Welcome to my blog site about my thoughts and feelings on 80s music. I am an author and artist in the Seattle area. My vampire novel Mist in Power is available on Amazon.com in both paperback and kindle.
August 1st, 1985, I saw my first concert ever. I went to see Power Station. Upon entering the Seattle Arena, I knew nothing about the opening band, OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.)
Although I was hyped to see my favorite spin-off band, I was not bored or disappointed to have to wait while I watched this other band I was totally unfamiliar with. They were very good.
It was after that night I began hearing their songs on the radio. There were only a few but, what they lacked in quantity, they made up for in quality. However, the radio stations did not agree with me and did not play OMD music very often.
Then, came 1986. Bad! Bad OMD year! Hiss! Icky!
It was like that for me.
OMD released a song that I did not like. I felt that it was far below their standards and lacking in originality. "If You Leave" left me feeling like I wanted that four minutes of my life back.
So naturally, that's the song that raced up the charts and ALL the radio stations had to play it roughly 500 times an hour. If there is a hell, "If You Leave" would be its theme song. The radio stations forgot all other OMD songs.
Of course, I will not post that song here. If you want to hear it, tune in to any station that plays 80s music. It will be playing. If you wait about an hour, they'll do it again.
Instead, I will post a piece that I believe is a fine example of the talents of OMD.
Possibly the most dynamic duo of the decade was George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley forming the two-man band, Wham!
They made two kinds of songs; Finger-poppin'-feel-good and weepy sad. They played both very well.
Sadly, Wham! disbanded after only three albums. George Michael went on to do a successful solo career. Andrew Ridgeley went on to race cars, have a not-so-successful solo career, and fade out of sight.
I miss Wham! and wish they would get back together to make more music. Really, would a reunion of two musicians be all that terribly difficult?
Having a blog covering 80s music is something that can go on forever. There were so many very talented (and some less than "very" talented) artists from one-hit-wonders to the die-hards who stretched their music career over several decades. It's hard to know what to write now and what can wait for a later post.
I sometimes look over my blog and wonder, "Oh, why haven't I already covered such-and-such? He/she/they/it should not be left out if this is ANY blog about 80s music!"
That happened again when I was viewing 80s music on YouTube and came across Pat Benatar. I like her singing because she keeps it simple. Her songs are without much of the sighing, moaning, or other unneeded vocal noises that many artists rely on to make a hit. Pat simply sings a song and keeps it sweet. How can I not have mentioned her already?
Her videos usually show her in very sexy outfits. But in this one, she was pregnant during the filming so she opted for a very casual look.
However, this woman is one of few who could wear maternity overalls and look dang sexy doing so!
The 80s covered a large variety of rock, though not all of them were commonly heard on the radio.
Heavy metal had a difficult time making it into the mainstream airplay. Much of this was because people feared the reputation of the bands being possibly Satanic and promoting evil messages.
Not being a huge fan of heavy metal myself, I don't know how much of it was rumor and how much of it was used for the sake of shock-value. I don't doubt that there was some evil forces behind some of the music, but, to be fair, the same can be said for any other kind of music.
I have a brother who loves heavy metal. Iron Maiden is his breath of fresh air. Iron Maiden was for him what Duran Duran was for me. There were many teen clashes in our household. His room was on one side of the house. Mine on the other. Woe to anyone in the middle of the house who had the fortune to listen to both of our stereos at once.
Not understanding the appeal, I often asked questions about Iron Maiden. My brother assured me that the band is not Satanic nor do the members believe in the occult.
Since he was the Maiden fan, I believe he knew what he was talking about. After all, I have dealt with some self-righteous twits who would scrutinize Duran lyrics and look for reasons to think the band was unwholesome, but I knew better.
Although I still don't understand the appeal for Iron Maiden, I highly respect their gift of longevity and their talent of drawing in new fans throughout their career.
My brother still loves them. He travels around the country to catch concerts and has met the band on occasion. That's amazing devotion that has me impressed.
The music of Duran Duran saw me through my late childhood and teen years. It was a tool to help celebrate the good things and a comfort when things were bad. It was a lot of comfort. I surrounded myself with music, posters, and other artifacts of my teen loves (mostly consisting of DD.)
Then I grew up, got married, and lived happily ever after. Okay, the "got married" part was true. The other two parts are still in the making.
I had mentioned in an earlier post that my first marriage was an abusive one. Being very shy, fearful, and having low self-esteem leading me to believe I couldn't do better than this, I meekly took his berating and allowed him to destroy the things that made me happy. This included my Duran Duran collection.
