Are you ready for part 3 of our series in Brad's Trip Back To The 80s? Of course you are and this time I even have a couple mp3s for you - I know I'm such a givah!
bub116 BRAD'S TRIP BACK TO THE 80s Volume 5 Track List: 01. Girls Like Me - Bonnie Hayes & The Wild Combo 02. Heat Of The Moment - Asia 03. Cars - Gary Numan 04. Upside Down - Diana Ross 05. (I Can't) Break Away - Big Pig 06. Goody Two Shoes - Adam Ant 07. Girls With Guns - Tommy Shaw 08. One Way Love (Better Off Dead) - EG Daily 09. Chains Of Love - Erasure 10. Need You Tonight - INXS 11. The Hardest Part - Blondie 12. I Know What Boys Like - Waitresses 13. Heart & Soul - T'Pau 14. Hidin' From Love - Lisa Hartman 15. Another One Bites The Dust - Queen 16. The Warrior - Scandal featuring Patty Smyth 17. Johnny Are You Queer? - Josie Cotton 18. The Kid Is Hot Tonite - Loverboy 19. You Might Think - The Cars 20. Chequered Love - Kim Wilde 21. We Belong - Pat Benatar 22. Wake Me Up Before You Go Go - Wham!
This is an example of the perfect mix between selections from my personal top 100 singles of the 80's and excellant tracks that exemplify the 80s but didn't make it to my list for one reason or another - and it definitely wasn't because I didn't like the song as there isn't a song I put on any of these 10 discs that I don't love in one way or another. Volume 5 contains the effervescent "Girls Like Me" by Bonnie Hayes that so would've made a big splash on my original list if it had only been released as a single. Featured in one of my all time fav flicks Valley Girl, the song actually opens the movie and plays again during a slumber party scene where EG Daily bops her head ever so 80's like, and speaking of Ms. Daily, she appears on this collection as well with one of my favorite songs by the gal, the title track from the film Better Off Dead - "One Way Love (Better Off Dead)" - it's a rocking little ditty that I love, love, but alas is another that wasn't released as an official single - though promo copies of a 12" do exist.
Some classics that all were considered for my list include Diana Ross' excellant "Upside Down", the Cars' "You Might Think" whose accompanying video was all the rage in 1984, and Wham's "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" which is in all senses the 80s.
Oh and a little gal I like to call Lisa frickin' Hartman who should've had a huge hit with her 1982 album Letterock or at least a hit with it when it was re-released in 1984 as Lisa Hartman. Either way the one and only single released from it not only made my top 100 list, but it's on Volume 5 and it's here for you to download - cuz I rock like that...
bub 117 BRAD'S TRIP BACK TO THE 80s Volume 6 Track List: 01. Dancin' In Heaven (Orbital Be Bop) - Q Feel
02. TRUE - Concrete Blonde
03. Pop Goes The World - Men Without Hats
04. No Myth - Michael Penn
05. You Don't Want Me Anymore - Steel Breeze
06. Blister In The Sun - Violent Femmes
07. It's Still Rock & Roll To Me - Billy Joel
08. Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
09. Rapture - Blondie
10. What Have You Done For Me Lately - Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield
11. I Can't Wait - Nu Shooz
12. Blue Monday - New Order
13. Always Something There To Remind Me - Naked Eyes
14. Puttin' On The Ritz - Taco
15. Better Be Good To Me - Tina Turner
16. They Don't Know - Tracey Ullman
17. Tainted Love - Soft Cell
18. 867-5309/Jenny - Tommy Tutone
19. Mickey - Toni Basil
20. Cause I'm A Blonde - Julie Brown
21. Little Too Late - Pat Benatar
22. The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em) - Greg Kihn Band
This one is a whole heap of hoppin' fun - combining all those great early 80's New Romantic and synth pop - this is stomping and fun all the way through. Of course there's some rock and roll to throw it into a compilation blitz - it also contains a ton of very popular songs from the era that didn't make it onto my list, but makes it onto everyone else's list and compilations. The strange yet alluring Taco, Toni Basil, Julie Brown, Tracey Ullman and ultimate fan favs Soft Cell, Naked Eyes and Q Feel - plus bonafide excellance from my girl Benatar, Blondie, New Order and the Violent Femmes who would've made the list had the song ever been a single. Oh and so much more.
