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Post by solgroupie on Jul 30, 2010 13:58:59 GMT -5
i always kept my mouth shut when it came to the great van halen wars. i grew up in the late 70's and early eighties with david lee and finished with hagar. honestly, i never really fully went with either one. roth was too screechy, i agree. hagar seemed to have a better handle on being a front man of a band and he put out a decent amount of hits for them. i also admired him for braving the die hard roth fans. he just seemed to be a nicer guy somehow - i always imagined anyone who spent five minutes with roth wanted to punch him out.
i was a huuuuuge michael jackson fan back in the day. my best friend and i were obsessed with him when we were fifteen, and we saw him in concert in '84 when we were sixteen, in knoxville. saw him again around '88, i think. he did put on a good concert. thriller will always be one of those timeless, iconic albums i will probably avoid from now on. it was right for me back then, but not now. i fell out of love with MJ when he went all nuts. tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he was just nuts. and i couldn't see a change in his music - no matter what he came up with, it sounded like it was still 1989. if i had to pin down one song, i might pick wanna be startin somethin.
i went through a summer where all i listened to was the pet shop boys around 1986? '88? opportunities (let's make lots of money) was a perfect anthem for the '80's, but my favorite was it's a sin. i had an extended dance mix of that one, thank you very much. i shook much ass to that song.
i think everyone, whether they liked the song or not, was fascinated with 99 luft balloons. all the boys i knew thought nena was sexy and you couldn't escape that hook. i had heard it had something to do with nuclear war, but i didn't much care - back then everything seemed to have something to do with nuclear war. i thought it was a fashion thing. that was a one hit wonder, wasn't it? or was that the only song that made it over here? i'm too lazy too google.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 31, 2010 21:40:13 GMT -5
Mr. Atari's Top 100 Songs of the '80s (America's Top 40)
40: "Only a Lad"- Oingo Boingo Even though they weren't ever famous, and their biggest hits were two songs that never really did anything on the charts ("Weird Science" and "Dead Man's Party"), Boingo belongs on this list. Creative, complex, and most of all, fun, Danny Elfman and company wrote some memorable tunes. "Only a Lad" is a my favorite because of the great guitar riff and the lyrics that skewer the culture of making excuses and skipping out on responsibility. And I just can't get enough of Elfman's "oh oh oh"s at the end of the chorus. Awesome band. Awesome song.
39: "Every Time You Go Away"- Paul Young This was another one I tracked down as soon as I discovered the internet. I don't know why it stuck with me all those years in between, but it did. Young's version, as great as it is, is actually a cover of the original, written and recorded by none other than Hall & Oates. Their version is a lot more bluesy, with an incredible Fender Strat lead and a B-3 that's just dripping with Leslie. The H&O version is more stripped down and "naked", whereas Young's version is layered with studio magic, sitar, fretless bass, and a beautiful nylon string guitar solo. They're both phenomenal takes on a great song. I like to play them back-to-back and enjoy the ride.
38: "Tainted Love"- Soft Cell This may be the most '80s song of all. I can't get over how simple it is. Four chords, synth snare on 2 & 4, and some string pads. That's about it. And yet it's one of the most well-known songs ever. It always bugged me when DJs would fade out the song before it got to the "Where Did Our Love Go" section. I know there were two versions of the single, but my brain always wanted it to continue, and ending before the Supremes cover always gave me musical whiplash. (This early cutoff is a huge pet peeve of mine; not only with this song, but also with Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry", Tears for Fears' "Head over Heels" and one more song coming up in the countdown. Don't stop the song before the best part!)
37: "Boys of Summer"- Don Henley Lebowski got it right: protect your Creedence tapes and get out of any cab playing the Eagles. "Man, I had a rough night, and I hate the f'n Eagles, man!" Right on, Dude. Right on. I do like Don Henley, though. "Dirty Laundry" and "All She Wants to Do is Dance" are also great and would be on this list, but for the one-song-per-artist rule. "The Heart of the Matter" might be my favorite song ever written, and would be #1 on this list if it didn't hit the charts in 1990. I've always liked Henley's voice and this song has a completely unique sound. I've listened to it hundreds (thousands?) of times, and it's never once gotten old. Is it a coincidence that this song is so high on my list and the most famous cover of it was by a band called The Ataris? Yes. Yes it is. Their version was completely missing what made the original great: the laid-back, late-summer, nobody-on-the-beach vibe. Great band name, though.
