For three weekends only during June - it’s INVINCIBLE- THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN LIVE! Featuring all Pat Benatar songs! I can not wait! and oh yes I have my tickets for this Friday! Cavern Club Theatre at Casita Del Campo (1920 Hyperion Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90027)
The co-creator the camp-classic Chico's Angels is back with an all-new rock musical workshop production based on the 1985 cult-hit classic The Legend of Billie Jean, starring drag sensation Willam Belli in the title role. Incorporating the awesome hits of Pat Benatar, this re-imagining tells the story of Texas teen heroine Billie Jean and her crew, as they fight for what's fair in incomparable '80s butt-kicking style.
On Friday I got the chance to meet one of my all time idols - Miss Patti B or Pat Benatar as she is more commonly known. She was at Borders in Westwood signing her new book "Between a Heart and A Rock Place." Unfortunetly there weren't any pictures of any kind allowed so it's something I'm going to have to remember for as long as I can - until I can get backstage one day.
It was actually still really cool - I went with my friend Marc and his friend Charlie who had met Benatar several times and she recognized immediately and asked if Marc and I were with him so it was like we were long lost pals. I told her how the very first record I ever owned was In The Heat Of The Night - I'm sure she was totally impressed.
When I was a kid I used to go to my Aunt Dianne's and she had this wood stove in the living room that was set up on a sort of step up and I would turn it into a stage and sing "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" to all my relatives while the 45 played. They loved it and I was going to share the story but for some reason I choked, and honestly thought she could give a shit about it, but whatever.. it was still an experience.
I finished the book on Sunday and got totally stoked to work on more music. I love how her and Neil have worked continuously together and wish I had a man who actually liked music but I guess my life and "career" will remain separate, though I have decided that I really, really, really do need a collaborater to work with like she has. Someone who works with me exclusively and can help and support what I want to do - plus come in with brilliant ideas and keep me in check while actually pushing me to work. Now I just need to figure who that is and where to find them.
In the interim, I started working on some stuff. For years I've been trying to re-record the Mexican Gods album from 2002 so my vocals sound at least presentable since I thought it was a pretty good album but had no experience working on my own. I have had a few "done" for awhile and now I'm working on some that never panned out.
It's mostly to get me to rehearse because I am working on re-recording some of the back catalog. Not sure what I'm going to do with them but a 'my pick of greatest hits' album may be coming. I've asked Devin to help me out as I really, really, really need a producer and musical director and he is one of the most talented people I happen to be lucky enough to know. Luckily he has agreed to help me a bit so I'm totally stoked. There's some great Swivek songs that have been overlooked and I'd love to be able to present them in a fresh and better sounding form..
and finally I have a full day of real studio time booked for anytime so with the re-recordings I'm hoping it puts my voice in shape and inspires a new single to record in a professional setting... and that's what is up these days with Bradley in La La Land.
There are some hilarious "Literal Versions" of videos out there - the idea is they take a video and instead of singing along with the lyrics they make up lyrics to what the characters are doing in the videos. One of the best so far has been Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" but now I just found one for my girl - Pat Benatar and her video for "Love Is A Battlefield" - if you aren't cracking up after the 3:28 mark there is something wrong with you:
I went to the dentist today and as I've stated before (and will again and again) I hate the dentist. If the actual act of having someone fingering around inside my head isn't bad or gross enough, the bill at the end of it all drives me nuts. Why oh why can't my teeth be pretty all on their own? Well no matter that I can't sip water without running it all the way down my shirt, it still reminds me of one of my favorite things - the Pat Benatar video for Anxiety, so let's enjoy it together okay?
I don't know how many of you are watching Glee, but it really is a great little show and a few episodes back they did a little song and dance number to "Say A Little Prayer" which seems to be the biggest thing to hit the You Tube waves since Beyonce's "Single Ladies" and here is my ultimate favorite rendition:
I spend way too much time online reading various blogs - there's DListed - with its wry sassy celebrity bitches, and www.towleroad.com for both celebrity mongering and politics, and Pam's House Blend for LGBT politics, and now I have a new favorite here is http://www.goodasyou.org/ a gay political news blog run by a guy named Jeremy Hooper. I read it every day and like he says it's a new wave of gay politics.. check it out if you so desire.
This coming Sunday is going to be one of those, so frickin' cool days that I can barely contain myself... for that is the day that I'm going to the OC Fair where I'll be seeing Blondie & Benatar at the same venue... it's like a 1981 dream come to life... and so I dug out this little nugget of a photo with the Queen Of the Underground.. just to remind everyone How cool I really am.
I'm a terrible blogger - I forget I even have one until I have something very important to talk about, you know like making bootleg copy albums of my favorite 80's rock chicks... and speaking of such, I have something incredibly profound to declare -
today is PAT BENATAR's birthday!!! Yay!!! Though it's not like I'm taking her out to dinner and drinks or anything, but I'm sure wherever she is she's celebrating just like me (get it! it's a pat song, actually a pat cover but, oh forget it...). I can see it now, she's going to put on those tight black leather pants, her striped white and black t, and all that eye make-up saunter around lip synching You Better Run... and even if she isn't you can bet your sweet bippy that's exactly what I'm doing tonight...
so happy Birthday oh idol of idols, Miss one time Andjewski, mrs Giraldo, and the one and only PAT BENATAR!!!
