Friday, January 20, 2006

Soliciting help Re: 80s music

So here's the deal: over winter break in 2002 (mere days before a certain glorious happening which I will not mention because pfft I mean come on), I was bored at home with the fam and took to constructing a massive and extensive collection of my favorite 80s tunes. I spent approximately three and a half hours listing songs, illegally downloading them, and burning them into an "Avast, me hearties" CD collection. My sudden motivation for this undertaking was murky at the time and has only grown more inexplicable in retrospect. But for that mid-afternoon, lord, I was a-downloadin'.

Now, this is relevant to our discussions on here in no particular way. I have recently decided that the aforementioned 4-disc master mix of 80s tunes needs to be updated, as I am sure there are omissions both glaring and numerous. So I come to you, five loyal MWB readers, asking for suggestions as to what could possibly go on the fifth and possibly (*eep*) sixth entries in this hopefully-burgeoning compilation. To avoid redundancies (Speaking of which, I think this week's episode of "The Office: Not Ricky Gervais Edition" has probably come closer to duplicating the Oh Jesus Christ awkward of the British version than any previous episode of the inferior but absolutely adequate American bastardization. Carry on), I am listing the tracks on the four previous discs. Suggestions would be Dawsome. I made that word up, and in a "made up" way, not in a "new meaning" way. Al will vouch for me. Anyway, here we go...

Disc One
1.) Cutting Crew - I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight
2.) Katrina and the Waves - I'm Walking on Sunshine
3.) Stray Cats - Stray Cat Strut
4.) Duran Duran - Save a Prayer
5.) Huey Lewis and the News - The Power of Love
6.) Richard Marx - Right Here Waiting
7.) Don Henley - Boys of Summer
8.) Real Life - Send Me an Angel
9.) Modern English - Melt With You
10.) Nena - 99 Luftballoons
11.) Lionel Richie - How to Stalk and Seduce a Blind Girl
12.) The Romantics - What I Like About You
13.) Journey - Separate Ways
14.) After the Fire - Der Kommissar
15.) Bryan Adams - Heaven
16.) The Fixx - One Thing Leads to Another
17.) Night Ranger - Sister Christian

Disc Two
1.) Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax
2.) Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen (whoa, that grammar makes that title look a little more, uh ... icky sticky-er than it should. Let's make that...) Come on, Eileen (much better)
3.) Journey - Don't Stop (Pause) Believin'
4.) Blondie - Call Me
5.) The Bangles - Eternal Flame (and a mighty roar comes up from Todd)
6.) The Police - Every Breath You Take
7.) John Waite - Missing You
8.) Wham! - Everything She Wants (single version)
9.) Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
10.) Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
11.) Soft Cell - Tainted Love
12.) Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart
13.) INXS - I Need You Tonight
14.) Tears for Fears - Head Over Heels
15.) The Go-Gos - Head Over Heels
16.) Kajagoogoo - Too Shy
17.) Corey Hart - Sunglasses at Night
18.) Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)

Disc Three
1.) A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
2.) Blondie - One Way or Another
3.) Glenn Frey - The Heat is On
4.) Human League - Human
5.) Eurythmics - Here Comes the Rain Again
6.) Ann Wilson & Mike Reno - Almost Paradise
7.) Bryan Adams - Summer of '69
8.) Toto - Africa
9.) Toni Basil - Mickey
10.) The Police - Don't Stand So Close to Me
11.) Madonna - Crazy For You
12.) Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
13.) Scandal - Goodbye to You
14.) Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now
15.) Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl
16.) Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days
17.) Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes
18.) REO Speedwagon - Keep on Loving You

Disc Four
1.) Wham! - Careless Whisper
2.) Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy
3.) Spandau Ballet - True
4.) The Romantics - Talking in Your Sleep
5.) Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World
6.) The Cars - Drive
7.) INXS - Never Tear Us Apart
8.) Tommy Tutone - 867-5309 (Jenny)
9.) Devo - Whip It
10.) A-ha - Take on Me
11.) Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
12.) Huey Lewis and the News - Do You Believe in Love?
13.) Big Country - In a Big Country
14.) 'Til Tuesday - Voices Carry
15.) Kenny Loggins - I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)
16.) J. Geils Band - Centerfold
17.) Human League - Don't You Want Me
18.) New Order - Shellshock

Once again, I would greatly appreciate suggestions for more songs. Obviously, variety is of paramount concern, but I am just as obviously not opposed to having multiple songs on here from the same artist. Please aid me in my hack patchworking of a ginormous 80s mix. Danke.