36: "Take on Me"- A-Ha Unless you weren't alive or lived under a rock in 1985, you've seen this video. The song is a bona fide '80s classic, and one I still enjoy listening to. Maybe it's because I have so much in common with these guys: I also write music, I also have the chiseled good looks of a Scandinavian, and I also live in a pencil-drawn comic book. Okay, I have one thing in common with these guys. Just try to hit that note in the chorus while you sing along. I remember fondly trying to hammer out that synth riff on the family piano. It was about 10 minutes ago. Good times.
35: "Hungry Like the Wolf"- Duran Duran Thanks to MTV, Duran Duran were everywhere in the '80s. I wasn't a huge fan, but mainly because I wasn't a 13 year old girl in 1985. Nor was I Princess Diana who said they were her favorite (favourite?) band. But they had 21 singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100. 21! And many of them were pretty good, like "Rio", "Union of the Snake", "The Reflex", "A View to a Kill", and "Notorious". This one, though, is the one I remember the most from those days. Do I remember it more because of the moaning woman at the end of the song and the effect it had on my pubescent imagination? No comment.
34: "Stepping Out"- Joe Jackson Joe Jackson might be my favorite lesser-known artist ever. 1979's Look Sharp! is a great, great album, and you all should listen to it. Like, right now. I'll wait. By the mid-'80s, Jackson had moved away from pop-punk and into pop-jazz. Later on, he hit the charts with the also outstanding, "You Can't Get What You Want ('Til You Know What You Want)". "Stepping Out" was a song that always made me imagine cruising the streets of some big city on a warm summer night.
33: "If You Leave" -OMD I've never seen Pretty in Pink, but this song always sounded like a John Hughes movie. Maybe I was a melodramatic sixth grader when this came out (and I was), but I was convinced that this song perfectly expressed my feelings about girls. Not so much the lyrics, but the general emotional vibe of the song (and also the lyrics). It's amazing what a song can do to capture exactly how you felt at a transitional time in your life. I've spent nearly 25 years trying to forget junior high school, but then I hear "If You Leave", and everything comes flooding back.
32: "Don't You Forget About Me" - Simple Minds Speaking of John Hughes movies, I have seen The Breakfast Club about 85 times, but that's not why I love this song. Simple Minds was a great band that had other great songs ("Alive and Kicking" and "Sanctify Yourself") that pushed them up this chart. They had a great sound and Jim Kerr had a very unique vocal style (at least until Bono starting copying him). My favorite part of the song is that drum fill coming out of the bridge. I've been air drumming along to that for 25 years.
31: "When Doves Cry"- Prince 1984 was the year of Prince. This was the #1 single of the whole year, and I'm inclined to agree. I have never been a fan of Prince's oversexed lyrics and overall persona. He was always singing about what horny 9th grade boys think about, but without the creativity to make it suggestive. Then he changed his name and started whining about his record company and putting out triple albums that desperately needed to be edited down. So there's about 98% of his catalog I have no interest in listening to. That being said, there may not be a better overall musician in the business. The little guy is a savant. He might be one of the top 10 guitarists in the world, he plays every instrument on every album, and can write and arrange music instantly in his head that would take any other artists a lifetime to produce. He is known for firing musicians mid-tour because he heard them miss a note in the third measure of the second chorus of the sixth song of the set while he was gyrating on the other side of the stage. My favorite trivia about "When Doves Cry"? There's no bass line.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Aug 1, 2010 22:34:58 GMT -5
WHERE'S THE CURE!?!?!?!? Some of their best stuff was pre-90.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 1, 2010 23:34:48 GMT -5
The Cure weren't really a part of my '80s experience. I never really had a "disaffected phase" growing up to get me heavy into bands like the Cure or the Smiths or Sonic Youth or Smashing Pumpkins. I don't think I even heard the Cure until I was in college in the mid-'90s.
