AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Payola$

Artist:Payola$

Song:Eyes of a Stranger

Album:Between a Rock & a Hyde Place: The Best of Payola$

The 1982 single Eyes of a Stranger was the biggest hit for the Canadian band Payola$. They were mostly successful at home. Of course the band name is a reference to the payola scandal in the music business. At first they were called The Payolas. But when a record executive objected to the name, it was changed to Payola$. Maybe they just should have called themselves something else. Payola$ lead singer Paul Hyde was born in Yorkshire, England but his family moved to Victoria, B.C. when he was a teen. Bob Rock was born in Winnipeg but his family moved to Victoria and the two became friends in high school. Hyde was a big music fan and they played local clubs as Paul Kane Blues Band. When Rock landed a job as an apprentice recording engineer at Little Mountain Sound in Vancouver, he became familiar with the local punk music scene. And that's when Payola$ was formed. Hyde and Rock wrote all the songs. So other band members were disposable. They released a 1979 single and that got them a record deal with A&M Records in Canada. When Payola$' 1981 debut album In a Place Like This didn't do well, A&M brought in David Bowie's guitarist Mick Ronson to produce. The single Eyes of a Stranger reached #4 on the RPM chart. So now they are getting somewhere. But when Payola$ were presented to the US parent company, they wanted a name change. That's when Rock added the $. They should have changed the name as US radio stations were never going to play a band with the name Payola$. Ronson also produced the 1983 album Hammer on a Drum which produced the single Never Said I Love You featuring Rough Trade lead singer Carole Pope. It reached #8 on the RPM chart. When the 1985 David Foster produced album Here's the World for Ya didn't produce any hits, A&M dropped Payola$. For the 1988 album Under the Volcano, the band name was changed to Rock and Hyde. It was released on Capitol. It did well enough that A&M released this comp of Payola$ recordings which is available as a digital download. After that, Rock decided to concentrate on becoming a record producer. He has had a very successful career. Hyde has recorded solo and Payola$ has reunited occasionally. They even released an EP in 2007. That was the end of Payola$. If only they had changed their name when asked by A&M. Here's the video for Eyes of a Stranger by Payola$.