And because I know kitsch and its ultimate power here's an mp3 for my ultimate theme song:
And so we're back looking at my recent 10 CD collection of Brad's Trip Back To The 80's - a little jaunt of my favorite songs that everyone should love.
So let's look at volumes 3 and 4 shall we?
bub114 BRAD'S TRIP BACK TO THE 80s Volume 3 Track List: 01. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - Eurythmics 02. Just Like Heaven - The Cure 03. Take On Me - A-ha 04. Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes 05. Only The Lonely - The Motels 06. Into The Groove - Madonna 07. Beat It - Michael Jackson 08. Rumors - Timex Social Club 09. The Belle Of St. Mark - Sheila E. 10. Goodbye Horses - Q Lazzarrus 11. The Stroke - Billy Squier 12. In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins 13. Karma Chameleon - Culture Club 14. Backfired - Debbie Harry 15. Centerfold - J. Geils Band 16. Down Under - Men At Work 17. Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling 18. You Should Hear How She Talks About You - Melissa Manchester 19. Invincible - Pat Benatar 20. I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow 21. Harden My Heart - Quarterflash
Another collection featuring quite a few from my top 100 list, but adding a few of my all time favorites that didn't actually make the list - I forget how good "Take On Me" really is until you haven't heard it in a while - Sheila E's "The Belle Of St. Mark" I completely missed at the time of its orginal release but has now been added to my Iphone and I can't stop listening to it. As for "Goodbye Horses" by the mysterious Q Lazzarrus - it's one of many highlights from the Married To The Mob soundtrack but was never released as a single so it didn't qualify for my intial list or it would've been on there. It's one of my all time favorites ever, and may just end up being covered by yours truly for the (possibly) upcoming Swivek cover album.
I will get to posting mp3s soon... but until then..
bub115 - BRAD'S TRIP BACK TO THE 80s VOLUME 4 Track List: 01. I Feel For You - Chaka Khan
02. Strut - Sheena Easton
03. Somebody's Baby - Jackson Browne
04. Luka - Suzanne Vega
05. Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths
06. Night Moves - Marilyn Martin
07. Sweet Child O Mine - Guns n Roses
08. And We Danced - Hooters
09. Don't You Want Me - Human League
10. Peek-A-Boo - Siouxsie & The Banshees
11. Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins
12. I Know There's Something Going On - Frida
13. We Live For Love - Pat Benatar
14. She's Like The Wind - Patrick Swayze
15. Whip It - Devo
16. Voices Carry - Til Tuesday
17. Do You Believe In Love? - Huey Lewis & The News
18. Destination Unknown - Missing Persons
19. Liar Liar - Debbie Harry
20. Don't Stand So Close To Me - The Police
One of our first where there's actually more songs that weren't on my top 100 list, but the ones that are featured here were all big time considerations as they are brilliant singles - from the funky pop of our opening cuts, "Chaka Kahn, do you feel for me?" and Sheena's brush with R&B - the brilliant "Strut" - through the mainstream yet totally enjoyable Jackson Browne which conjures up all kinds of memories from one of my all time films Fast Times At Ridgemont High, plus my all time favorite Police single ever! This one is just fun.. plus I loved my artwork! I know sometimes I really pull my shoulder patting myself on the back.
I'll be back tomorrow with volumes 5 and 6 and hopefully tonight I'll be able to post up some mp3s for your ultimate 80s revival enjoyment.
Well I've been working on new Bubbatunes compilations including some 'reissues' of classic albums but before we get to anything new, I thought I'd look back at the final ones I made in 2007.
Before Christmas came around, Alf's neice kept asking me to make her the definitive 80's CD, as for some reason she thought I could put together a really cool mix. Well of course she was right and since I had been meaning to make a Bubbatunes collection of my top 100 singles of the 80's, I thought this was A) the perfect opportunity to make the Cds and 2) the perfect Christmas gift for Miss E.
