"Anywhere with You" by Rubber Rodeo

Song#:  2026
Date:  08/25/1984
Debut:  90
Peak:  86
Weeks:  5
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  This Rhode Island band stirred up a lot of folks when they dressed up their new wave/rock tunes in country and western styles. In 1982, they issued a couple of indie EPs that blended their own originals with standards like Dolly Parton's "Jolene." They secured a good following in the northeast and by 1984 they had signed with Mercury Records. Their debut LP, Scenic Views, was completed and its first single, "The Hardest Part," was issued. It didn't get anywhere but this second single was able to gain a bit of an audience and made it to the Pop chart for a few weeks. The results were good enough for Mercury to ask for a second album and in 1986 they released Heartbreak Highway. Unfortunately, none of the album's singles caught on and the album quickly disappeared, as did the band's contract. They continued to perform throughout the remainder of the 80s, but broke up soon after.

ReduxReview:  I loved this song the first time I heard it and picked up the single immediately. I got the album a bit later, which came from some rep for Mercury. He came to one of my college classes to discuss the business of music. I remember him distinctly because he really wasn't into music, yet he was trying to promote and sell it. Basically, he was a blowhard sales guy with about zero clue of what he was selling. At the time he was trying to promote both Bananarama and Rubber Rodeo. I distinctly remember him saying that Rubber Rodeo's lead vocalist, Trish Milliken, was the next Sissy Hynde. (Obviously, he meant Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders.) You can't made comments like that in a room full of music students who were well-versed on current and past music and artists. He was horrible. However, the one good thing was that he brought promo copies of the albums, so I grabbed up Scenic Views. It's really an interesting album and I like the band's sound. This single was the best they had to offer and it really should have caught on. I still love it. Their second album had a couple good tunes including the single "Souvenir."

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) Along with Scenic Views, the band made several videos for their songs that were collected and released under the same title. The video ended up grabbing a Grammy nomination for Best Short-Form Music Video in 1985. It was beaten out by David Bowie's Jazzin' for Blue Jean video.  2) One person who performed in Rubber Rodeo may be familiar with fans of David Bowie. Steel guitarist Reeves Gabrels joined the band following their second album. Later on, he would join Bowie's new band Tin Machine. He would also play guitar on several of Bowie's later albums.

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