It is with sad remorse I announce that Swivek is left without a record label.. Flexible Records run by my pal Patrick is now defunct. Four years and 75 CDs later, Patrick is just too busy to keep it going. But it was cool while it lasted.. as for Swivek, don't fear none for I will still be making music and as for all of our past releases, they will soon be available right on our own website. And you can always go the way old fashioned way and actually buy three of our CDs at www.cdbaby.com if you really want to."Mexican Gods","Bruised"and "Darkness + Light" are all available there.
For now head on over to our My Space page where you can hear and download our killer kick ass, super infused, punky electro take on La Benatar's "Treat Me Right" - You know you want to - www.myspace.com/swivek
THE TOP FIVE After what seems likes months and months, we have finally made it into the top 5 singles of the entire decade in the 1970's and as I know you're just itching to find out what my warped little ears picked up on, here they are the top 5 Singles Of The 70's - According To Bradley:
#5 – Video Killed The Radio Star – The Buggles (Downes/Horn/Wooley) Island single #49114 US / Chart Debut: US Pop 11/10/1979 #40 / UK 09/29/1979 #1 A song about the future, where the future was really only a few months away. Most people know this jumpy little synth track from the early days of MTV, but the song was actually released and a hit two summers before MTV ever even debuted, it’s just that some genius thought of “Video Killed The Radio Star” as the perfect first video to be played on a new medium they hoped would take over radio programming. The boys at MTV got their wish but there was a time when no one thought it would ever work. The song itself is a cool ditty full of metallic synths and overdubs telling the tale of radio star who just can’t get the praise in the video age she used to get in the days of radio. It’s almost creepy how in touch the Buggles seemed to be in determining how music would be shaped. But I’m sure it was just coincidence and they were just trying to make a catchy new wave song. They succeeded for sure because “Video Killed The Radio Star” has to be one of the most clever and memorable songs to come out of the new wave era. With the bee bop girls singing along behind the lead vocals and the different instrumentations and melodies coming in, it really ushered in the age of plastic, just as the title of the album it came from, had announced.
#4 – You’re The One That I Want – Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta (John Farrar) RSO single #891 US / #6 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 04/01/1978 #1 / UK 05/20/1978 #1 When I was but a wee tyke, my mommy took me out to the bar with her and it ended up being the very first time I ever took to the stage. Yes, I was a child protégé, can you even believe it? That night, there was a band playing and they asked the audience if anyone would like to come up and join them in a song, well of course this kid shouted and screamed to get up on stage. When they asked me what I wanted to sing all I could think of was “You’re The One That I Want” from the movie Grease. Actually it wasn’t that hard of a choice since I had already seen the movie about 8 times, having convinced every single relative that came within hearing distance, that I had yet to see the movie, so one by one they all took me to see the film. I instantly fell in love with Olivia and John and Stockard and well, the whole gang. I also ran out and had my mother buy me the soundtrack, on 8 track of course so I could hear it in the car. Anyhoos, the highlight of the film is of course Livvie coming out as “Sandy II” in her tight leather pants and red Candie heels, and as she snubs out her cigarette and kicks Travolta’s chest, the whole world goes wild, and they break into “You’re The One That I Want.” The song is interesting as it wasn’t part of the original Grease play, the song was once again written by John Farrar, Olivia’s main producer and writer, but to show how good and how loved the song is, it’s become synonymous with Grease and I’m sure anyone who put on the play post-film would be a fool not to include the song. I mean even the new reality show where they are trying to find a new Danny and Sandy to play on Broadway is called You’re The One That I Want. As for the reasons the song struck such a chord, I really believe it has a ton to do with the sweet lovable but push over that Olivia was at the time prior to her transformation into Sandy. She goes from sissy to sassy in two minutes and turns the tables on her man defending her actions as a way to make sure he can handle her for all that she is. The fact that John Travolta was huge at the time didn’t hurt either. “You’re The One That I Want” begins with that great John high pitched “I’ve got chills/ they’re multiplyin’/ and I’m looosin’ control…” and the combination of the piano and that jazzy bass beat pump the song through plus the speedy chorus is so catchy everyone sings along with it yet no one can sing it like those two, try it, and you end up sounding like you’re talking and not singing at all. I guess that’s just the talent of Miss O, as for my debut all those years ago, you can bet that little white haired boy nailed it. I mean I didn’t even sing it with someone else, I took a duet and made it all my own. I’m sure I seemed rather schyzo but still I was able to blow them away. I was great and even if I wasn’t, in my memory I remember it being a magical time and I’ll keep it that way forever .
