Friday, March 24, 2006

#15-11

and after our little break, we are back for more glorious singles from the decade that was the 80s - today we edge closer to the top ten with numbers 15 - 11 of the Top 100 Singles Of The 1980s!

#15. UNDER PRESSURE - Queen
(Bowie/Deacon/May/Mercury/Taylor)
Elektra single #47235 (US)/ EMI single #5250 (UK)
Chart Debut: December 5, 1981 (US)/ November 14, 1981 (UK)
Chart Position: #29 US / #1 UK

Combining two of the greatest forces of music together is never a small feat, and when the collaboration takes place and it is actually a worthy contribution to music well then you have a top single in my opinion. I love everything about this song (notable reactions to "Ice Ice Baby" not withstanding) and with Freddie Mercury and David Bowie trading off vocal performances, this is pure magic. The fact they are actually saying something in the lyrics as well, doesn't hurt the song at all. Telling the powers that "it's the terror of knowing what this world is about/ watching some good friends scream 'let me out'..." genius, and with Freddie's little seque into the world of rock scatting, well I just turn it up and try to sing along. Watch the video here.

#14. SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT - Corey Hart
(Corey Hart)
EMI America single #8203
Chart Debut: June 24, 1984 US
Chart Position: #7 US

My pal Brian will not only be horrified to find this song on my list, but to have it in the top 15 will probably send him to the bar for a cosmo, but the truth is, just like Brian's old roommate in Seattle who played this song with abandon, I too love it. Of course I've already talked about my love for the hotness of Corey Hart but not only is he hot, hot, hot in the video, the song is catchy as all hell. One of those 1984 versions of new wave - think "She Bop" or "99 Red Balloons" - the song combines rock guitar with a synth laden backing track and a lot of attitude as Corey tells us his sordid tale of the girl who would sleep with a guy in shades. Well who the hell wouldn't if he looked like this guy? See the hottie in action here!



#13. LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD - Pat Benatar
(Holly Knight/Mike Chapman)
Chrysalis single #42732 (US) / #2747 (UK)/ #PAT1 (UK - re-release)
Chart Debut: October 15, 1983 (US) / January 21, 1984 (UK)/ March 23, 1985 (UK)
Chart Position: #5 US / #49 UK - #17 UK (re-release)

You know I love my Patty and to have my girl not only acting the tough in a video, but to have that video become a huge hit and go down in history as one of the most played in the hey day of MTV, well then you know you have a #13 Top Pop Single Of The 1980s. The video was directed by Bob Giraldi who would go on to direct "Beat It" by Michael Jackson - another street fight/dance hybrid. As for Patty, she told the powers that be for the video she just wanted to do something in the streets of New York and voila my girl was a runaway hooker!

Goofiness aside, the video was revolutionary at the time. It is the first video to have spoken dialogue in it, "you leave this house now you can't ever come back..." Telling the tale of a runaway rebel, our heroine finds herself in the streets of New York, looking ever cool with her new punky styled hair do. Then without much to look for, she finds herself working as a private dancer if you will. Sure, she's supposed to be a hooker, but it all starts with the innocent dance. But once, that pimp with the gold tooth tries to push around a fellow "dancer" well you know our Pat will have none of that. She throws a drink in her face, does some dancing and shimmies her way out the door, hookers in tow. There is a heart felt goodbye as Patty hugs her fellow whores and heads back on the bus to go home to her little brother. Well, I get just weepy thinking about it.

Now for the song, - "Love Is A Battlefield" was a sort of departure for my girl. Instead of the bombastic rock of albums like Crimes Of Passion or even the keyboard laden foray into new wave stylings of her previous album Get Nervous, "Love Is A Battlefield" incorporated drum machines, synthesizers and overdub upon overdub of Pat's powerful pipes. Written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman, Holly would later record her own version, a very watered down ballady type of thing which I imagine is the way she intended the song to be; but Pat isn't watered down so the whole synth style is laced with Neil's guitar and through remix upon remix, the multiple layers of the song shine through.

In the UK, she actually scored a #49 chart position with the song which was her biggest UK hit to date, then they re-released the single the following March and she ended up scoring all the way to #17. Here in the US, where we loved her and couldn't get enough dancing hookers or bitchy love songs with whistling, Pat scored a huge hit going to #5 and forever being remembered as a dancing runaway liberating hookers. Watch the video epic here!