But once I started grabbing songs I realized I wanted more than just the top 100 I came up with, I wanted to go crazy and include all classic 80's tunes I thought deserved to be heard by someone maybe a little less familiar with the decade than myself, so I came up with 10 (YES 10!) CDs in the BRAD'S TRIP BACK TO THE 80's Collection. Over the span of the 10 Cds all 100 of my top singles are included but they aren't in order and on the inside of each disc is the copyright date, chart position (if any) and chart debut date (if any) and most importantly the chart position the song ranked in THE TOP 100 SINGLES OF THE 80s - ACCORDING TO BRADLEY.
So let's take a gander at the track lists - we'll take two discs at a time for the next few days and I'll post up some mp3s when I can (or by request should it arise).. and don't forget to comment. I'm sure you'll have something to say about some of my choices.
bub113 BRAD'S TRIP BACK TO THE 80's - VOLUME 1 Track List: 01. Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners 02. The Tide Is High - Blondie 03. 99 Red Balloons - Nena 04. Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar 05. Turning Japanese - The Vapors 06. Gloria - Laura Branigan 07. I Got You - Split Enz 08. Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler 09. Kids In America - Kim Wilde 10. I Melt With You - Modern English 11. Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles 12. He Could Be The One - Josie Cotton 13. I Love Rock & Roll - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts 14. Vacation - Go Go's 15. Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor 16. Footloose - Kenny Loggins 17. She Bop - Cyndi Lauper 18. Funkytown- Lipps Inc. 19. Crash - Primitives 20. Break My Stride - Matthew Wilder 21. Goodbye To You - Scandal
Of the 10 I made this one is probably my ultimate favorite as I put on most of my favorite 80's and not to mention it probably has the most songs from my top 100 list than any of the other 80's CD collection in the series. The highlighted songs are the ones that made my top 100 singles list - and how I almost included "Come On Eileen" but alas I ended up not including it - though everytime I hear it, it's not the 80s that come to mind but rather the 90's and how Lisa and I used to go to this dance club in Abbotsford that had several different rooms and the alternative dance room had a boxing ring as the dance floor. For some reason in between dancing to Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode they'd play "come on eileen" and we would just dance, dance, dance...
As we go through these comps you will soon realize that I have to include a Pat Benatar and Debbie Harry song in some form on every single compilation CD I make. Not just on these 80s CDs but also any mix I have ever made for anyone else. I tried to make one once without a song with my girls and it just seemed incomplete. Also, I had to take a few liberties in regards to the year 1979 for these CDs only because Elaine deserved to hear them and have them. So "Video Killed The Radio Star" is included though it was a hit in the summer of '79 but considering it was the first video ever played on MTV it has its place in the 80's CDs. (though it made my list of the top 100 singles of the 70's)... okay next....
bub 114 BRAD'S TRIP BACK TO THE 80's Volume 2
Track List: 01. Flashdance...What A Feeling - Irene Cara 02. No More Words - Berlin 03. Sunglasses At Night - Corey Hart 04. Little Red Corvette - Prince 05. Twist Of Fate - Olivia Newton-John 06. Jack & Dianne - John Cougar 07. Edge Of Seventeen - Stevie Nicks 08. She Works Hard For The Money - Donna Summer 09. Passing Strangers - Ultravox 10. Call Me - Blondie 11. Don't Change - INXS 12. Send Me An Angel '89 - Real Life 13. Jessie'sGirl - Rick Springfield 14. Only You - Yaz (zoo) 15. Under Pressure - David Bowie & Queen 16. Kiss Me Deadly - Lita Ford 17. Walking On Sunshine - Katrina & The Waves 18. People Are People - Depeche Mode 19. Buffalo Stance - Neneh Cherry 20. Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar
Okay, this one is really good too - again it has quite a few from my top 100 list plus it has one that almost made the 100 - Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance" a song I've always just loved! Ggggigalo.. great stuff. In fact all the songs on this CD that didn't make the top 100 singles list - Donna's "She Works Hard...", "Jack & Dianne" and Prince were all very strong contenders.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's little blip where we look at volumes 3 and 4! I know you're going to love it!