and for a special treat to imagine what I may have looked like at the time I made my big debut here's a little pic to put it into perspective:
#3 – Heart Of Glass – Blondie (Deborah Harry/Chris Stein) Chrysalis single #2295 US / #2275 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 02/17/1979 #1 / UK 01/27/1979 #1
Like so many other people, “Heart Of Glass” was my first taste of Blondie music. I remember being up with my mom one late New Year’s Eve night and seeing Blondie perform the song. I fell in love instantly with Deborah Harry and when my mother informed me that my father liked her I was even more stoked. I thought maybe we’d finally bond over something. As it turns out, we didn’t bond but boy did I bond with Blondie. My aunt had the Parallel Lines album and informed me she had done some cheerleading routine to the song so I stole the album. Psst, don’t tell her. Later, some relatives of our neighbors had the album and were more than impressed to know that I knew every single song back and forth. As for the single itself, “Heart Of Glass” is so often miscast as the band’s disco single it used to drive me nuts. For the record even early renditions of the song was called “The Disco Song” by the band so I suppose it was what they were going for, but if you listen to the music itself, “Heart Of Glass” is so much more than a run of the mill disco song, in fact there’s more of a smooth new wave feel to it than something KC & The Sunshine Band would do. There are the winding synths, the tic tic of the keyboard and the drums, the guitar, and Debbie’s oh so cool passivity in her vocals. The song is one of their most famous and still plays in clubs from here to England. Of course it doesn’t hurt that there are about 100 different versions of the song available. The original single faded out right after Debbie’s fab line, “Once I had a love/ it was a gas/ soon turned out to be a pain in the ass…” but when some radio felt uncomfortable playing it, a second version was released with it fading out before the line, then of course there was the 5:50 ‘disco version’ that showed up on 12” and on most of the pressings of Parallel Lines; and from there it just got remixed and remixed. But it’s the original that stands up the best, I get a thrill from the intro and when Debbie’s bridge comes in you can’t help but sing along, “Lost inside adorable illusion/ and I can’t hide/ I’m the one you’re using/ please don’t push me aside/ we could’ve made a cruisin’ yeah” and the boys “na, na, na, na”’s are an excellent touch until we get to the part that everyone loves, the breakdown and the “oooh wahoh”.“Heart Of Glass” is so full of little things to make it awesome, it’s almost amazing there could be a group of people so talented they could put all of this together. “Heart Of Glass” is a classic single that has definitely stood the test of time.
#2 – Heartbreaker – Pat Benatar (Gill/Wade) Chrysalis single #2395 Chart Debut: US Pop 12/22/1979 #23 If all Pat Benatar had ever offered to us was “Heartbreaker” I would still be a die Benatar fan. From the moment the intense drumbeat begins you are taken into a whole new level of high-energy new wave rock. Then the voice comes in and there’s no turning back, “Your love is like a tidal wave/spinning over my head/ drowning me in your promises/ better left unsaid…” in that now familiar Benatar growl but then she goes up three octaves to give us a bridge, “You’re the right kind of sinner/ to release my inner fantasy/ the invincible winner/ and you know that you were born to be” before growling the chorus, “You’re a heartbreaker/ dream maker/ love taker/ don’t you mess around with me/ no, no, no!” and if you’re smart you wouldn’t mess with the little petite firecracker. After listening to song after song from the 70’s I knew Benatar’s first big single would hit high and to be perfectly honest it was just a hair from being our #1 single of the 70’s, that’s how much I love this song and how much I believe you should love it too. There wasn’t another rocker like Miss Benatar when she hit the scene – there were the hard rocking boys in endless bands, and there were women hitting the scene like my Debs, Chrissie Hynde, Heart and Patti Smith but Pat had more of a gleam to her, she used a boy’s use of sexiness to get her gut wrenched messages across. Not as centerfold in looks in Debbie and not as lyrical as the Blondies, nor as political as Patti or Chrissie or even as hard rock as the Wilson sisters, Pat blended pop and rock with banging guitars on this single being meshed together by a new wave production done by Mike Chapman’s right hand band Peter Coleman. “Heartbreaker” bashes through the supposed prejudice that women can’t rock like men, Pat reestablishes the first verse with the second and then there’s a guitar solo and the drums come pounding back with Pat’s intense bridge only for all the music to fall away and an accapella rendering of the chorus which sounds amazing turned up to almost full volume. The music comes back and as Pat winds up the chorus, her soon to be husband Neil Geraldo creates one of the best guitar solos (almost 30 more seconds of the song) of the entire decade. Of course, the most thrilling part of it all is that voice, you never heard a woman sing like that behind those incredibly hard rock sounds. In fact the radio stations didn’t want to play the song at first as they felt it was too hard of a sound. It would take over 3 months to even move into the top 40 in March of 1980 but would eventually reach the lower 20’s and help put Pat Benatar on the map. Of all of her wonderfully crafted and exciting singles nothing punches like “Heartbreaker”, and the song and its album In The Heat Of The Night made a life time fan out of this little blonde, and that’s why it made it all the way to our number 2 spot. I couldn’t live without this song in my life.
On a side note I don’t think it hurt any that Pat looks smokin’ hot on the record jacket, in the UK, where the song didn’t chart or sell I blame completely on the record jacket issued, I mean it’s just downright goofy. and just to keep things a little on the edge, before we get to the very best single of the 1970's let me give you a little trivia about our list... I love this stuff, even if you don't...
1. Completely coincidentally but so wonderful is the fact that every single year of the 70's has been represented in our list of the top 100. Being a child of the 80's it's probably not terribly surprising that the year with the most entries is 1979, with a total of 25 singles, including 5 of our top 10; 1979 is followed by 1978 (23), a tie between 1977 & 1976 (11), 1970 has 8 singles, 5 singles are a tie between 1971 and 1974 and there are 4 singles from 1972x1973 and 1975, so it looks like a fairly good representation.
2. Blondie (of course) has the most singles entries in our list with 7, followed by Fleetwood Mac with 4 singles, and then third place finds a tie between Donna Summer & Olivia Newton-John each with 3 hits, and the total number of artists with double entries is 11 - Linda Ronstadt, Barry Manilow, Melanie, Billy Joel, Patti Smith Group, Aerosmith, Queen, ABBA, Bee Gees, Carly Simon and our #2 entry winner Pat Benatar, but should you feel that's a lot of songs by repeated artists there are still 61 songs that are by artists with only one entry.
3. Producer Mike Chapman produced the most singles on our countdown with 6 but since he did produce 4 of Blondie's 7 that's not a big surprise but he also produced Benatar's "If You Think You Know How To Love Me" (#34), The Knack's "My Sharona" (#13), Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" (#9) and Nick Gilder's "Hot Child In The City".
