Life lessons and random thoughts from a child of the 80s trying to survive in the technology era
gmlee73
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My Top 10 80s Songs of All Time #3
1
In 1984 I was 11 years old. I was melting #2 pencils in 5th grade homeroom heaters at Shady Grove Elementary School and the Space Shuttle Discovery had its maiden voyage (an event that I was sure was further proof that I would make it to space by the time I was 15). Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom came out. But my favorites that year were Romancing the Stone and The Karate Kid. And The Cars were near the top of their fame in 84 too.
Rick Ocasek was the lead singer of The Cars and I can clearly remember he was one of the strangest looking guys I’d ever seen on MTV at the time. Remember, this was in a time before Lady Gaga and Marilyn Manson, so Ocasek’s strange ticks and emotionless delivery in music videos was one of the strangest things to watch at the time. Never was Ocasek’s weirdness on display more than in the video for “You Might Think.” The video itself was wacky but it worked perfectly for The Cars.
Probably The Cars most famous video was “Magic.” The song was great and I can still clearly remember how fun the video was. Watching the collection of Hollywood cliches gawk and point as Ocasek “walked on water” in a backyard pool was classic 80s kitsch.
Both of these songs were from the Cars most successful commercial album, Heartbeat City. But it’s another song from that album that is #3 on my list.
Drive was different for a couple of reasons. First, it was a slower, more somber tune than what The Cars had become known before. Second, lead vocals on this song were performed by the bands bassist, Benjamin Orr. So if you thought the vocals sounded different from the Cars other hits, you were right. Orr died in 2000 of pancreatic cancer, and the song was played at his funeral.
This song is so pure. It’s simple, clean and beautiful. I love the synth melodies and simple steady drumbeat (the beat really carries the song). The video is dark, and sad and 100% 80s. It’s a look at a woman slowly slipping away from reality from the viewpoint of her boyfriend. The use of mannequins is awesome in it’s 80ness and this video marked the second appearance in a Cars video by Ocasek’s then girlfriend, Supermodel Paulina Porezkova. I love a lot of The Cars stuff, but this is by far their best, and for me it lands at #3 in my top 10 list.
What about you? Where would you rank this one? Is it your favorite Cars song? Let me know what you think!
My Top 10 80s Songs of All Time #4
01 year ago
by gmlee73
in Uncategorized
As a kid, I was always a pop music fan. Oh and country too. But for the most of the 80s, with just a couple of exceptions for bands like Bon Jovi (which could be called hair pop) and Van Halen, rock was not my bag. There was plenty of fun pop to keep me happy and Hair Bands just never appealed to me.
Then in 1987, someone came on the scene that changed my young life. I was 14 years old and impressionable. Deep in the heart of the Middle School Jungle I had really just discovered girls for real. And there she was – a creature the likes I had never seen before. Hell, I had no idea such a perfect animal existed. Her name? Tawny Kitaen.
In 1987, The band Whitesnake released the album Slide it In. It was the first album the band had released that moved away from it’s more blues inspired 70s sound to a polished 80s studio sound. And it rocketed up the charts. Slide it In went multiplatinum and peaked at number 2 on the billboard chart on the strength of two songs. The power ballad Is This Love and the certified smash hit Here I Go Again.
But it was the music video for the latter that changed my young life and that cemented it’s spot on this list. San Diego born model and actress Tawny Kitaen danced, crawled and slithered her way across the hoods of a Jaguars for 4 minutes and 33 seconds that the 14-year-old me-never wanted to end. Every time the video came on MTV I simultaneously had to watch and felt like I needed to sneak a peek so I didn’t get caught. I felt for sure that I shouldn’t be watching this stuff and surely I was getting away with something.
Watching the video now, it’s really interesting to see how much Whitesnake was pushing the envelope back then. Most of the scenes would pass easily on TV now, but in 87, this stuff must have been considered DIRTY.
The song stands up on its own. It’s a great tune and David Coverdale has one of the most robust and strong voices of any 80s rock band. Remember by 87 he’d been lead singer of Whitesnake for 9 years. He’d formed the band in 1978 after leaving the band Deep Purple. So the spotlight wasn’t new for him and it shows in this video. I imagine a Whitesnake show in the 80s was probably second to none. But I’m sure it would have been better if Tawny was there too.
Fun Fact: Coverdale and Kitaen married in 89 but divorced two years later.
Ferris Bueller Making a Triumphant Return at the Super Bowl?
01 year ago
Most of you know that when my beloved Saints lost I no longer had a reason to watch this year’s Super Bowl. Well lo and behold, Mashable has posted a quick story about this new Youtube ad that just showed up. It’s only 10 seconds long, but ends with 2.5.12, the date of the Super Bowl. Dear lord please let this be true, because it gives me a reason to care again.