However, I do like them now. "Lovesong", "Friday I'm in Love", and "In Between Days" get decent play on my iPod. But when I think of '80s music as a genre, they're not a band that comes to mind. Sorry.
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Post by solgroupie on Aug 2, 2010 0:10:40 GMT -5
i knew of the cure back in the '80's, but i never really started listening to them until many years later. disintegration is one of my favorite cds.
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Post by Emperor Cupcake on Aug 2, 2010 18:39:23 GMT -5
"Disaffected phase," LOL! I listened to all that stuff -- The Cure, The Smiths, Sonic Youth, and loads of other more "obscure" 80s bands, though I loathe Smashing Pumpkins (weren't they more 90s anyway?) -- growing up, but not through any sense of disaffection. I just thought those bands' music was a lot better than what was going on in the "mainstream." I still listen to a lot of it now (except the Cure, who I kind of lost interest in after 1990; I still think their late 70s/early 80s stuff is the best), and I still think most of it stands up much better than what was on the charts at the time.
:-)
By the way, I don't know if you knew, but Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" is also a cover, of a 1965 Ed Cobb-penned, Gloria Jones-performed Motown song.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 2, 2010 19:05:22 GMT -5
Thanks for all the feedback, everyone. I should mention that I'm into a lot of obscure stuff, both now and back then, that won't make this list. I wanted to make the list be based on "'80s music" as a genre. Not merely my personal favorite songs that were released in the '80s.
The top 30 will come this week. I'm sure I'll forget to include your favorites.
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Post by Emperor Cupcake on Aug 2, 2010 23:18:34 GMT -5
I forgot to mention that I absolutely love "Only a Lad." :-)
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Post by Mighty Jack on Aug 3, 2010 1:25:01 GMT -5
I remember my disaffected youth phase; only I wasn’t very disaffected but hung around disaffected punks. After a while they drove me nuts, we had to look a certain way and act a certain way and listen to this band, and hate that band… Lord, they had more rules than any preppy I knew. We wanted to be anti-establishment but wound up caged in a different establishment of our own making. One day I ditched my torn jeans and black jacket and went on stage carrying a briefcase, wearing a suit and power tie. It made me laugh standing up there with the rest of the band in their punk garb.
That’s why I liked new wave; it was filled with art students and was more – “Eh, just do what you want”
Anyway – the list. More goodies here. “Tainted Love”. I bought the album… only liked the one/two song but it was a great song(s).
Oingo Boingo, one of my mainstays for about 4 albums (they lost me on the album after Dead Mans Party) – I remember the first time I saw them was live on TV. They covered California Girl as Martian Girl and then did Little Girls – I was hooked. I agree, Only A Lad was a goodie, reminds me of XTCs “No Thugs In Our House” (But I think Boingo’s song came out a year earlier?)
I was big into Joe Jackson (for 2 albums) until he went Jazz, I just don’t like the Jazz.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 3, 2010 9:08:13 GMT -5
Mr. Atari's Top 100 Songs of the '80s (continued)
30: "Der Kommisar"- After the Fire An English band's cover of a German dance hit that made it to #5 in the U.S. Only in the '80s. After the Fire was the opening band for Van Halen in 1982, and were often booed for their entire set. At the end of the tour, due to lack of success, the band announced from stage that they were breaking up. "Der Kommissar" hit the charts the next month, and their label had a certified hit on their hands, but no band. Oops. I've always loved this song. Falco wrote a great riff and the interplay between the guitar, synth, and vocals is really fun. For some reason, hearing this song makes me think of playing Centipede in a hotel arcade in Pennsylvania.
29: "Bizarre Love Triangle"- New Order As mentioned a few posts up, I didn't get into The Cure or The Smiths in the '80s. But boy did I enjoy New Order, the Pet Shop Boys, and Depeche Mode. None of my metalhead friends understood the appeal of completely artificial instruments and pre-programmed, fake drums. I'm not sure I understand it either. I just know this sound got under my skin and into my grey matter. The chorus on this song is amazingly catchy, and the glockenspiel is a nice touch. Rolling Stone says it's the 201st best song ever written. I can't argue. It's a top 30 song of its decade for me.