He let me keep my records, but only because I convinced him that many of them were collectibles and were worth a lot of money, should I sell them someday, but I wasn't allowed to listen to them. The same goes for my DD pins. They were "collectibles" but I couldn't wear them. He never knew about my DD earrings. He once caught me singing a DD song to the baby. The fight after that was worse than P.E. in junior high.
Because he liked the movie Labyrinth, he let me listen to some David Bowie, but he became angry when I tried telling him that DD music is influenced by Bowie and therefore similar. I gave up. DD was to be a thing of the past and I was to focus on the man I married. Period.
Emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, I was worn down to a nub. With the exception of my kids, much of my world was ice.
Seven years later, I reached the point that I had had enough. I grew a pair and kicked his butt out.
I had a new delivery driving job at the time and I tuned in to an 80s station. It was like visiting old friends. They played everything from that beloved decade!
The best part of the station wasn't even the songs, though. There were regular listeners who called in and some of them called regularly. They were a hoot! Regular listeners got to know these callers almost like family.
There was one caller in particular that I seriously could not believe. He called himself Durandy and gave flavorful monologues about his love for Duran Duran. His descriptions of love were beautiful, even sensual.
At first, I was pissed. I thought that he was making fun of Durannies. How dare he! If he didn't like Duran Duran, he didn't need to belittle those who did!
But over time, it became apparent to me that Durandy was for real. His raves for his beloved band were genuine and I found myself appreciating his almost daily calls to the station.
Durandy became a bit of a local celebrity because of his delightful fascination with Duran Duran. His collection of memorabilia surpasses one of an average fan of his/her favorite band. He has a large storage containing posters, books, magazine articles, etc.
Durandy's collection was good for me. Although I have never met Durandy, much less even saw his collection, it was reassuring for me to know that it was possible for one to hold so tightly to a teenage comfort and still move through adulthood. He was not swayed to abandon Duran Duran the way I was. His passion lived through my years of stasis. It was as if he kept the dream alive for me!
I am now close to 40. My passion for Duran Duran is rekindled but not to the level that burned during my teen years. My collection still consists of some records, CDs, pins, and earrings. That is okay, though. I'm happy just to be able to listen to what I want and enjoy the memories of the fire without the fear of getting burned.
Thank You Durandy for keeping a torch lit through the decades. You are an inspiration.
It often happens that a song that I really don't care much for would end up getting a ton of airplay. I am thinking, "Okay, this sucked the first time," while DJs seem unwilling or even incapable of playing SOMETHING else!
Then there's the songs that I hear once and decide that this would be my new favorite song... only to rarely or never ever hear it again.
Very often in the 80s my taste in music went against the flow of the top 10. I failed to see the appeal of some of the most popular artists of the time. I didn't hate them or encourage my friends to dislike them. It's just that a lot of that music left me... blah.
Yes, I know that all the music made a big impact and were all a part of the big picture yadda... yadda... yadda... I can appreciate that part. I just don't care for the part where I'm expected to listen to or like the most popular ones.
But I really liked many of the lesser popular ones. It could be that I wasn't given the chance to get sick of them, but I think, in general, I really did like the songs.
Take Level 42, named after the famous question in 'The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy' by Douglas Adams. They were ok with their hit, "Something About You." Just ok. I didn't hate them... not until about the zillionth time I heard "Something About You." The video was dull and creepy too. It's a strange combination but they somehow managed to pull it off. I think if MTV died, they would play "Something About You" at the funeral until MTV was firmly set and rotting in the ground.
Then MTV aired this little gem:
That was AMAZING! I wanted to hear it to the point of getting sick of it! Too bad I never heard it again until the invention of Youtube.
You might ask why I didn't just get the album. I learned not to get an album just because I like one song. Sometimes a great song is not worth getting a whole album for.
For instance, I loved "The Final Countdown" by Europe, a little-known hair band. I was fascinated with sci-fi stories and this one depicted an intelligent race coming to Earth to take the people away before Armageddon. I thought this was a cool story set to very good music. It got some airplay, but not very much. I went and got the album.
It was cool to hear "The Final Countdown" whenever I wanted, but attached to it were nine more songs that sound almost identical to each other. It was a disappointment to find that the talent extends as far as sounding like one good song.
But, you argue, you could just have just bought the single! Singles to songs that I liked were often just NOT available. I would sift through mountains of disks and find nothing that I couldn't hear several more times on the radio while my little-known wonders would remain elusive to me.
