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Post by Truck Farmer on Jul 28, 2010 0:10:45 GMT -5
You are so right about Steve Winwood, but my favorite from him would have to be While You See A Chance. My picks from The Boss would have been either Hungry Heart or Brilliant Disguise. But Glory Days is a great song too. I've always enjoyed CCR even though they were a little before my time. What I remember the most about the song and album is the last time I saw my grandparents on my dad's side. We drove up to Michigan, just the two of us and this got played alot on that trip. Foreigner was and still is one of my favorite bands. Foreigner 4 was an awesome album that I still play to this day, and definitely brings back memories of high school. You could pick any number of songs from Billy Joel for your list and you would not get an argument from me, except for Piano Man. You are so correct about Billy Squier. If you want to see a career go into the crapper in 4 1/2 minutes watch this www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR0j7sModCI.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 28, 2010 0:31:29 GMT -5
With Michael Wilder, would it help to consider that the man gets a healthy check for those commercials, which helped put his kids through college, payed for trips to the dentist and kept heat on in the house during cold winter nights? Hell, I'd sell my most poignant tune to a company making an ad for douches if it did all that for me. She Blinded Me With Science, was a joy and I love it when the MST gang would use it in a riff. Blondie? Yeah they did more than their fair share of stinkers (The man from mars thing? Yuk indeed, someone stick a fork in my ears) I liked them early, when they were just a rock band.
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Post by Truck Farmer on Jul 28, 2010 1:01:44 GMT -5
Bryan Adams was great in the early and mid 80's. He did a duet with Tina Turner that is so good, especially the live version done on an HBO special. His mistake was doing that song from the Costner Robin Hood movie. he seemed to really wuss out after that.
ELO was one of those bands that I didn't follow much, but when I heard them on the radio, I really got into them. My favorite ELO song is Hold On Tight. It's just a catchy thing with a 50's feel.
I will admit publicly that I loved Owner of a Lonely Heart. I just hope this is not a bannable offense.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing the first time I saw the video for Cult of Personality. It just totally blew me away. I still have this CD and play it quite often. And as much as I love this song, it's not even my favorite song on the album.
I did and still do wish I could have Jessie's Girl.
I was a little shocked the first time I heard Robert Plant singing Sea of Love, but it definitely grew on me and I even have sung it at karaoke on occasion.
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Post by solgroupie on Jul 28, 2010 14:53:57 GMT -5
i heard glory days on the radio the other day. it's funny to hear a song about such a topic for the first time when you are a teenager and have no way of connecting to the meaning. but hearing it twenty years later is a different story. i liked it back in the day, and i still like it, irony aside. i've never been a huge springsteen fan - i certainly respect his career and fan base. the only cd i ever got of his was a couple of years ago when i got we shall overcome - the seeger sessions. i don't know enough about pete seeger to get into a whole thing about that - but it is a pretty decent cd, IMO.
whatever happened to billy squier? he was AWESOME. but as calli once pointed out to me - it seems he is mostly known for the stroke when he had so many other great songs. i heard a cover of everybody wants you a few years ago and shook my head. it can't even come close.
simply red - i love simply red - loved them when they came out, love them today. mick hucknall has an incredible voice - an amazingly underestimated voice. i have several of their cds and when i'm in the mood for it, i can listen to them for days. holding back the years is timeless. a new flame is my favorite release of theirs.
i guess you could pick about any song from appetite for destruction and not go wrong with it. one thing i will love guns & roses for - forever - is the way they blew 80's glam rock out of the picture and finally gave us something different to listen to. i think my two faves were november rain and patience, though.
and i love sea of love. at the time i didn't care who recorded it. but it was a great soundtrack to my 16th (or 17th?) summer. actually, i think back then i just assumed plant was doing a solo gig for the hell of it. he has such a distinctive voice - i didn't even realize half of the talent with him was a part of it. stupid teenager.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 29, 2010 10:09:46 GMT -5
Thanks so much for the comments, everyone. It really makes the work of doing this worth it. Even if you disagree with the list. Keep 'em coming!