4. It's not surprising considering the size and period of time they were in business but Columbia Records has the most chart entries with 11 including Elvis Costello, Billy Joel & Boomtown Rats on their roster. And because of Blondie's prominence on the chart the record label with the second most entries goes to Chrysalis Records but they also had Pat Benatar, Nick Gilder, and Claudja Barry; and the third is another big sized company Capitol Records with 7 entries including Anne Murray, The Knack and Sweet.
now stay tuned for the #1 Single Of The 1970's According To Bradley
Top 100 Singles Of The 70's - According To Bradley #35-31 Today we have a little bit of an excercise routine in store for you - you get to whistle, you get to dance all night long and that's just to try and get the music out of you - have you gotten any little clues about today's 5 singles? Good... either way, good.
#35 – Can’t Smile Without You – Barry Manilow (Chris Arnold/ David Martin/ Geoff Morrow) Arista single #305 US / #176 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 02/04/1978 #3 / UK 05/06/1978 #43 Don’t you laugh at me! All you have to do is hear the opening whistle on Barry’s “Can’t Smile Without You” and I dare you to turn it off. Well maybe you would still turn it off but I’m telling you, you would regret it. I always liked Barry just a little bit but when this song was used in the film Unconditional Love with Kathy Bates and Rupert Everett and even Barry showed up in the film, I was hooked all over again. It’s the perfect little pop song for the Manilow man, it’s silly sweet and so damn catchy you just can’t shake it.
#34 – If You Think You Know How To Love Me – Pat Benatar (Nicky Chinn/Mike Chapman) Chrysalis single #2373 Released September 1979 - Not charted You didn’t really think I could forget about my Patti did you? Pat’s first album In The Heat Of The Night wasn’t released until October so her number of 70’s singles is of course pretty narrow. “If You Think You Know How To Love Me” was the first cross world single released from the album. A steamy and seductive mid tempo rock song, it had been a hit a few years before for the band Smokie. Pat’s version however is so much better. Not only is it Pat which just makes it 100% better than anything, but it is also a lot more rocking. Maybe not rocking in the sense of hard metal heaviness, but the guitar churning through out it and the cymbals banging on every third note of the chorus is a pretty intense listen. The best thing about the song is the atmosphere, you feel the lyrics as Pat punches through them and you see the imagery as if you’re there with the Benatar; “A reckless night in a nameless town/ and we moved out of sight with a silent sound/ a beach that wept with deserted waves/ that’s where we slept knowing we’d be safe…” and her point of defiance, “now you may think you can walk on the wild, wild side with me/ but there’s a lot I’ve learned and a lot that I’ve yet to see…” but she eventually takes down her guard long enough to give out the ultimate challenge, “If you think you know how to love me/ and you think you know what I need/ and if you really really want me to stay/ you’ve got to lead the way/ yes, if you think you know how to love me/ and you think you can stand by me/ and if you really, really want me to stay/ you’ve got to lead the way.” The single didn’t do anything chart wise but it was a seductive opener to what was to become the hottest rock chick of the 80’s.
#33 – I Was Made For Dancin’ – Leif Garrett (Lloyd) Scotti Bros single #403 US / #11202 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 11/11/1978 #10 / UK 01/20/1979 #4 One more little ditty I never expected to find on my list and definitely not scoring so high but here’s the gist kids, so sit back. When I decided to make this list I hit the internet and record stores high and low finding every 70’s song I knew but didn’t have. After a successful trip I found Leif Garrett’s “I Was Made For Dancin’” on a 70’s comp. I thought if anything at least that will be a nice jaunt through the cheesiness that was the 70’s version of American Idol. What I didn’t know is how good the song actually was going to be. Combining the ultimate in 70’s music, the pop and disco beats so prevelant, the song chugs along at a fast and furious pace with the greatest production this side of an early Benatar album, “You’ve got me rollin’ like a wheel on the road/ round and round with no place to go/ I’ve got to find out if you’re feeling it too/ It’s hard to tell so here’s what I do/ and everytime I want more/ I’ll take you out on the floor…” begins Leif’s transgression to the top 10.
The chorus is a highlight, “I Was Made For Dancin’/ ah ah ah all night long…” I love it. I mean there’s even a bass driven breakdown in the middle of it. After I finally had all the songs I knew had a shot at being in the top 100 I made three mp3 discs of over 300 songs and then highlighted which ones got me jamming along, as that list dwindled this song just kept staying on the list. Finally when I was down to the top 100 I highlighted again, and anything in ‘blue’ were the ones I really really liked. The songs in which I found myself singing along with, bopping to and turning up. By now you can guess that crazy ass lunatic formerly known as Leif Garrett really got me dancin’ ah ah ah all night long.
