#38 - Summer Of '69

Artist: Bryan Adams

Album: Reckless
Video: From YouTube.

This is the second time an artist has had back-to-back videos in the countdown.  It will happen twice more before we're all done.

"Summer of '69" is a song that always gets me pumped, right from the driving guitar riff that starts it off.  It conjures up the feeling of the best summer ever, the last one before you're forced to confront the responsibilities of adulthood.  It peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The debate has raged as to whether the song is about the summer of 1969, or the act of 69.  Adams has asserted the latter, but co-writer and longtime Adams collaborator Jim Vallance offers a straightforward interpretation.  The Vallance link includes insights on many other songs the two wrote together, including "Somebody".  I wish I had discovered it early enough to reference in the last post.

The video captures the camaraderie and good times of adolescence.  Hanging out with friends, falling in love, eluding the cops.  Great scenes throughout.  It was nominated for a 1985 MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video.

Finally, you will notice there is no poll to vote on right now.  I've been having trouble creating a new one, Blogger keeps giving me an unhelpful error message.  I will keep trying though.

Also, I am hopeful that I will be able to post more regularly from now on.

#39 - Somebody

Artist: Bryan Adams

Album: Reckless
Video: From YouTube.

Here's a fun game: get some friends together and watch this video.  Every time Bryan Adams pumps his fist, take a drink.  Have a designated driver and paramedics standing by.

“Somebody” is the second of three Bryan Adams’ videos in the countdown.  One of several hits on the “Reckless” album, it peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It’s a pretty straightforward good-time rocker: simple repetitive chorus, infectious guitar hook, easy to sing along.

There is also a classic Depeche Mode song with the same title, released right around the same time.  Which “Somebody” is better?  You decide.

The video for the Bryan Adams song is a live concert performance.  Just Bryan in jeans and a white t-shirt rockin’ out with the band.  And the crowd is going CRAZY.  They are relentless in their lust and adoration.

Finally, note that the new poll is a bit unusual.  All of the choices for favorite song have already survived a cut.  It will get tougher as we narrow down to a single greatest song of 1985.  You can hardly contain your excitement, can you?

#40 - Take On Me

Artist: a-ha

Album: Hunting High And Low
Video: From YouTube, with over 32,000 comments!  Most are insane, but still.

It's great to be back, especially since today I get to write about one of my all-time favorite videos.  I find it impossible to hear this song without thinking of its accompanying love story adventure in comic book form.

By far a-ha’s most memorable song, “Take On Me” inspires instant nostalgia from the opening notes. It is a light-hearted, upbeat tune about taking a chance on a lover.  It reached the top of the pops.

The most decorated band ever to come out of Norway, a-ha has achieved great success internationally.  Their first eight albums all reached #1 in their home country.  The ninth album stalled at #2.  I guess they’re just not what they used to be.

a-ha’s only American hits were featured on their 1985 debut album (“The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” reached #20).  While the band never again sniffed the top 40 in America, they had dozens of hits internationally over a twenty-five year period.

The legacy of “Take On Me” is one of the most memorable videos of all-time, which won six MTV Video Music Awards in 1986.  It features a young woman who becomes a character in the comic book story she is reading.  The band members are featured as animated characters and also enter the live action world. 

Gotta disappear for a little while.

Hey 1985 Music Fans,

I have a family situation that needs my full attention for a while.  I won't be blogging for a few days, maybe longer.  Don't despair, though - I shall return to finish off the rest of the countdown.  40 more to go!

#41 - Everything She Wants

Artist: Wham!

Album: Make It Big
Video: From YouTube.

This is an awesome song and video.  Yeah, I’ve been saying that a lot lately.  Get used to it.

“Everything She Wants” was the third consecutive #1 single for Wham!, from the "Make It Big" album.  It’s about a man who is fed up with his woman, who can’t be satisfied despite spending every penny he earns on lord knows what.  There are several factors contributing to the awesomeness here:

1) Extended lyrics in the video, which are not included in the album’s audio track.  George Michael kicks his anger and dismay up a notch, ranting about how this gold digger is bleeding him dry.

2) The "work to give you money" background lyric in the chorus.  Who says Andrew Ridgeley was the weak sister?

3) The band’s name is chanted in the chorus.  Real fans of this song know this.  The evidence is at 5:27 in the video clip.  "Wham!  Wham!"  I'd like to see Thompson Twins try getting away with that.

As for the video, it’s a live performance from a concert, apparently the opening song.  George & Andrew appear mostly as floating heads, in silhouette in front of the crowd.  The money falling from the sky is a nice touch.  Overall, the video does an excellent job of expressing a catharsis: the moment of realization that a partner is bad news and it's time to move on.

