Gary O'

Canadian singer/guitarist Gary O'Connor had been in the bands Cat, Liverpool (a Beatles tribute band), and Aerial before going solo as Gary O', releasing his first solo album on Capitol Records in 1981. Anyone who listened to AOR radio in the early 80s will be familiar with "All the Young Heroes", as perfect an example of that genre as was ever made. About the Gary O' album, Wikipedia says:

The first single "I Believe in You" became a smash hit in Canada, and the follow-up, a remake of The Hollies' song "Pay You Back With Interest" even reached the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, where it peaked at #70.

I never heard either of those songs on US radio; it was "All the Young Heroes" that was a hit with fans of what is now known as "melodic hard rock." The full track list is:

01 All The Young Heroes
02 Pay You Back With Interest
03 California Goodbye
04 I Believe In You
05 Suzanne
06 The Way You Look Tonight
07 Just A Little Love
08 Nightrider
09 Been A Long Time

And the musicians are:

• Gary O': vocals, guitars
• David Landau: guitars
• George Doering: guitars
• Peter Wolf: keyboards, synthesizers
• Jai Winding: keyboards
• Richard Landis: keyboards
• Bryan Garofolo: bass
• Craig Krampf: drums
• Jim Haas, Stan Farber, Jon Joyce: backing vocals
• Charlie Calello: string arrangements, conducting

"The Way You Look Tonight" could have been a single as well, though it's awfully close to the Raspberries' "Go All the Way." Gary O' released his second and last album, Strange Behaviour, in 1984; since then he has worked as a songwriter. Get the vinyl rip of Gary O' here or here.

Various Artists - Four from the Madding Crowd

Here is a compilation on Gary Levermore's Third Mind label from 1986, Four from the Madding Crowd, the "four" referring to the four bands contained on the album: Royal Family and the Poor, Bushido (Levermore's band), Intimate Obsessions, and Ohama Meets Dania. The first Royal Family & the Poor track is an extended version of the title track from their second Factory album (and is the best orchestrated of all their songs), and "Dog Star" was originally available only on this album; both songs were included on the CD reissue of We Love the Moon. Of the Bushido songs, "Time" and the instrumental "Chance Meeting" are exclusive to this album, as are all three instrumental tracks by Intimate Obsessions. Ohama Meets Dania is the Calgary (Canada)-based duo of synth man Tona Ohama and singer Dania George; their two long synthpop tracks were included on their 1986 album Love Only Lasts a While. The full track list is:

01 Royal Family & the Poor - We Love The Moon
02 Royal Family & the Poor - Dog Star
03 Bushido - Recalled To Life
04 Bushido - Chance Meeting
05 Bushido - Time
06 Intimate Obsessions - Mishima
07 Intimate Obsessions - Baruch
08 Intimate Obsessions - Confessions of a Mask
09 Ohama Meets Dania - Lonely Hearts Dance
10 Ohama Meets Dania - Take Me Dancing

Get the vinyl rip here or here.