28: "Kyrie"- Mr. Mister Mr. Mister had a dumb name and a commercialized sound, but they were 4 of the best musicians of their era. Singer/bass player Richard Page turned down any number of lead singer gigs with other bands before Mr. Mister hit it big (Toto & Chicago, to name two), and together with keyboardist Steve George, wrote huge hits for some of the biggest names in the business (Michael Jackson and Madonna, to name two). Guitarist Steve Farris pioneered delay technology and became a studio guru, and drummer Pat Mastelotto went on to join King Crimson, where he gained recognition as one of the world's best drummers. While I'm a sucker for great musicianship, I'm really a sucker for great musicians playing great hook-laden pop songs. In fact, that sentiment sums up most of the remaining countdown. And Mr. Mister put out two outstanding hook-laden pop songs ("Broken Wings" and "Kyrie"). They were one of very few artists ever to have back-to-back singles each reach number 1. Great stuff.
27: "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"- Phil Collins Speaking of a great musician putting out great hook-laden pop songs, here's Phil Collins. Let's see...I could have included "In the Air Tonight", "Take Me Home", "Sussudio", "Don't Lose My Number", "I Wish it Would Rain Down", or about five more. He had seven #1 hits in the '80s, and that doesn't count his Genesis output. I picked this one because it's one of those gripping songs with a beautiful melody, emotionally charged lyrics, and a very effective arrangement. His drumming on this is as good as anything he ever did, and the chord progression is something I'm sure I've stolen from unknowingly in my own songwriting. Say what you will about Phil, but the guy could write a pop song, and he deserves his place on this list.
26: "Land of Confusion"- Genesis Speaking of great musicians putting out great...oh, you get it by now...Some people think it was Phil who brought the commercial pop sound to Genesis, but it was really the other two guys who were responsible for most of their radio-friendly stuff (although they collaborated on everything). Tony Banks was the main music writer of "That's All", "In Too Deep", "Invisible Touch" and "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", and Mike Rutherford was responsible for "Follow You, Follow Me" (their very first pop hit), "Throwing it All Away", and "Land of Confusion". This song is timeless and applies more and more every day. Even though the puppet video for it was funny, it's really a great rallying rebel song. Genesis is one of my top 10 favorite artists of all time, and their '80s pop output is a big part of that. Mrs. Atari and I saw them on their reunion tour in 2007, and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen.
25: "Livin' on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi Let's see how many reasons this is a great song: 1) It's lyrics tell a great story of struggling to reach your dreams and reaffirming what really matters, 2) It comes from one of the best albums ever, 3) It has a talkbox guitar, a massive riff, and a great solo, 4) After said solo, it modulates up for the last chorus, 5) The line, "You live for the fight when that's all that you've got." VH1 put this at #1 in their top 100 list, and I don't have any problem with that. Sure, I think there are 24 that are better, but I could be wrong. It's a worthy #1.
24: "With or Without You" - U2 The Joshua Tree was the best album of the '80s. There. I said it. It didn't sound like anything else out there. It was full of hooks and amazing songs, but it was also more mature than what radio-ready bands were doing. Musically, it was layered, rich, and creative. Lyrically, it was honest, provoking, and deep. I honestly think The Edge has influenced more guitarists than other guitarist in my lifetime. And perhaps U2 has influenced more bands than any other band in my lifetime. Any of the songs from this album (and half of the ones from The Unforgettable Fire) could make this list. I picked "With or Without You" over "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" for no real reason at all. I guess I just like the simple beauty of it.
23: "Always Something There to Remind Me" - Naked Eyes Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on. How is this song higher on the list than Prince, Genesis, Bon Jovi, and U2!?! I'll tell you how: This song, more than any other, inspired me to be a musician. I've been a drummer since I was in 5th grade. I've recorded and toured with bands and played as a studio professional. I've drummed on stage in front of thousands and at empty bars. I was better at drumming than I was at anything else, and better than anyone I knew. It was my identity for years. And it all started in my bedroom when I was 9, with my walkman on, sitting on my bed, air drumming to this song over and over and over. Now, I'm married with 3 kids, and am pretty busy with my job and my life. I know now that the drums aren't my identity, and the ones on this song aren't even real. But that doesn't stop me from playing along with invisible sticks in my hand.