Like fer sure, I can't believe the awesome news I have today - it seems one of my favorite shows is finally coming to DVD! Long before that horse face Sarah Jessica Parker became a fashion icon, she was on a little show called Square Pegs where she played one of two poor loser high school freshmen girls who tried and tried to get in with the popular crowd.
That crowd included Tracy Nelson as the Valley Girl and one of my favs Jami Gertz as Muffy, the uber brain who was very "behooved" by just about everything.
The series included appearances by Devo and I'll always recall the girls trying to get the popular girl to do something for them by saying, "we need someone with that Pat Benatar" look, and there she is all ready to go.
It's not the greatest show on earth, but I watched it every Monday in its all too breif season of 82-83, and for all 20 episodes at about $30 and being released May 20th - two days before that national holiday - my birthday... It's just too exciting...
oh and The Waitresses did the theme song and here it is, cuz it's like you know sharing and all that...
So why am I posting pictures of a set of port a potties being taken away? Well sit right back and I'll tell a little tale...
Oh life in La La Land around the time of the Oscars - sure it's cool and fun if you give a rip about the movie industry - and by that I mean if you have an agent or a friend in the biz who can get your brilliant script sent to the right producer, but for those of us who aren't there (yet) it can be a bit of a pisser.
First and foremost, since relocating our showroom to the Pacific Design Center I have discovered that anytime there is an awards ceremony they throw a big giant tent up over the fountains and create a make shift ball room for the elite to rub elbows with the elite. That's fine, I believe the rich and powerful and (sometimes) talented deserve to get their groove on but when the boys and girls start building the "ballroom under the balloon" I have to walk around the frickin' building to get into work. Now I'm the kind of person who would usually just keep walking and walk my ass back home, but I'm more mature now.
So anyhoos, last week the balloon ballroom went up for Elton John's annual AIDS benefit party and on Friday, when it was all up and ready for the big wigs, it occured to me, "Where the hell do these people pee?" I'd sure as hell be damned if I was going to a party if there wasn't a toilet to use - I don't care if Lisa Hartman herself was giving the damn thing - I ain't going.
So then I thought, "Hey maybe (and this cracked me up) they set up port a potties..." Now can you imagine all those $5000 gowns being hiked up so Nicole Kidman can drop her fancy panties and pee in a port a pottie.
Elton's party had the likes of Courtney Love, Ellen Degeneres and Portia De Rossi attending, and I don't think any of the last three girls would have a prob dropping trou in a make shift urinal but Elton, that queen wouldn't go near one.
So with the question still unresolved as to where the celebrities pee, imagine my ultimate surprise when I arrive at work this morning to find the port a potties being loaded away. Now I don't care what anyone tells me, I really do believe that all those Oscar kids were in there grasping desperately to their million dollar gowns and trying hard as they could to keep the bottoms of their fancy shoes spotless in the dirty port a potty.
"If you're going to wear ass-less chaps, then shave your ass. How many more times do I have to say this to the lesbian community?"--Joan Rivers on Out.com
Well I had the day off yesterday and though I had to take a vacation day to get it, it was all worht it. I basically did laundry and then worked on a few projects and to all my fans, friends and foes - two projex I'm working up include the season 2 premiere episode of Carlton Heights (eek!) and a Swivek covers album (eek! x2). So far the bible and the scene lay outs are worked up for the CH and there are six covers working out including "These Boots Are Made For Walking", "Only The Lonely (The Motels), "Time After Time" by Nick Gilder and a few more...
But let's wander back to Friday - where I rooted for and helped (I do belive) get my pals Shitting Glitter to win a Battle of the Bands at Girl Bar - one more show and the guys and gals go to Palm Springs and play with the likes of a band I like to call the Go - Go's...
