38 Special - Wild-Eyed Southern Boys

JUL 01 1981 · 12:00

38 Special - Wild-Eyed Southern Boys (1981) Era: Early MTV / Southern Rock Arena Breakthrough (1981) - Live concert footage from the Wild-Eyed Southern Boys world tour, captured at peak of the band's commercial pivot from Southern boogie to AOR-inflected arena rock, coinciding with MTV's inaugural year and FM rock radio dominance. HIGH. This video is a rare, officially authenticated live document of 38 Special at their commercial breakthrough moment, preserved in the Rockpalast archive for over four decades before its 2023 commercial release. The dark, sepia-warm broadcast aesthetic, slow editorial pace, and open-air amphitheatre setting make it a textbook example of early-1980s European rock television production. It captures a cultural hinge moment, Southern rock meeting arena rock on a European stage, and stands as primary source material for both genre history and the history of transnational music broadcast. Context: Captured at the exact inflection point of 38 Special's commercial breakthrough, this live document places the band on a West German stage in August 1981, the same year MTV launched in the U.S. and FM rock radio was peaking. The band had just released Wild-Eyed Southern Boys (January 3, 1981), their platinum-selling fourth album and first Top 40 entry with 'Hold On Loosely' (No. 27 pop, No. 3 rock radio). The Rockpalast broadcast context is culturally significant: WDR's program was one of the premier vehicles for American rock acts to reach European audiences in the pre-MTV era, airing on German television and distributed across Europe via Eurovision. The Jacksonville, Florida band, founded by Donnie Van Zant (younger brother of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant) and Don Barnes, was actively repositioning itself from raw Southern boogie to a sleeker arena-rock sound, aided by Survivor co-founder Jim Peterik as a songwriting collaborator. This European footage represents both the tail end of Southern rock's first wave and the dawn of its AOR assimilation. Director notes: Recorded on August 29, 1981, at the Freilichtbühne Loreley open-air amphitheatre in St. Goarshausen, Germany, as part of 38 Special's world tour supporting the Wild-Eyed Southern Boys album. The concert was broadcast by WDR's Rockpalast program, also distributed across Europe via Eurovision. It was the first major Rockpalast open-air event at the Loreley location. Also on the bill that night were Nine Below Zero, The Outlaws, and Thin Lizzy. The full 11-song concert was finally given an official commercial release in June 2023 by M.I.G. Music on CD/DVD, with MVD as U.S. distributor and Believe handling worldwide distribution. The lineup at recording: Don Barnes (guitar/vocals), Donnie Van Zant (vocals), Jeff Carlisi (guitar), Jack Grondin (drums), Larry 'LJ' Junstrom (bass), Carol Bristow and Lu Moss (background vocals).