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Post by callipygias on Jul 11, 2010 23:23:23 GMT -5
Someone ran a contest? You're more self-absorbed than the next guy!
And fyi, PANCAKES is the funniest, followed closely by CHARM, then TEAMWORK, ATTITUDE, and rounding out the top three(ish) is FAILURE.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 11, 2010 23:29:11 GMT -5
Someone ran a contest? You're more self-absorbed than the next guy! Why, thank you. (I fixed it in the original post.)
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Post by Truck Farmer on Jul 12, 2010 7:00:13 GMT -5
Guess which one is my favorite.
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Jul 12, 2010 18:11:03 GMT -5
This one stinks like bacon. Classic. And sometimes I like to pretend I was there to get the in-joke ones.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 12, 2010 23:08:05 GMT -5
apropos of nothing, here's one of my favorite Terry Pratchett quotes:
"Much human ingenuity has gone into finding the ultimate Before. The current state of knowledge can be summarized thus: In the beginning, there was nothing, which exploded."
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 14, 2010 1:07:21 GMT -5
blast, all I can see is "Image Blocked" - curse this work computer! Ah well, when I get on something without the ridiculous filters I will return and enjoy, what I'm sure are inspired pieces.
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Post by Bix Dugan on Jul 14, 2010 5:33:40 GMT -5
And finally, two that are completely inside jokes: "Everyone was startled by the sounds of a Grizzly Bear charging at them. They were even more surprized by the fact that the bear could operate a camera in mid-charge..." And... "This picture was taken just moments before the Vice Squad burst through the door..." I recognize some of the faces (Phantom Engineer, Banjo-Head Man) but maybe you could identify who's who for the new folks?
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 14, 2010 9:58:06 GMT -5
In the "Rock Climbing" picture, you will find Mary Jo Pehl & our very own Mitchell are featured prominently. In the "Jewish Guy" photo, we have (in no particular order): Dr. Z, Hoss Ragen, siamesesin, McCloud, crowfan, RAD, phantom, bonfiregal, and Scotty (aka Changebgoode) as the titular "Jewish Guy". Also appearing are Truck Farmer and Hellcat as ninjas. Try and find them! Mitchell was not available for the photo op. If memory serves, he was in the bathroom doing blow most of the weekend. For those who don't know, these pictures were taken at the legendary 2007 Denver Meet-Up. Here's a full recap of the event. Still with many pictures!
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 21, 2010 9:30:35 GMT -5
So last night I played this quiz on sporcle.com. It's VH1's top 100 songs from the '80s, given in 6 second clips that you have to guess. Is it wrong that I got 100 out of 100? Is it wrong that I loved it? Is it wrong that it sent me into a glorious evening of listening to '80s music? I'll tell you what's wrong: No Tears for Fears. No Cars. No metal of any kind. It makes me want to make my own top 100 songs of the '80s. So I will.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 21, 2010 23:53:11 GMT -5
Very well done - I admit I gave up after a while, it seems I'm bad with titles (ala The Hall and Oats song - why would I want to remember the title of a song I couldn't stand - And no Cars or TFF? Bah! BTW love the pictures, very funny. My favorite was Failure and Lucky
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 24, 2010 2:24:24 GMT -5
So I've compiled my top 100 songs of the '80s. It was a labor of love.
I think I'll post them here, because I can't imagine anyone will care enough to merit a thread on the music board.
A little "behind the scenes" detail:
*I started by listing every '80s song from my iPod (about 550) *I added the songs from the Billboard Top 100 of each year from 1980-1989. *I checked similar lists online (VH1, Rolling Stone, various blogs). *I took out songs I didn't like. *I took out any that were more a product of a different subgenre than "'80s music". (Admittedly, this was very subjective, but I couldn't just list my favorite underground punk songs or Iron Maiden cuts and pass them off as '80s songs. Even if it came from the '80s, it seemed divergent from the intent of the list.)
After all of the above, I was left with 421 songs.
So I made the following general guidelines to pare it down further:
1) My most nostalgic time with '80s music was from 1983-1987. So, unless it was an obvious inclusion, I removed songs from outside that era. 2) If an artist had bigger hits in a different decade, they were less likely to be considered. I like "Just Like Starting Over" as much as the next guy, but does anyone really think of John Lennon when they think of '80s music? 3) Only one song per artist. On the one hand, this doesn't seem right. I mean, if Huey Lewis wrote 7 songs better than any Ray Parker Jr. wrote (and he did), shouldn't Huey make the list 7 times? On the other hand, I could lump together all the good songs by an artist, but only take up one space on the list. (NOTE: I broke this rule once because an artist has two songs that each belong in the top 10.)
Some that didn't make the cut?
One Night in Bangkok- Murray Head Loved it as a 10 year old. Doesn't hold up very well.
Whip It- Devo A worthy song from a great band, but a bit outside of the timeframe and a bit too much of a novelty.
Mexican Radio- Wall of Voodoo Speaking of novelties...almost made it solely based on the lyric: "I wish I was in Tijuana eating barbecued iguana."
Money for Nothing- Dire Straits Fun song, great guitar. But as a singer, Mark Knopfler is a great guitarist.
Centerfold- J. Geils Band Love me some J. Geils Band. Actually, I don't know why this didn't make the list. Great song. Should be in the top 50, even. Oh well.
On the Dark Side- John Cafferty Great piano riff. But he always sounded to me like he was trying too hard to be Bruce Springsteen.
With One Look- Rupert Hine One of my favorite songs of all time. But it's just too obscure. If you've heard it at all (and you probably haven't), it's the closing credits music for "Better Off Dead".
Voices Carry- 'Til Tuesday I remember it fondly, I enjoy it today. But there just wasn't room.