12 Comments:

At 3:39 AM, January 21, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's my word you sommabitch.

 
At 1:48 PM, January 22, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jack,

Here are some thoughts , fell fun to ridicule me all you want.

From the Category of "Songs most likely to appear on a Mix-Tape you made your 7th grade girlfriend"...Bon Jovi "I'll be there for you" (or really any Bon Jovi works here), Poison "Every Rose has it's thorn", Jeff Healey Band "Angel Eyes".

From the "I can't believe there was a total ommission of these artists" category...anything from Prince, or Styx (Dennis DeYoung is FURIOUS at you right now!), or Johnny Cougar Mellencamp

Nothing says 80's quite like the sound of Bananarama or Pet Shop Boys "West End Girl".

If you want some hip-hop type stuff from then, Arrested Development (A Game of Horseshoes!), Bell Biv Devoe, or the incomparable Mr. Whitney Houston.

I have to admit you list is amazing and i would pay more than i would like to admit for such a compilation. Also, my memory of the end of the 80's and beginning of the 90's is somewhat fuzzy, so if any of my songs listed are actually from the early 90's, i appologize in advance.

--Wise

 
At 4:21 PM, January 23, 2006, Blogger Jack said...

My reactions to the comments thus far:

"It's My Life" is as good as in.

"How Soon is Now" will have to get a listen from me before it gets onto the mix. A reasonable and necessary step.

In the whole of the Billy Ocean canon (all two of the songs), I have to say that I vastly prefer "Caribbean Queen" over "Get Outta My Dreams." If Bill-O gets a spot, it's gonna be for that song. Sorry, Jeff.

And I have a couple of Depeche Mode songs I really like, but I need to find out if they were late-80s or early-90s creations. Jeff, any help with tunes that were difinitively released in the 80s?

Wise, I probably should have stated this in the post, but this mix is going to have a BARE MINUMUM of Hair Metal songs, and may omit them entirely, if possible. I didn't care for the genre when I was 8, and I haven't been able to completely accept the bands or songs retrospectively as (Brandon) kitsch, either. (Speaking of Brandon Kirsch, he declared for the NFL draft. Dumbass.)

Johnny Cougar never did much for me, but yes, the omission of Prince is glaring, and Styx may be able to eek out a spot, if they're lucky (like Dennis DeYoung gives a fuck).

Arrested Development and BBD's hits, while almost-uniformly Dawsome, were released in the 90s. So they're out. And Bobby Brown ... I just ... no thanks.

Please keep up the suggestions.

 
At 10:22 PM, January 23, 2006, Blogger Torgonator said...

Jeff - Thank you for the honor of being associated with "It's My Life". Also, "How Soon is Now" is at least a top 10, if not top 5, '80s song for me, too - totally love it. "Get Outta My Dreams" is also fantastic.

Depeche Mode's bigger hits didn't arrive on the scene until 1990 with Violator. I'm not all that familiar with their work before 1990.

Jackson - Fantastic list to start with. Can't go wrong with what you have already.

As for my suggestions... One of the beautiful things about '80s music is that just about everyone would pick a different set of songs for even a 12-song personal compilation. I can't be certain exactly what you're looking for, but I'm guessing from your choices that you're not looking for '80s hip-hop like Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, or the Beastie Boys, and you've already said you're ignoring the hair bands (which was mostly in the '90s anyways). So with these things in mind, these are a bunch of '80s songs I like that are not hip-hop or hair band-ish. There are a lot of suggestions, but this is pretty much a brainstorming session anyways, isn't it?

I've broken up my suggestions into several categories, much like Wise did. Songs already mentioned are left off my list. Songs on lists are arranged alphabetically.

And on we go...

