Worth Another Listen - The Hooters

The Hooters are a Philadelphia-based band I was crazy about in the 80s. Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman made up the core of the band, and wrote much of the music. With them, David Uosikkinem, Bobby Woods and John Kuzma were The Hooters. The band formed in 1980, first playing live in Philly, and then branching out to the East Coast as their popularity grew. In 1982, they were asked to work with a little-known talent, Cyndi Lauper. They played, arranged, and wrote for her debut CD. Hyman co-wrote the song Time After Time for her. Between the success of their live shows and their songwriting skills, The Hooters were signed to a major label in 1984.




In 1985 they released their first label release, Nervous Night. And We Danced was the first song released to radio, and it scored the highest of all the Hooters Billboard Top 100 rankings, getting to 21. But on the Mainstream Rock chart, it zoomed up the #3. The Hooters brought many influences to their music, from zydeco to rock to folk to ska, using instrumentation not big on radio at the time. But the explosive power of the songs and their tight production made them threats to jump on the charts with every release. Here is And We Danced.



The Hooters had another 5 songs climb to the Mainstream Rock Top 20 in the 80s, including Day By Day, Satellite, Johnny B, 500 Miles, and All You Zombies. Brother Don't You Walk Away and Where Do The Children Go just missed, landing in the 30s. Here is a personal favorite of mine, All You Zombies.



Although Nervous Night went double Platinum, and the follow-up, One Way Home, went gold, it was really performing live that was the bread and butter for The Hooters. Their shows were legendary in the Philly area, known for the charismatic nature of the band, fueled by the energy of a crowd primed to love them. They also made inroads in the European market with live shows. The band is still performing both in the US and Europe, with Hyman and Bazilian still firmly entrenched with the Hooters.



To find out more about The Hooter, check out their website here. They just released a new CD, Both Sides Live, with them playing some of their greatest hits and favorite songs live in concert, and also in a studio recorded live. I have it, and will be reviewing soon!