Against the Wind

And that was certainly true in the 1980s.

So you open your book exploring three albums that defined the soundtrack of America at the beginning of the 1980s, which were Bruce Springsteen's The River, Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Against the Wind by Bob Seger.

And of those, Seger's album is worthy of notice because you write that his success with Against the Wind foretold the widespread appeal of Heartland Rock.

What about it resonated with listeners?

Yeah, so Against the Wind is Bob Seger's first real attempt at mainstream appeal.

And that is an important principle, an important action contained within the Heartland Rock movement because this was rock music created with adult audiences and adult problems, issues in mind.

And because of that, the production values were extremely palatable.

Right.

Oh, I do too.

Against the Wind, I can't, Frankie, I can't hear that anymore.

Yeah.

I want to hear something like The Ring.

like a union rocker, bar rocker kind of guy.

But by the time we get to the Against the Wind album, and even Nightmoves before that, but...

These songs, Against the Wind and Fire Lake, these are strum songs.

And he gets later on into stuff like Shame on the Moon, and it's all kind of that strummy, artsy slide guitar in there.

Bill Payne joins on piano, so there's a connection there.

[laughs]

What about Against the Wind? That's from Manchester Milkman.

Make your own damn list.

How about that?

the hotel?

Yeah, Bor- uh, Against the Wind.

He said every night they would meet, they'd meet for breakfast, him and Bob Seger, and then they'd go off and record their albums, uh, and then they'd come back and compare notes, and that was the Against the Wind album.

Um-

Isn't it crazy they had no room service till, like, the '90s or something? [laughs]