highlight Sneaker)! And, coincidentally enough, it’s from 1982, mere weeks from when the discarded Sneaker showed up on the porch!
And, if that weren’t enough (and, as Dave used to say, “Don’t you think it oughta be?”), we’ll be featuring a video appearance by them on The Merv Griffin Show! That former big band singer sure was a pop-song ho! This band even has a 7-letter single-word name, just like Sneaker!
And, like Sneaker’s Jeff Baxter, this band had a big-name producer twiddlin’ their knobs, also! Bruce Botnick (Doors, Eddie Money, Steve Perry) produced this band, who had a full-page trade ad that bellowed, “For all the people you know who know a hit when they hear one!” The only differentiation was that this band had 5 members, instead of Sneaker’s six!
This formula (treacly ballad, bigger-than-4-piece-band, experienced, well-regarded producer) must have been more prevalent back in that day than the constant airplay and MTV barrage of the Durans and John Melon Cougarcamps would lead you to bereave!
So, stay tuned! I was actually going to link the Sneaker piece after my Tune Tag paragraph on the above mystery band (because they and their songs are so stylistically similar!), but….a decision yet to be made! See ya then!🎵👍
I'm not able to guess the band from the great clues you leave, but I'm sure your Monday note post will answer the question. I did stare into the distance trying to conjure such bands -- Journey certainly fits the bill with 7-letters and treacly ballads, but I'm pretty confident you don't mean them. I'm sure when you do the reveal I'll palm-forehead myself and cry out "of course."
Well, I had never heard of this band we’re TT-ing tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean anything. But, they’re nowhere close to the fame level of a Journey, rest assured. In fact, tomorrow’s mystery band’s label actually folded minutes after their single was released (thus, crippling the song’s further march up the charts)! Oh, the humanity!
I’m just loving the delicious timing of it all….Sneaker and their hit, with tomorrow’s band’s similarly ear-pleasing ballad, both (in that same late-’81/early-’82 time frame) met with that lightning bolt of a hit, but fate dealing them both a cruel brick wall of stoppage, thus making appearing on Merv both band’s career zenith!
Anxious to see if the band and hit are ones you’d heard before!
Never heard of the band but I know the song, strangely enough 😁. So I went looking in my library and yes, they not only had a release in the Benelux but even made it into the tip parade (our bubbling under list). So it was also a story of "close but no cigar" over here. And you wonder why because the song is quite ok.
I approached the song the same way, Pe! I know I used to have that debut album, so I’d heard the song, but when I first played the “More Than Just the Two of Us” video, I started to remember the chorus on the verse’s lead-up to it!
I’ve had a similar convo recently about other songs….For Sneaker’s, a year later, a year before….or 5 years in either direction….could’ve meant a hit for the band! So much of what goes into what makes a song a “hit” is far beyond an artist’s control….and, that includes timing! Thanks for tuning in!
Yet another coulda, shoulda, woulda kind of story that happens so often. I’m always left wondering what might’ve made the difference with bands like this that would’ve pushed them over the top.
Believe me, Mark….the artists engage in that same hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing wondering “what went wrong”! A year before, a year later….a different label, a different producer, the label’s superstar act had their latest album NOT released the same time as your single…..so much out of an artist’s control once they’ve done everything in their power to get it onto wax!
And, there’s always the label to possibly blame…did they do everything in their power to promote the single, and to the “right” radio stations?
Stephen Michael Schwartz was generous and brave enough to “hand-wring” in print (about his ‘75 release from RCA Records) in a couple of his 20 articles for FR&B!
I can only imagine how much the artists must engage in that hand-wringing after putting their heart and soul into something, and creating something that they believe in, only to have it not see the success that it’s due (in the artists’ eyes). It must be devastating. And for those that don’t “make it”, it must be extremely difficult to get over that and to not spend your life wondering what went wrong or feeling resentful.
And, as you might guess, it’s happened all ways after that initial disappointment…..A) hang in there, and they finally have a hit, if not a decades-long career B) throw in the towel, and change careers, going home to lay drywall, or C) stay in music, but find another niche….like Stephen: Early ‘80s, he formed a children’s music trio, Parachute Express, and they ruled the kiddie music lane for a couple decades!