#42 - Everytime You Go Away

Artist: Paul Young

Album: The Secret Of Association
Video: From DailyMotion.

The original version of this song was forgettable.  Written by Daryl Hall, it first appeared on the Hall & Oates album "Voices" in 1980.  However, Paul Young’s 1985 cover version was awesome, and it soared to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The toppermost of the poppermost!

“Everytime You Go Away” was also Paul Young’s greatest musical accomplishment.  His greatest accomplishment ever might have been that mullet, but this song was right up there.  He is also an accomplished chef.

In 1985 I purchased "The Secret Of Association" album, solely on the strength of this song.  It’s actually a solid effort throughout, with several tracks that were unheralded but quite good.  The album also included one other top 20 hit, "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down”.

As for “Everytime You Go Away”, it’s a song about deep longing, and being literally broken up by the absence of a lover.  I heard one suggestion that it was about cannibalism.  But that notion is so ridiculous that I will not mention it. 

In the video, Young delivers a live performance with unbridled enthusiasm, racing across the stage and dancing excitedly to the delight of the adoring crowd.  His voice has a pleading quality, and you can hear the pain of isolation in his voice.  It’s simply a wonderful ballad.  And you can tell that the chicks dig it.

#43 - Glory Days

Artist: Bruce Springsteen

Album: Born In The U.S.A.
Video: From YouTube.

This song is special for me because it features one of my all-time favorite performers, singing about baseball, my favorite sport.

In “Glory Days”, Springsteen lionizes characters from his youth, reminiscing about their heroic adventures back in the day.  The mood of the song is upbeat and joyous, even celebratory.  It was the fifth of seven top 10 singles from the classic “Born In The U.S.A.” album, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the video, Bruce portrays a baseball player.  He seems to be assuming the persona of the character in the opening verse, the one who “could throw that speedball by you”.  He throws from a bucket of balls at a backstop, and while he talks to his son in the closing scene, it is revealed that he is pitching an imaginary baseball game.  He was pretending to pitch against the San Diego Padres and was beaten by Graig Nettles in the bottom of the ninth.

It is interesting because when I think of Graig Nettles, it is almost exclusively as the Yankees third baseman on the 1977 and 1978 World Series winning teams.  But Nettles was shipped to San Diego by George Steinbrenner after writing a tell-all book bashing the cantankerous owner.  In 1984, his first year with the Padres, he had a productive season and returned to the World Series.  A slugger and an excellent fielder, he played well into his forties.

Springsteen performed “Glory Days” at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa.  Unfortunately, he bastardized the lyrics, turning the hero into a football player who knew how to throw that "Hail Mary".  But still, a great song by one of 1985's music heroes.

#44 - Separate Lives

Artist: Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin

Album: White Nights Soundtrack
Video: From YouTube.

OK, now the songs are really getting good.  Forty-four songs left, hardly any more duds in the bunch.

"Separate Lives" is the only male-female duet in this countdown.  Written by Stephen Bishop, who also performed the love theme from “Tootsie”, the emotionally charged lyrics touch a deep reservoir of sadness.  I think it's far superior to "Say You, Say Me", the other hit from the movie White Nights.  Both songs reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It is also the second Phil Collins duet that has been featured.  Here we see his serious, sorrowful side, very different from the upbeat, playful energy he had with Philip Bailey in "Easy Lover".

As for Marilyn Martin, she had only one other successful song in her career.  "Night Moves", from her debut solo album, was a top 30 hit in 1986.  After her second solo album didn't sell well, she worked as a backup vocalist for a while and then left the music business.  She is currently a realtor in Nashville, Tennessee.  Not many realtors have topped the pop charts.

The video is mostly footage from “White Nights”, combined with the lead singers in a large room with high ceilings and a piano.  Their voices blend together in a beautiful way.  You can really feel their heartache as they are forced to go on living separate lives.  Word to your mother.

#45 - Lay Your Hands On Me

Artist: Thompson Twins

Album: Here's To Future Days
Video: From DailyMotion.

I was not a fan of the Thompson Twins, to put it kindly.  "Doctor, Doctor" was all right, but I could not tolerate "Lay Your Hands On Me".  Hearing the opening notes of this song caused a Pavlovian reaction which had me reaching for the dial (or remote, as the case may have been).

In fact, I am quite displeased that I was forced to hear it again all these years later.  The things I do for you people.

Anyway, "Lay Your Hands On Me" was the highest charting single from the “Here’s To Future Days” album, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Three years later, Bon Jovi released a song with the same title which I enjoyed very much.  I even thought about blogging about that song instead in this spot, just to see if anyone would notice.

I didn’t like the way the lyric “lay your hands on me” was sung.  I also didn’t like the “woo woo woo” in the chorus.  I just didn’t like it at all.

