Wednesday, February 08, 2006

# 75-71

and we continue on as we hit numbers 75-71 in the TOP 100 SINGLES OF THE 1980s!

75. PEEK-A-BOO – Siouxsie & The Banshees
(Steven Bailey/Peter Clarke/Susan Dallion)
Geffen single #27760 (US)/ Wonderland single #SHE14 (UK)
Chart Debut: July 30, 1988
Chart Position: #53 US / #16 UK

My pal Brian will be quite pleased to see his Siouxsie on my list, as he feels about her the same way I feel for my Debbie. But it’s not only taking Brian’s thoughts into consideration for my list, it’s actually the fact that Siouxsie Sioux did a bang up job on this little number. I have to admit being the little ray of blonde Wisconsin sunshine that I am, I pretty much dismissed or completely missed a lot of the goth movement in the early 80s – as you can see I was spending way too much time listening to Cyndi Lauper and Juice Newton. But that doesn’t mean some of that black charm didn’t work its way into my system. As it turns out, Siouxsie was kind of on her way out of her blackness when “Peek-A-Boo” premiered; I mean her next album would have a PINK (gasp!) cover… but nonetheless, this is the song that captured me. The intro with its sharpening synth like knives slicing through the stereo, Siouxsie's high control over vocals, the eminent pumping accordion sound – it’s sheer brilliance! And despite her losing some of her earlier gothness, she still held tight onto the peepshow creepshow she was trying to create. Watch the video.

74.RAPTURE - Blondie
(Debbie Harry/Chris Stein)
Chrysalis Single #2485
Chart Debut: February 14, 1981 (US)/ January 24, 1981 (UK)
Chart Position: #1 US / #5 UK

“Rapture” was the second single released from Blondie’s 1980 album Autoamerican, so by the time it was a single, I was more than familiar with the tune having listened to the album repeatedly for months. What can be said about this classic track that hasn’t been said a million times – it was the first mainstream rap song, it was the first rap song to ever hit #1 on the charts, it took Debbie five minutes in a corner of the studio to write the rap, it was the second #1 single from Blondie’s fifth album – an album that record executives insisted had no singles on it, Fab 5 Freddy is a real person and everybody is indeed fly. The only real trivia in the song is the number of variations released; in the US they ripped the song right off the album in all its 6 minute 33 second glory, in the video, the song is cut down with the middle instrumentation gone, in the UK they got a shorter version without the cool guitar ending or the middle music but with the extra sung verse of “Man to man/body muscular….” I’m not sure which version I like the best, but I do know I spent countless hours entertaining the folks with my take on that little skip dance the “Man from Mars” does in the video. Watch the video.

73.SOLITAIRE – Laura Branigan
(Martine Clemenceau/Diane Warren)
Atlantic single #89868
Chart Debut: March 2, 1983 US
Chart Position: #7 US

“Solitaire” is probably a bit of a surprise to see on my chart and so high on the chart, but as I went through my long list of 80s singles, Laura kept popping up. To me she is sadly overlooked in the pantheon of female rockers in the 80s. For some reason when one thinks of Laura Branigan and you get past the immediate “Gloria” theme, you seem to think of ballads. But as it was, Laura didn’t really do too many ballads, though her version of “The Power Of Love” which came out years before Celine’s screech fest is far superior – most of Laura’s songs were rock based pop like “Self Control” and the aforementioned “Gloria.” “Solitaire” follows that formula with its wispy intro and reverse lyrics finding Laura turning the cards on her absent boyfriend – “where were you when I played solitaire?” and without a doubt Laura had one of the most powerful voices in pop music – all one has to do is turn on our #73 song to bear testament to her pipes. Watch the video here.

72.BORDERLINE - Madonna
(Madonna/Reggie Lucas)
Sire single #29354 (US)/ WEA single #9260 (UK)
Chart Debut: February 15, 1984 (US)/ June 2, 1984 (UK)
Chart Position: #10 US / #56 UK

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Miss Ciccone for as long as she’s been able to vogue, but nothing conjures up images of being a teenager than her early music, and nothing is as thrilling of all her incarnations than the early years when she burst onto the scene with messed up hair, day glo clothes and more jewelry than a street pimp. After bopping and singing along to hits “Holiday” and “Lucky Star,” – it was her third big single from her debut album “Borderline” and her neon green skirt in the video that made me love her – at least until “La Isla Bonita” came around. Relive the video and the power of neon green.



71.FRENCH KISSIN’ – Debbie Harry
(Chuck Lorre)
Geffen single #28546 (US)/
Chrysalis single #3066 (UK)
Chart Debut: November 15, 1986
Chart Position: #57 US / #8 UK

The first of a few Debbie Harry solo singles you’ll find on our list – I can’t even describe the excitement I had when this single came out in 1986. Aside from a one off cut on the Krush Groove soundtrack in 1985 (“Feel The Spin”), Debbie hadn’t been seen or heard from in a few years, having almost disappeared after Blondie’s fizzle of a break up in 1982. In fact, it seemed Debbie had passed the blonde torch onto Madonna. But suddenly out of nowhere Debbie had a new album, a new single and a new punky hair spray induced hairdo; and she was suddenly everywhere.

It seemed Geffen Records and Debbie herself were bound and determined to let the world know the original blonde was back and ready to tackle the charts. A cleverly subdued punchy groove emphasized the first single from her comeback album Rockbird. Tongue firmly in cheek (??) French Kissin’ was sweeping the nations, somewhat controversial (“lips are in motion/ocean to ocean”), somewhat dance pop; it was a perfect lead off and come back. In the UK where it was redubbed “French Kissin’ In The USA” the song hit number 8. Here, the song didn’t fare as well but anyone with even a dabbling in music had to know Debbie Harry was back. Watch the video.

just like lips are in motion, we will continue in motion tomorrow as we take a look at numbers 70-66!

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posted by swivek @ 12:18 PM

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