The next 20 should be coming today.
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Post by Mod City on Jul 29, 2010 11:05:34 GMT -5
Yeah, great list, Mr. A, though I'm still waiting to see if a particular song makes the list. Either way, I'm enjoying it. Keep it coming.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 29, 2010 11:57:07 GMT -5
Mr. Atari's Top 100 Songs of the '80s(continued) 60: "Talking in Your Sleep"- The RomanticsThe Romantics are another two-hit wonder that don't get the respect they deserve. Their first hit, "What I Like About You", is rightfully in the "best songs ever written" category. Too bad it was released in '79, or it would push these guys way up this list. Still, their second hit was also great, and the more I listen to it, the more I want to get more albums by these guys. What a great riff & bass line. 59: "I Can Dream About You"- Dan HartmanDan Hartman wrote this song for his good friends, Hall & Oates, but they had just finished an album and politely declined the offer. So he recorded it himself and it tore up the charts in '84. The video for the song featured footage from the little-seen movie, Streets of Fire, where the song was sung by a black actor; so when I was a kid, I thought Hartman was black. Later, he worked as a producer for a wide range of artists, like Tina Turner, James Brown, Steve Winwood, and Joe Cocker. Wikipedia estimates he was directly involved in projects that sold over 50 million albums worldwide. Not bad for a one-hit wonder. 58: "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)"- John ParrI never saw this movie. St. Elmo's Fire is an electrical discharge between a grounded object and the sky, most often occurring on ships at sea. What this has to do with a movie about whiny, rich, lawyer kids who have problems is beyond me. What's even more confusing is that the song is about a guy in a wheelchair who raced across Canada, and has nothing to do with actual St. Elmo's Fire or the movie about rich, whiny lawyer kids with problems. In fact, it's probably best not to think about it too much. Good song, though. For extra laughs, go find the video on YouTube. At the end, Parr approaches each actor from the movie and touches them in a sympathetic way, all while lip-synching in full dramatic mode. 10 out of 10 for awkward humor. 57: "You Spin Me Round"- Dead or AliveI remember hearing this for the first time and being impressed by how much was going on in this song. It's an incredibly "busy" arrangement. Later, I was surprised that it took a band of 4 guys just to program synthesizers like that. But being synth-heavy and busy doesn't mean it's a bad song. Just try to listen to this song and not move something. As I write these commentaries, I listen to the song I'm writing about. Right now, my 2 year-old is dancing all over the living room to this one. That's what I call a deciding vote. 56: "Missing You"- John WaiteJohn Waite had an interesting career. He started out as the lead singer for The Babys, who had moderate success in the late '70s. Then he had this #1 hit. Then, he joined with half of Journey to form Bad English and had another #1 hit with "When I See You Smile". Then, he re-recorded this song with Alison Krauss (who's awesome, by the way) and had a sizable country hit. Waite has a tremendous voice, and this song was always a favorite of mine and holds up very well. 55: "Sister Christian"- Night RangerFor better or worse (but mostly worse), this song set the template for power ballads that came later. Slow, piano intro that builds into the first chorus. Then, we get a soaring guitar solo that leads into a huge chorus, followed by a recapitulation of the piano intro. The reason it got copied ad nauseum? Because it's a darn good song. With a very good soaring guitar solo. 54: "Time After Time"- Cyndi LauperBeneath the obnoxious little girl voice, and beneath the pink hair and trying-too-hard fashion sense was a tremendous songwriter. Seriously. Go listen to this song, or "True Colors", or "All Through the Night", or "Change of Heart" and tell me differently. I can't stomach "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", but the rest of her catalog is impressive. "Time After Time" was co-written by the keyboardist of the Hooters (see #87). Proving that it's an amazing song, it's been covered by at least 120 other artists. 