The video is boring.  It does include a xylophone and a string quartet, though.  So that’s pretty cool.  But I still don’t like it.

#46 - Dancing In The Street

Artist: David Bowie & Mick Jagger

Album: None.  Released as a single only.
Video: From YouTube.

Here’s a song I didn’t care for in 1985, which I have grudgingly come to appreciate.  At the time, I had no idea that it was performed by two rock ‘n’ roll legends.  I just thought it was by the guys who sang "This Is Not America" and "Lucky In Love".

A remake of the 1964 Martha and the Vandellas classic, “Dancing In The Street” was recorded as part of the Live Aid concert.  The song was going to be performed live, with David Bowie in London and Mick Jagger in the U.S., but a delay with the satellite linkup nixed that plan.  Instead they recorded the song and video in one day in London, with the profits donated to the Live Aid charity for Ethiopian famine.

“Dancing In The Street” peaked at #7 in the U.S. and topped the singles chart in three other countries.  The opening is a roll call of famous countries and cities, a technique also used in James Brown’s “Living In America” and Huey Lewis & The News’ “The Heart Of Rock ‘n’ Roll”.  It’s a nice trick for the band to substitute the name of the town they are in while performing live, and always guaranteed to get a big reaction.

It’s a feel-good song, and also I suppose a redeeming effort for both Bowie and Jagger, who didn’t make their best music during this time period (to put it kindly).  And you can’t really watch them prance through this video without thinking, did they or didn't they?

The video is pure showmanship by two of the most flamboyant rockers ever.  Mick is just strutting and dancing and doing that inimitable Mick Jagger thing.  Not to be outdone, Bowie leaps into the video from a staircase and tries to out-Mick his partner with his own movements and antics.  True to the title, they spend the entire video dancing on a variety of streets, roads and boulevards.  They look like they’re having a blast.

#47 - Lovin' Every Minute Of It

Artist: Loverboy

Album: Lovin' Every Minute Of It
Video: From DailyMotion.

What is this “It” which Loverboy is lovin’ every minute of?   Parading down a hallway with a disturbing lack of chest covering?  The lyrics are not helping me understand. They are quite inane.

While this isn't the first appearance of "Loverboy" in this blog, it is the first time this '80s power pop group has been featured.  I always wished that Loverboy would record a song called "Billy Ocean".  Who’s with me?  Anybody?

“Lovin’ Every Minute Of It” peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.  But the real story is the video.  It is chock full of unintentional comedy.  I was shocked and delighted to find that it included an extended opening which wasn’t originally shown on MTV.

I have no idea when the linked video above was recorded, but it appears to feature Zach Galifianakis from The Hangover.  Obviously not from 1985.  I’m completely bamboozled by this.  I couldn’t find out any information to clear up my befuddlement.

Basically, the extended opening features a Holiday Inn lounge act covering “Working For The Weekend”, in a scene that looks straight out of Pulp Fiction.  Or any David Lynch movie.  The bizarre scene causes Zach to set down his drink and pick up a red push button wall phone (he doesn’t dial).  Cut to the camera zooming in on an open window as the phone rings. 

That’s when the original video seen on MTV in 1985 begins.  God, what a scene.  Loverboy and their groupies, just partying.  Not just partying, it’s the greatest party ever.  Romping through the halls, playing strip poker, everyone leaving chaos in their wake.  Serving drinks is Jenilee Harrison, who played Cindy on “Three’s Company”.  She receives a tip from lead singer Mike Reno in the cleavage of her sexy waitress outfit.  Good for Loverboy.  “Lovin’ Every Minute Of It”, indeed.

#48 - A View To A Kill

Artist: Duran Duran

Album: A View To A Kill Soundtrack
Video: From DailyMotion.

We have already seen Duran Duran broken down into its component parts.  Now, we get to see the total package.

"A View To A Kill" was recorded in London with a 60-piece orchestra.  The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time as the band’s performance at Live Aid.  It was the last single recorded by the original Duran Duran lineup until their reunion over fifteen years later. 

Minus lead guitarist Andy Taylor, the original group is still together today.  Later this month, they will perform at the London Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

Of course, “A View To A Kill” is also featured in a James Bond movie of the same name.  It remains the only James Bond theme song to reach #1.  I’m not personally a fan of spy movies.

If I were a James Bond fan, I might think this was one of the greatest videos of all time.    The band members cavort through Paris as spies and assassins, taking part in all sorts of crazy schemes.  Simon Le Bon has a great spoof on Bond’s signature introduction at the end of the video – “Bon, Simon Le Bon” – just before he accidentally sets off an explosion at the Eiffel Tower.  The video was directed by Godley & Creme, who recorded this classic.