My Top 10 80s Songs of All Time #5
01 year ago
On May 16, 1983, as I approached my 10th birthday, I saw something on live TV that I was convinced wasn’t real. I was absolutely sure that it was some kind of weird science fiction TV magic, and it blew my nearly 10 year old mind like it had never been blown before. But more on that later.
#5 on my list is from an artist that, maybe more than any other artist on my list, is universally recognized as one of the most talented artists of the last 50 years. If I had to guess, I’d say that we’d all agree that an 80s top ten list without this artist on it just doesn’t count.
Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958. He was the seventh of the Jackson family and actually began his entertainment career as part of the Jackson 5 in 1964. But it was the success of his 1982 album Thriller that cemented him as a bonafide superstar and confirmed him in my mind as an 80s phenomenon.
Trying to decide which of Michael Jackson’s songs to include on my list was quite a daunting task. Frankly, I could do an entire top 10 of his songs alone. I can clearly remember listening to this album over and over again. Nearly every song was a totally different experience. In Beat It, he somehow blended unmistakable pop with a Hard Rock guitar lick – something that at that time was unheard of. Human Nature highlighted Jackson’s vocals with an amazingly smooth and steady tune. It may be his voice at it’s best. I’m pretty sure P.Y.T. was the first time I ever heard that cool synth-robot-voice thingy. And Thriller – I don’t think anyone’s ever understood the art of, or spent the money on, making a video like MJ did. I mean, c’mon – Flash Mobs are doing that dance 30 years later.
But my choice for #5 is Billie Jean. The thing is, it’s probably not even my favorite song off the album. That’s another post. But considering all my criteria, the choice was easy. You see, on May 16, 1983, Michael Jackson appeared on the Motown 25th anniversary special to perform his new hit Billie Jean, and that night, he unleashed the Moonwalk on planet Earth for the first time. What I clearly remember about this is that I stood up, looked around to make sure I wasn’t the only one seeing this. I was alone in my room, so yes – I was. What I remember next was trying for the rest of the night to imitate Jackson’s Moonwalk. 29 years later, I still can’t.
Jackson was a flawed man. He lived his short life in a way that I can’t understand. His issues were too numerous to count. But there’s no doubt about his genius. Thriller was the first in a long line of hit albums. But for me, it stands alone. There aren’t many albums I consider “Go To” in the sense that they are solid front-to-back, track-to-track. This one is in it’s own special way, just like MJ was. I’ve included that legendary performance, and I think it’s still MJ at his raw and amazing best. Be watching at 3:38. And yeah, I remember it lasting longer too. I’ve also linked the official music video. Enjoy.
My Top 10 80s Songs of All Time #6
2Foreword: I’m probably going to take heat for picking two John Hughes movie songs in a row, but I’m doing it anyway.
In 1984, a talented writer with little experience but a knack for understanding the era’s teens made his debut with Sixteen Candles, a brutally honest and completely hysterical look at teenage life in the American Midwest. The movie starred Molly Ringwald, and I, along with every American teenage boy at the time, fell immediately in love with her. John Hughes would go on to write and direct a string of comedy/dramas that would change the way movies about teens were made. Hughes was a master at capturing life as a teen, and part of that magic came from his ability to evoke emotions through the music he wove into his movies.
In his article John Hughes: The Soundtrack to a Generation, Todd Martens describes the range of teenage emotions in Sixteen Candles through it’s songs: Recklessness? The Specials “Little Bitch.” Romantic Anticipation? “If You Were Here” by the Thompson Twins. Spazzed Out Heartache? Spandau Ballet’s “True.”
But it’s “If You Leave” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark (yes that’s how they spell it) that wins my spot for #6 in the Top 10 80s songs of all time. I think it’s the (probably fake) strings at about :18 that hook me. Whatever it is, I can’t imagine Pretty in Pink without this song. It immediately evokes images of Jon Cryer as the uber-friend Duckie (years before Cryer would just give up and plod through his role in 2 1/2 men), Andrew McCarthy as Blane – the guy every girl gushed over even though I didn’t get it, James Spader as Steff McKee, maybe the biggest D-bag in the history of movies, and of course Ringwald as Andie Walsh. If Molly Ringwald was what made me fall in love with this movie, the music is what has kept me coming back for more.
Fun Fact: This wasn’t the original song OMD recorded for the movie. Their song “Goddess of Love” was in the first cut of the movie, which had Duckie and Andie together at the end, but it played poorly for test audiences. When they reshot the ending to the way it was released, the song didn’t’ fit and was replaced with “If You Leave.” Jodie Foster turned down the part of Andie, and Anthony Michael Hall turned down the part of Duckie.
