#66 - Tonight She Comes

Artist: The Cars

Album: Greatest Hits
Video: From YouTube.

The Cars were a classic rock band with a new wave twist.  Or maybe vice versa.  Featuring Ric Ocasek and the late Benjamin Orr on lead vocals, this Bostonian crew released a string of rollicking good-time songs in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

“Tonight She Comes” didn't make much of an impact on me in 1985.  The first Cars songs I really liked were "Drive" and "You Might Think", which led me to buy this very Greatest Hits album and discover their classic songs.  I never did buy any of their studio albums, but The Cars’ Greatest Hits is a great listen.

Actually, the song wasn’t a Greatest Hit when the compilation was released.  It was a brand new song that ultimately proved worthy of the album title, as it peaked at #7 in the Billboard Hot 100.  I was surprised to learn this song was one of only 4 top 10 singles recorded by The Cars.  The others were "Drive" (#3), "Shake It Up" (#4), and "You Might Think" (#7).

This song is about.....hell, just read the title.

The video is mildly reminiscent of the "You Might Think" video, which won the first Video of the Year award in 1984.  The creativity was not at that level, but the style includes many of the same fun, psychedelic elements.  It has kind of a crazy fun house quality, full of funky shapes, patterns and polka dots, and Ocasek appearing in miniature size next to the titular woman of the song.

#67 - Oh Sheila

Artist: Ready For The World

Album: Ready For The World
Video: From YouTube.

When I first heard "Oh Sheila", I thought it was a Prince song.  It took me a while to figure out that it was a completely different band.

Ready For The World is an R&B band from Flint, Michigan.  The band recorded three top 40 singles in their career, all during the 80's.  They released a new album as recently as 2011. 

“Oh Sheila” made it all the way to the toppermost of the poppermost in 1985, reaching #1 in the Billboard Hot 100.  That surprises me, because I thought this song was just incredibly average.  I preferred “Digital Display” from the same album, which wasn’t even a top 20 hit.  The lyrics were much more imaginative and also a lot dirtier.

As for the video, it's pretty boring.  The band on stage in an empty concert hall.  Looks like they tried to spice things up with some clumsy cinematography tricks.  On the positive side, the band is wearing some dapper white suits.

In other blog news: there is a new poll!

#68 - One Night In Bangkok

Artist: Murray Head

Album: Chess (The Musical)
Video: From YouTube.

Bangkok!  Oriental City!  You seen one crowded, stinking, polluted town…

Before this song, Murray Head was best known for his performance as Judas Iscariot on the original Jesus Christ Superstar album in 1970.  But "One Night In Bangkok" is his greatest legacy.  Good for him.

In my objective, critical opinion, everything about this song is completely, totally awesome.  It’s packed full of more classic lines that can be repeated.  Just Google the lyrics.

The song is about a sophisticated intellectual who asserts his preference for the cerebral world of chess while snarkily mocking the simple common folk who would dare to sample the, er…..colorful Bangkok nightlife.  I didn’t have any idea about that in 1985.  I just thought it was funny that he said he gets his kicks above the waistline (sunshine).   I’ve still never seen the musical, but I think I would enjoy it.  I mean, it's about chess.  How awesome is that?

And of course, Mike Tyson is a big fan.

The video is full of chess imagery, colorful characters and scenes from Thailand.  It’s a winning combination.

#69 - What About Love

Artist: Heart

Album: Heart
Video: From YouTube.

"What About Love" was the first single from Heart's 1985 self-titled comeback album.  The song represented the band's first top 10 effort in five years, peaking at #10 in the Billboard Hot 100.

Heart, led by sisters Ann & Nancy Wilson, first achieved success in the late 70's.  After an early 80's decline, they enjoyed a resurgence in the mid-80's with several hit singles from this album and the follow-up, "Bad Animals" in 1987.

Not quite a hard rocker and not quite a ballad, "What About Love" was a powerful hybrid of the two.  Along with "Never" (which will be featured later in this countdown), this song was my introduction to Heart and led me to discover older classics such as "Barracuda" and "Magic Man". 

The video includes lots of fire and smoke imagery.  Like the fiery passion of hot burning love!

One more thing.  Enjoy this hilarious analysis from Grantland on the 1985 American Music Awards.


