First Hit #1: June 3, 1989
Rock On was a cover recorded by a soap opera star for the purposes of a movie starring the Coreys Haim and Feldman. It doesn’t sound anything like what you would expect from the previous sentence, instead turning into a very strange new wave interpretation of ’50s nostalgia, including repeated references to James Dean. It is almost a song that is arranged entirely to subvert expectations. It’s not even particularly rocking, it’s almost entirely percussive sounds rather than anything resembling a traditional rock sound. The song can be made into a rock song, but Damian’s version strips those elements away entirely. As well, while the lyrics are certainly a homage to ’50s culture the halting delivery is decidedly contrast with anything that could actually get popular in the ’50s – play this song back then, and you would get strange looks rather than adoring fans. Sometimes you can hear the bones of something a bit more straight up and predictable, and the video reveals that Michael Damian is not quite the mysterious and moody young man that his performance might suggest – there is some serious goofball going on in some of this – but Damian and crew manage to create something very different from what you might predict.
To our disappointment but not our surprise, Damian’s cover of David Essex’s sparse 1974 hit loses all sense of mystery through overproduction. I imagine this playing in the background while the Coreys were driving to a club or something, stopping just as they arrive and get carded.