Complete Ultimate 80’s Playlist

I was born in 1978, so the 80’s were formative on my musical tastes more than anything else. I adore 80’s music because it is so unique compared to any other decade. It’s the tremendous dominance of the synthesizers, but also what the artists and bands did with them. The melodies of 80’s songs are very strong. The lyrics and performances are so unabashedly honest and yes, cheesy. But, it is that lack of irony that makes the 80’s so special. I’ve always said the ultimate 80’s song is “Puttin On The Ritz” by Taco. When else in history would the song not only be taken seriously, but also become a big hit? Only the 80’s.

When Napster first came on the scene, one of the first things I attempted to do was create my own personal 80’s compilation. Any store bought compilation is unsatisfactory. There will be four or five songs that I love, a couple I like, and then a bunch I never cared for. And, no compilation has the big artists like Madonna or Michael Jackson. At the time, 1999, I was able to gather about four CDs worth of 80’s music, 70 or 80 songs. Two years ago, I decided to re-download the songs because the sound quality of Mp3s has gotten so much better. With the advent of iTunes and Amazon Mp3, you can now buy single songs and not have to waste money anymore. I then began a list of my absolute favorite 80’s songs. Over the past two years I have turned to this list and added more songs. This is more of a challenge than you may think. Since a lot of 80’s songs come from one-hit wonders, it can be hard to figure out what a song is called or who did it. You can just recall the melody. Do you know who did “Two Of Hearts”? What about “Somebody’s Watching Me?”. Or “Obsession”? No, but I bet you know the songs though. I consider this list a service to people in part.

So, what constitutes an “80’s song”? I think for the most part it is intuition. You know it when you hear it. I’d say my general rules were: 1) Is it evocative of that decade and would it sound out of place if released at any other time? 2) Was it a single or video? 3) Does it recall my personal childhood memories? Those are the guiding principles for this list. Furthermore, in researching this list, I often turned to YouTube, because the videos are what much of my memories and love for these songs come from.

I have childhood memories, like when I was nine or ten of “Burning Down The House” and “Once In A Lifetime” by Talking Heads. Not so much “Crosseyed And Painless”, as incredible of song that is. The only R.E.M. song I am including is “Stand” because the video is deep in my memory, and along with “Shiny Happy People” is one of their purely pop songs. I hope these examples illustrate some of the choices I have made in compiling this list.

Some notes:
1) It would be very easy for me to sit here and list tons of music like The Smiths, New Order, Jesus And Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Pixies, Siouxsie And The Banshees, etc. You know those bands aren’t “80’s music”.
2) I also am not including other music I was into when I was young, like Metallica, Slayer, Nine Inch Nails, etc.
3) I never liked Hair Metal. I still don’t.
4) That whole “New Jack Swing” movement, New Edition, Tony Toni Tone, Guy, etc didn’t age well at all.
5) I’m very tired of these songs: “With Or Without You” by U2, “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, and “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper. Ten years ago I may have included these songs on the list.
6) I’ve never been big into “Come On Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Sorry.
7) I’ve never cared much for The Cure, Tom Petty, or Prince. Those may be glaring omissions to people.
8 ) There isn’t much rap on here because I didn’t listen to much as a child. I loved “Around The Way Girl” by LL Cool J, but that is from 1990.
9) Elton John’s career tanked after 1975. I’ve heard entire 80’s albums by him, they’re not very good.

Otherwise, feel free to make suggestions of songs I may have missed. I’ll let you know if I truly missed them or just don’t care for them. This list is not meant as a “Best Of” list. These are songs I love, and they are dear to my heart. This is an emotional list, not an intellectual one. I have no interest in hearing, “That song sucks!”

And yes, I own all these songs.

Bruce Springsteen – Born In The U.S.A.