#32 – I’ve Got The Music In Me – Kiki Dee Band (Boshnall) Rocket single #40293 US/ #12 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 09/14/1974 #12 / UK 09/07/1974 #19 Poor Kiki, one of the biggest mysteries in the world of music, she is best known for the Elton John duet “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” which she made two years AFTER this single, but after that it seems she just disapperared from the face of the Earth. It’s really too bad as she had quite an incredible little voice. “I’ve Got The Music In Me” is one of those songs that always popped into my head, kind of like “I’ve got rhythm/I’ve got style…” just something that would pop in the noggin’ if someone was doing something a little off kilter like singing or dancing horridly. Then I got the Captain & Tennille DVD and Toni performed this song. I discovered two things, one the lyrics to “I’ve Got The Music In Me” were really cool and I hated Toni Tennille’s accent and attitude. So I decided to track this ditty down and what do you know, Kiki’s version kicks ass. Not only is it a rocking song full of guitars and horns and her scratchy voice, it’s also not as cheesy or over the top as I had thought it would be. As I had figured, the lyrics are great, and the arrangement is perfect. Beginning with just a guitar, Kiki kicks in, “Ain’t got no trouble in my life/ no foolish dreams to make me cry/ I’m never frightened/ I never worry/ You know I always get by…” Yes, I know the story of my life huh? Then the song turns up a notch, “I heat up/ I cool down/ If something gets in my way/ I go ‘round it/ Won’t let life get me down/ I’m gonna take it the way that I found it” and the chorus “I’ve got the music in me” which is just repeated over and over but it’s pretty great. The arrangement changes repeatedly through out the song with a fake psych out about the ending, where you think it’s over only for the song to get kicked up again. And that voice of hers on here is so great. She didn’t sound like this on “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” I can tell you that much. Of course, it’s always the verses that really do it for me and they are filled with the idea that she always knows things will work out as she has the music in her, which I love. Who frickin’ knew?
#31 – Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac (Lindsay Buckingham) Warner Bros single #8304 US / #16872 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 01/08/1977 #10 / UK 02/19/1977 #38 The 70’s version of Fleetwood Mac had the main songwriting duties shared by Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham. Of those three they seemed to all channel into their own personal ideals, Christine the hopeless romantic always writing songs of love and usually an upbeat message of some sort, Stevie, the eternal dreamer with her warped words of the occult and nuance, and Lindsay, the cynic, always the hot head waiting to unleash a lyrical hatred. I love him. I also love when I know what a song is really about and go back and hear the lyrics putting together the pieces of what was in the writer’s mind. The songs on Rumours are all about love being thrown away or breaking up and Lindsay’s are the most pissy, the highlight being the album track “The Chain”, but a very close follow up is one of the album’s first singles “Go Your Own Way.” A sort of attack on Stevie about their break up, “Loving you isn’t the right thing to do…” begins the lyric before the whirling Lindsay guitars pick up the pace and Mick’s chug a chug drum beats follow suit, “If I could I’d give you my world/ how can I/ when you won’t take it from me?” and by the chorus he’s telling her to go her own way. I wonder how strange it must feel to sing along with the man when you know he’s singing about how awful you are? I guess that’s called professionalism and Fleetwood Mac is most definitely a professional band. “Go Your Own Way” may be Lindsay’s slap back to Stevie but it’s a pop classic that still sounds good today and I bet even Stevie is so way past the whole thing.
Y'all come back as we begin our descent into the ultimate in the top singles of the 70's - and we have so much more to talk about cuz well, I've got the music in me and I simply must share it with you...
And so here we are again, this time we'll look through those dusty vaults and you know when you dust them off, there's some pretty interesting music to be found here. This time out we have some punky covers, some cheesy pop, some smoky vocals, and some live tracks, so let's get pumpin...
bub 13 Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - OTHER GUY'S 7" (2003) Me First & The Gimme Gimmes are probably THE premier punk cover artists, a conglomerate of some of the more recognizable faces in new school punk, singer Spike Slawson formed the Gimme Gimmes with NO FX bassist Fat Mike, Lagwagon singer/guitarist Joey Caop, No Use For A Name guitarist Chris Shiflett and Lagwagon drummer Dave Raun. They were drawn together by a mutual love of 60s and 70s music, and decided to work exclusively as a cover band. Never originally planning to record they ended up appearing on punk compilations and then in 1995 they began releasing 7" singles named after the singer they were covering.
Beginning with "Denver", they produced "Billy" (joel), "Diamond","Paul", "Barry" and "In Your Barcelonger" in this manner. Then in 2003, the Leivas found the band and I became a fan, so I took what songs I had and created this compilation of those 7" singles - they aren't all the songs included nor are they all the A-sides of the singles but they are a hoot and a half none the less, yes here on CD are those Other Guy's 7 inches done in that Gimme Gimmes work over.
Covering Neil Diamond, Paul Simon, Barry Manillow, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Del Shannon, and as a special bonus a Hall & Oates cover, this is one fun and gyrating little comp. Of course you know all the songs but you don't know them this way. The punk hollering of "You've Got a Friend" is worth it alone.
Track List: 01. Take Me Home Country Roads 02. Only The Good Die Young 03. America 04. I Write The Songs 05. Mother & Child Reunion 06. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me 07. The Boxer 08. You've Got A Friend 09. The Times They Are A Changing 10. Father & Son 11. Hats Off To Larry 12. Rich Girl bub 14 Kristy McNichol - PUMPIN' (2003) This very short (9 songs) compilation was one of the hardest to compile. In fact, it was so hard to track down Kristy McNichol’s music; this compilation almost never came to be. With all downloads you can never be sure how well the quality is until you actually get the song on your computer. Half the time it’s not even what you were expecting. Luckily there are Kristy fans out there – fans so adoring they loaded the classic “Baby Bye Bye” to their computer which is THE best song on The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia yet never ended up on the soundtrack album. Talk about injustice!
The first step was completed when a lovely girl named Amy (a girl I bonded brought to me by our devoted love of Lisa Hartman) made me a pristine copy of The Pirate Movie Original Soundtrack. Her cleaned up versions of the songs made me realize I HAD to make this comp.