I wasn't completely out of luck, though. I did manage to get some of the singles that I sought. There was a used record store that I frequented and I would thumb through the 45s. With the world turning mainly to CDs, however, it was a lot of hit-and-miss.
When Duran Duran disbanded for a spell and the members took on some different projects, I searched weekly for John Taylor's solo single. The people in the store seemed happy when I found it. Actually, they seemed happier when I bought the record and took my screaming outside.
That's just me, though. Many people liked all the stuff that got repetitive airplay. Many people agreed that there were good reasons why some songs quickly blinked out of sight.
There are zillions of different songs as there are zillions of different people. Not one person likes all the songs, even if they like a great many.
Some songs just stink. You hear it and decide you must hurt something the next time you have to hear it.
Some songs are bad at first, and then they grow on you.
Some songs are fine at first, but then something happens over time, causing you to not like the song any more. This is usually caused by over-playing it. Radio stations are genuinely guilty of this for they tend to have access to no more than 5 songs at a time.
When I was in junior high, I hated P.E. Being the fat girl gave me every reason to loathe dressing up in a locker room full of young ladies who were developing in all the RIGHT places. Then there was the task of not getting killed by whatever means of torture the sinister P.E. teacher called "sports."
After we were suited up in our places, she would start up the boom box, and we would have to do our daily exercises to the beat of whatever piece of work she deemed fitting for humiliating us. She would play the same song for weeks at a time.
Most of the songs have been blessedly wiped from my memory; all except for two.
This is one that I hated from the start. It's just stupid. If anything, it did give us a good rhythm. I'll admit that I really don't care for most rap, but there are a few exceptions. This is not an exception.
The next one, I thought was okay at first. That was, of course, before it became a tool of torture. It was many years later before I could stand to listen to it again, though I still think of my crummy pink sweats when I do.
I have mentioned before that I am a fan of the works of Jim Henson.
As a product of the 70s in the US, I was one of thousands of children who grew up with an assortment of strange characters from Sesame Street and the Muppet Show.
But how does this tie in with 80s music?
The Muppets are not only known for making us laugh, but they are famous for their music. They sang many cover versions and hundreds of Muppet originals. As time changes the styles of music, so the Muppets changed their sound along with it.
Sesame Street has many Muppet "bands" such as their earliest one, Little Jerry and the Monotones. The Muppet Show had Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. It played in all the Muppet Show episodes and is still making new music with their videos finding their way to YouTube. They have covered all styles of rock over the years and are an important part of the American childhood of my generation.
Let's hear it for Dr. Teeth (golden teeth for golden tones), Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Janice, and Animal!
Can one get closer to looking angelic than Olivia Newton-John? Rarely does such a natural beauty make the big time, and she did so without the use of looking anything other than, well... Natural.
Pair that with a voice to match and you have something close to incredible, which is exactly what she is; something you have to see and hear to believe.
She and ELO complimented each other when they were grouped together for the soundtrack of Xanadu. Never mind that the acting in the film was cheesy, the story forced, and the special effects were painfully low-budget; Xanadu was a treat for the eyes and the ears and a grand opening for the 80s.
I have never been very much into hard rock but there were definitely some notable exceptions.
I liked Twisted Sister. They sounded good and their videos were funny. That was about it. Other than hearing them on the radio or watching their videos on TV, I didn't bother to buy any of their music or make room on my walls for their images. When the 80s left, and Twisted Sister songs stopped airing, I forgot TS completely.
Fast forward to 2006. I was divorced for five years from a very abusive man who continued to harm the kids so I continued to be at war with him. The kids and I were going through therapy to get over the trauma and the nightmares. I was also finding my inner strengths, many that I was finding through my new husband.
I was driving home one day when a familiar drum rift began on the radio, followed by, "We're not gonna take it, NO! We're not gonna take it!" Finally, 22 years after it's release, this song spoke to me. I was SO DONE with my ex hurting me and this song expressed my feelings exactly!
"Oh you're so condescending
Your goal is neverending
We don't want nothin'
Not a thing from you!"
I found the video on YouTube and showed it to the kids. I did not name any names, I told them that NOBODY had the right to make them feel degraded and Twisted Sister thinks so too, but they knew that this song was everything against what their father was. The song spoke to them too.
Over time, they gained strength and confidence in themselves. Of course, I'm sure TS only played a small factor, but I know that they believed in themselves because there were so many people on their side!
