#94 - This Is Not America

Artist: David Bowie/Pat Metheny Group
Album: The Falcon and The Snowman Soundtrack
Video: I did not find a copy of the original video, but this is very similar to what was shown on MTV.

When I started listening to music in 1985, I was not a David Bowie fan. This was the first song of his that I had heard. After that he released an album called "Never Let Me Down" which, if the single was any indication, was pond scum. So I did not appreciate Bowie until I got older and discovered Ziggy Stardust, Major Tom and Ch-ch-changes.

I did not see the movie "The Falcon and the Snowman". Maybe I would have understood this video if I did. A dizzying array of imagery, much of it disturbing. I probably preferred Cry to this video.

The Pat Metheny group is a jazz group that still records today.

Birthday: Randall "Tex" Cobb is 62 today. He was in a lot of classic 80's movies including Raising Arizona.

#95 - Rock 'n' Roll Girls

Artist: John Fogerty
Album: Centerfield
Video: No commercials!

After a nine year break from his music career, John Fogerty returned in 1985 to release the #1 album "Centerfield". He was the lead singer and guitarist from legendary '60s southern rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. I was not aware of CCR in 1985, I didn't learn about them until the late 80s. Chronicle, Vol. 1 is great road trip music.

"Rock 'n' Roll Girls" was not as big a hit as the title track "Centerfield" and "The Old Man Down The Road", but it did reach #5 in the Billboard Hot 100 and was a very catchy tune. Nothing complex, a classic female appreciation song.

The video is another live performance. Love the auxiliary percussion section. Tamborine, maracas and what have you. Also a very small audience, only about 4 rows that I can see. Where did this take place, in an Elks Club?

Other blog stuff: The link that I provided at the beginning of this blog, with the list of the top 100 video of 1985 according to MTV, appears to be broken. Sorry about that. Here is another list.

Birthdays: Going with a couple of sports birthdays. Willie Mays is 81 years old today. And on this day in 1985, NBA All-Star point guard Chris Paul was born! Go Clips! (by that I mean, go just far enough to lose to the Lakers in the conference finals).

#96 - Shame

Artist: The Motels
Album: Shock
Video: YouTube has the complete video, but you have a 20-second commercial first.

This song and video explores the complex human emotion of shame.

Look, if you spend the night with a random sex partner in a sleazy motel in the middle of nowhere, I can understand how that would elicit feelings of shame. Further, if following said affair, you gazed out the window and found your image on a giant billboard singing to you on the very subject of your shame, I can understand how that would cause an even deeper and perhaps more complicated level of shame. But if ultimately a giant hand reached out of the billboard and beckoned you to join your video self in a duet, I think that would result in confusion, surprise, and utter bewilderment.

The Motels have been together in various incarnations since 1971, and still tour and record to this day. Their biggest hits were in the early 80's - both "Only The Lonely" and "Suddenly Last Summer" reached the top 10 in the Billboard Hot 100.

I was not familiar with this band, song or video in 1985. It seems like the kind of crap I would have liked.

Today's Birthday: Tina Yothers, who played Jennifer on Family Ties, is 39 years old today. Geez.

#97 - This Time

Artist: INXS
Album: Listen Like Thieves
Video: It was hard to find an unedited original version of this video. Good ol' YouTube.

"This Time" was the first single released from INXS' breakthrough album, "Listen Like Thieves". The biggest band ever to come out of Australia! Air Supply notwithstanding.

I became an INXS fan. Their sound was edgy for me in 1985, as I had been listening to a heavy diet of Phil Collins, Bryan Adams and such. In 1988, the band released their most commercially successful album, "Kick". I attended the Kick tour and wore a T-shirt from the concert for several years. But not all in a row.

The video is a standard live performance piece, with front man Michael Hutchence doing his best Jim Morrison imitation. His flowing dark locks make him look quite girlish. We also have a dizzying array of spotlights.

Hutchence died in 1997 under controversial circumstances, believed to be autoerotic asphyxiation. He was 37. INXS still performs today with a singer they hired on a reality TV show.

May 4 Birthday: Randy Travis is 53 years old today. In 1985 he was honored as country music's Top New Male Vocalist.

#98 - Party All The Time

Artist: Eddie Murphy
Album: How Could It Be
Video: If you must.

Eddie Murphy was approaching the peak of his fame when this video appeared on MTV. His rise as an entertainer was meteoric, first saving Saturday Night Live from cancellation as a teenager and then starring in blockbuster movies like 48 Hours, Trading Places and the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. When you're that successful at an early age, I guess you think you can be a musician too.

I must say, I thought this song blew chunks. I definitely didn't understand who Rick James was in 1985. I thought he looked like a lion.

The hangers-on in the studio sure do appear jolly. They look like they want to, well, "party all the time"! I still fail to appreciate the artistry. Catchy tune, though!

Also, the Wikipedia explanation of the plot of this song is quite humorous.

Eddie Murphy became one of the greatest comedic perfomers of all-time. Musically, "Party All The Time" was his biggest success.

Today's Birthday: Bruce Hall, bass guitarist for REO Speedwagon, is 59 today. We'll be seeing REO later in the countdown.

#99 - Walking On Sunshine

Artist: Katrina and the Waves
Album: Katrina and the Waves
Video: From DailyMotion.

The only hit song for Katrina and The Waves, it is still popular today. I'm confused by the plot of this video. First she's in the projects, then there are these men in trenchcoats (who start following her), then they're all feeding the ducks in the park, then they're going to the recording studio and, oh, wait, these guys are the band! I think. Maybe not, I'm still confused.

I don't care what anyone says though, I like this song! It's positive, upbeat, and so dang peppy. With a title like "Walking on Sunshine", you get what you would expect - energy and light-heartedness.

Although this was their only hit, Katrina and the Waves actually recorded until 1999.

Also, Happy Birthday to Lou Gramm, lead singer of Foreigner in the 80's! He is 62 years old today. And he's still Cold As Ice.

#100 - Cry

Artist: Godley and Creme
Album: The History Mix Volume 1
Video: Watch it here. This is from the video sharing website Daily Motion.




The MTV Top 100 kicked off with this distraught man, jowls quivering and chins jiggling. This video freaked me out when I saw it. I changed the channel as fast as I could, which back then probably involved sprinting across the room and turning a knob.

Kevin Godley and Lol Crème were among the founders of 10cc, most famous for the 1975 hit “I’m Not In Love”. They broke up in the late 80s.

Actually though, this video was cutting edge for 1985. It uses a technique called "analog cross-fading" to blend faces into one another. This foreshadows the digital morphing used in Michael Jackson’s 1991 video, “Black Or White”.

The entire video consists of faces, most of them trippy looking, singing along with the lyrics. Why is everybody so melancholy? Also, is that Mr. T at 00:46?

Next Up: #99.