22: "Love Shack" - B-52s There are a handful of songs (and not many more) that seem as if they have to exist. As if they're out there in the atmosphere, just waiting for someone to stick an antenna up and grab it before someone else does. Like how Paul McCartney was certain he'd heard "Yesterday" somewhere before, and had to be convinced that no, he actually wrote it. I believe "Love Shack" is one of those songs. Someone would have written it eventually, it's just that the B-52s got there first. And we're lucky they did, too. Can you imagine anyone else doing this one? I love the B-52s, and "Roam", "Rock Lobster", and "Private Idaho" all contribute to their inclusion here. But "Love Shack" is in a class by itself. Funky little shack.
21: "Hold Me Now" - Thompson Twins I absolutely love this song. I love that the marimba is featured. I love the fretless bass. I love the way he says, "pinned to my wall". I love the castanets and hi-hats. I love the random piano overdub in the third verse. I love the falsetto at the end. I love the fact that there are three people in the band. But most of all, I love how the song takes me back to 1984 when I would hole up in my bedroom to devour books and escape into a world of imagination and music. Even as I listen to it now, I'm second guessing myself that I didn't put it in the top 20. Did I mention that I love this song?
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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 3, 2010 22:41:24 GMT -5
Here's an updated handy reference guide for those of you avoiding my lame ramblings:
21: Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins 22: Love Shack - B-52s 23: Always Something There to Remind Me - Naked Eyes 24: With or Without You - U2 25: Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi 26: Land of Confusion - Genesis 27: Against All Odds - Phil Collins 28: Kyrie - Mr. Mister 29: Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order 30: Der Kommissar - After the Fire 31: When Doves Cry - Prince 32: Don't You Forget About Me - Simple Minds 33: If You Leave - OMD 34: Steppin' Out - Joe Jackson 35: Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran 36: Take on Me - A-Ha 37: Boys of Summer - Don Henley 38: Tainted Love - Soft Cell 39: Every Time You Go Away - Paul Young 40: Only a Lad - Oingo Boingo
41: West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys 42: Don't Shed a Tear - Paul Carrack 43: Jeopardy - The Greg Kihn Band 44: Sara - Starship 45: 99 Luftballons - Nena 46: What You Need - INXS 47: Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves 48: Would I Lie to You? - The Eurythmics 49: Beat It - Michael Jackson 50: Why Can't This Be Love? - Van Halen 51: I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty 52: Big Time - Peter Gabriel 53: Stone in Love - Journey 54: Time after Time - Cyndi Lauper 55: Sister Christian - Night Ranger 56: Missing You - John Waite 57: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) - Dead or Alive 58: St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr 59: I Can Dream About You - Dan Hartman 60: Talking In Your Sleep - The Romantics
61: Break My Stride - Matthew Wilder 62: She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby 63: Sea of Love - The Honeydrippers 64: Jessie's Girl- Rick Springfield 65: Paradise City- Guns 'n' Roses 66: Cult of Personality - Living Colour 67: Owner of a Lonely Heart- Yes 68: Calling America - ELO 69: Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams 70: Holding Back the Years - Simply Red 71: The Look of Love - ABC 72: I Knew You Were Waiting For Me - Aretha Franklin & George Michael 73: Everybody Wants You - Billy Squier 74: Second Wind (You're Only Human) - Billy Joel 75: I Wanna Know What Love is- Foreigner 76: Twilight Zone- Golden Earring 77: Centerfield- John Fogerty 78: Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen 79: Higher Love - Steve Winwood 80: Goody Two Shoes - Adam Ant
81: I Wanna Be a Cowboy - Boys Don't Cry 82: Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard 83: Keep Your Hands to Yourself- The Georgia Satellites 84: Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer 85: Your Love - The Outfield 86: Never Surrender - Corey Hart 87: And We Danced - The Hooters 88: Dance Hall Days - Wang Chung 89: Come Dancing - The Kinks 90: Small Town - John Mellencamp 91: Burning Down the House - Talking Heads 92: The Search is Over - Survivor 93: Our House - Madness 94: Lovin' Every Minute Of It - Loverboy 95: Rock This Town - Stray Cats 96: Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar 97: One More Try - George Michael 98: Too Shy - Kajagoogoo 99: Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling 100: She's a Beauty - The Tubes
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Post by Mod City on Aug 5, 2010 0:16:46 GMT -5
How list threads should be done, ladies and gentlemen The list continues to impress, Mr. A, in style and substance. Looking forward to the rest.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 6, 2010 1:18:32 GMT -5
Thanks, Mod. I, too, am looking forward to the rest.
