On this day in music history: January 4, 1985 - “Obsession” by Animotion is released. Written by Holly Knight and Michael Des Barres, it is the debut single and biggest hit for the pop band from Los Angeles, CA. Originally known as Red Zone, Astrid Plane (lead vocals), Paul Antonelli (keyboards), and David “Frenchy” O'Brien, release the album “Living On Lust” in 1982. They split soon after, and reform as Animotion, with Bill Wadhams (vocals, guitar) and Don Kirkpatrick (guitar) complete the line up. Signed to Mercury Records in 1984, much of their debut album consists of original material, though it is a cover of another song that becomes their breakthrough. Best known for writing 80’s classics including “Love Is A Battlefield”, “Better Be Good To Me” and “The Warrior”, Holly Knight collaborates with singer Michael Des Barres (Detective, Chequered Past). The pair write “Obsession” for the film “A Night In Heaven”, starring Christopher Atkins (“The Blue Lagoon”) and Lesley Ann Warren (“Victor/Victoria”). Starting with a keyboard riff written by Knight, Des Barres writes the lyric. A recovering heroin addict, Michael initially pens them from the perspective of trying to shake his drug habit. Then it evolves into being about a stalker “obsessed” with a woman. Finally, the more sinister elements are toned down, with the narrative being tailored toward Warren’s character being attracted to Atkins. Knight and Des Barres record it with producer Mike Chapman (Blondie, The Knack), and is released in December of 1983. The film is a box office flop, the song along with its soundtrack also disappear quickly, aside from receiving some play in dance clubs. When Animotion cut it, they do not stray far from the original version. An instant smash, the video for “Obsession” also becomes an MTV favorite, featuring the band performing the song on the grounds of a mansion, inter cut with shots of them wearing various costumes. Entering the Billboard Hot 100 at #90 on January 26, 1985, it peaks at #6 fourteen weeks later on May 4, 1985. The follow up “Let Him Go” (#39 Pop) also cracks the Top 40. Animotion’s line up shifts with Paul Antonelli and David O'Brien quitting (being replaced by Greg Smith and Jim Blair). Their second album “Strange Behavior”, and its two singles “I Engineer” (#76 Pop) and “I Want You” (#84 Pop), are not hits in the US. Plane, Wadhams and Ottavio also leave, and are replaced by actress, dancer and vocalist Cynthia Rhodes (“Flashdance”, “Dirty Dancing) and co-lead vocalist Paul Engemann. Though their third album fares poorly, it spins off Animotion’s second biggest hit with “Room To Move” (#9 Pop, #46 AC), when it is included on the soundtrack to the comedy “My Stepmother Is An Alien” in 1989. Regarded as a quintessential 80’s song, “Obsession” has endured in popularity, featured on the video games “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City”, “Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare”, and in various films and TV programs.
One year ago today, Momo & I left Canada for 8 months in Europe. In that time we visited hundreds of destinations in 20+ countries and honed our European dog-travel skills. Over the next few weeks I’m gonna share some of my favourite excerpts from the book about the trip, my favourite dog-friendly stops (every chapter starts with a few of my favourites), stories, people, and places. There is SO much packed into this book it’s by far my favourite of the series.
You can find all of the stuff I’m sharing and SO much more in the book, which you can pre-order now: www.andrewknapp.com/store
This shot was taken closer to the end of our trip in London.
I’ll tell you a big life lesson. Paul was over at my house, I think it was my 30th birthday party, and I had just seen a movie I didn’t love. I said to him over a drink, “It’s not a good movie,” and he so sweetly took me aside and said very quietly, “Don’t say that. Don’t say that it’s not a good movie. If it wasn’t for you, that’s fine, but in our business, we’ve all got to support each other.” The movie was very artsy, and he said, “You’ve got to support the big swing. If you put it out there that the movie’s not good, they won’t let us make more movies like that.”
Dude, Paul Thomas Anderson is out there on the wall for us! He’s defending the value of the artistic experience. He’s so good that maybe you project onto him that he’s allowed to be snarky, but he’s the exact opposite: He wants to love everything because that’s why he got into moviemaking. And ever since then, I’ve never said that I hate a movie.