Personally, I Wouldn't Dare Make This '80s Compilation Without These
Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is a Place on Earth
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
David Bowie - Modern Love
Erasure - A Little Respect (admittedly, its inclusion in an episode of Scrubs boosted it up quite a bit)
Falco - Rock Me Amadeus
Huey Lewis & the News - But It's Alright
J. Geils Band - Freeze Frame
Men Without Hats - Safety Dance
Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie
New Order - Blue Monday
Prince - When Doves Cry
Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science (and technology! People measuring things and adjusting them!)
U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
Yaz - Any song(s), frequently occurring in the mix because Jeff is likely to give it up to you every time he hears it

These Would Very Likely Make My Final Cut
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Blondie - Heart of Glass
Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
The Cars - Bye Bye Love
The Cars - Good Times Roll
The Cars - My Best Friend's Girlfriend
David Bowie - Let's Dance
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
Dire Straits - Walk of Life
Go-Gos - Our Lips Are Sealed
Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F
Herbie Hancock - Rock-It
Men at Work - Who Can It Be Now?
Michael Jackson - Billy Jean
Mike & the Mechanics - All I Need Is a Miracle
Psychadelic Furs - Love My Way
U2 - Pride (In the Name of Love)
U2 - With or Without You
Van Halen - Hot for Teacher

Worth Serious Consideration
B-52s - Love Shack
B-52s - Roam (I personally think both of these B-52 songs fit better with the '90s, but they are technically from the '80s)
Billy Joel - The Longest Time
The Cars - Just What I Needed (would have been higher up if it weren't for its recent inclusion in Circuit City commercials - it may not be fair but thems the breaks)
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon
The Cure - Friday I'm in Love
The Cure - Lovesong
Dead or Alive - You Spin Me 'Round
Kenny Loggins - I'm Alright (especially if Phil and I can dance like the Caddyshack gopher for the entire song)
Madness - Our House
Men at Work - Down Under
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
The Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
Prince - I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
Prince - Let's Go Crazy (anyone else ever notice how similar this song is to "Freeze Frame"?)
Prince - Uptown
Prince - When You Were Mine
Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize
REM - It's the End of the World as We Know It
REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling
Robert Palmer - Simply Irresistable
Scandal - The Warrior
Talking Heads - And She Was
Talking Heads - Burning Down the House
Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
Talking Heads - Wild Wild Life
(one of the Talking Heads songs would HAVE to make it onto my compilation)
The Thompson Twins - Lies
Wang Chung - Everybody's Got Funds Tonight
U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
U2 - New Year's Day
U2 - One
U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
Van Halen - Ice Cream Man
Van Halen - Panama

I Like These But They Likely Wouldn't Make the Cut
The Bangles - Hazy Shade of Winter
Billy Joel - You May Be Right
Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Donnie Iris - Ah! Leah!
Eposito - You're the Best Around
The Flirts - Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime In)
J. Geils Band - Love Stinks
Michael Jackson - Bad
Michael Jackson - Beat It
Prince - 1999
Prince - Adore
Roxette - The Look
The Smithereens - A Girl Like You
Stan Bush - You've Got the Touch
Styx - Mr. Roboto (most of their good stuff was from the '70s)
Tears for Fears - Shout
Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart

Hopefully these give you some ideas. Good luck with the rest of your compilation.

 
At 11:06 PM, January 23, 2006, Blogger Jack said...

Jesus Tapdancing Christ. I certainly can't complain about a lack of suggestions. I love some, like some, feel "meh" about some, and downright dislike some, so I'm gonna have to take a good hard look at all of them and begin a screening process. Of course, I am still taking on suggestions for consideration.

And I love that Evan put forth the "Karate Kid" theme. "You're the best! Around!" What, no "St. Elmo's Fire"? That Peter Cetera "Knight in Shining Armor" song? Keep the songs coming! Just like me.

 
At 11:27 PM, January 24, 2006, Blogger Ian C. said...

Outstanding lists. And since "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Our Lips Are Sealed" were already mentioned, I can't think of anything to add, other than Missing Persons' "Destination Unknown." I couldn't make an 80's mix without it.

Or maybe some more INXS? "What You Need"? "New Sensation"?

 
At 4:56 PM, January 25, 2006, Blogger Jack said...

First of all, thanks to everybody who has made suggestions. Nips, Evan, Wise, Ian ... prodigious and high-quality picks, everyone. I think we've named just about everything short of Haircut 100's "Love Plus One." PLUS (har!), I'm going to choose to think that Evan and Jeff have purposely left off Gary Numan's "Cars" out of respect for me. Because I fucking hate that song.

Couple things about Nips's most recent comments:

"Policy of Truth" is one of my 15 or 20 favorite songs of all time.

Yes, there are definitely songs that were released in the 80s which one simply does not consider "80s songs." Like any Rolling Stones songs released in the 80s, like "Start Me Up." Do you think of it as "80s"? I don't.

I ADORE "The Killing Moon."

