Friday, February 10, 2006

# 90 - 86

BRADLEY'S TOP 100 SINGLES OF THE 1980s continues with
numbers 90-86!



90.NEVER TEAR US APART - INXS
(Andy Farris/Michael Hutchence)
Atlantic Single #89038 (US)/ Mercury Single #INXS11 (UK)
Chart Debut: September 17, 1988 (US)/ June 25, 1988 (UK)
Chart Position: #7 US / #24 UK

Here is the first of my many man musician crushes I have had – how I loved and still love Michael Hutchence. He was to me the 80s version of Jim Morrisson. I don’t know if they happened to look alike, act alike or what, but I do know I got that same strange feeling when I looked at Michael that Jim also seems to conjur up. “Never Tear Us Apart” in all of its desperation and symphonic sound is one of the best all time singles ever – I know you’re thinking, “Then why is it #91?” that’s because this is the 100 best all time singles ever and there’s even better ones coming up… but as I digress, I have to say this song is pure perfection. In only 3 minutes Michael and his band mates of Farris brothers throw together enough despair and drama to last all fourteen seasons of Knots Landing. I love it, and can’t wait for the next karaoke night! Watch the video here.

89. VOICES CARRY – ‘Til Tuesday (Hausman/Holmes/Mann/Pesce)
Epic/CBS Single #38-04795
Chart Debut: May 18, 1985 (US)
Chart Position: #8 US / #- UK

“In the dark I like to read his mind/ but I’m frightened of the things I might find…” One more moody, chilling and threatening little ditty on our list. Aimee Mann has one of those indistinguishable voices that capture you the minute she utters a line. With her low register and offbeat dialect, I always thought the song said, “Keep it down now/oh so scary…” Then I saw the video and realized what a fool I was. Til Tuesday came out with one brilliant single after another, “Love In A Vacuum”, “What About Love?”, “Coming Up Close” – all of which were considered for this list, but “Voices Carry” is the quisessential ‘Til Tuesday song and I have to admit I thought the abusive boyfriend in the video was hot – I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. Watch the video and see the abusive hottie.

88. THE WANDERER – Donna Summer
(Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder)
Geffen Single #496563
Chart Debut: September 27, 1980
Chart Position: #3 US / #48 UK

If anyone had any doubt that Donna Summer wasn’t merely The Disco Queen, 1979’s Bad Girls album proved to every one the woman could do just about anything. With the album’s mixture of rock and dance music she had the biggest hit on her hands, and she wanted to move away from Casablanca Records and the owner’s control over it. So David Geffen signed her as the second artist added to his new Geffen Records, and along came this little gem of a single, “The Wanderer.” Once again pushing forward with techno pop and rock, the imagery of the happy wanderer captured me, and the song was on constant rotation. With clever little lines about Alice In Wonderland (“She climbed right through the mirror oh that nearly blew my mind”) and Donna’s declaration that the 9 to 5 life’s a bore – my wandering little heart followed through with her rhythm and her rhyme. Watch the rather rare video here.

87. FAST CAR – Tracy Chapman
(Tracy Chapman)
Elektra Single #69412
Chart Debut: July 16, 1988 (US)/
June 11, 1988 (UK)
Chart Position: #6 US / #5 UK

“Fast Car” was the very last brand new 7” I ever purchased before the record stores stopped selling them and we were all forced to get the smaller “cassingles” of the late 80s/early 90s. I am so glad I bought it and to this day constantly play it, and I may add - I do a kick ass karaoke version of it.

“Fast Car” has so many little connotations for me. First and foremost I once again love the idea presented of speeding away from the oh so tiresome small town and running off to the exciting city. Of course this is Tracy Chapman’s world of folk, so the city holds just as much horror as the small town did. When this song came out I happened to be a bit of a teenaged runaway living in an apartment with a bunch of guys in Wausau, Wisconsin. As it turned out this rooming situation led to my first summer fling with one of the guys. We spent the entire summer camping out and basically living out of his fast car – a 1964 Camaro Z with Rally Sport Options (for the car buffs it’s a pretty rare model.) I learned how to drive a stick shift (as you can imagine…) I was so sure that his fast car was going to take us away and his arms always felt great wrapped around my shoulders. Incidentally, I always thought Tracy said, “your arms and legs wrapped around my shoulder” which is perfectly plausible as I found out – not to mention a hell of an image. But of course I also couldn’t figure out Tracy’s gender at that point and still have a few questions should I ever meet her/him. Incidentally, the fast car that was actually fast enough so I could fly away ended up being my VW dubbed Farfie - the Wonder Fox but that’s another story. Watch the video.

86. WE LIVE FOR LOVE – Pat Benatar
(Neil Geraldo)
Chrysalis Single #2419 (US)/ #2403 (UK)
Chart Debut: May 17, 1980 (US)
Chart Position: #27 US

You had to know this was coming – the first of my Pat Benatar singles. “We Live For Love” was Pat’s second big single from her 1979 debut album In The Heat Of The Night, but it was actually the fourth though final single released. The first two didn’t do anything chart wise (“I Need A Lover”/ “If You Think You Know How To Love Me”) while the third is her now signature classic “Heartbreaker” which debuted on the top 100 in late 1979 and climbed up to #23 in early 1980 (because of it’s release/chart debut it’s exempt from this list - though you will find it on the top 100 Singles of the 70's). Following shortly after "Heartbreaker" was this little new wave ditty written by boyfriend and guitarist Neil Geraldo which hit #27 in the summer of 1980.

Produced by Blondie engineer Peter Coleman, the song (as well as a lot of In The Heat Of The Night) has a more new wave feel than what you would later hear when picking up a 7” with Pat's lovely face pouting from its sleeve. Which is perhaps why a lot of people who are into new wave or aren’t real fans of the Benatar school of rock tend to like this song over all of all of her other gems.

The breathy aahs and Pat’s high octave vocals on the chorus proved that my girl could do just about anything when you stuck her in front of a microphone and the song is still enjoyable all these years later. You can hear the single version and stare at a picture of the album cover here, or you can watch Pat singing it live circa 2006.

Just as your love is contagious, and one kiss is most definitely dangerous, as is our fun little countdown so stop back tomorrow as we head into numbers 85-81!

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posted by swivek @ 3:07 PM

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