Hey, catch up on Parts One, Two, and Three!
Picking up where we left off with the M’s…
Madonna - Crazy for You
Now this was a middle-school slow-dance tune to end all middle-school slow-dance tunes.
Madonna - Into the Groove
Well, speaking of grooves, this song has a good one. Nice use of synth-drums, which I usually hate.
Madonna - Borderline
Another one of the rare Madonna songs that I actually like, this one’s from her first album. Who would have thought that in twenty-five years she’d be affecting a British accent?
Madonna - Like a Virgin
I think it would be illegal in some states to make an 80s compilation without including this song. Probably not in Alabama or Mississippi, though. Not a bad song. Of course, the MTV Video Music Awards performance raises the overall grade.
Men at Work - Down Under
What the hell does “chunder” mean? And if someone gives me a Vegemite sandwich, should I not throw it back at them? That shit sounds nasty to me.
Nevertheless, a great song. And Colin Hay is the man.
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
This would be my concession to the greatness that was Michael Jackson in the 80s. Yes, I had a vinyl copy of Thriller - the first and last MJ album I ever owned, although my brother and my wife have occasionally dabbled. And regardless of what I think of the man now or any of his music, this song kicks ass. And that’s even without the iconic lighted-sidewalk video.
And yes, I busted my ass until I learned to moonwalk. I will now express my shame by committing seppuku.
Mr. Mister - Broken Wings
I don’t know what it is about this song, but I like it. It’s so typical of the time period…a muted longing expressed through synthesizers.
Mr. Mister - Kyrie
Sing it with me! “Carry a laser down the road that I must travel…”
Huh? Bullshit.
Motley Crue - Home Sweet Home
This song was, quite literally, my introduction to heavy metal. In ‘87, when I was in junior high, a new kid had moved to the neighborhood and I was gradually getting to know him; a freak January ice storm had the schools out for the day. So we all grabbed our sleds and went down the road a bit to where the hill got a little steeper toward the creek bottom. The road was completely coated in ice, so one guy’s dad stood at the top of the hill to keep an eye out for traffic as we all went Mach 1 down the asphault toward the bridge.
During all of it, the new kid was singing “Home Sweet Home.” I was fascinated; he said “No prob, man, I’ll loan you the tape.” He did. Two tapes, actually. One was a dub of the “Theater of Pain” album on one side and Ozzy’s “Ultimate Sin” on the other, and the second tape was a dub of Ozzy’s “Tribute” live album. My musical interests took a distinct turn from pop/R&B at that moment.
The guy became probably my best friend on the face of the earth for a few years. And damn, do I miss him.
Motley Crue - Wild Side
Now this is some serious 80s hard rock. I love this damned song. The drum work in particular is just fantastic. And by the way, if you’ve never read it, you should go pick up a copy of the Crue’s autobiographical tome, The Dirt. That is one damned awesome book.
Motley Crue - Girls, Girls, Girls
Not my favorite song on the album (see above) or even my second favorite (for some reason, I have a fixation with “All in the Name of…”) but definitely had a lot of airplay in the 80s. And it’s supposedly still a stripper anthem from hell. Not that I’d know anything about that.
Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart
While “Dr. Feelgood” from the ‘89 album of the same name is the better tune, my wife loves this song, so it goes here instead. And, of course, it was the show opener that one night in the Dean Dome at UNC in 1990 when my buddy Howard and I saw our first rock show. Let me tell you, walking through a crowd of female Motley Crue fans as a 15-year-old boy is an experience everybody should have. And yes, the show was excellent.
New Order - Blue Monday
I already mentioned that the industrial band Orgy had the same idea I did to do a heavy cover of this tune. Damn it. The chord and rhythm structure of this song just BEGS for a double-bass drummer and some detuned distortion. Even the lyrics could work with ye olde cookie-monster death metal growl. “How does it feel? Tell me, now, HOW DOES IT FEEL?!?!?”
Nu Shooz - I Can’t Wait
This song makes even me want to dance. Of course, most of the western world would say that’s something that should be criminal.
Night Ranger - Sister Christian
This song was all over the airwaves the first time I ever really had a lot of time to watch MTV, when I took a family vacation to Florida in ‘85 or so. Beautiful. The piano, the guitar, the drum fills leading into the chorus, all beautiful.
And in more recent cultural history, I think the “Boogie Nights” scene is awesome.
Pat Benatar - We Belong
This is a great ‘oh, it’s great to be young lovers’ tune, isn’t it? The “whatever we deny or embrace” line is a particularly good one, I think. I would have never thought to put those words together, but they work.
Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield
I admit, I like this song a lot better when I can NOT think about the whole shoulder-shaking dance in the video. Man, that thing is horrid, isn’t it? Otherwise, the song is solid, and definitely a classic from the days when I used to hang around the roller-skating rink with the other 12-year-olds.
Steve Perry - Oh Sherrie
Love this damned song. Thank God there were no cute girls named Sherry in my school back then so I didn’t get totally obsessed with this song. Now the Sherry from my senior year of high school…oh well. Damn my buddy Chris for saying we were equally crazy and therefore would be perfect together, because it made me realize he was probably right. And while we’re at it, damn the 21-year-old she was dating the entire damned year.
Paul Carrack - Don’t Shed a Tear
Isn’t this song cool? Especially if you’re shaking off a crappy middle-school relationship? And you only need to hear the first two notes to immediately recognize this tune. That particular synth tone has never been re-used as far as I can remember.
Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
What? This was in a movie? You’re joking.
Yep, this is another one of those that transcends the decade, regardless of one iconic Cusack pose. Jeffrey Gaines’ acoustic solo version is also excellent, if you want to hunt it down someday.
Phil Collins - I Wish It Would Rain Down
This is a decent song, and Phil is pretty good in it. The introductory part of the video is really hysterical. But the main reason I love this song is because of Clapton’s guitar work…I honestly think it’s as good as any he ever recorded. The phrasing is absolute perfection. And the tone is positively godlike.
Phil Collins - One More Night
Phil Collins - Against All Odds
I admit it, I was a huge Phil Collins fan in the 80s. And both of these were fantastic songs about lost love. Of the two, “Against All Odds” is probably the better, but I love ‘em both.
And I don’t have “In The Air Tonight” in digital, damn it. Not yet, at least.
Phil Collins - Take Me Home
At least four times in my life I’ve heard this song in moments of depression and been almost moved to tears. “Take me home…because I don’t remember…” The funny thing is, that sentence is never completed. Don’t remember what? It doesn’t matter. Fill in the blank…it’s just that feeling of being lost that this song drives home to me.
Poison - Talk Dirty to Me
Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, these songs belong here. The first is the classic late-80s party song, and the second is the classic late-80s post-breakup song. And I will shamefully admit to singing them both in the back of a school bus as a 14-year-old to impress 14-year-old girls.
It almost worked.
Prince - 1999
Remember when 1999 seemed so far away? Boy, I do.
I love the way Prince and the Revolution split the verses in three parts. Very nicely done.
It turned out that, for me, partying like it was 1999 wouldn’t have been a big thing. Especially on New Years’ Eve…I had a newborn son then. Not so much on the partying for us.
Prince - When Doves Cry
Oh yes, the iconic scene of Prince rising from the bathtub. I’m sure it turned some girls on, but personally, even as an impressionable young kid, I couldn’t see anything all that sexy about Prince’s little androgynous-midget ass emerging from the steam. Great song, though. Forever tied in my mind to my elementary school classmate Ali (boy, did she have a unique name - this was her spellable and pronounceable nickname) lip-synching it in lace gloves during the sixth grade talent show.
If I remake this tape, I may switch this out for “The Beautiful Ones” (just plain awesome) or “Take Me With You” (always loved the beat), but this tune definitely belongs here based on airplay and cultural influence.
Prince - Little Red Corvette
This song is just plain fun.
Prince - Let’s Go Crazy
Excellent opening song from an excellent album. Bonus points for my own musical development for its sampling for Public Enemy’s “Brother’s Gonna Work It Out.” (I still love the “Fear of a Black Planet” album.)
I’ve mentioned this before, but “Purple Rain” was the first album I ever had on cassette. (I think “Thriller” was the first pop album I owned on vinyl. And “Nevermind” the first on CD. Maybe this trend will continue, and the first album I buy on the next big new medium will be a landmark album as well.)
Prince - Raspberry Beret
I remember our music teacher (that I hated) playing this song for our music class in 6th grade. And my principal calling me in (I was the school president…ah, the power, the POWER, mwuhahahah! Oh, shit, there was no power. Damn it.) to question whether or not there were any bad words on it. Another Prince song that is just plain fun.
Prince - Darling Nikki
Now this was a little more than just plain fun. I admit, when I heard this in 1984, I only understood about two thirds of it. The more I understood, the wider my eyes got, I tell you. And I had the same question as a kid that my wife did. When he said “I met her in the hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine…” exactly HOW did he mean? I think my visual was a little messed up.
Yep, we’re more than halfway home, but still a couple more to come!
The party continues with Part 5.
