The biggest Classic Rock comeback tunes

17 November 2024, 10:00

Comebacks can reignite a passion for a rock musician's career, reminding the world of why we fell in love with the music in the first place. Here are a selection of some of the most famous and memorable rock comebacks in history.

By Radio X

@RadioX

1. Fleetwood Mac - Big Love: release date 23rd March 1987

   The band had a Top 10 hit in 1982 with Oh Diane, from their Mirage album, but it was a full five years before Fleetwood Mac returned with this Linsdey Buckingham classic, the lead off single from the eight-times Platinum album Tango In The Night.

   

   Fleetwood Mac - Big Love (Official Music Video)

2. Queen - Radio Ga Ga: release date 16th January 1984

   Forget what you saw in the Bo Rhap biopic, Queen's stock was on the up before they played Live Aid; their "disco" album Hot Space had a lukewarm response from fans and critics alike, while Calling All Girls and Staying Power weren't released as singles in the UK, although the funky Back Chat just about nudged the Top 40. They came roaring back two years later with Radio Ga Ga, which entered the charts at Number 4 and peaked at Number 2 a week later.

   

   Queen - Radio Ga Ga (Official Video)

3. AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long: release date 15th August 1980

   AC/DC vocalist Bon Scott died from alcohol poising while on a trip to London on 19th February 1980, and for many, it felt like the Aussie rockers would call it a day. They were reckoning without the powerful vocal of former Geordie single Brian Johnson, who became the band's new singer in March of that year. The first single from the sessions that produced Back In Black was this rock classic and proved that the band were as strong as ever.

   

   AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long (Official Video)

4. U2 - The Fly: release date 21st October 1991

   As the dust settled on the 1980s, Bono revealed at a show in Dublin that U2 were about to "go away and ... just dream it all up again". They certainly did - the calculated rockism of the Joshua Tree era was ditched in favour of electronic beats and new methods of writing, as The Fly proved when it made its way across MTV and radio stations in the autumn of 1991.

   

   U2 - The Fly (Official Music Video)

5. The Kinks - Come Dancing: release date 19th November 1982

   The Kinks' last Top 20 hit had been with Supersonic Rocket Ship in May 1972, but it was Ray Davies' tribute to the dancehalls of his youth that saw the band back in the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic a decade later.

   

   The Kinks - Come Dancing

6. KISS - Crazy Crazy Nights: release date 27th February 1988

   Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and co were more popular in the US than they were over here, and their singles didn't really trouble that chars. That is, until the glam stars dropped the make-up and reinvented themselves as poodle rockers in the 80s. Crazy Crazy Nights made Number 4 in October 1987; on home turf, the single only made Number 65.

   

   KISS - Crazy, Crazy Nights Music Video

7. Aerosmith and Run DMC - Walk This Way: release date 4th July 1986

   One of the most famous collaborations of all time, this mash-up of New York hip hop and Boston rock was the first Aerosmith single to make the charts in Britain, incredibly enough. In their native US, this was the first Aerosmith single to make the Billboard Hot 100 since their 1978 cover of The Beatles' Come Together.

   

   RUN DMC - Walk This Way (Official HD Video) ft. Aerosmith

8. ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin': released March 1983

   1983's Eliminator was a huge international hit for the Texan trio, as the band swapped their blues roots for a slicker light rock style. The lead single - aided by a memorable video featuring the legendary Ford Coupe car - made Number 10 in the UK, the band's first chart entry this side of the pond.

   

   ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin' (Official Music Video) [HD Remaster]

9. Slade - We'll Bring The House Down: release date 13th March 1981

   One of the biggest British bands during the glam rock era, with six Number 1 hits in the period between October 1971 and Christmas 1973. But as tastes changed as the decade went on, Slade's singles missed rather than hit. That's until this boisterous Number 10, which came out just as the band were beginning to appeal to a new rock audience, stealing the show at the Reading Festival in 1980. It wasn't Slade's final chart hit - both My Oh My (1983) and Run Runaway (1984) made the Top 10.

   

   Slade - We'll Bring the House Down

10. The Rolling Stones - Mixed Emotions: release date 21st August 1989

    The Stones have had their share of career ups and downs, but the mid-1980s was a low-point: the relationship between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards was at an all-time low, and the frontman had an eye on a solo career. But the Steel Wheels album was a refreshing antitode to the doldrums of its predecessor Dirty Work, and the band hit the road once more, regaining their title as the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world.

    

    The Rolling Stones - Mixed Emotions - OFFICIAL PROMO

11. Starship - We Built This City: released August 1985

    Originally one of the pioneers of psychedelic rock in San Francisco in the mid-1960s, Jefferson Airplane called it a day at the end of 1972, but it wasn't long before a slight line-up change resulted in the band continuing in a new form as Jefferson Starship.

    

    Starship - We Built This City (Official Music Video) [HD]

12. Tina Turner - Let's Stay Together: release date 7th November 1983

    The Al Green classic was instrumental in relaunching Tina Turner's career in the early 1980s, when she collaborated with the British electronic outfit Heaven 17. Making Number 6 in the UK, it saw Tina's first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 in over a decade and opened the door to rock superstardom for the singer.

    

    Tina Turner - Lets Stay Together (Official Music Video)

13. John Lennon - (Just Like) Starting Over: release date 24th October 1980

    A tragically short-lived comeback, this was Lennon's first new material since his cover of Stand By Me in March 1975. (Just Like) Starting Over was seen as the best Lennon song in years and peaked at Number 8 in the charts - until the former Beatle was murdered outside his home in New York on 8th December, 1980. The single shot back up to the top of the UK chart.

    

    (JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER. (Ultimate Mix, 2020) - John Lennon (official music video HD)

14. George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You: release date 12th October 1987

    The Quiet One's commercial success fell off a bit of a cliff in the late 1970s, and it was only the tribute to his fallen comrade John Lennon, All Those Years Ago, in 1981 that saw any chart action for the ex-Beatle. 1987's Cloud Nine album was a huge success, led off by this sprightly cover of James Ray's 1962 hit, taking Harrison into the UK Top 5 for the first time since My Sweet Lord, 16 years earlier.

    

    George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You (Version II)

15. Whitesnake - Here I Go Again: released October 1987 (remake)

    Originally recorded for the British rockers' 1982 album Saints & Sinners, this storming tune was remade for the band's self titled "1987" album, where it smashed into the UK Top 10, as did the follow-up, Is This Love.

    

    Whitesnake - Here I Go Again '87 (Official Music Video)