STAGE DOLLS??
19 feet of Norwegian rock! (the 3 of them were all over 6 feet tall)
I haven’t seen their name for decades. We spent a FORTUNE trying to break them.
Mike Bone
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I was the head of rock radio, alternative radio and video promotion at Chrysalis when this album came out. This album wasn’t easy to promote, but the one thing I remember well, was that these were really great guys. I fondly remember some crazy stunts we pulled at MTV, with my buddy Rick Krim, to get their attention. Sadly it never stuck but it sure was fun to try and get them noticed. Thanks for the memories!
Steve Schnur
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I loved these guys.
Worked together when I was at chrysalis I used to take them to conventions have them hang out in our suite and watch them make all the radio guys drink some Norwegian liquor that just knocked everybody on their butt
Very nice guys.
Music was great , the world changed underneath their feet.
Best
Greg Thompson
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"Love Cries" was the track I remember most from Stage Dolls. I remember seeing a clip of it on Casey Kasem's America's Top 10 TV show, I think it was a 'future hit' or something like that, and I was hooked. I NEEDED to find that album. Living in small town Saskatchewan, Canada. That was a lot harder than you think, but I remember when I finally found the cassette in a used record store. Like you, I assumed this was their only release. Say what you will about the evils of the internet and it's 'impact' on the music industry, it's thanks to the internet that I discovered some other great releases from Stage Dolls and why I'm able to take multiple trips down memory lane listening to music that I thought was lost to the ages.
Danny Fournier
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Hey Bob, long time reader. I absolutely LOVE this record! One of my prized CD’s. I was working indie promotion with independent record promoter Tony Muscolo in Granada Hills, CA in the late 80’s. He asked me to listen to this album (cd) and tell him what I thought. Told him I thought it was great and as good as anything getting added at radio at the time. Too bad Chrysalis didn’t really get behind this band.
P.S. Got to keep the CD also.
David Wolnik
Muscolo Promotion
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Wow. Stage Dolls. That was the first real record release party I attended. At The Rainbow, if memory serves. I hadn’t heard that name or thought about the band in decades. When I saw your subject line in my inbox, the memories instantly flooded back. That was a night of good debauchery. Glad to hear the Dolls are still at it!
Pat Kraus
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The emphasis AOR song off that Stage Dolls record was "Love Cries."
Still holds up pretty well today in a Bryan Adams kinda way.
It was released as a single and mid-charted.
Fun Fact: The B-side was one of the songs you also mentioned---"Ammunition."
Marty Bender Sobolewski
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Wow!!! I had no idea you even knew them.
I bought that CD for the track Love Cries - it was on many of my playlists.
Love your writing. Keep it coming.
Have a great holiday! Stay safe.
Miguel d'Escoto
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Love Cries by the Stage Dolls is dynamite. The guitar tone hits a sweet spot and the vocal hook is perfect. Pure 1980s gold.
-Steve Coscia
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I’ve been a Stage Dolls fan for decades, since that record first came out. “Love Don’t Bother Me” is a MONSTER track. Great ear, as always, Bob!
Jer Gervasi
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Great piece on the Stage Dolls. I was involved with their later effort, "Stripped". If you want to hear a song that deserved to be a hit, check out Love Don't Bother Me - Stage Dolls: tinyurl.com/ykcdm9cz
This is one of the songs I look back on and lament "Why didn't we break this one?"
Sky Daniels
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Agree with you about Stage Dolls. They also had an Album called Commandos with similar song called Magic worth mentioning. Sorry to say they never broke in Scandinavia. Another Norwegian guy worth listening to is Morton Abel!
Kind regards from Sweden.
Reidar Erlandsson
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I am beyond ecstatic that you wrote about Stage Dolls. I lived in Norway for 10 years as a kid from ‘88-‘98.
Being a jazz head heavily into the ECM world and GRP recordings, rock wasn’t really in my focus. But I remember Stage Dolls on the radio.
Now imagine my surprise here in Hollywood when I came across a cassette tape at Counterpoint in Franklin Village. I bought it because my Volvo still has a tape deck.
Torstein Flakne had something else than the other rockers and frontmen in Norway had. His melodies, chords and songwriting would pique any music lovers interest, if they ever dared to venture into rock, as it did mine.
I revisited the music after reading your mail today, and yes, it still holds up and was not nostalgia. It was simply enjoying good old songs beyond peering over the shoulder with rose tinted glasses.
Thank you for writing about them and yes, they do have a power ballad: “Love Don’t Bother Me”.
Alexander Andresen
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When I saw the subject heading of this email, I chuckled to myself and thought “imagine if Bob was talking about that killer Norwegian rock band”. I then ignored it for a few hours before coming back and…
“…he IS talking about THAT band!”
You were there at the time, it makes more sense that you would have had these guys on your radar. For me, younger, I came across the song “Love Cries” as a late teen when i started to become obsessed with those more polished mid-late 80s AOR-esque bands. The power of the internet, eh?
Norway seemed like such an unusual origin for a band playing this type of music, kind of like Strangeways from Scotland, however there has been such a huge resurgence of this polished AOR/melodic rock sound coming out of Scandinavia in particular over the last 15 or so years that it doesn’t seem as weird now. No doubt bands like Stage Dolls played a key part in that.
I’m so happy to read your thoughts on what i think is an incredible album and is no doubt underrated in every corner of the planet. Probably even in Norway as well!
I made a super cheesy AOR (loosely defined) playlist on Spotify which has everything from Stage Dolls, Treat, Jaded Heart and Talisman, through to Jimmy Barnes (that ONE album!), Boulevard, Harem Scarem, Work of Art and more. Many successful tracks, but a lot of underrated gems. I just hope more of those forgotten ones make it onto stream (Unruly Child’s self titled in particular!).
open.spotify.com/playlist/4jLrIfU3laFOdula5PwccE?si=Ukuf315_Q_6po1_lf3JYNw&pi=a-JtLxOjqCQBeG
I absolutely love your newsletter, but this one really made my day.
Thanks and happy holidays.
Andy Dowling
Sydney, Australia
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