I’ve been working on a massive project lately, the results of which I’ll reveal soon. It has required me to listen to a few artists in a deeper way. One of those is Bruce Springsteen. I’ve never been a fan of him. Much like Bob Dylan, I have always understood what a talent he is, what a hero he is to some people, and knew that politically me and him are on the same side. But, his music did little for me other than not minding it if it was on. This past week I bought his Essential Bruce Springsteen collection. One song that always kind of annoyed me was “Born In The U.S.A.”. I pretty much roll my eyes at any patriotic song. They always come across as superficial and cheesy. I am proud to be an American, and also ashamed of our country at times. I always thought “Born In The U.S.A.” was the ultimate American anthem and never paid it much attention. Especially given the album cover. But, it turns out I never really listened to the lyrics. I really listened to them this week, and I realized it’s a anti Vietnam War song. Now, I really hear how angry Bruce Springsteen’s singing sounds. Apparently Ronald Reagan and others attempted to co-opt the song as a flag-waving slogan. Other than the chorus, I remember seeing the video and the video to me did look like a typical nostalgiafest of nationalistic images. Now, I come to see that the song is borderline punk. Much like “God Save The Queen” by the Sex Pistols, “Born In The U.S.A.” is a subversive critique. It’s a critique of war, why a person chooses to enlist, and the treatment of war veterans when they come back home. Here is a live video from 1985 recorded in France. I’m really moved by Springsteen’s passion. It’s also worth watching for his guitar solo at the end of the song. And a young Max Weinberg.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much
‘Til you spend half your life just covering up

[chorus:]
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

I got in a little hometown jam
And so they put a rifle in my hands
Sent me off to Vietnam
To go and kill the yellow man

[chorus]

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says “Son if it was up to me”
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said “Son don’t you understand”

[chorus]

I had a buddy at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They’re still there, he’s all gone
He had a little girl in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I’m ten years down the road
Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go

I’m a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I’m a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

Oliver Sacks | The Daily Show | Comedy Central

A fascinating interview about how important and deeply rooted music is in humans. Music gives us pleasure in ways nothing else does.

more about "Oliver Sacks | The Daily Show | Comed…", posted with vodpod

Lady Gaga – The Fame

Let’s start with the good. They picked the singles really well. “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” are pretty decent club bangers with choruses that get stuck in your head. I particularly like the last minute of “Just Dance” where the song shifts to a 4/4 club beat. I also like the “live drum” beat of “Poker Face” and that “mamama” vocal bit. “Paparazzi” has a nice shuffling beat and 80’s new wave synths.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album is pretty terrible. Especially the last half. “Money Honey” is where she runs the ideas from “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” into the ground. “Again Again” slows things down to sub-Christina Aguilera balladry and the shuffling, swinging melody may be one of the most unoriginal melodies in existence and should be retired. “Boys Boys Boys” sounds like a Gwen Stefani / Rock Steady throwaway. “Brown Eyes” sounds like “Again Again” but worse. The “blues” guitar in the song is just about the most unconvincing thing on the whole album, and at points she sounds a little like Avril Lavigne. And that is a lot of the problem. The whole album is a pastiche of more talented, more original artists. Lady Gaga sounds like Annie Lennox in “Poker Face”. She sounds like Gwen Stefani again in “Summerboy”, and the song sounds like a Blondie or Franz Ferdinand rip that was popular two or three years ago. Final song “I Like It Rough” remembers that the album started as a electro pop record. It’s a pretty good despite the Aguilera theatrics.

“Lovegame” is the perfect example of why the album is awful lyrically. “Lets have some fun, this beat is sick, I want to take a ride on your disco stick” is in the running for worst lyrics ever. It’s not helped by a boring 90’s techno/rave melody that goes nowhere and stays that way. The awful “Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)”, which musically sounds like a track on an 80s comp I’d skip over, says it all in its title, doesn’t it. You can argue that she’s doing this as some sort of “piss take” on celebrity culture. But, it’s quite clear she has a huge marketing campaign behind her. It’s clear by her fashions and her early 90’s Madonna-like stage performances that she wants people to notice her. It’s also clear that by trying to reference David Bowie and Queen, and not the artists she really resembles (Aguilera, Stefani, etc), it’s a grab for some sort of respectability that is completely fabricated.

Now for something new to my blog. I’ve been so interested and critical of this album because I listen to a lot of female dance pop artists. I wanted to see why this woman has been selected as the “next Madonna” or whatever. I am completely unconvinced, and would like to give you examples of current female artists who deserve the same popularity and exposure as Lady Gaga is getting. And, also I’ll include some songs by popular artists that do what Lady Gaga does, but better. Lest you think I’m being a snob, the first song I pick is:

Britney Spears – Break The Ice from Blackout. This song also has the live drum sound going on, but the composition of the song is of such a high quality. The cycling synth line is infectuous. And, unlike anything on Lady Gaga’s album the song fills your headphones.

Girls Aloud – Biology from Chemistry. The song starts with a shambolic rendition of a typical bluesy guitar melody, but it’s a red herring. It quickly shifts into a galloping techno track that builds with a huge crescendo. The chorus doesn’t even hit until two minutes in. This is about as good as pop music gets.