And many others.
Sit tight. The countdown will begin shortly.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 24, 2010 18:57:44 GMT -5
Due to popular no demand, here comes the list. Presented with commentary because, as always, list threads are boring.
Just a reminder of the ground rules:
1- Only one song per artist. 2- If the artist is better known for another decade or genre, they were given less consideration. 3- None of these are picked ironically or pretentiously. These are my opinions, based on my own musical tastes and nostalgia. If you think I'm wrong, you can comment or you can bite me. Or both. Mr. Atari's Top 100 Songs of the '80s
100: "She's a Beauty"- The Tubes I don't know much about these guys. I wasn't an album buyer in 1983, and unlike MJ, I wasn't into underground new wave. Good song, though. Why would I lie?
99: "Major Tom (Coming Home)"- Peter Schilling In 1983, I was way too young to know who David Bowie was. As far as I knew, he was just that guy in that one video who played guitar with gloves on. But I knew Schilling's Major Tom was a cool song about a guy stuck in outer space. And it still is.
98: "Too Shy"- Kajagoogoo This one doesn't hold up very well. But it has a great (GREAT!) fretless bass line. Played by a real bass player, too. Not just a Casio.
97: "One More Try"- George Michael I like George Michael's voice. His version of "Somebody to Love" with Queen at the Freddy Mercury Tribute concert is stunning. He totally should have joined the band as Freddy's replacement. Anyway, he had some solo hits that I enjoyed in the '80s. This one was the most musically impressive. (And another great bass line). A great rainy day song.
96: "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"- Pat Benatar I had to include at least one song from the rockin' leather chick era of the early '80s. It was either this or "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett. Benatar's was a bigger hit, but either one works. Call it a tie.
95: "Rock This Town"- Stray Cats Setzer's version with his orchestra blows the roof off of this one. But it's still a classic song, even here in it's skeletal form. I remember wondering how that drummer played standing up. I still wonder.
94: "Lovin' Every Minute of It"- Loverboy Loverboy gets a lot of crap as being cheesy rock. Were they a cheap Canadian Foreigner/Journey knock-off? Sure. But Mike Reno had a decent voice (anyone who can hold their own in a duet with Ann Wilson deserves a little respect), and this is a catchy anthem. Good for blasting at full volume in the car.
93: "The Search is Over"- Survivor Speaking of cheap Foreigner/Journey knock-offs... Looking back, I'm surprised at how many Survivor songs I recognize (and like). Obviously, "Eye of the Tiger" is what they'll be remembered for, but they had other good ones like, "High on You". The first line of this one is "How can I convince you what you see is real?" Every time I hear it, I think of Mike's riff: "What you smell is unfortunate."
92: "Our House"- Madness Not being British, I have no idea about how this song ranks against the rest of their catalogue (which apparently is huge in England). But even as a kid, I could tell this was a fun song with an impressively complex arrangement.
91: "Burning Down the House"- Talking Heads I have a cover version of this song by Tom Jones. It's wonderfully surreal. I'm sure I'd really get into Talking Heads if I went deeper into their catalogue. But I haven't. Baby, what do you expect?
90: "Small Town"- John Mellencamp Mellencamp has a wing in the '80s music hall of fame. But I never really liked "Jack and Diane" or "Pink Houses". "Authority Song" was pretty good. And since I'm from the midwest, I thought I should include him somewhere. So here.
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Post by solgroupie on Jul 24, 2010 20:08:02 GMT -5
so far so good, mr. a.
i'm a big setzer fan - have a couple of his cds with his orchestra and they're great. i always wondered why they weren't more popular than they were at the time, but i assumed it was because they didn't go for the glitz of the 80's. look at that cadillac was my favorite song - i wish more stations would play their other songs sometimes. they had some good ones.
loverboy was my first concert as a freshman in high school. i thought i was so the deal for going to that. and they did a great job, from what most of my remaining brain cells can remember. the funny thing was, heuy lewis and the news opened for them - no one had ever heard of them at that time, and though i thought their later stuff was lame, they were awesome that night.
i, too, love george michael's voice. he did a cd of classic songs (much the way rod stewart did) and i prefer his versions to stewart's. i'm only a little ashamed to admit i was totally into wham when i was a kid. they were fun.
our house was and is still a great song, and i remember hearing a friend's cassette tape of an album of theirs, and it was pretty good. it broke my heart a little to hear it a few years ago in a maxwell house commercial.
but i can't agree with she's a beauty. mtv played that video almost constantly for a time and just hearing the first few seconds of it means instant change of the radio station.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 24, 2010 21:08:13 GMT -5
Love "She's A Beauty" one of the great pop rockers of the age. I still listen to that one non-stop when I play the Tubes. "Our House" is like middling Madness to many Madness fans, still a fun song but kind of like Whip It for Devo, in they had many better tunes. We have different tastes in music (Your funky, I'm folky, your metal I'm new wave) but this looks like a fun project and I'll enjoy reading it. But Loverboy and Survivior over Money For Nothing and Centerfold? Someone just steped on my grave.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 24, 2010 22:16:24 GMT -5
Thanks for the comments, guys. solgroupie- fear not, both Wham! and Huey Lewis are coming up. (Sorry. After some editing and recounting of votes, Wham! is not coming up. Two George Michael songs is enough for this list.) And MJ, I have a feeling some of my picks will make you happy, and some will whip you into a fury. As you know from making your top 100 lists, most of the rankings are arbitrary, and could switch tomorrow if I did this again. But I'm expecting quite a few "how could you put song X ahead of song Y!?!" comments from folks. And I already apologized for "Centerfold". I make no apologies for Mark Knopfler's voice, however.
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