My Top 10 80s Songs of All Time #7
0If you read my post that laid out the criteria for creating this list, you’ll recall that 80s music, in my opinion, were vital in some of the bet 80s movies ever. And #7 might be the biggest example of this. In 1985, John Hughes wrote and directed a movie about 5 teenagers, each from a different walk of life, as they spend a Saturday in detention at Shermer High School. What followed was a movie that, perhaps more than any other movie before or since, defined a generation. I know that for me at least, it felt like these people were me, and I was them, and they were speaking a language that I knew well.
The Breakfast Club gave voice to an entire age of kids as they struggled to come to terms with who they were. Two other artists, including Billy Idol, were offered “Don’t You Forget About Me” before Simple Minds agreed to record it. When it became the theme song for The Breakfast Club, they became stars overnight in the US. It would be their only #1 in the States.
I think that The Breakfast Club is one of just a handful of movies that can speak to a time in history unlike others. The Breakfast Club is the Gold Standard of Teen films – the film against which all other teen films are measured. But it loses it’s bite, it’s feel without this song, . The song’s become synonymous with a phenomenol film, recognizable within it’s first two notes, and stands the test of time, even without the film. And that’s why it’s #7 on my list (I’ve decided to include the original video as well as a great movie montage, if for no other reason, than to hear the monologue/letter that ends the movie).
Fun Fact: Simple Minds was actually a Scottish Band, and they had a second hit, albeit not as big, called Alive and Kicking. By the time Don’t You Forget About Me became a hit, the camaraderie of the band was already coming unraveled.
…and the montage….
My Top 10 80s Songs of All Time #8
0There are just a few songs that, when played, instantly (and I mean instantly) elicit a frenzied response from every single person in the room. #8 on my list is one of those songs, and is also at the top of one of my other personal lists – My Top 10 Rock Guitar Licks of All Time. Try this.
1. Go to work
2. Turn up your computer speakers
3. Play the video below
4. Watch everyone’s reaction
“Sweet Child o’ Mine” was the 3rd single off the 1987 Guns N Roses debut album Appetite for Destruction. It followed “It’s So Easy” and “Welcome to the Jungle.” For my money, there’s not a better opening guitar lick ever. Some might argue for “Sweet Home Alabama” or another tune, but the simplicity of the tune is what makes it so perfect.
In 1987, GNR was on top of the world. I was in 8th grade and I don’t remember a single jr. high girl who wasn’t infatuated with Axl Rose or a single jr. high boy who didn’t want to be Axl Rose. In a sea of hair band pop rock music, GNR felt like the real thing – a true rock band that the teen crowd could love too.
This album was pretty solid. In addition to “Jungle” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” it included another huge hit in “Paradise City.” I wore mine out, but the truth is, I listened to the opening of this song over and over and over again.
All signs pointed to GNR becoming one of the biggest rock bands of all time, and based on their debut, everyone expected a string of hit albums. Although they’ve sold over 100 million albums and enjoyed moderate success with the follow up album Use Your Illusion, they never saw the same success of Appetite for Destruction and quickly faded as the grunge sound of the early 90s exploded onto the scene.
It isn’t often that band classified as “hard rock” develops a tune that sounds legitimately beautiful. The opening :30 of this song is mesmerizing and I could listen to it over and over and over. What’s cool is that I’ve never met a GenXer who doesn’t feel the same, more or less, and that’s why every time I hear it, I have to turn it up.
Fun Fact: Lead Guitarist Slash actually hated the song. He always thought it was simple because it was based in a basic “string skipping” exercise. Slash began playing it during a break of a VH1 special taping and when the rest of the band joined in. Axl heard them playing and wrote the lyrics in about five minutes.
My Top Ten 80s Songs of All Time #9
01 year ago
I know I’m probably gonna catch it for this next pick. There are plenty of reasons I should I suppose, but I’m going to go with a pick that could be somewhat controversial for #9.
In 1988, Frank Farian, a record producer and songwriter, brought Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus together in Germany and formed the Duo Milli Vanilli. Right out of the box, they were an International hit. Their debut album, Girl You Know It’s True, exploded and was the source of hits like “Girl I’m Gonna Miss YOu” and “Baby Don’t Forget My Number,” as well as the title track. The album went 6-time Platinum and the group won a grammy for Best New Artist in 1990.
But it didn’t take long for the train to com off the tracks. In late 1989, the band was performing live in a park in Bristol, Connecticut when they seemed to be repeating “Girl You Know It’s…” over and over, before running off stage, then returning moments later to continue the song. The cat was out of the bag, their lip syncing was exposed, and less than a week later, their grammy was rescinded.
