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July 25, 2006
Mudge's Favorite 134 Songs of the 80s: Wrapping Up The Triple Digit Club
I have lots to say politically today... but time precludes my doing so right now. (Lots happening at work right now, so life's hopping a little.) So, instead of me ranting at the government and howling at the moon, you get the latest installment in my 80s music countdown -- the last of the century club of the list. (That'd be those songs above #100... so if I'd have been more decisive and actually been able to pare the list to a standard top 100, these'd be the songs that would have been the final five cut.)
105. It's My Life, Talk Talk In general, covers are embarrassing things in pop music; think Tiffany's version of "I Think We're Alone Now" or the Ataris' version of "The Boys Of Summer." But I'll acknowledge that No Doubt did a decent job a couple of years back of covering this new wave classic... except that the original was better. The video was totally stupid -- wildlife, a zoo, and some bizarro hand drawn little squiggly thing? -- but the song was great, featuring one of the better bass leads of the decade. Talk Talk never really had a big hit anywhere; even this, their most famous song, peaked at #31 on the US charts. But this stupid video was in heavy rotation on MTV, so I heard it a lot... and liked it, then and now.
104. Every Day I Write The Book, Elvis Costello and the Attractions This Elvis is one of my all time favorites, though most of his stuff that I really love came out in the late 70s. The exception is this, one of his poppier songs. Easily accessible... and since it compares life and relationships to the writing of a book, I suppose it was predestined that I'd like it. The video featured lookalikes of Princess DIana and Prince Charles, which was an element of kitsch that for some odd reason appealed to my just-turning-16 year old self when this song came out in the summer of 1984. Not the best Elvis Costello song, by a longshot... but his best of the 80s, in my opinion. Check the video here.
103. Talk Dirty To Me, Poison Oh, where to begin here? Sadly, I was into Poison back in the day... in the band, we played this song as one of our showstoppers.. and I had the look down, man. (Scary visual, I know.) Because I still remember the pure adrenalin rush of playing this song in front of a crowd that was dancing and singing along, I can't bring myself to condemn it the way I know I should. I mean, this isn't even cheddar cheese, this one's pure limberger -- and as Tim is fond of saying, it has the worst throw to a solo in the history of pop music ("CC, pick up that guitar and, uh, TALK TO ME!!!") I know I should disdain this song and deny ever having loved it. Only I can't. Because I did, and I have to admit -- I still do.
102. Still Loving You, the Scorpions German power ballads make my nether regions tingle. The one problem with this song is that it never ended... power ballads are supposed to be short, so that you can quickly get to the lovin' that's sure to result after a bad boy rocker reveals his tender side to the girl who's brought it out in him. Instead, this one goes on for almost six minutes. Then again, maybe that's why it seems to me to hold up a little better than most of its genre. Check the video here.
101. I Know There's Somethin' Goin' On, Frida You know, for a chick from Abba, Frida came up with a kinda cool tune here. The Phil Collins-esque drum sound helped, I think -- as did the rhythm guitar behind the end of the verses and chorus. I mean, this song is decidedly not Abba-eqsue. Add in the self-harmony laid in during the chorus, and this one actually holds up, with much less of the kitsch appeal of the rest of the Abba catalog. And of course, Salma Hayek played her in the movie. (Oops; wrong Frida. Never mind. It doesn't matter, because she still got nekkid in that movie, so let me make whatever musical associations I want to it.) Check the video here.
Comments
You are absolutely killing me with these lists. There are songs making a presence here that I NEVER thought I'd forget from The Day. Because they MEANT SO MUCH.
Alas, if they were so unforgettable, how come my memory is jarring all over the place reconnecting with them here?
Is 42 really SO OLD?
What a trip.
Posted by: Jennifer at July 25, 2006 08:41 AM
Hi Jennifer... no, 42 is NOT so old. It's not even old at all. (If it were, we'd all be in trouble, huh?)
And yeah - when I was building the list, I ended up revising like 20 times because I kept remembering songs that I'd initially forgotten. It's easy to forget what we'd most love to remember, isn't it?
Posted by: Curmudgeon at July 25, 2006 07:45 PM
where the butt do you get the time to pull these lists together. I wouldn't be able to sit still long enough. I can barely sit still that long to pee.
Posted by: thebeav at July 25, 2006 10:08 PM