#12. THE TIDE IS HIGH - Blondie
(John Holt)
Chrysalis single # 2465
Chart Debut: November 29, 1980 (US) / November 8, 1980 (UK)
Chart Position: #1 US / #1 UK

As I've said before, when you lived in the middle of nowhere and were still just a small child with a love for music, the only time you knew a new record was out was when you walked into the store and saw it. So it was on a cold December afternoon that I got one of the biggest surprises of my still relatively short life. On this particular day, my uncle Kermit was visiting and he, my mother and I were on our way to my aunt Dianne's house for my cousin Paula's birthday - did you get all those relatives? My uncle hadn't bought Paula a gift so on the way to Dianne's we stopped at Prange Way so he could run in and buy her a 45. Now I was so excited because that meant I could go into the store and look around at the records too. But my Mother was wiser than that - she made me stay in the car, cause they were just going to run in and out and didn't have time for my endless searching. I was pissed, but what could I do as an abused child whose own mother wouldn't indulge his love for record shopping? But don't feel too sorry for the little blonde boy sitting in the Chevy in the parking of Prange Way for this tragic tale has a happy ending...

When my mother and uncle returned to the car, he showed me the record he bought Paula but he showed me something even better. "Here you go, but don't tell Paula," said Kermit as he handed me the brand new Blondie single! I didn't even know it was out, I had never heard it before and I was peeing my pants in excitement (and for warmth). I looked at the 45, with Debbie all painted and looking uber cool, while the back of the jacket informed me the B-side was only available on this single! I couldn't wait to hear it, and then I realized if I couldn't tell Paula about it, I wasn't going to be able to hear the song until I got home. I had a whole evening of waiting in store for me and I didn't think I could take it.

As it turned out, I didn't have to take it for long. You see Paula was a bit of brat in those days, and for some reason she and I would always end up in some argument or another. I'm sure she was jealous of me, I mean who wasn't? So as the evening progressed and she teased me, made me mad and the like, I informed her finally, "Yeah well you know what? Kermit bought me a record too and it isn't even my birthday!" She didn't believe me so I showed her my Blondie record and that was the ultimate in revenge in my 8 year old mind!

Although Paula still had her way as she wouldn't allow me to play my new record. So it wasn't until I got home that I actually heard those string arrangements, the horns and the super cool smooth vocals of Debbie Harry, as they sent me into a reggae tinged delirium.

To this day, "The Tide Is High" is one of those songs where you think if you never really hear it again it won't matter.. an overplayed number if you follow. But the minute you hear the song begin it changes the whole mood. Right from the opening, I'm hooked all over again. It's one of those 'take you back to another time' thing. I recall getting the album Autoamerican a few months later, after pleading with my grandmother. I remember Kermit and I listening to the whole album from beginning to end. I remember me and Bobby Hallas from school bonding over the greatness of that album as we talked for hours about the genius that was my favorite band. I recall my excitement of running over to another relatives - My Aunt Carol's with "The Tide Is High" 45 in my hot little hand so she could hear it as she was the one who had given me the last Blondie album Eat To The Beat. And most of all, I recall shoving that 45 in Paula's face! I'm sure you're all wondering what record Paula got for her birthday; well it was "He's So Shy" by The Pointer Sisters - a relatively fun song (that didn't make my list) but nowhere as cool as a Blondie single. Watch the video here.

#11. SEND ME AN ANGEL '89 - Real Life
(David Sterry/ Richard Zatorski)
MCA/Curb single #10531 (US)/ #42961 (UK)
Chart Debut: May 13, 1989 US
Chart Position: #26 US

This song sends me right into a tizzy. Originally released in 1984, this version came out four years later and though only slightly altered, this is the one that had me out on the underage dance club floor. Hurried and hectic, Real Life takes synth pop to a new level with chugging bass line, drum programming and overdubbed "angelic" back vocals. "Do you believe in Heaven above/ do you believe in love?" I certainly did back in 1989 as I was in love with just about anything that moved, oh those hurried teenage angst days of endless angels. "Don't give up/ you can be lucky at love/ it gets in your eyes/ it's making you cry/ don't know what to do/ looking for love/ calling Heaven above/ Send Me An Angel right now!" Oh, I just love it. In fact, I think I'm going to have to go listen to it right now.. right now... right now. Watch the video and re-live the magic of the song.

and now we are about to enter into the most sacred of sacred - the top ten of a list long and heavily laden with pop and rock classics - love is a battlefield when the tide is high but luckily for you, you've been sent an angel who dons sunglasses at night and is never under pressure in his quest to give you his top singles of the 1980s!

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posted by swivek @ 10:06 PM

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