Roisin Murphy – Movie Star from Overpowered. A synth riff more monstrous than anything off Lady Gaga’s album. And a lyrical topic tackled throughout Lady Gaga’s album. Just done in a self-aware, and tactful way.

Goldfrapp – Koko from Supernatural. Another huge synth riff, clearly influenced by Gary Numan and creating a pounding yet ethereal pop track out of it. Goldfrapp make their synths rock on this track. And the bridge is divine.

Annie – Loco from Don’t Stop. This song is unreleased. I love the mixture of techno synths and britpop guitar played by Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand. I still listen to this and am amazed Annie didn’t feel it good enough to release.

Sally Shapiro – Miracle from My Guilty Pleasure. From Shapiro’s second album due August 25th. Sally Shapiro’s first album was a gorgeous, unique, well-crafted piece of work, and this first single indicates her second album will bring more of the same only better. This track is a bit more aggressive and anthemic than her earlier work. I also love how her voice is used with the little whispers and multi-tracking.

Robyn – Dream On from Robyn. A bouncy electro track that is conscious of a world beyond fame and sex. Oh, and strings.

Ladytron – Destroy Everything You Touch from Witching Hour. Electro rock pop, gothic and vital and emotional. Bright and bouncy and a dab of shoegaze guitar at the end. It takes a ton of adjectives to explain just this one song.

Lykke Li – Little Bit from Youth Novels. And finally, a slower, quieter song. It’s just as electronic as any of the above songs, but with a pretty, vaguely exotic guitar figure. The lyrics have emotional complexity, but are just as bluntly sexual as Lady Gaga gets: “And for you I keep my legs apart and forget about my tainted heart.”

Róisín Murphy – Overpowered

This week I’m going to absorb and review the Lady Gaga album. Somehow she’s become a pop culture phenomenon in America doing pop electro. This is my initial reaction, the title track and video to former Moloko Irish singer/songwriter Róisín Murphy’s second album, 2007’s Overpowered. Never heard of her? That’s my point. I get the funny feeling you’ll think this video is 1) Similar 2) Better 3) Earlier… by two years.

Here’s another video from that album, for the song “Movie Star”. The synth riffs are killer, and the video has drag queens. How can you go wrong?

By the way, if you want to hear some of the quirkiest dance albums, start getting into the Moloko catalog.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band Album

This band somehow stands at just 4655 “friends” on their Myspace, and 375 “fans” on Facebook. Meanwhile, this band has just released the funkiest, most soulful album I’ve heard in years and years. I discussed them in a previous blog post, which also had a live video of “I’ll Disappear”. Until now, “I’ll Disappear” was the only official release on iTunes, and some internet stores got a single with edits of “Testimony” and “15 to 20″. I’m thrilled to say the rest of the album equals the ass-shaking fun of those songs. I’ll go as far as to say that “All Of The Above”, which you can hear on their myspace, has the greatest bassline I’ve ever heard, especially when matched with the drums and vocals. The album reminds me of last year’s Neon Neon album. Neon Neon set about making an 80’s album, not an album influenced by the 80’s. The Phenomenal Handclap Band make 60’s/70’s psychedelic rock, funk, soul, and disco. Not music influenced by it, if you catch the subtle difference. It’s not ironic, it’s passionate and real. The fuzz guitar of “Dim The Lights” is pure stoner rock. The soul vocals of “Tears” sounds transported from a Lyn Collins album, but mixed with a little Grace Slick. The 60’s psychedelia of “The Martyr” or “The Circle Is Broken” matches Electric Prunes, Amboy Dukes, or anything on the Nuggets box. “Baby” sounds like a lost Curtis Mayfield track. One of the best things about listening to the album, especially if you’re heard the leaked tracks like “I’ll Disappear” or “15 to 20″, is how well sequenced the album is. The album has an incredible flow that makes you not able to listen to just one song. Songs blend into the next, especially the hint of “Baby” right before “Tears”. And, finally, the album makes you want to shake your fucking ass all over. And, really, that’s the point, isn’t it?

THE summer album.

Lady Gaga vs. Megan Fox vs. Lily Allen (NSFW) (Updated)

I look at four celebrity blogs daily. The Superficial primarily, because it makes me laugh. The blog has made it clear they’re an Obama supporter. Also, their sister site Geekologie is really interesting and funny too. Then, I also look at What Would Tyler Durden Do (WWTDD), I Don’t Like You In That Way (IDLYITW), and Egotistic. Mostly I look at them to see naked and half-naked celebrities. That, and reading all the stupid shit they say. I don’t care much for who is dating who or whatever. Unless it involves Christina Ricci. On a side note, I do have an issue with WWTDD because the blog writer can tend towards racism and gross misogyny. I also look at Go Fug Yourself, because they’re funny and genuinely good blog writers. It’s fun to see celebrities wear crazy, ugly shit.

