Geffen Records: Planet P Twofer

Day Three of our look at Geffen Records bring about a twofer from the Planet P Project. The brainchild of Tony Carey, Planet P was an experimental outlet for Carey who was signed at the time to Rocshire Records. Earlier the same year (1983), Carey had a near hit with “I Won’t Be Home Tonight” and he was the opening act for Night Ranger’s tour that spring. I saw both in concert at the Charleston (WV) Municipal Auditorium. We had great seats, but I don’t remember much about Carey’s performance.

Accented by German musicians, Planet P Project moved away from Carey’s pop sound into a new wave/electronica vein. The band’s debut album was its only Geffen release. By 1984, both Carey and Planet P moved to MCA where he had a modicum of success with “A Fine Fine Day” and “The First Day of Summer.” Although other singles were released by Planet P, the band never became a household name.

In 1983, Geffen released two singles from the debut album “Why Me?” and “Static.” “Why Me?” was Project P’s biggest single. While it made it to #4 on the Album Rock charts, it only inched up to #64 on the Hot 100. The opening synthesizer always reminded me of the beginning of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer.”

Both Carey and Planet P had a following on AOR radio and Geffen released “Static” as the follow-up to “Why Me?” “Static,” however, failed to chart in the Hot 100, but it received enough album play to place at the #24 spot on the rock charts. Good stuff from a little known band from the 80s.