The played that John Waite song “Missing You” about 3 this afternoon and almost instantly I remembered being at the Apollo II Tanning Salon & Arcade in Rocky Mount, Virginia, playing Ms. Pac-Man with Allen and my dad, circa 1984. It weas a great memory but I also started thinking about (1) how dated that song is now and also (2) what other songs from that era fit into a similar vein: being so cool and state-of-the-industry back then that they are instantly identifiable with a time period, in this case the mid ‘80s and sound more than a little silly now.
On the way home, listening to more Q99 in the car, I compiled my list. I still didn’t think about posting it seriously until I read Tim’s post about CDs in his collection that still stand the test of time. I didn’t want to imitate him because he’s put a hell of lot more thought into his list than my subjective, mocking condemnation of the same music I used to eat up as a kid, but here goes. These aren’t in any order, BTW:
“Missing You” by John Waite
“What’s Love Got To Do With It” by Tina Turner
“Jump” by Van Halen
“If Anyone Falls” by Stevie Nicks
“I Heard A Rumour” by Bananarama
“Broken Wings” by Mr. Mister
“Freak-A-Zoid” by Midnight Star
“I’ll Tumble For Ya” by Culture Club
If you are a fan of any or all of these songs, as I was at one point or another during the ‘80s, please do not take this as an offense. It’s done out of both love of the music and recognition that styles change and music tastes mature (thank God). If any of you out there in Steve-land have any additions, drop me a comment and the list will grow.
I only have a couple of rules:
1. Dated, silly music from any genre or time period is permissible, within limits. For example; disco is pretty dumb sometimes, but you shouldn’t submit all disco songs because a lot of them are still pretty cool. Even All-Music Guide thinks so.
2. Original artists only. No remakes. They always suck. It’s too easy.
3. Nothing with the following people: Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Elton John, or other laughable but legendary pop artists like that. Again, too easy. Plus, there are a lot of fanatics out there who will send me nasty, nasty emails for even thinking Cher’s music was (is) silly. We’ll steer clear of those land mines.
Yikes, you're really lumping Elton John with Cher, Michael Bolton and Celine Dion? Maybe it's because I've played piano for 20 years, but I think Elton deserves better ;)
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ReplyDeleteElton's a hell of a talent. He's not exactly Cher, of course, as far as mediocrity is concerned, but some of the stuff he's released is a little silly. But, then again, I said we shoulddn't include people like him on the list because (in so many words) there's usually two extreme schools of thought on on his music: very positve and very negative. Sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you played piano. I played when I was young for a couple of years.