It’s impossible to not be inspired and impressed by that career re-boot!!
Here’s Stephen’s account of that heel-turn after that ‘75 RCA contract-cut:
https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/oy-vey-der-mensch-tracht-after-rca
And, the Parachute Express Wiki page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_Express
What a great deep dive! Do you reckon the performances by Sneaker are live or mimed? They sound way too perfect to be fully live, but talented musicians are often accused (in some cases, wrongly) of lip-synching.
What I like about "More Than Just The Two Of Us" is how unpretentious it is. True, it's a bit cheesy, like Steve says, but trust me, I've consumed (and still consume) my fair share of cheese, and I can confidently say... at least there's no obvious key change, or a big belt at the end! 🤣
Now, the other song, the Steely Dan cover, "Don't Let Me In", is probably an underappreciated gem. I love some rock 'n' roll with bluesy vibes, sliding vocals and some edgy rhythm! I must confess I prefer the Sneaker version, particularly the vocals. They just hit the notes more precisely (just off the top of my head, I haven't done any research on this, but I suspect this might be due to the age difference between the respective singers at the time of recording).
Merv Griffin's comments on their hair though 😂😂 oh, how times have changed!
Thanks, Andy! I did a lot of careful staring at the videos, and I’m seeing wires from the guitars (in Bandstand, Merv, and the Yokohama). If they were miming, they wouldn’t bother with the charade. Also, I was watching Michael’s breathing while singing, and lips…it all seemed live to me. Here’s another dynamic I bet they were thinking of at the time (assuming the show gave them the option):
New band, they were anxious to show their chops. Journey or Bon Jovi appears, they couldn’t care less, and they’d be happy to slow walk a performance synching to their track. They’d have nothing to “prove.” Also, for the ballad, there’s so little to have to try to synch if they were miming….like, nothing to really worry about synching to track.
They “might as well play live”….there’d be fewer ways to tell if they weren’t. If there were massive drum fills, or difficult solos or tandem playing, they might’ve opted to mime, and hoped no one noticed!
On “Don’t Let Me In,” their amps are right next to them, hinting, I think, at either studio booms hanging above, or floor mics just downstage to pick up their guitars. Plus, Mitch’s guitar solo is too well-synched to be mimed….I’m callin’ it: It’s live! I actually think I nixed the notion of including their studio recording of it/them because they DID play so well on these shows. For “Don’t Let Me In,” I might check the studio version (especially Mitch’s solo…any alteration/variation at all from recording studio to TV studio would lead us to believe the TV ones are live).
I’m confident they were confident enough in their rehearsal times and proficiency to WANT to play live, and not “have to rely on” miming. More to lose (and harder), I think (for them) to make it look like they were playing live than to actually play live!
Michael Carey Schneider hasn’t seemed to be on his FB page for a good decade. If I run into any of them online (or elsewhere), I’ll be happy to ask!
However “cheesy” their original ballad may or may not be, I’m just impressed by anyone’s talent to write a song so good as to have a label grant you permission to release it, and think enough of it to have it be a single! After it’s released, people can offer their opinions, and we know it’s all subjective, so, it’s all good. But, I’d be proud to have written it!
Thanks for going into all these details! Shrewd eyes and ears, my friend! That’s why we come here 😉
Yes, it is very likely and conceivable that they were “that good”. The sound is so neat! Many others who enjoyed more commercial success could never!
I love the ballad, however cheesy or not cheesy it may be. I mean, the stuff I listen to? And then a hero comes along… 🤣🤣 not a care in the world. If it’s good, and if it moves us… then the music will have done what it was meant to do!
And, so many “bigger” artists who appeared on those shows had strings and horns backing their arrangements on record, so, for them, it became pointless to even consider “live playing.” Just push “play” and let us mime along! Once you realize a choir and/or a horn section have no place to fit on the TV stage, you realize…”hey, that ain’t live”!
Which is what whelped a lot of hilarity, like Mott the Hoople (poking fun at the ludicrous nature of it all) synching to track, with their drummer “playing” drums with canoe paddles, and Ian Hunter (WITH OPEN MIC) purposely harmonizing with “himself” and his recorded lead vocal coming out over the speakers!!
