Does anyone remember the Hooters? (Band. Not restaurant. Or body part.)

Cafe Society
1

My wife is a giant 80s music fan, but she had never heard of the Hooters before. I was sort of shocked, but then I wondered if it was just a Philly thing. (I’m from Philly, she’s from Pittsburgh.) I mean, they opened the Live Aid concert in the USA! While they were no Duran Duran or anything, and clearly small potatoes, she’s aware of much smaller one-hit-wonders from the 80s.

So how 'bout it—are the Hooters widely known outside of Philadelphia? Or is this a weird blind spot in my wife’s knowledge?

2

Oh, I still love the song “And We Danced.” The harmonica is so wistful! I also like “Day by Day” and “All You Zombies.”

University of Illinois (C-U) '85 - '90

3

Yes, I remember them.

But I didn’t know until recently that they were the backing band on Cyndi Lauper’s first album, after they’d formed but before they hit it big.

4

I remember them - but I’ll admit to thinking of Hootie and the Blowfish when I first saw the thread title
All You Zombies was biblical? Huh. Learn something new every day.

5

I do!

I saw them live back in … 1993? In Philadelphia, WMMR did some big concert with Jethro Tull, Warren Zevon, the Hooters and some other bands that time has erased from my memory.

I looked it up. It was April 27, 1993 (2 days before my birthday!) and it was their 25th Anniversary Celebration. I got free tickets through my work.

6

I remember them, but I was a teenager in Philadelphia when they were big, so that probably doesn’t help. I don’t remember them opening Live Aid though, and I was there.

7

“All You Zombies” was one of my favorite songs as a kid. But I grew up in the Philly suburbs, so…

8

I remember them, and I grew up in Dallas/Fort Worth. They were moderately popular - I think their music was regularly played at school dances during the mid '80’s.

I liked them then, and still do - gotta find the tapes (or are they honest-to-god vinyl albums?) that I’m sure I still have somewhere…

9

I love “And We Danced”, too. But it’s not a harmonica, it’s …something else. I don’t know what you call it. it’s like a keyboard with a pipe attached. You can see him playing it near the start of the video, here.

Anyone know what that’s called?

Thanks,
Bill

10

A melodica? That’s what it sounds like.

I remember “And we danced” from when I was living in Illinois.

11

I grew up in Memphis and had their cassette - the one with “And We Danced.” Liked it a lot, but apparently not enough to keep track of the band afterwards.

I wouldn’t say they were huge in Memphis at the time, but they did get played on the local pop-rock station.

12

All You Zombies is on my playlist. I still have the record “Nervous Night”. I’m from Northern Ohio.

13

I love that band! I have a cassette with an album on each side that I still listen to. It has the one with Zombies, “Nervous Night” and one of the later ones, “One Way Home” .

And We Danced is still one of my all time favorite songs.

14

It’s a Hooter! (A Melodica, as lobotomy said.) That’s where they got their name.

15

Yep, that’d seem to be it. Thanks to lobotomyboy63 and yourself.

thwartme

16

I totally remember The Hooters, and I grew up in British Columbia, Canada - quite far from Philly. :slight_smile:

17

Satellite is one of my favorite Hooters’ songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lwYK8EHd_M

18

I remember them, but I lived in Philly from '83 to '85. I remember seeing them play somewhere outdoors - a Fourth of July thing, maybe? I’m too old to remember exactly where.

ETA: “All You Zombies” was always my favorite.

19

I enjoyed them on MTV and Los Angeles radio.

20

I remember them well. Their second album was better than the first, in my opinion.

After each of their first two albums, they were playing huge stadiums as the opening act for a lot of very popular acts (I saw them with Bryan Adams, but they also toured with Stevie Nicks and others). But after that, they decided they wanted to be headliners, even if that meant playing mostly small clubs. I saw them here in Austin at a short-lived music club that was designed to look like a coal mine, and they were great.

I hadn’t heard anything from them in years, but Eric Bazilian made a comeback of sorts as producer and songwriter for Joan Osborne. I think he wrote her biggest hit, “One of Us.”