Friday, June 9, 2017

Whatever happened to Billy Ocean?


This past week while looking for something to watch on Netflix I spotted the 1988 Corey Haim/Corey Feldman classic "License to Drive"! I made some comment to my wife about possibly watching this movie tonight and she replied "I have never seen that before". WHAT! That "possibly watching" turned into a "DEFINATELY WATCHING" License to Drive!
If you haven't seen the movie yet, I won't spoil too much for you, but in a nutshell Corey Haim's character fails his driving test, tells his friend Corey Feldman he passed, they take the family car out and craziness ensues! At the end Haim gets the girl played by a young Heather Graham and they drive away to the sweet & soulful sounds of Billy Ocean.
Billy Ocean? I hadn't thought about him in a long time, but as luck would have it I was recently sorting through a box of old toys, cards, etc. and I uncovered this "Greatest Hits" tape of his that I had bought at Goodwill for $0.50 over a year ago.
If you're anything like me, right now you're asking yourself "Whatever happened to Billy Ocean?". Why doesn't Billy Ocean get the same respect as other R&B singers from the 80s? He was a hit maker on par with Lionel Richie, Terence Trent D'Arby and Keith Sweat at the time. So, what has he been up to since the early 90s? I mean this guy had multiple #1 hits won Grammy Awards and performed the theme song from the film The Jewel of the Nile! He was on top of the world and then nothing.
I did some digging and it turns out Billy Ocean has been quite busy since we last heard him on the airwaves. In 2002 the University of Westminster awarded him an honorary doctorate of music. In 2010 he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Music of Black Origins Awards. Then in 2011 Ocean became a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and in his spare time he released the albums "Because I Love You" (2009) & "Here You Are" (2013). Finally, he just wrapped his 2017 Spring Tour last month! In honor of rediscovering Billy here is my favorite song of his, "Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)". Have fun trying to get that out of your head! What is your favorite Billy Ocean song?

5 comments:

  1. I'm an 80's music fanatic, and am saddened to have to admit Billy Ocean never really made it into my music rotation - Despite his many hits (which are undoubtedly very good). I just never really cared much for him.

    However, it's good to see him still around these days. It's even better he's supporting The Walking Dead with his cos-play look of King Ezekiel.

    Definitely going to have to track down a greatest hits CD for my IPOD.

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    1. I know right! His dreads are crazy! I would recommend you pick up his "Hits" album if you can find it on the cheap. You won't be disappointed.

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  2. Wow - life is complete- we know what Billy is up to. So cool.

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