#70 - And We Danced

Artist: Hooters

Album: Nervous Night
Video: From YouTube.

This restaurant has the best chicken wings. Oh, not that "Hooters"?  My mistake....

These Hooters are a rock band from Philadelphia, and they achieved their first mainstream success in 1985.  Founding member Eric Bazilian wrote the Grammy nominated hit "One Of Us", most famously sung by Joan Osborne.

"And We Danced" just missed the top 20 in the U.S., peaking at #21 in the Billboard Hot 100. Only one Hooters song achieved greater chart success: "Day By Day", also from the "Nervous Night" album, reached #18.

I wasn't a fan of this song in 1985.  I'm not sure why, but now I realize I totally missed the boat.  Listening to it again today, "And We Danced" is thoroughly enjoyable.  It's a catchy, up-tempo rocker about a magical evening of romance.  "She was a bebop baby on a hard day's night"...good stuff.  I would love to know what that wind instrument is with the keyboard attachment in the opening notes.

The video includes live footage of the band performing at a Pennsylvania drive-in. We also see the crowd's antics in the concession stands and parking lot.  I found a really interesting story on the making of this video and I was going to link to it, but now the site is not accessible.  Too bad.  I can't be posting no broken links.

#71 - Freeway Of Love

Artist: Aretha Franklin

Album: Who's Zoomin' Who?
Video: From YouTube.

“Freeway of Love” peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985, winning two Grammy Awards.  It features Clarence Clemons, my all-time favorite saxophone player.  The video was filmed in Detroit and is filled with automobile footage: factories, tollbooths, junkyards, even lines at the DMV.

However, I did not enjoy “Freeway of Love”.  I found the song vaguely annoying in 1985.

Look, I appreciate that Aretha Franklin is the Queen of Soul.  She is one of the top female recording artists of all-time, if not the greatest.  R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.  She's amazing.  But this was the problem with 1985.  Aretha was just one of several legendary rockers who laid an egg in our Year of the McFly.  Let’s review just those already featured on this blog:

David Bowie - This is Not America
Stevie Wonder - Part-Time Lover
Mick Jagger - Lucky In Love
Michael McDonald - No Lookin’ Back

I actually did enjoy Part-Time Lover, but it pales in comparison to Stevie’s artistic peak.  The rest of these songs are duds.  And yes, McDonald doesn’t really belong on the same level historically as these other folks, but he made some outstanding music with the Doobie Brothers. 

Anyway, that’s five underperforming superstars so far, including Aretha, and we’ve got 70 more videos to go.  By the time we’re done, Pete Townshend (The Who) and Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) will join this group.  I’m just thankful that the 1985 contributions of Bob Dylan and Neil Young were too lousy to even make the chart, so my later appreciation of them was untarnished.

Fortunately, I learned years later that David Bowie, Steve Wonder, The Rolling Stones, The Doobie Brothers, Aretha Franklin, The Who, and Led Zeppelin created some of the greatest music the world has ever known. 

But in 1985?  Please.  Give me more Katrina & The Waves and Teena Marie. 

#72 - Voices Carry

Artist: 'til Tuesday

Album: Voices Carry
Video: In all its glory.

 “Voices Carry” is quite simply a great song.  From ‘til Tuesday’s debut album, it is their most successful single, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The band recorded three albums together, breaking up in 1988.  In 1993, Aimee Mann began a successful solo career that continues to this day.

The song is about an abusive relationship.   It features a woman struggling with her desire to express herself and her wishes to please her boyfriend, who wants to control every aspect of her behavior.  Quite a bold narrative choice and certainly not the typical 80’s pop song.

The video is absolutely classic.  It won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1985.  The greatest and most famous scene takes place in Carnegie Hall.  Mann shocks the stoic audience by singing at full volume, causing deep embarrassment to her controlling boyfriend.

From start to finish the video is packed with unintentional comedy.  It features awesome spoken-word sections from Mr. Control Freak in the intro and before the bridge.  “You know, this little hobby of yours has gone too far!”  He mercilessly ridicules her musical aspirations.  The degree to which he is a complete asshole makes Aimee Mann’s final rebellion that much more satisfying.

This is the last song in the streak of favorites that began with “Smooth Operator” at #77.  Unfortunately, the tide is about to turn.