53: "Stone in Love"- JourneyJourney has made a huge comeback in recent years, thanks mostly to "Don't Stop Believin'" being featured in The Sopranos, Glee and karaoke bars around the world. "Separate Ways" was a great song, too (but an awful video). "Any Way You Want It" will always remind me of Caddyshack. They had about 15 other good songs, even their ballads. But "Stone in Love" is by far my favorite. It's a great riff, with a little more guts than their other hits. The ending section reminds me a bit of the second half of "Layla" with the keyboard slow-down and building guitar solo. It was also one of the first guitar solos I ever learned, and I still use tricks from it when I play today. 52: "Big Time"- Peter GabrielI'm a huge Genesis fan, and I get really tired of the "Peter Gabriel vs. Phil Collins" debate. It's basically the Joel vs. Mike discussion, but with even more snobbery and whining. I like them both, and it was fun to see Gabriel, Collins, and Genesis all have huge success in the '80s. In all my research, I didn't see Gabriel on any top 100 lists of the '80s. What the hell? "Sledgehammer" was outstanding. "In Your Eyes" is a classic. But "Big Time" is my favorite. It's a nice satire of the me-first, greedy, yuppie culture of it's time. Like all of Gabriel's music, it features world-class instrumentalists. A near-perfect song all the way around. 51: "I Won't Back Down"- Tom PettyThe older I get, the more I like Tom Petty. He writes simple songs very well, and that's incredibly hard to do. When he and Jeff Lynne teamed up for 1989's Full Moon Fever, he found the perfect mix. "Free Fallin'" gets overplayed and wears out. But "Runnin' Down a Dream" and this song never get old. Petty belongs in any top 100 list, simply based on his output with other great songs in the '80s, like "Refugee", "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Jamming Me". This one is his best, though. A great song about standing strong in the face of opposition: " Well I know what's right, I got just one life. In a world that keeps on pushin' me around, but I'll stand my ground, and I won't back down.." My dream is to one day write a song like Tom Petty. I'm just angry that he beat me to this one.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 29, 2010 12:32:56 GMT -5
Even though (say it with me) list threads are boring, here's the first 50 in a quick-reference format:
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 solgroupie on Jul 29, 2010 19:22:44 GMT -5
that's the kind of courtesy you don't usually see in list threads.
after years of therapy and soul-searching, i can now say i was once a fan of st. elmo's fire - yes, the movie. it came along at just the right age for me and i got sucked into it and stuck in rob lowe's pretty, pretty hair. i liked the piano instrumental theme to the movie more than john parr's version, but i listened to that one plenty of times, too.
sister christian was a really big hit where i used to live, in salisbury, maryland. a member of night ranger - the drummer, i think, was from there. it was on every station all the time, but thankfully it's a good song - i still like it. brings back good memories.
stone in love never did much for me - i think my favorite journey song is when the lights go down in the city. again, it is due to geography. when i lived at the beach, every restaurant there used that song in the background of their commercials and now i always associate it for when i lived at the beach. say what you will about journey - steve perry had a hell of a voice.
i remember the video for peter gabriel's big time - it blew my mind. i never got into the collins/gabriel fight either. who cares when both of them delivered the hits? but my admiration for peter gabriel goes deep. he has such a distinctive voice and sound, and the music he created for the movie the last temptation of christ can move me to tears.
and i can't get behind you on missing you. that song has been played ten billion times and i just can't listen to it anymore. i probably liked it at one time, though. who's to say?