As it gets closer to the end, it feels like I'm reading a novel and how that feeling of momentum kicks in for the last few chapters. Except I'm writing this novel, so I know what's going to happen, which makes it almost more fun. Mrs. Atari asked me tonight if I have any second thoughts about what songs are where on the list, and I said, "Not in the top 20. The more I listen to them to write about them, the more satisfied I am."
But don't let that stop you from calling me names and reminding me of all the songs I missed that you've been waiting for.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 6, 2010 1:19:30 GMT -5
Mr. Atari's Top 100 Songs of the '80s (getting close)
20: "Tarzan Boy" - Baltimora I don't have much to say about this one. I'm sure there's trivia out there, but I don't want to know it. I don't even understand or know half of the lyrics to this one. It might make me like the song less if I know too much about it. All I know is that it has been a huge, huge, favorite song of mine since 1985. The hook just smacks you right in the face like a 12-lb. sledge. There's also a great chromatic chord move in the verse that I've stolen many, many times. A purely subjective choice that I can't really analyze. What I do know is that it's a top-20 song for me. 19: "All Night Long (All Night)"- Lionel Richie I'm tempted to call Lionel Richie a "guilty pleasure", except I don't feel the slightest bit guilty for liking him. He's the only artist ever to have a number 1 song in nine (NINE!) consecutive years ('78-'86). As a music snob, I could be overly critical of Richie's cliched smooth-pop love songs and syrupy ballads; but I can't do it. Because every time I listen to his music, I end up feeling happy and I find myself smiling. I love songs like "You Are", "Hello", "Running With the Night", "Easy", "Love Will Conquer All", and even "Say You, Say Me" with its completely disjointed bridge. But "All Night Long" is the pick because of the awesomely bad Jamaican accent, nonsense chant, and the moment at the end when Lionel tells the listener to "Feel good, FEEL GOOD!" And I do.
18: "Maneater"- Hall & Oates Hall & Oates are awesome. They've been mentioned twice on the countdown already (#s 59 & 39). They had at least 8 songs I could have included here, like "Private Eyes", "Family Man", "You Make My Dreams", "Say It Isn't So", "Out of Touch", and so on. They had the best band in the business (led by future SNL bandleader, G.E. Smith), some of the best songwriting tricks ever, Daryl Hall's golden pipes, and John Oates's mustache. I love how "Maneater" starts off with the bouncy bass riff in a minor key, then shifts to the major key when Hall starts singing. Stevie Wonder ripped off this song wholesale for his 1985 hit, "Part-Time Lover". You know a song is amazing when someone like Stevie Wonder rips you off.
17: "At This Moment"- Billy Vera and the Beaters This will always be known as "The Family Ties Song". Vera was an unknown and the Beaters were a run-of-the-mill bar band when a Family Ties producer heard their live version of "At This Moment" and decided to use it as the soundtrack to the huge sweeps-week episode where Ellen leaves Alex at the train station. That right there makes it a classic in my book, but it's also a darn good song. It's a great throwback to the soul scorchers from guys like Sam Cooke or Otis Redding. The live feel really works, and the pedal steel just seals the deal. Another super-obscure song that I had to find in the early days of the internet.
