Brass In Pocket - Pretenders (1980) Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen (1981) Stop Draggin' My Heart Around - Stevie Nicks With Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1981) While You See A Chance - Steve Winwood (1981) Whip It - Devo (1981) Only The Lonely - Motels (1982) Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - Police (1982) Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats (1983) Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry (1984) Cruel Summer - Bananarama (1984) Wrapped Around Your Finger - Police (1984) Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springsteen (1984) Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling (1984) Crazy For You - Madonna (1985) We Belong - Pat Benatar (1985) The Boys Of Summer - Don Henley (1985) Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds (1985) Papa Don't Preach - Madonna (1986) Your Love - Outfield (1986) Keep Your Hands To Yourself - Georgia Satellites (1987) Good Thing - Fine Young Cannibals (1989) Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson (1989)
Ronald Reagan was re-elected by a landslide in November, 1984. A famous campaign ad that year declared it to be "morning again in America." Indeed, America was on the upswing, after almost twenty years of economic (and social) struggle. Things were far from perfect, but the economy was booming, optimism was high, and every aspect of American culture was becoming amplified.
In the late 1980s - no doubt about it - bigger was better. Lifestyles Of The Rich and Famous popularized the envy of Mega-mansions and exotic sports cars. Movies became Blockbusters; In sports, fashion, film, and music, stars became super-stars. Our hamburgers were super-sized. Even our hair got bigger.
MTV, now the center of the music universe, influenced more and more music videos to have the same production quality as any Hollywood movie. If you were a big-time musician, you had no choice but to be an actor as well.
Pop music matched the times: more production, more instruments, more technology. It was a much richer sound, but easily overloaded. It's a fine line between greatness and excess. These are the songs that stayed on the right side of that line.
Phil Collins' Take Me Home is supposed to be about someone who's in a mental institution, but somehow it always came off to me as a tribute to the typical working man, trying to get by against so many unknown forces. Am I crazy? Take that look of worry
I'm an ordinary man
They don't tell me nothing
So I find out what I can
There's a fire that's been burning
Right outside my door
I can't see but I feel it
And it helps to keep me warm
So I, I don't mind
No I, I don't mind
Seems so long I've been waiting
Still don't know what for
There's no point escaping
I don't worry anymore
I can't come out to find you
I don't like to go outside
They can't turn off my feelings
Like they're turning off a light
Take that look of worry, mine's an ordinary life
Working when it's daylight
And sleeping when it's night
I've got no far horizons
I don't wish upon a star
They don't think that I listen
Oh but I know who they are
And I, I don't mind
No I, I don't mind
So take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
My first thought of the B52's was "what exactly is this skinny, awkward, high-pitched-sounding nerd doing with these two gorgeous girls who sing like angels?"
But somehow this strange combination works. Fred Schneider, in all his screechy geeky-ness, makes the ladies seem that much more fun and accessible. And what are the B52's about, if not fun?
Love Shack was the song that solidified The B52's at the top of everyone's "if I could have a giant party in my back yard, who would I want on stage?" list. It's as lively a party song as you'll ever hear, but it's also a force to be reckoned with, musically. The uninhibited mix of horns, percussion, guitar, and vocals (geeky and angelic alike) are pure joy. The song comes on, you have to turn up, you have to dance, or sing along, or both.
If only I could be a geeky, high-pitched... anyway, moving along...
Don't tell me about Curtis Blow, about Rob Base, or about Grandmaster Flash. Don't tell me about The Breaks or Rapper's Delight. Definitely, don't tell me about NWA, Ice-T, Ice Cube, or even Public Enemy. Please, GOD, don't tell me about Blondie.
While they all laid years worth of groundwork, NONE of these songs and artists brought Rap and Hip-Hop music to the fore to become Pop music. No single artist or song had that impact like Bust A Move. After almost 15 years of being fringe, urban, almost exclusively black music, Young MC blew the doors wide open.
