The Doctor is the ninth studio album by Cheap Trick, released in 1986. Since the beginning of the 1980s, Cheap Trick saw increasing pressure from their label, Epic Records, to produce material that was more commercial. In 1985, the band successfully gained a commercial comeback with the Top 40 album Standing on the Edge. For that album, the band had planned on returning to the rough sound of their 1977 debut, but producer Jack Douglas backed out of mixing process due to the legal issues he was having with Yoko Ono. Mixer Tony Platt was called in, and as a result, the album's production featured keyboards and electronic drums more prominently than the band and Douglas had intended.

Standing on the Edge is the eighth studio album by the American rock group Cheap Trick, released in 1985. Jack Douglas, the producer of Cheap Trick's debut album Cheap Trick, made a return for this release. When released, Standing on the Edge peaked at number 35 on the Billboard 200 and was on the charts for 19 weeks. After a few albums of more pop-oriented material, Standing on the Edge saw Cheap Trick return to their standard hard-rocking sound. The album was produced by Jack Douglas, who produced the band's eponymous debut album as well as the Found All The Parts EP. Originally, Cheap Trick planned on returning to the rough sound of their first album. However, Douglas backed out of the mixing process due to legal issues he was having with Yoko Ono. Mixer Tony Platt was called in, and as a result, keyboards and electronic drums were featured more prominently than the band and Douglas had intended.

In the days before punk rock, Kursaal Flyers straddled the line separating pub rock and power pop. The line was so thin it would seem to disappear in the rearview mirror, but when Kursaal Flyers were active in the mid-'70s, they were subtly pulled in two different directions. They'd tour on the same circuit as their friends Dr. Feelgood, but they also signed to Jonathan King's company in 1975, then worked with pop impresario Mike Batt after singing to CBS for The Golden Mile in 1976. Batt gave "Little Does She Know" a grandiose arrangement designed to conjure memories of Phil Spector, and it was enough for the single to crack the U.K. Top 20; however, instead of being their breakthrough, it was their only hit.

Along with his Rock Fabulous Orchestra, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame presents what amounts to a best-of collection on The Dave Stewart Songbook Volume One. In addition to smash-hits from Eurythmics such as “Sweet Dreams” and “Here Comes the Rain Again,” the songbook includes timeless tracks penned by Stewart including Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” No Doubt’s “Underneath It All,” Mick Jagger’s “Old Habits Die Hard” (which earned Dave and Mick a Golden Globe award), Celine Dion’s “Taking Chances” and songs written and produced for U2, Sinead O’Connor, Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Ferry, Bob Geldof, Beyonce, Sarah McLaughlan, Shakespear’s Sister and Candy Dulfer. All songs have been with recorded with his touring band and a full orchestra.

In the '70s and '80s, Sparks' American fans couldn't understand why the Mael Brothers weren't as big in the United States as they were in England. "Why don't more of our fellow Americans realize just how great these guys are?" was the question that Sparks addicts in the U.S. often found themselves asking. Whatever the reason, British audiences really connected with Sparks' goofy, insanely clever lyrics – and the fact that Russell Mael sings like he could be an eccentric upper-class Englishman (although he was born and raised in Los Angeles) probably didn't hurt. Indiscreet, which was the Mael Brothers' third album for Island and their fifth album overall, is state-of-the-art Sparks. The power pop melodies are consistently infectious, and the lyrics are as humorous as one expects Sparks lyrics to be – nutty gems like "Pineapple," "Happy Hunting Ground," "Tits," and "Get in the Swing" will easily appeal to those who like to think of Russell and Ron Mael as the pop/rock equivalent of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

One of the more curious characters of the new wave movement, singer/guitarist/songwriter Moon Martin issued several critically acclaimed yet commercially underappreciated releases from the late '70s through the early '80s, before reappearing in the mid-'90s.

Cheap Trick's eponymous debut is an explosive fusion of Beatlesque melodic hooks, Who-styled power, and a twisted sense of humor partially borrowed from the Move. But that only begins to scratch the surface of what makes Cheap Trick a dynamic record. Guitarist Rick Nielsen has a powerful sense of dynamics and arrangements, which gives the music an extra kick, but he also can write exceptionally melodic and subversive songs. Nothing on Cheap Trick is quite what it seems. While the songs have hooks and attitude that arena rock was sorely lacking in the late '70s, they are also informed by a bizarre sensibility, whether it's the driving "He's a Whore," the dreamy "Mandocello," or the thumping Gary Glitter perversion "ELO Kiddies."

Suzi Quatro was hardly the first Tough Girl in rock & roll – there were plenty of precursors, from Wanda Jackson and the Shangri-Las to Grace Slick and Janis Joplin – but Quatro codified a type of rock & roll woman who didn't exist before she took the stage, one who looked as tough as the guys and wasn't merely a singer but also an instrumentalist, the leader of the band who made the noise right along with the rest of the group. With her trademark leather jumpsuit and big bass guitar (which seemed even bigger given her diminutive stature of just five feet), Quatro created a new and potent image for women in rock, one that spoke of both strength and sexiness, and she became a major international star in the '70s, though it would take a while before she was as readily recognized in the United States as in the United Kingdom.

After several years in England's pub rock scene, ex-Duck Deluxe members Nick Garvey and Andy McMaster formed the Motors in 1977 with vocalist Bram Tchaikovsky and drummer Ricky Slaughter. Their first album was a splendid piece of guitar-driven pop/rock highlighted by the single "Dancing the Night Away." Approved By was the album that earned them the U.K. hits "Airport" and "Forget About You"; the record saw the band's songwriting improving with forceful melodies and invigorating performances. After that record, the Motors split up; Garvey and McMaster used the band's name for the 1980 album Tenement Steps, which didn't equal the spark of their first two records.