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Post by callipygias on Jul 29, 2010 20:05:04 GMT -5
that's the kind of courtesy you don't usually see in list threads. I can only imagine how hard it was for him. i was once a fan of st. elmo's fire - yes, the movie. it came along at just the right age for me and i got sucked into it and stuck in rob lowe's pretty, pretty hair. Ditto. Except the hair thing. Not that I didn't like his pretty hair. Well, just ditto.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 29, 2010 23:49:50 GMT -5
Thanks so much for the comments, everyone. It really makes the work of doing this worth it. Even if you disagree with the list. Keep 'em coming! Are you sure about that? Even if I told you how many times I've wished Huey Lewis into the corn field? All kidding aside. Wether I like a song or not, I'm enjoying the read. You have similar taste with my old friend Steve, I see a lot of stuff he was in to. He was big into the Babys and John Wait, so I got to listen to him a lot through Steve. I liked that song as well. I was a fan of Cyndi Lauper so I'm with you on that one and Peter Gabriel is an amazing artist, the LP with Shock the Monkey is one of my top 10 favorites. Really powerful work on that one.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 30, 2010 0:13:41 GMT -5
that's the kind of courtesy you don't usually see in list threads. I can only imagine how hard it was for him. You have no idea. And MJ, you'll have plenty of time to demolish my taste in the next few posts. I'm sure I'm going to have to turn in my "music snob" card when this is all said and done. We're about to hit the top 50, and I imagine as we get closer to the end (and especially at the end), I'm going to have to be nimble to dodge the tomatoes. But hey, it's my list and it's really what I enjoy. In fact, I put the 100 songs as a playlist on my iPod after I made the list last week, and it's all I've been listening to.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 30, 2010 0:22:56 GMT -5
I'll be kind, sometimes the riffer in me takes over but I'll refrain from lobbing tomatoes.
And if I get out of hand just remind me that I own Kelly Clarkson CDs.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Jul 30, 2010 2:24:15 GMT -5
Mr. Atari's Top 100 Songs of the '80s (and now, the top 50)
50: "Why Can't This Be Love"- Van Halen I'm about to commit rock & roll blasphemy, so buckle up. I think Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen was better than David Lee Roth-era Van Halen. I'll concede that Van Halen 1 and 1984 were great albums, and that "Jump", "Panama", and "Hot for Teacher" could easily be in this spot (especially "Panama"). But the stuff in between those albums is a whole lot of nothing for me. On the other hand, the first 3 Hagar albums are exhibits A, B, and C of better songwriting, better arrangements, and- dare I say it- a better band. The songs were tighter and catchier (on the whole). But most of all, there wasn't any more of that awful, awful David Lee Roth shriek/squeal. You know what I mean- his little falsetto howl that says, "Look at me! I'm a rock & roll frontman!". And once you start noticing it, you'll never NOT notice it, because he does it in every freaking song. Over and over. Anyway, I've always loved this first single from 5150.
49: "Beat It"- Michael Jackson Speaking of Eddie Van Halen...Most people know he played the guitar solo on this song. But did you know the main instrumental tracks for the Thriller album were recorded by the members of Toto? No wonder it's such a tight album. As for me, I liked Michael Jackson okay, I guess. "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Starting Something" were both good songs, and I remember the zipper jacket being a big deal around school. But I can't say I really got his appeal. I remember him more for the cultural force he was in those days than for the music itself.
48: "Would I Lie to You?"- The Eurythmics I love Annie Lennox. She's got the grit in her voice that can really carry a rock & roll number. Dave Stewart is a great writer and producer. Together, they made incredible music. I spent a long time deciding which of their songs to put here. "Here Comes the Rain Again" is a personal favorite (complete with a Michael Kamen orchestration). "Sweet Dreams" is their most well-known hit. But this one wins out because it's got a great, driving groove and a nice horn section.
47: "Walking on Sunshine"- Katrina and the Waves I know "real" rock and roll is only supposed to be bitter, angry, and rebellious. It's not legit unless it's brooding and melancholy, because only then is it Meaningful (with a capital M). Well I say, BULL CRAP! Sometimes life can be good and full of joy. And in those times, you need a song that captures what it feels like to be on top of the world. And this one does that for me. It might just be the happiest song ever written. And when it became Fry's theme song on Futurama, I finally threw away the last shred of shame I felt for liking the song.