And, speaking of wearing crazy ugly shit, we have Lady Gaga.

What the fuck is this shit? Why won’t she ever wear pants? Underneath all the crap she wears, she’s only mildly attractive. But, she literally thinks she’s a great sex symbol who is changing what “sexy” means. She also thinks she’s some great artist, despite writing pop-rave that’s no more unique than anything done in the last 17 years. Don’t get me wrong, she does have great legs. But, I think I speak for most men when I say that there is nothing sexy about her ridiculous getups.

Then you have Megan Fox:

The blogosphere and men’s magazines go nuts for Megan Fox, calling her perfection. Nevermind that her boobs are fake, and probably she had a nose job. Admittedly, she can look sexy and is clearly beautiful. But, I feel like she’s beautiful in this superficial, cliche way. And, I feel like I see real, non-famous women who are this attractive all the time. But, because she was in Transformers and has tons of stylists and makeup artists and costume designers, she’s held up on this manufactured pedestal.

And, my point of this blog entry is this:
I’d much rather look at Lily Allen:

From thesuperficial.com

Lily Allen is a really cute girl. And, sure she has a bit of a belly, and she has small boobs (I prefer small boobs), but at least she looks like a real person you could talk to. And, she clearly is comfortable with herself. She doesn’t need to look perfect all the time, dragging an army of stylists around with her. She looks like Lily Allen, a unique person. While someone like Megan Fox could be called Raegan Wolf and it wouldn’t matter. I feel like this is the problem with celebrity. Either you make yourself look overly insane and costumed, like Lady Gaga, or like an interchangeable sex symbol like Megan Fox. Either way, it’s not reality. While, Lily Allen looks like reality. I think i’m the only person who seems to care about celebrities looking like real people, but oh well.

As for the NSFWness, here you go

Christina Ricci is single again!

According to The Superficial (according to People), Christina Ricci and Owen Whothefuckareyou Benjamin got into a big fight and called off their engagement. I still have a chance! Dreams do come true! Just look at her…

M83 – Kim & Jessie

When I make my top 10 favorite albums lists at the end of the year, it’s a given that I haven’t heard all the albums released that year. Had I heard M83’s album Saturdays = Youth during 2008 it would have been on my 2008 list. Half of it is a love letter to the 80’s. It hits all the right notes of melodramatic melancholy. Half of it is his typically excellent electronic shoegaze. Anyway, I was listening to it recently while making a mix CD for someone, and I picked “Kim & Jessie”. I wondered, since it’s a big 80’s song about lovers(?), if it had a neat video. And sure enough, it does, but not one I expected. It’s too bad there isn’t some sort of music video channel or something like MTV used to be. It seems like you have to seek out videos on the internet in a way where it’s like “Gee, I wonder if they made a video for this. I’ll check out You Tube”. Anyway, wait until the first chorus, and you’ll see why I am posting this.

ABBA Kill It

I make no secret of my love for ABBA. When I was a teenager, and my father and uncle would listen to them, I’d think what most people think: Lame and cheesy. But, as I got older I slowly began to like more and more songs by them. It started with “Chiquitita”, which sounded like a Ben Folds Five song to me, and “Fernando”, which is beautiful beyond judgement. I started listening to their ABBA Gold album, and slowly more songs took hold in my head. Now I think they’re one of the greatest groups ever. Definitely one of the greatest pop songwriters. And, as I said in a previous post, they’re also more punk than the Sex Pistols. I think what I appreciate about them most is their sincerity. There’s no irony, no bullshit. They really mean it. They can be fun, sad, and serious. They were adventurous with their instrumentation, and kept up with the times. People think of them as a disco group, but that only takes up a small portion of their music. No one could deny the beauty of Agnetha and Frida’s vocals. And, lyrically, they were more complex than you may first think, especially towards the last two albums when their marriages were falling apart. Their vocabulary in particular will surprise you. I recently bought ABBA Albums containing all their albums, plus a disc of non-album tracks and b-sides. There are plenty of great songs beyond their well known ones. Here are two live performances, both from the Super Trouper album: “On And On And On” and “Me And I”. Yes, it’s cheesy on one level. Get over yourself. They kill it live.