When you think of the music of the 80s, you tend to imagine everything pushing forward into a new era. But a few artists did an outstanding job of injecting throwback vibes into their material, focusing on the classic songwriting techniques of earlier eras. The Motels stood out as one such band. Although they could dive headlong into the new wave like other acts, they enjoyed their biggest success with ballads. “Only The Lonely”, released in 1982, gave The Motels their first taste of mainstream success.
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Checking Out The Motels
The Motels certainly showed persistence to reach their status as 80s hitmakers. Before they reached that point, they played live for a long stretch, even before they ever had a chance to record. Consider the fact that they formed at the start of the 70s but didn’t record their first album until 1979.
Martha Davis, the band’s singer and chief songwriter, proved to be the constant among an ever-changing lineup during the earlier part of their career. Formed in Berkeley, California, they finally received a record deal as their sound morphed into the peppy new wave stylings that were popular at the time.
Their first two albums gained them some international success and a cult following. For their third album, their record label expected them to start pushing things into a more commercial realm. But the band had other ideas, leading to a chaotic time that easily could have sunk them for good.
“Lonely” Days
The band was making a third album with the title Apocalypso. They had enlisted producer Val Garay, who was hot off the success of helping Kim Carnes on the massive hit “Bette Davis Eyes”. But the album that they delivered to their record company was deemed too odd, and all the songs were shelved except one.
The lone song to survive was The Motels’ hit track “Only The Lonely”. Davis had written it about the contrast she was feeling between her band finally achieving success and her personal life in a bit of a shambles. She and guitarist Tim McGovern were dating, but they fell apart during the process of making the record.
Garay circled the wagons and convinced Davis and company to go back into the studio and record a whole new album. They kept “Only The Lonely” in the running order, giving it a soulful vibe embellished by the saxophone work of Marty Jourard. Released as the first single from the retitled album All Four One in 1982, the song became the band’s first Top 10 hit in America.
Behind the Lyrics of “Only The Lonely”
“Only The Lonely” by The Motels tells the story of a relationship, once strong, now going through the motions. “We walked the loneliest mike,” Davis begins. “We smiled without any style / We kiss altogether wrong / No intention.”
They can see the end is near: “We lived without each other thinking / What anyone would do / Without me and you.“
The narrator is able to summon some nostalgia for better times in the second verse.
“You mention the time we were together / So long ago, well I don’t remember / All I know is it makes me feel good now.”
But the chorus keeps coming around to plead for solidarity among all the losers in love: “It’s like I told you / Only the lonely can play.“
Davis would pen another classic throwback ballad that The Motels would turn into a hit before the decade was through. “Only The Lonely” bemoaned how success doesn’t necessarily breed happiness. And then, ironically enough, it gave this band the biggest success they ever had.
Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns
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