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August 01, 2006
Mudge's Favorite 134 Songs of the 80s: MTV classics
In honor of MTV's turning 25 today, and totally by chance, this grouping of five happens to be comprised of some classic MTV heyday videos. They're songs 80-76 in the countdown.
80. Cum On Feel The Noize, Quiet Riot Ok, so Kevin DuBrow can't sing. Okay, so that coencentric circles shirt on the bass player is hideously bad. And so QR quickly faded from the scene, replaced by other metal bands. "Metal Health" is still the first metal album to ever reach #1, and "Noize" is still the first metal song to crack the Billboard Top Ten. It's one of the most sing-along-able choruses of the decade (and be honest... when you were riding the school bus home in the afternoon, didn't your whole bus start singing the song, but exchanging one word in the chorus -- no one said "girls rock your boys," did they? Okay, maybe that was just my bus. Man, we were only in 9th grade then. We were kind of a bunch of little pervs.) Great song, a real trailblazer. Check the video here...
And for some additional fun, check out Mudge-friend Ethan's acoustic folk waltz version of the same song. I almost like yours better, Ethan! (I hang in sickly talented circles, kids. I don't fit in with them, but my friends are pretty damned creative.)
79. U Got The Look, Prince/Sheena Easton I grew up in the 80s in Minnesota. All we heard on the radio from about 1982 through 1986 was Prince, with an occasional break for the Police or Wham!. Prince ruled 1984 all across the US, true -- but in Minnesota, he was the alpha and omega, man. We played hockey, we said "uff da" a lot (the Scandanavian version of "oy vey"), and we listened to Prince. He'll be back quite a few more times. As for his later 80s stuff, I could easily have gone with "Sign O' The Times" here, but that video doesn't feature the incredibly smokin' Sheena Easton (who manages to look absolutely scrumptious here even with that ridiculous 80s hair). Plus, the song was danceable and yet had enough of a guitar riff where, if you were a rocker, you still felt cool cranking it up to 11 while driving around somewhere. Great song from a great artist. Here's the video.
78. (You Gotta) FIght For Your Right (To Party), Beastie Boys. So how do you make rap accessible to white suburban kids? Pair it up with rock and a heavy guitar riff. And if you really want to make sure it catches on, write lyrics that basically point out all the hypocrisies that parents engage in (your pop caught you smokin', and he says no way!/That hypocrite smokes two packs a day!"). This song was the first exposure I ever had to rap; it came out just a little while before Run DMC & Aerosmith's "Walk This Way." And while I didn't know what to make of the whole rap thing, I knew I dug the guitar riff. The video's an all-time classic; the song's an all-time classic; and even today, this is still one of my 'crank-the-radio-as-loud-as-it-goes" songs. And the Beasties are locks for the Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
77. Careless Whisper, George Michael and Wham! You know how guitar players all respect the guitar greats, even if they don't like their style? Or drummers all respect a really good drummer, even if the band they're in is kind of weak? Well, I was a singer. And even though his style didn't always fit mine, George MIchael inarguably has an incredible voice, and I respect the hell out of what he did and what he's still capable of... to this day, I'll still give a listen to anything he releases just because it's his voice, so it might be incredible. While most of Michael's work with Wham! will not make this countdown, I defy anyone who says that "Careless Whisper" i's anything less than a damn well-crafted pop song, and one of the decade's best 'oh god, I totally messed up, please let me have a chance to fix this," pure despair songs. Maybe not just of the 80s, either. And that voice... amazing. The man is gifted. Check the video here.
76. Our House, Madness How many of you got your first taste of ska through a Madness song? How many of you played a tennis racket during the guitar solo like this guy did? Madness' "Our House" had one of those classic rhythym lines that was instantly recognizable and instantly seared its way into your memory. Add to it an amusing video that seemed to fit the song perfectly, and you had a classic that still sounds pretty fresh today. All the way up to #76 on my list. Check the video here.
Comments
good stuff mudge (except for Wham!)...but note that Run DMC's 'walk this way' first charted in 1986, several months before 'fight for ....' did in 1987.
:-)
Posted by: Marquette Hoops at August 2, 2006 11:55 AM