Still, despite it all, I love this stuff. When I hear #9 – “Blame It On The Rain,” I’m instantly transported to a place in time. It’s not a specific place, but it’s some point in high school, in the passenger seat of Ken’s yellow truck, and he’s got those 10s banging with this tune. We’re probably cruise the Old Bay loop on a Friday night or headed to go fishing on a weekday afternoon. Either way, it makes me smile.
Everything about the video says 80s. Acid washed holey jeans, electronic drum pads, slo-mo montages, It’s all so perfect. If you grew up in the 80s and haven’t had a listen in a while, do yourself a favor and download a few off the album, regardless of who really sang it, turn up the bass in your car and go for a cruise around whatever your old loop used to be. I’ll see you at #8
My Top Ten 80s Songs of All Time #10
2I want to start out by saying that this Top 10 list currently actually has over 20 songs on it. I’ve scratched out, moved around and arranged, so I have 10 to share. Remember that this is MY list, based on my memories, tastes and what makes me smile, laugh and reminisce. I expect you’ll have your opinions and thoughts, and I can’t wait to hear them. That said, Here we go:
T’Pau – Heart & Soul
T’Pau was a British Pop Band formed in 1986. Led by singer Carol Decker, they released “Heart & Soul” in 1987. It went on to become their biggest US hit. They released 4 albums in the UK, but they split up in 1991, following the release of their last album. Interesting fact: T’Pau took their name from the name of a Vulcan Priestess in the original Star Trek series.
Now – this video. Everything about it SCREAMS 80s. From the multiple synthesizers leading the music, to the absolutely FANTASTIC big hair on the lead singer’s hair. I’m not sure if you noticed, but there are so many shoulder pads in those coats that it makes my neck hurt.
I love the hazy video overlaid with shots of the band playing and Decker’s breathy, almost-whispering singing of the lyrics is so cheesy I can’t help but love it.
You could also consider this a one-hit wonder band too, except that they had several hits in UK during this time, so we’ll stick with the fact that I love the video, even as simple as it is and with it’s “sing-along-ability.” I think this song stands up to time and is still a fun one to listen to. It’s on my playlist, and I’m guessing it’s on some of yours too.
Up next – #9
So my head might asplode trying to create this top 10 list
01 year ago
by gmlee73
in Uncategorized
So for those of you that are connected to me on Facebook at all, you know that I occasionally slip into a familiar internet rabbit hole. One of my favorite things to do (especially after a couple of glasses of wine) is to troll Youtube for the best 80s music videos in history. Once I find them, I love to plaster my Facebook wall, and in turn flood all my FB friends with music that, at best are annoyed by or have no emotional attachment to, and at worst, hate.
Recently as I was posting some great LL Cool J and Simply Red, I made an off-handed comment about a song that would definitely be in my top ten. A friend responded by asking what my full top ten list would be, and named it my challenge for the night. This was 9 days ago and it’s been on my mind ever since then. THIS IS NOT A CHALLENGE TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY.
If you read my posts or see my Facebook, you know that in my mind, its still the 80s. From parachute pants to Reebok hi-tops, I love absolutely everything about the decade. My favorite pandora station is 80s Pop. My favorite TV is 80s sitcoms. And the music is no exception. So to create my definitive top 10 80s music list, I knew I’d have to set some basic rules/standards.
CRITERIA USED TO DETERMINE THE DEFINITIVE TOP 10 80s SONGS
1. Music Videos: The 80s was THE era of the music video. It only makes sense that the quality/ridiculousness of the music video would influence my decision.
2. Movies: Music was vital to the 80s. Ask any 80s kid “Who ya gonna call?” and you’ll get the answer sung to you. The magic that John Hughes created wouldn’t have been magic without his amazing ability to choose the right soundtrack. The films of the 80s owe a lo to their music.
3. One Hit Wonders: It’s as if the 80s was the birthplace of the One Hit Wonder. Of all the decades, the 80s seemed to have the most One Hit Wonders, and surely at least one will make the list.
4. Not Just Pop: Even though pop dominated the decade and what we most often think of when we reminisce about 80s music, it wasn’t just pop. I’ll consider rock and even country.
5. Sing-along-ability: Some of the best 80s songs are great because when they’re played, they illicit an immediate and passionate response. Your head bobs, your toe taps and you absolutely sing along – loudly.
6. The “Takes Me Back” Effect: This consideration is perhaps the most important. Some songs are personal, and carry us back to a place and time instantly. The first notes float through the air, we smile, close our eyes and are immediately where we first heard them. This is MY LIST, so I’ll lean heavily on this when making my decisions.
So that’s the criteria, and I’ll begin counting down this weekend. I plan to give each song it’s own post, along with video links to each, if I can find them and some background on why they made my list and some historical background for each. I hope you enjoy the list as much as I think I’ll enjoy creating it and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts, comments and your lists too. This oughta be fun.
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