Here's some pix from the night - notice me yacking and telling them what's what!
and here is a you tube version of the performance for "Slut Buffet"
Happy Valentine's Day to all of three of you, my faithful readers... today is always a bit of a pain for me. Basically cause I'm spoiled beyond belief and everyday with the Leivas is a little bit like Valentine's Day minus the cards. In fact I already know what I'm getting and I had to let the Leivas know what I planned on getting him too since he's so hard to buy for and the one thing he wanted I didn't know how or where to get it. You see he wanted himself a Hoover, now imagine my surprise after giving him what I thought was a hoover, that he was in fact talking about a steam vac, so imagine my surprise after giving him what I thought was a steam vac, he meant a Hoover steam vaccuum cleaner. Now I don't even know how to give a cleaner, so I just looked it up on the internet. So I show you what the Leivas is getting for Valentine's Day:
For me, the Leivas actually found something we both can enjoy - he talked about it and talked about and finally took the day off so he could get the full ticket for the Paley Festival '08. The Paley Festival is a festival held by what used to be the Museum Of Television & Radio - a favorite place of the Leivas and I; they always have little reunion panels of shows including (quite a while before I moved here) Knots Landing. This year they are doing panels with Chuck, Friday Night Lights, Gossip Girl and one of my new favs - Pushing Daisies.
They are also hosting little after parties for these events and we have tickets to those as well which also include a night with Judd Apatow and friends - he wrote and produced all those movies like Anchorman, Superbad and Knocked Up and I'm hoping upon hope one of his friends is Paul Rudd! Cause I love him something bad.
Oh and apparantly one of the last events is a reunion with the cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer which let me tell you I have a strong aversion to anything Sarah Michelle Gellar while my pal The Cissell is in love with this show, so maybe just maybe I got her Valentine's Day present as well....
To top it all off tonight we are going to Sizzler's for dinner - no sh**tt - it's all cause I would rather have the money for extra presents than bother spending a million dollars on dinner - we used to go to Aculpolco Mexican but it closed.. and actually the whole thing is our little joke - we laugh and giggle and love each other up!
Okay so this video premiered on LOGO sometime in December and I'm just now getting 'round to seeing it.. I think the video is cute, and the song is catchy as hell, but I'm like so confused. First of all, someone mentioned on another blog about the song that the video makes it look like gay is catchy - but I didn't really see it that way, I just thought it was a bit hilarious particurlarly when the song ends with some boy saying, "I can make you gay like that... snap!"
What I have a strange problem with is the chorus - "you're a gay boy and it shows/ but it's okay boy/ no one knows..." I'm not sure if it's supposed to be sarcastic, in which case it works (kind of) but otherwise it doesn't make much sense to me. Is it a pro-gay song or not? Couldn't they make up their mind... oh and the lead singer is an out and proud lesbian... I'm just so confused. When did pop become so confusing? What are your thoughts on what the song is trying to say? And does anyone know where to get an mp3 of it??
Okay, so I read somewhere that Fergie had done a movie or two, and since I don't care for the chick and think she's entirely over rated it was a huge surprise to me when I sat down to watch Across The Universe and spent the whole time thinking how brilliant Fergie was as Sadie, the Janis Joplin-esque super cool land lady in the movie. Well, guess what? It's not frickin' Fergie - it's actually a brilliant singer and actress by the name of Dana Fuchs, and I'm so glad cause if I had to turn around and suddenly respect Fergie, I'd feel like an idiot...
so long story short - Dana Fuchs is brillz, Fergie is not, and the movie itself - Across The Universe is a trippy fun little ride. It wasn't super excellant or anything but it was fun and it was interesting and I liked it quite a bit, but really it was Dana that blew me away and should they ever make a Janis bio like they've been talking about for years, she better be on the short list to play her...
and incidenatlly, the movie where Fergie does appear is actually one of my favs - Poseidon where she plays the singer... and does not, I repeat does not do a cover of "The Morning After" like I would've suggested.
Well it's Super Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday or Tsunami Tuesday or just plain Tuesday, I can't really keep up anymore. All I know is for a ton of states in this here Union of ours, it's the day you get to cast your vote... so don't delay, do your little thing and vote.. and I don't care what the media tells you, vote for who you believe is the right candidate and not who someone else is telling you to vote for.. but most importantly - just vote.
Location: West Hollywood, California, United States
SHORT VERSION: Bradley Jacobson is a singer/songwriter, sometime actor, sometime writer, audio engineer and producer, and all around happy dude. He was the singer/songwriter of the electronic trashy punky pop band Swivek, but is now a "solo" artist releasing music under his own name.
bub116 BRAD'S TRIP BACK TO THE 80s Volume 5