My initial plan was to put “Pumpin’ & Blowin’” my favorite song by Kristy at the end of the comp but realized that with it at the beginning, it would surely hook me into Kristy’s musical world and I wouldn’t just fast forward. And so it begins with the nugget that is “Pumpin’ & Blowin’” The song is really the highlight of Kristy’s music and The Pirate Movie.
The song has the 80s all over with its thumping pop beat. Think Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” and you get the picture. In fact that’s not all too surprising when you realize the song (and all the original pop songs from the movie) are written by Terry Britten and Sue Schifrin who were devoted Olivia Newton-John song writers circa 1982. Despite it’s very obvious double entendre message, I’ve always felt “Pumpin’” was written with its tongue firmly in cheek. The song is so catchy and fun, you can’t help but love it. Sure it’s cheese, in fact it’s so cheesy it’s cheez whiz, but gee whiz I love cheez whiz.
The most important thing is Kristy is very believable singing the song. It’s one of her best vocal performances and the song is so sing songy everyone I know can’t help but give it two listens at a pop…
Thanks to Amy’s robust handling of the CD version to The Pirate Movie (not on CD officially so FCC back off!) there are two more Kristy songs to offer – “First Love” and “Hold On.”
“First Love” is the obligatory duet all musicals must do. In this case, it’s when the two characters meet for the first time. It’s love at first sight and we learn it all through this 80s ballad. Kristy really does a great job on her vocals in all the movie’s songs; sounding better than any previous effort and Christopher Atkins (not a singer at all) isn’t too bad either. According to Christopher, the producers amped up his vocals a little and he was surprised saying, “They can do anything, they can make a dog sound good.” And boy that dawg looked good …
In the film, both “Mabel” and “Frederick” get to sing their weepy ballad after all hope of their love affair is gone. Christopher got to do his, which ended up being the only official single, and Kristy’s was “Hold On.” This is one pop song that could’ve been done by any number of artists at the time and released to radio. It’s right out of 1982 and although not on the cutting edge side by any means, it’s pop cheese that would’ve or could’ve surely done some chart action…. Though it’s no “Pumpin’ & Blowin’”
Kristy’s only other singing role in film was in 1980’s The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia which is of course another of my all time favs. When I had Alf listen to the Kristy McNichol compilation (He does love me so) the first song heard from the Georgia soundtrack is “Hangin’ Up The Gun” a duet between Kristy and Dennis Quaid. I love the song, it’s a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll and Dennis is really quite good. I know he had or has a band in real life and was in fact part of Bonnie Raitt’s big revival in 1988 as they were next door neighbors and he loved her music. (Take that information any way you want to). But Alf just said, “What was it about the 80s that made every actor want to sing?” I don’t have an answer but I do know I liked it.
The biggest surprise for me was “I Need You Strong For Me”, a ballad of Kristy’s from the Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia. I didn’t really remember it from the movie and I didn’t expect to like it so much. But this is coming from the boy who is suddenly in love with “Somebody Must’ve Loved You Right Last Night” a Tanya Tucker keyboard heavy 70s number in a very similar vein to this. “I Need You Strong…” is actually a very pretty little number with Kristy singing, “Don’t go changing your life now/cuz I’m changing mine/It’s time that I am free/but I need you strong for me.” It would of course be a lot more effective if Kristy sang in a more recognizable key but anyone who ever heard a Swivek CD knows the off track key can be very effective and Kristy really takes off by the end of the song and something has to be said for one who gives their all in a performance and once you’re this far into the compilation you are so far into Kristy’s world you are ready to drop a tear.
It’s probably no surprise but I like the rock edge of pop music a tad more than ballads and “Baby Bye Bye” was always my favorite Kristy song fom The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia. She sings with a little more gusto than normally and there’s actually a pretty good guitar solo going on. The only problem is this wasn’t put on the soundtrack so the only version I have is one someone taped from the film which includes dialogue from the movie and a fairly shabby sound. But with a little cleanup the sassiness is at least audible. Kristy growls, “I heard from everyone in town/you’ve been slippin’ around/bye bye/baby bye bye.” I can’t help but think Tanya Tucker was somewhere on the set urging the girl on… “Do it like this, now like this, listen to how I sing and try, try you little boy girl, try!” Whatever it was, it happened and 1979 Tanya Tucker is definitely heard on this track.
The final tracks on this short 9 song compilation are from a 1978 album called Kristy & Jimmy McNichol, that’s right I’m not even joking. The brother and sister team who brought you endless Teen Beat covers brought you not only an album but a Kristy McNichol doll as well (but that’s another story)…
Though I haven’t heard the entire album ever I can probably safely assume it is very discoish and very 1978. The three songs picked here are made up of two covers and one very very disco song. In fact this thing is so disco Gloria Gaynor would probably hit the floor.
Kristy does her versions of “He’s So Fine” with the actual Chiffons singing backup (!) and “My Boyfriend’s Back”. The Chiffons song was actually a single credited to the brother and sister team though I don’t hear him at all, but the song actually cracked the top 100 (#79). Her covers aren’t too bad, but they aren’t all that different from the originals and her voice is a tad thin, but we’re talking about a 16 year old girl here who did not have the production advantages of the no talent girls of the 2000s, and I can’t help it – I like them.
The ending song is the fitting “Hot Tunes” which almost was put at the beginning of the CD, but thought others who listened may not get through it all to venture further into Kristy’s musical side. The song is a duet with Jimmy and it begins with those beats only a disco song would have, in fact the music sounds like something from a ChiPs episode, it’s that 1978!