Lol 🤣🤣 Yes, some very funny things have happened. In an Argentinian TV show, a famous singer (from Spain, I think) was miming and the CD started skipping 😱😱 so she RAN BACKSTAGE in shame 😅😅😅😅you can’t make certain things up!
You know I like a cheesy ballad from the ‘80s as much as anyone, but this one was too much for me. It could be that I just ate pumpkin pie and so adding cheese on top of that made me nauseated, but I have a feeling this song isn’t gonna ‘sneak’ up on me anytime soon.
I had not heard of them, and always appreciate you not just unearthing, but fully exploring unsung or one-hit-wonder bands of our past. I do like the Sneaker Pimps and Shoes, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some more footwear bands. Oh, The Sandals are a surf band. There’s probably a band called Birkenstock. I see a playlist theme forming!
I must admit I feel the same, Steve! I love singing along to it, but at the end of the day, it’s like polishing off a bag o’ O’reos (am I the only one to realize that’s a cookie with rare Irish origins?) in one sitting!
They feel so good going down, but it’s the kind of song that attracted the phrase “guilty pleasure” to the pop’n’rock arena! Almost like you have to listen to a Band or Dylan album after to cleanse your “authenticity” palate!
But, I’ve got news for you, my musically serendipitous bud…there’s another one just like it that happens to pop up on this Tuesday’s Tune Tag (long before I decided to highlight Sneaker)! And, coincidentally enough, it’s from 1982, mere weeks from when the discarded Sneaker showed up on the porch!
And, if that weren’t enough (and, as Dave used to say, “Don’t you think it oughta be?”), we’ll be featuring a video appearance by them on The Merv Griffin Show! That former big band singer sure was a pop-song ho! This band even has a 7-letter single-word name, just like Sneaker!
And, like Sneaker’s Jeff Baxter, this band had a big-name producer twiddlin’ their knobs, also! Bruce Botnick (Doors, Eddie Money, Steve Perry) produced this band, who had a full-page trade ad that bellowed, “For all the people you know who know a hit when they hear one!” The only differentiation was that this band had 5 members, instead of Sneaker’s six!
This formula (treacly ballad, bigger-than-4-piece-band, experienced, well-regarded producer) must have been more prevalent back in that day than the constant airplay and MTV barrage of the Durans and John Melon Cougarcamps would lead you to bereave!
So, stay tuned! I was actually going to link the Sneaker piece after my Tune Tag paragraph on the above mystery band (because they and their songs are so stylistically similar!), but….a decision yet to be made! See ya then!🎵👍
I'm not able to guess the band from the great clues you leave, but I'm sure your Monday note post will answer the question. I did stare into the distance trying to conjure such bands -- Journey certainly fits the bill with 7-letters and treacly ballads, but I'm pretty confident you don't mean them. I'm sure when you do the reveal I'll palm-forehead myself and cry out "of course."
Well, I had never heard of this band we’re TT-ing tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean anything. But, they’re nowhere close to the fame level of a Journey, rest assured. In fact, tomorrow’s mystery band’s label actually folded minutes after their single was released (thus, crippling the song’s further march up the charts)! Oh, the humanity!
I’m just loving the delicious timing of it all….Sneaker and their hit, with tomorrow’s band’s similarly ear-pleasing ballad, both (in that same late-’81/early-’82 time frame) met with that lightning bolt of a hit, but fate dealing them both a cruel brick wall of stoppage, thus making appearing on Merv both band’s career zenith!
Anxious to see if the band and hit are ones you’d heard before!
Never heard of the band but I know the song, strangely enough 😁. So I went looking in my library and yes, they not only had a release in the Benelux but even made it into the tip parade (our bubbling under list). So it was also a story of "close but no cigar" over here. And you wonder why because the song is quite ok.
I approached the song the same way, Pe! I know I used to have that debut album, so I’d heard the song, but when I first played the “More Than Just the Two of Us” video, I started to remember the chorus on the verse’s lead-up to it!
I’ve had a similar convo recently about other songs….For Sneaker’s, a year later, a year before….or 5 years in either direction….could’ve meant a hit for the band! So much of what goes into what makes a song a “hit” is far beyond an artist’s control….and, that includes timing! Thanks for tuning in!