And you'll be hard-pressed to find a bigger Tears for Fears fan, at my age, on this planet. But "Sowing the Seeds of Love" is super-lame. I'll take "Mad World" over that without even thinking.

 
At 11:35 PM, January 26, 2006, Blogger Torgonator said...

I can't speak for Jeff, but I did leave off "Cars" because I know you loathe that song. I dig it, but I know you don't. Also, I guessed that you probably wouldn't be a big fan of Cyndi Lauper's "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" due to its association with the movie mentioned in said title.

I hadn't thought of "Knight in Shining Armor" and, now that you mention it, I can still not suggest it. But "St Elmo's Fire"? Totally all over that. I'd put that on my mix.

Since we're talking theme songs, that reminded me of "Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)" - a song I had forgotten about for the better part of a decade. I kinda dig it, but I'm pretty sure it's only for nostalgic reasons.

Jeff - You should definitely be proud of "Everybody's got funds tonight", but to say that it was your crowning humorous achievement is a bold statement I can't fully endorse at this time. I'd need more time to think about it. I will say this, your response in this exchange: "That joke works on so many levels." "Not really." has to be way up there. I wasn't even in the car and I still love it - that's how good it was! (It was good for us all.)

A couple other songs I thought of more recently...
Animotion - Obsession (This might be first of Phil's list if he were offering up suggestions. And if he weren't dead.)
Devo - Satisfaction (I'm surprised this one didn't come up earlier.)
Asia - Heat of the Moment (Do anything for ya? Even a little? Okay, okay...)
Def Leppard - Photograph (although Def Leppard kinda rubs up against that hair band genre)
Hall & Oates - Maneater (simply because it's called "Maneater")
Naked Eyes - Always Something There to Remind Me
Loverboy - Working for the Weekend (even though "Loverboy has always sucked...")
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
Laura Branigan - Gloria (if you're into songs with terrible videos)

 
At 3:26 PM, January 27, 2006, Blogger Torgonator said...

Nips - This isn't meant as a knock on ya, but you frequently underestimate how funny you are. Sure, your response would have been useless without having something to respond to, but it happened to be the perfect line at the perfect time and (if Jackson's memory and re-creation is to be trusted - which it is) with the perfect delivery.

I guarantee you that Jack didn't spit out his drink on the dashboard and windshield because of what Cave said - it was because of your reaction to it. His spontaneous, involuntary decision to spew forth beverage, while humorous in its own right, is mainly just evidence that your reaction was so good (so good!).

You're a national treasure, Nipsey. And you're adorable!

 
At 4:20 PM, January 27, 2006, Blogger Jack said...

Boy howdy, did I spit Coke ALL OVER the ENTIRE FRONT of the vehicle, AS I WAS DRIVING IT. Indeed, Cave pulled a Cave. And indeed, my reaction played a large part in the story going down (hee) in Nipsey lore. But it was GODDAMN FUNNY, and Evan quite rightly says that it was a perfect line, with perfect timing and a perfect delivery. Bonus points because it was on the drive back to C-Bus after THE FIRST ANNUAL CUERVO OPEN.

And Evan, Devo's cover of "Satisfaction" is utterly sublime (I can't think of any other way to describe it), but I'm 99% sure it was released in the 70s. I'm too lazy to look it up, but I'm pretty sure...

 
At 12:49 PM, January 28, 2006, Blogger Torgonator said...

You're right about that song, Jack. It was on 1978's Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! album...

 
At 12:17 AM, May 26, 2006, Blogger Jack said...

Okay, more suggestions after a weekend in the C-Bus cogitating with the Caveman:

Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
Rock the Casbah - The Clash
Lady in Red - Chris DeBurgh
Wild Wild West - Escape Club
I Can Dream About You - Dan Hartman
These Dreams or Barracuda - Heart
No One is to Blame - Howard Jones
Every Time You Go Away - Paul Young
Take Me Home Tonight - Eddie Money
Some Like it Hot - The Power Station
We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off - Jermaine Stewart
Private Eyes - Hall & Oates
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
I Don't Want to Lose Your Love Tonight - The Outfield
Obsession - Animotion
Down Under - Men at Work
Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
Our House - Madness
Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benetar
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!
You Dropped a Bomb on Me - The Gap Band
Like a Prayer - Madonna
The Final Countdown - Europe
Caribbean Queen - Billy Ocean
Rock Lobster - The B-52s
The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
Oh Sherry - Steve Perry

 

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