“Can’t stop/Strong flow/Sounds so good/on the radio/Stomp my feet/Clap my hands/Surrender to the rhythm dance/The rhythm dance!”
Then the almighty chorus:
“Love those Hot Tunes/Hot flash/like a laser blast/Countdown/All systems go/Flying high/Like a UFO/ Like A UFO! / 10,9,8,7.6,5,4,3,2,1… blast off!”
Oh yes, it’s that good… and the perfect way to end a perfectly dive into the cheez whiz world of Miss Kristy McNichol.. the coolest piece of white bread the world ever saw… or heard.. Oh Kristy, where are you now?
Track List: 01. Pumpin' & Blowin' 02. He's So Fine 03. Hangin' Up The Gun 04. Hold On 05. My Boyfriend's Back 06. I Need You Strong For Me 07. Baby Bye Bye 08. First Love 09. Hot TunesDOWNLOAD KRISTY McNICHOL - PUMPIN'
bub 15 Kim Carnes - ROUGH EDGES (2003) Like most people, my introduction to Kim Carnes’ music was the mega hit “Bette Davis Eyes.” It was one of the first 45s I ever bought and I used to play it all the time. I loved the synthesized “slaps” through out the song and used to annoy my little brother to no end by pretending to slap him as the song played.
But Kim can’t be tossed off as just a one hit wonder; no you won’t find her next to Toni Basil in the Rock & Roll Museum. Kim had hits prior to and after “Bette Davis Eyes” she just never had as big of a hit. But that’s fairly understandable, this song was so huge repeating its success was impossible.
By the time “Bette Davis Eyes” was released in April 1981, Kim had been around for more than a decade. She sang with country bands and released a few albums in a more country folk vein that her big hit.
In 1978, her and her husband wrote the album Gideon for Kenny Rogers. It was a concept album of sorts with a cowboy theme. Kenny and Kim sang on “Don’t Fall In Love With A Dreamer” (not included on this compilation) and it became a hit.
The following year, she was the very first artist signed to EMI America Records on the insistence of the record company’s owner. Her first album on the label, St. Vincent’s Court didn’t do all that well but the following album Romance Dance spawned the top 10 hit “More Love” – a Smokey Robinson cover. Romance Dance also saw Kim moving into a more pop territory.
It was 1981’s Mistaken Identity that put Kim into the stratosphere. The album combined synthesized rock with country pop and it scored big. No doubt thanks to “Bette Davis Eyes” which was also a cover song of Jackie DeShannon’s. The original didn’t have those synthesizers in it and even the initial Kim recording didn’t have them. But after a little retooling they had the song everyone would come to know.
From the album I included not only that smash single but some of my favorites - Mistaken Identity as a whole is a kind of strange album, one album is synth rock and the next is pure coutnry, but for some reason it all works.
After the smashing success of Mistaken Identity and most notably the single, Kim’s next few albums were synthesized laden. Voyeur and Café Racers took different approaches however. Voyeur (the first full Kim album I had) was synthesized rock, while 1983’s Café Racers was dance pop, set to the tune of all those 1983 synthesizers and drum machines.
In 1985, Kim recorded Barking At Airplanes and took the helm as producer for herself. The album was a fairly big success considering the last two and she actually scored a top 20 hit with “Crazy In The Night.”
By 1986, even her minor hits were drying up, so she switched gears again and went back to her country roots. Kim is still recording and releasing records but it’s those five years on EMI America that makes up Rough Edges. They are my favorite Kim songs and they should be yours too.
The 1980 hit “More Love” is the only pre- Mistaken Identity I included. I had never heard the song either by Smokey Robinson or Kim until years after this song was a hit. I wasn’t even completely mad about it, but after numerous listenings, it really has a nice little ring to it. Kim gives her all to an almost disco country beat. I have since heard the original version and I hope the Motown gods don’t strike me down, but I actually like Kim’s version better.
The other songs from that country/hybrid of Mistaken Idenity include the country flick of “Don’t Call It Love.” I really like this song and the sentiment is so sweet it almost makes my teeth fall out, but being in such a wonderful relationship as I am, it touches me… “Nobody believes that I really care for you/they don’t think my heart is true/I don’t think you’d agree/you know I’m a life time guarantee/so if they ask you what you mean to me/don’t call it love/heaven’s above/we got a better thing/don’t call it love/that ain’t enough/tell them you’re my everything.” Awww.
“Still Hold On” has always been one of my favorite songs Kim ever wrote. It’s a country rock ballad that is full of powerful lyrics and a kick ass chorus. In 1986, my country girl Tanya Tucker came back from a hiatus of dried up hits to release the album Girls Like Me, and the last song on the album was her version of “Still Hold On.” Tanya’s is just as good as this original version, and on a side note in 1979 Tanya released her Tear Me Apart album featuring the title Chinn/Chapman song, and Kim did her version of the song on her album St. Vincent’s Court. Everything is connected in my little Bradley world...
A song often neglected on Kim Carnes' compilations is "Draw Of The Cards", a synthesized heavy ditty that is full of dark images and the is a fairly scary song. It was the follow up single to "Bette Davis Eyes" and hit the top 30. Once again, I recall the video and it kind of frightened me.
Through out the song, the music gets quiet and then loud, loud, until the end when the sax begins kicking in, loud, loud, LOUD, LOUD, SYNTHESIZER, HORNS, GUITARS, and a BIG SCARY JOKER LAUGH, before fading out. One of the most original songs to come out of this time period I think.