46: "What You Need"- INXS INXS. You either liked them or you didn't. And if you didn't, then you probably avoided the radio from 1986-1988, because they were all over it. Kick was a tremendous album, with 5 or 6 great songs on it. However, my favorite song of theirs was this one from the album before. Like a lot of famous songs, they wrote it in about an hour because the record company said they needed a "hit" for the album. Maybe sometimes necessity is the mother of inspiration, too.
45: "99 Luftballons"- Nena As a kid in the '80s, I had no idea what this German chick was singing about. I just knew it had a cool beat and a great synth hook. Even now, as I listen to it, I like how the instruments all play around each other's parts. Of course, it was a story about how 99 balloons cause an apocalypse when suspicious cold war governments misinterpret them as a threat and overreact. I'm still a bit amazed that in such an anglo-centric time and place as the 1980s United States that it was the German version of this song (and not the English one) that made it to #2 on the charts.
44: "Sara"- Starship 25 years later, Starship has become a punchline. "We Built This City" was called "The #1 Worst Song Ever" by Blender magazine. I don't understand it, but maybe I was just too young to notice they sucked and too busy enjoying their music. What I find hilarious is that both "We Built..." and "Sara" were co-written and produced by Peter Wolf, the former keyboard player for...wait for it...Frank Zappa. (Not to be confused with the Peter Wolf who was the great lead singer for the J. Geils Band.) Okay, so I liked "Sara" when it climbed the charts to #1 in 1986. But when it came on the radio 10 years later as Mrs. Atari and I were on our honeymoon, it really locked in as a personal favorite.
43: "Jeopardy"- The Greg Kihn Band This was one of the first songs I remember really loving. I couldn't wait for it to get played on the radio, and would walk around the house as an 8-year-old singing it at the top of my lungs. I had no idea what jeopardy was or why our love was in it. But I think if I heard it for the first time tomorrow, I'd still love it. Great groove, nice minor key vibe, and some catchy "oooh oooh oooh ooohs" (which are always a bonus). And, of course, it led to one of the best Weird Al parodies. And if you don't think that earned it some extra points, well then you still don't know me very well.
42: "Don't Shed a Tear"- Paul Carrack "Cab fare to nowhere is what you are." One of my favorite opening lines in music history. "All that I saw in you, now I see through" is another great lyric here. This is a great song if you've ever been dumped. Carrack is one of my favorite singers, whether in Squeeze, or in Mike + the Mechanics, or here on his biggest solo hit. What makes the song work for me most is the chord move between the verses and the chorus. The way the pre-chorus builds is a neat trick, and one I've tried to steal more than once.
41: "West End Girls" - Pet Shop Boys What I love about the '80s is how many genres and styles all got played and all mixed into the same top-40 radio. I had never heard anything like the Pet Shop Boys, but I loved it. "Opportunities" and "It's a Sin" were also equally great. I think if someone were to cut open my brain and was able to detangle all of the musical threads that have twisted around each other in my subconscious, they'd probably be surprised at how much British synth-pop they'd find. But that's what happens when you grow up in the '80s.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 30, 2010 3:10:23 GMT -5
Nice way to start the top 50 (yes, I’m bored tonight and have been hanging around the forum all night)
Bless my melancholy heart I actually liked “Walking On Sunshine” – very fun, upbeat tempo.
Eurythmics I’ve always liked, even back in the days when they were the Tourists.
The first Greg Kihn album I bought was because of the cover (he wore a Kabuki mask). I had no clue who he was, what style of music he played – but it was in the bargain bin ($2) so I bought it and I loved it. In truth I loved his early, hit-less albums as a whole, better than when he got big. Though I liked the hits and Jeopardy was a goodie.
And Nena, ahh… I never thought of German as particularly romantic language… it’s more like Klingon. When relatives from Germany would visit, they were the nicest people but the voices sounded so clipped, as if they were upset all the time. Still, I thought Nena had one of the sexiest voices I’ve ever heard. I have this album. Great song, glad to see it on the list.
Oh and I can’t stand David Lee Roth’s voice, like nails down a chalkboard.
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