What ultimately bridged that gap with mainstream (and yes, I mean white, don't I?) audiences was that right combination of a dance-able musical style and hilarious lyrics anybody could relate to, not just one demographic. Young MC clearly wasn't first on the scene to use this approach. You can't forget about DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (hey, what ever happened to that guy?), but Bust A Move stormed up the charts, and finally had everybody listening to - and buying - Hip-Hop.
A one-hit wonder, to be sure, but it was the one hit that made all the difference.
I'm not entirely sure what to say about this song. It's just really good, in that '80s way. It's got a rich sound, big vocals, lots of impressive instruments, and plenty of hooks.
The only thing I struggle with are the lyrics. It's *sounds* like it means something really deep, but reading them carefully and searching the internet led me to nothing but some really bad guesses. Even still, I love the way the words flow together, like the line "There's a room where light won't find you..."
So, add it to your iPod and pretend it's about whatever you'd like it to be about. I'm going to pretend it's about the environment.
You never had it better than you did in the 1980s, did you? Well, it's not 1987 anymore. Hell, even in 1987, it wasn't 1983 anymore. The "party-in-the-back" really needs to come to an end.
You're 39, still trying to date college girls, and you spent more on wheels and window-tinting than you did on the actual car. I know you love Bon Jovi, but singing in the car with the windows down is not cool. Stop it. People can hear you.
Perhaps you're taking yourself a little too seriously? Consider the song you're singing: despite its name, your Mustang is not, in fact, a steel horse. Also, you're not a cowboy; you're the Cable Guy.
All that said, Wanted Dead Or Alive is still a very entertaining song. So, if you can keep from pretending you're the guy in the song (and roll up your windows), you can keep listening to it.
The number one song of 1988 was one of the few number ones to really deserve its place. If you were around in 1988, you may not appreciate this, since the song was played to death that year. You can't blame a song for its popularity, though. If it's good, it's good.
Faith is textbook Pop music. Catchy melody, great hook, easy-to-relate-to lyrics.
What really makes Faith a great song is that, in an age of musical production overkill, it relies on a very spartan collection of instruments. Aside from the forty seconds of church organ at the start (get it? "Faith"), it's just an acoustic guitar, simple drums, a tambourine, and a little 12-string guitar in the interlude for a change of pace.
So it went away for a while (a nice long while). I say we can all safely bring it back now and enjoy it again. (The same can't be said for George Michael himself)
Cory: Yo Matt!
Matt: Hey Cory - what's shakin'?
Cory: Dude, so like, my parents are out of town, and Heather's coming over tonight!
Matt: Really? Whoa.
Cory: Yeah, so I'm thinking, you know?
Matt: Dude? Really? Cory: Dude. Totally.
Matt: Dude! Awesome!
Cory: Yeah. So like, I got some candles, and, and I need some MUSIC - something... you know. Like, something all dark and romantic and sexy and stuff...
Matt: Yeah....... Oh, Yeah! I know!
Cory: Know what?
Matt: What? ... Oh, right! Music! Dude. Terence Trent D'Arby!
Cory: Who??
Matt: Terence Trent D'Arby. She'll like, totally melt and everything.
Cory: Dude?
Matt: Dude. Cory: Excellent!
Prince's Kiss would have been a gigantic hit in any decade of our list. Put it in 1967 and it's a Motown classic; play it in 2006 and it's a retro-feel Dance anthem. You might change a little of the production here or there, but the song stands on its own. Simply timeless.
A friend of mine disagrees with this pick. He says The Bangles ruined the original Simon & Garfunkel work. Good thing for us that he's wrong.
Here's a song that sounds good even if you've never heard the original. The big drum beat and aggressive electric guitar really get your blood pumping. The female-voiced harmonies work well with the lyrics. It's just a fun song all around. At the same time, it pays tribute to its roots, giving the curious among us the chance to discover a whole other world of great music - kind of like what we're doing here. And to appease my friend (and improve your iPod even further), go get the Simon and Garfunkel version as well:
