« Mudge's Favorite 134 Songs of the 80s: Recapping The First Third Of The Top 100 | Main | Boys' Night Out - Literally »
August 03, 2006
Mudge's Favorite 134 Songs of the 80s: The Halfway Mark
Just so you know, I have put off taking my computer in until Saturday. It might be an electrical hazard, but it would appear that we're on a roll -- people are paying attention, I think in more ways than one and from places I didn't expect (check this out, for example... fifth bullet in the entry), and something tells me that now is not the time for a hiatus, no matter how hot my computer gets. So I'm gonna keep on keeping on.
And you know what's cool? With this entry, we're hitting the halfway mark. That's right ... in a top 134 list, the midpoint is between songs 68 and 67... so congratulations: after Hawk fired my imagination a couple of weeks back and I came up with this little list, you've made it halfway through with me. The lower the numbers, the deeper the nostalgia, the stronger the memories, and the um... funner the fun gets.
70. White Wedding, Billy Idol I actually heard White Wedding before I'd heard Billy's other songs off his eponymous 1982 album. I instantly dug it. And like so many of the songs from the early 80s, it featured a memorable video: the images of that barbed wire wedding ring going over the bride's finger (andI think I remember seeing on Behind The Music or something that this shot was not tricked ... she really took a barbed wire ring over her finger and had her knuckle split open for the video) and the motorcycle crashing through the stained glass window of the church? Classic. As for the song itself, it's one of my favorite Billy Idol songs, though he will show up again later in the countdown. Anyway, check the video here.
69. Let's Go Crazy, Prince Okay, I swear it's just a coincidence that a Prince song comes in at number 69. Really. Honest. Quite fitting though, don't you think? When "Purple Rain" was released in 1984, the Purple One took over the music world... especially in my neck of the woods, where he was a local kid made good and made huge. (I was lucky enough to still be in the Minneapolis area when his club, Glam Slam was still open... which was always a good place to go because there was a chance he'd show up on stage to just jam with the band. This song featured a kick-ass guitar solo at the end, some wonderfully obscure and odd Prince-ian lyrics, and a great video that I unfortunately can't find on YouTube anywhere. But damn, the man was at the top of his game with this album. A most deserving first ballot Rock Hall of Famer. Check out this live performance of the song from earlier this year.
68. Turning Japanese, The Vapors Why are there so many songs about, um, self-love on my countdown? Wait - don't answer that. Anywho, this new wave classic was another of the less embarrassing songs that we used to play -- which was fine with me since I'd always loved it. A highly danceable song with just enough of a cool guitar riff to make it 'okay' for a guy to dig dancing to, "Turning Japanese" was the sole hit for the Vapors, but if you're only going to have one hit, it might as well be a great one, right? (The title, in case you're incredibly thick, allegedly referred to the slightly racist slang term for the face a man would make when... well, you get the picture.) The video featured the impossibly rail thin lead singer swinging around a samuari sword in bizarre fashion -- which I suppose was supposed to be allegorical as well. Great new wave song, and a good way to end the first half of the countdown. The video's here if you want it.
67. Hot For Teacher, Van Halen. The single greatest video in the history of all video. Not just of music videos, mind you -- but of all things that human beings have ever captured in motion, from the old zoetropes all the way up until digital imagery. If I get one wish before I die, it's to find Miss Phys Ed someday for a private lesson. But beyond the teachers (man, why didn't any of mine look like that?), this video's classic in at least a couple of other ways. First of all, the kid versions of the band? Great concept and a lot of fun. The whole Waldo thing still makes me grin. And best of all? During the dance sequences, watching Alex Van Halen -- arguably one o the best rock drummers of the decade -- clearly having no rhythm whatsoever and being unable to keep in step with Michael and Eddie. Seriously, watch when they're all in those hideous pink tuxes; Alex might be able to drum like a legend, but he can't dance to save his forkin' life.
The song itself, separated from the video (pick me, Miss Phys Ed! pick me!) is still fabulous -- from the opening drum solo and Eddie's fast-fingered riff, to the great solo in the middle. MU Hoop and I were arguing on IM a while ago about when VH may have reached its zenith... for me it might have been this video.
66. Goodbye, Night Ranger I'll clue you in on two very embarrassing little secrets. First, the very first concert I ever went to was Night Ranger at the Minnesota State Fair some time in the mid-80s. And second, any song that features a 12-string guitar will likely make it into my playlist somewhere. I just like the sound of the instrument. Anyway, Night Ranger was running out of piano-driven big power ballads by late 1985, so they turned to the 12 string guitar sound to drive this one. And being the NR fan that I was, and the 12 string fan I still am, I not only liked it then, but I like it now. Plus, when they get to the end, after he's done singing, they kind of rock out a bit on this one. Cool tune, one of my favorites when it came out, and still enough to reach number 66 on my Top 134. Check the video here.
Comments
White Wedding. Great song, great video.
But it's no "My Angel is a Centerfold."
Posted by: anonymous at August 3, 2006 10:40 PM