16: "Back on the Chain Gang"- The Pretenders If you don't like the Pretenders, we can't be friends. It's just that simple. Chrissie Hynde is as good as it gets in rock & roll, and plays a mean Telecaster, to boot. Their 1983 album, Learning to Crawl, is an incredible album, with some of the best songs ever written, including this one, "My City Was Gone", and "Middle of the Road", which might have my favorite harmonica & guitar solos ever. Later, they had another great hit with "Don't Get Me Wrong", which pushes their place even higher on this list. "...Chain Gang" also has one of the best bridges in any song ever. I'd like to be friends with you, so get with the program and love the Pretenders, why not?
15: "The Way It Is" - Bruce Hornsby and the Range Normally message songs aren't very catchy. Paint the message on too thick, and it's just a shrill anthem for whatever cause you're pushing. Not this one. It's an all-time classic piano rocker with lyrical teeth and an amazing solo. Hornsby followed this up with the beautiful "Mandolin Rain" and "Every Little Kiss", both of which get a ton of play on my iPod. But "The Way It Is" is upper echelon songsmithing. Hornsby went on to write "Jacob's Ladder", a #1 hit for his friend Huey Lewis, and then sat in with the Grateful Dead for 7 years, while he kept releasing great albums on his own.
14: "Life in a Northern Town" - The Dream Academy Great music sets a mood and takes you to a place where you feel something special. I'm not sure any song on this list does this as well as "Life in a Northern Town". It sounds like a gray, rainy, cold day at the end of winter. But in a good way. I love the orchestration, the English horn, the timpani, the quiet vocal line, and most of all, the "hey o mama"s. Another reason it's a great recording? It was produced by David Gilmour. A sublime piece of music.
13: "Don't Dream It's Over" - Crowded House A little tip for all of you who want to write a hit song: Open the song with the best guitar tone you can find and play some outstanding chords. Also, include lyrics like, "Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup," or, "In the paper today, tales of war and of waste, but you turn right over to the TV page." I used to think the title was a declaration of demise that was missing a semi-colon (i.e. "Don't Dream; It's Over"). But with a chorus that says, "They come, they come to build a wall between us, we know they won't win," I realized it's a very hopeful song with correct punctuation. Don't entertain the thought of our relationship ending, even in this rough patch. Don't let them win. Great poetry in this one, and a great sounding band.
12: "Drive" - The Cars How great were The Cars? Very great. In fact, it was their omission on VH-1's top 100 Songs of the '80s that prompted me to make this list. So I'm righting their wrong right here. Many of their classic songs came out in the '70s ("Just What I Needed", "My Best Friend's Girl", "Good Times Roll"). But when they teamed up with the one and only Mutt Lange in 1984, he gave them the Mutt Lange sound and they took it to a new level. "Magic" and "You Might Think" were also great hits, but "Drive" was the one that transcended everything else on the radio. I love that Ric Ocasek wrote the song, but didn't do anything on the track. (Special MST trivia: watch the video to "You Might Think" and look for a special appearance by a certain Robot Monster.)
11: "Fortress Around Your Heart" - Sting Sting has always had the remarkable ability to make complex music and lyrics sound normal. I re-read the lyrics just now and was amazed at how powerful the imagery is, and how impossible it would be to write a melody that would make them sing-able. But then you listen to how he did it, and it's pretty stinkin' amazing. Sting always surrounded himself with world-class musicians, and it makes his stuff (this song & "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free", especially) rise above the trends of the era. I love it when great musicians write catchy songs, and this is another perfect example of that. Almost top 10 material, and if I made this list a month from now, it might be.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Aug 6, 2010 1:49:00 GMT -5
I'm not familiar with Tarzan Boy - Hall & Oats I never liked, they aren't my style. While I was never huge on the Pretenders (Hyndes dry voice for some reason bugged me), I did like them and owned their first album... so hopefully that counts for something. I've always dug the Cars and "Drive" is one of their best. And Crowded House, yes, speaking just as a guy who writes a song now and again, I think "Don't Dream It's Over" is one of the all time greats - from the 80s or otherwise. It's one of those numbers that makes me feel like I must be a really crappy songwriter, because I can't write a song like that. And boy, do I want to write a song like that! And on the list before, Love Shack = awesomeness.
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