I am grateful that Twisted Sister has taken a stance against domestic abuse. In several of their videos, they depict a scene of an abusive situation, and then the members of Twisted Sister come and save the day. Many artists would not take on this form of activism. Those who do are awesome!
A funny twist to this video is that the dad is played by a wigless Dee Snyder, the lead singer!
Once upon a time, my taste in music was rather limited. My mother had a wide range of records that she played daily and I liked some of them. I also heard the latest hits at the roller rink or in the car. But my main source of music was my Disney records.
By the time I was in the fourth grade, I was becoming restless for something more than Disney, so I asked for a radio for my room so I can listen to different tunes at my leisure. With that magic little dial, I found myself a station that played elevator music. Yes, I listened to muzak. I liked listening to familiar tunes that weren't complicated with things like lyrics. Looking back, I wonder if that contributed to my learning disabilities... Or premature graying. Maybe even global warming.
When I was in the fifth grade, everyone in my class became enchanted by a strange creature by the name of Michael Jackson. They brought boom boxes to school to play songs from the "Thriller" album during recess. I had to admit that muzak paled in comparison. Sucked, actually. Taking a gamble that I might be wasting my time with something that I might end up hating, I left the security of the elevator station and turned the dial to KPLZ.
I was suddenly faced with a large jumble of unfamiliar songs and artists that seemed to come from outer space! However, it was exciting. Very exciting! I was determined to listen zealously and make my world a part of it; and possibly the other way around too.
Though I didn't have MTV at the time, there were some shows on the weekends that showed music videos. That was a tremendous help for my familiarizing with the latest hits. I could see the artists, their styles, and watch their cheesy attempts at acting.
So, there I was, listening to my radio and thinking I had it all down when... What was that? What the heck WAS that?!? It didn't sound like the other songs. Was I on the right station? Or perhaps connections were crossed and I was getting signals straight from heaven? Who was that? Would the radio do that again?
The stupid DJ from hell did not identify the artist or the song but went straight on to the next song, leaving me to wonder if what I heard really happened.
The next night, heaven sent signals to my radio again and this time sent an angel as a DJ to tell me that the song was by Duran Duran.
Duran Duran. I had heard of them before. I knew I have heard other songs from them on occasion, but perhaps I heard them before I could distinguish one artist from another? After learning this, I could identify the distinct sound of Duran. It wasn't just Simon's whine of passion, but there was definitely something unique about the way they put music together.
Childish pictures were removed from my walls to make room for posters of five guys who were the new wave in New Wave.
Some videos have no storyline but is simply a playground for the visual. Sky is the limit when it comes to outfits, makeup, unusual hair, an odd backgrounds.
In the case of Doctor & The Medics, however, I wonder if these young people were simply born in the wake of nuclear radiation leak near a Fisher Price plant. Every aspiring artist should be so lucky!
I find men who are secure enough to flaunt their feminine side rather attractive. Adam Ant, who is straight, is such a man. Flouncing his way through the 80s, he had an unusual look and sound that he was not afraid to experiment with.
He had a strangeness about him that an insecure person would have hidden at all costs. Adam kept his eerie sexiness and odd dancing in the limelight, and I am so glad he did. Sadly, he did little practicing of what he preached in his video, "Strip," but seeing him wet in his salmon-colored blouse almost makes up for it.
In a world of imagery, having a less-than-anorexic body can be rough on a pre-teen.
Okay, I was a big-bottomed kid. It sucked. It sucked more that all the talented artists had air-brush-perfect bodies.
It's hard to bop to Madonna when your hips are twice as wide as your peers'. In 1984, Alison Moyet was a breath of fresh air for me. Alison was not a toothpick. She was more like a tank, and a talented tank at that!
In her video, "Invisible," not only does her chipmunk cheeks set her apart from figures like Cindi Lauper and her perky breasts or Tina Turner with her goddess-shaped legs, but she wore an outfit that added a few extra holiday pounds to her portly figure.
Yes, Alison was fat. She was fat and she was beautiful! I didn't know that the two descriptions were allowed to happen together. Plus she could belt out a song like a boom box on a caffeine high. It was inspiring to see proof that large people can have talent.
The 80s was a time that he made a bunch of music he didn't much like, but he can't escape it because of fans like me who like it a lot!
Unfortunately, I missed his concerts during that decade, but I have seen him in action 3 times since. The last time, during his Reality Tour, my mom, husband (we were married less than a year then), and kids came along. The kids were were 7 and 4. The ticket guy told them, "You have cooler parents than I did."
My kids were dealing with a very bad and abusive situation but custody laws prevented me from protecting them. Things changed on January 8, 2007, when they told their therapist some new information concerning their problem; information they once held back out of fear. This information started a big reaction. The laws that kept me from helping my kids before were now working with me.
The small and powerless little ones were suddenly the ones who caused a domino effect and changed everything in big ways; kind of a David and Goliath thing. Fast forward: They were removed from the unsafe situation, my husband adopted them as his own children, and they are now thriving.
I am proud of my kids being so brave then. I think David Bowie would be happy to know that two of his younger fans were brave on such a significant day! Time to party!
You all know that I love Duran Duran. At the ripe old age of 12, I declared myself to be John Taylor's future wife. The other four were my backup plans if this thing with John didn't work out. Yes, the other guys were married, but I was counting on the celebrity marriage thing not working out for them. I wished them well while it lasted, though.
I noticed a common thread among the guys through interviews I read in various teen idol magazines: They kept mentioning being inspired musically by David Bowie.
David Bowie? I wondered. Oh yes! He was a strange character whose only videos I ever remembered seeing then were "Blue Jean" and "Let's Dance." Not knowing how he could have inspired my five heartthrobs as young lads when he only recently made two videos, I asked my mom if she ever head of this David Bowie.
Not only did she know who he was, she had some of his albums.
Albums? As in plural? As in he has done more than two songs? Not only did he do more than two songs, but these albums dated back around the time I was born! He has been making music like... forever!
Eager to hear the source of inspiration for my five betrothed, my record player introduced me to the sixth one.
Never had music spoken so powerfully to me! I cried over the dilemma of Major Tom in "Space Oddity," danced Egyptian-like to "The Man Who Sold the World," air-guitared with "Rosalyn," and gave my friends a listen to the naughty song, "Cracked Actor."
Every other week, a used-record store would take my allowance as I walked away with an old David Bowie album listing new mysteries I was dying to hear. Posters of Bowie were squeezed in next to Duran Duran and other darling faces that adorned my walls. The movie "Labyrinth" was a special treat for me because I also adore the work of Jim Henson. What could be more perfect?
I soon discovered that the video for "Blue Jean" was actually a small bit taken from a 20 minute film called "Jazzn' For Blue Jean." When the TV listings told me that VH1 was showing the FULL THING, I managed to copy it. In spite of the tracking static and grainy quality of the video recorders of the time, I was able to enjoy watching David Bowie for a full 20 minutes in a duel role at my leisure. Really, does life get any better?
Well, better or worse, life does goes on. I grew up (sort of) and met a man not mentioned above but should be mentioned in a love-you-forever type of song. I introduced him to David Bowie music. Having spent his childhood in Hungary, he never heard of Bowie before, but grew to like the music very much and borrowed much of my Bowie collection. Getting it all back was a problem, so what was I to do? Marrying him seemed a practical solution; after all, I was madly in love with him!
Sorry D5 and Bowie. You just weren't quick enough.
One thing I miss about the 80s was the ability to talk about gun control (either for or against it) without it becoming a nasty political dispute that could get your head blown off. Does anyone else remember that?
Billy Idol is an awesome activist. I don't care what side of the fence you're on, he freakin' ROCKS when he's got something to say!
And, yes, the driver of the car is the real 50s crooner, Johnnie Ray!
Starship is one with a tumultuous history starting in the early 70s, starting as Jefferson Airplane, morphing into Jefferson Starship, and by the mid 80s evolving into Starship. Changes to the name was caused by various changes in the active band members.
Starships first single, "We Build This City," was an overnight sensation. It's one of those songs that did very well, and then you look back on it now and laugh because it's so absurdly dumb, but you still like it anyways.
The version played on the radio had a radio announcer's voice cutting into it:
(I'm looking out over that Golden Gate bridge on another gorgeous sunny Saturday, not seein' that bumper-to-bumper traffic) (It's your favorite radio station, in your favorite radio city The city by the bay, the city that rocks, the city that never sleeps)
I don't know why it wasn't included in the video version. I was one of many who was fooled upon the first time hearing it and got angry that the stupid DJ was talking over the song, only to realize later that the DJ was a part of the song.
He was better known for his music with the band "Steelers Wheel" (Stuck in the Middle) and solo work (Baker Street, Right Down the line,) in the 70s but he still managed to bless the 80s and later on with his work.
Sadly underrated bass player who was known for his work in the 70s in a glam band called Japan and later played solo and with other artists. He died of cancer.