From Kim’s 1982 album Voyeur, I ended up using quite a few songs. “Voyeur” opens up Rough Edges and it is one of my all time favorite Kim tracks. I recall the video gained a lot of controversy as it was filled with violence and sex. Set to a synthesized rock beat, the story of the woman and her obsessions come shining through, “when voices through the thin walls/speak of abhorrent behavior/and the video’s her only savior…” Kim’s smoke filled voice adds to the eerie effect of the song, “Voyeur, voyeur/are you hot tonight? /dance dance dance/til it makes you feel good.”
The song was the opening number on the original album as well. I used to listen to that album over and over again. I loved that album, it had everything plus I loved the cover - a black and white photo of Kim in a mini skirt, jacket and high heels standing in front of some kind of factory looking building. It was so industrial, so dark. For the music inside there was rock guitars, synthesizers, keyboards, Kim’s rugged voice and some really good lyrics – plus Martha Davis of the Motels even showing up to sing along on one of the songs…
From that 1982 favorite I’ve included a few other songs including the pseudo duet with Martha – “The Arrangement.” It’s one of my favorites from that album. This track doesn’t bother using the keyboards or synthesizers of some of the others but it doesn’t go into country territory either. It’s pretty much a balls out rock song telling the tale of a very vain and selfish woman and her “arrangement” with her man. “He drives her all day long/to fancy bars and restaurants/she acts like nothings wrong/she satisfies his needs and wants/He will drive her/she will drive him crazy with demands/until he takes all he can stand" and that my friends is the arrangement.
The second single from Voyeur, was the rock ballad “Does It Make You Remember”. I’m not sure if there was a single version released or if the album version was the single. The album version is over five minutes and this is rare for a single, however listening to the song, I can’t imagine where or how they could’ve edited it down for a single version. If Kim weren’t a performer she would be (and was) a songwriter and it’s her lyrics that always affect me. If not a fan of 80s music or Kim’s voice, one would have to admit she writes some damn good stories.
My favorite song from Voyeur has always been “Looker.” It’s a song written by outside writers but it could’ve been one of Kim’s. Heavily laden synthesizers start out the song with Kim singing, “A pretty face reflected in a mirror/so perfect in every way/with every move the picture’s getting clearer/she’s got it all/she’s got it made,” / “She’s a Looker/that’s what they say/she’s got it all/ yeah she’s got it made/she’s a Looker/ with a beautiful face/always on display.” I can totally relate to this song as I too am quite a looker and it’s not so easy being pretty!
In the fall of 1982, a little movie known as Flashdance took the world and this little Bradley by storm. It was the first R rated movie I ever got to see. I could not stop talking about, whining and crying until my mother could take no more and brought me to the theater.
Anyway, Kim contributed to the soundtrack with her ballad, “I’ll Be Here Where The Heart Is.” To this day, it’s still one of my favorite songs, not just by Kim, and not just from the soundtrack but in general. Like I’ve said, Kim has a very clever of writing a lyric, then with her scratchy voice, I somehow am able to empathize with whatever she’s saying.
“I’ll Be Here Where The Heart Is” was never released as a single but Kim did put in on her next album, 1983’s Café Racers, and it was the B-side to that albums first single Invisible Hands.
For Café Racers, Kim hired Keith Olsen (Pat Benatar, Fleetwood Mac, and co-producer of the soundtrack to that flashy trashy strip movie we were just talking about) to produce and they came up with something she had never done before. A full blown synthesized dance oriented album. Full of drum machines, fake guitars, and Kim’s vocals…it’s not as bad as you would think.
There are a few highlights from the album including “Invisible Hands.” Sounding like a hybrid of Olivia Newton-John’s “Twist Of Fate” and Madonna’s “Burning Up”, the song might as well have “1983” as a subtitle. Needless to say I love it. Kim took the song to #40 on the pop charts; meanwhile Olivia hit #3 with “Twist Of Fate” and Madonna was yet to “conquer the world.”
“You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That’s All That Matters)” was the long-winded second single from Café Racers. Done in a very similar vein as “Invisible Hands” it’s a fun little piece of synth pop, but nowhere near as enjoyable as the first single.
I love “story songs” and “Young Love” happens to be the one chosen here. You know the type of songs I’m talking about, Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” comes to mind with its story of the guitar player and his girlfriend. Usually these stories involve a guy named Johnny or John. I’m not sure why but that’s the way it is – perhaps there’s an unwritten law in pop music that says you have to use Johnny as your protagonist in story songs.
John shows up in “Young Love”, “Jenny loves John/ but he doesn’t care/ Now that he loves another/I know he’s been getting his share/sometimes I want to tell her/but I wouldn’t dare/cause tonight when she calls/she won’t know that I’m there…” That’s right, Kim is a slutting ho sleeping with her friend Jenny’s boyfriend John! I love it. The song would’ve been better if someone got killed at the end but I guess that’s Tanya Tucker’s department, not Kim’s.
The final single chosen from Café Racers was “I Pretend.” The song only hit in the upper 70s of the top 100 but it’s totally Kim Carnes. In fact it probably fits better on Mistaken Identity or one of her more recent albums than it did on the Café album.
Kim hadn’t had a bona fide hit in a few years when she decided to take over as her own producer for her next album. 1985’s Barking At Airplanes came out in the summer, and I remember hearing the first single “Crazy In The Night (Barking At Airplanes)” on the radio. I loved it and so did others as it hit #15 on the pop charts giving Kim another hit.
If Voyeur was my favorite Kim album to this point, Barking At Airplanes had the makings of taking over the title. All of the songs were either clever little ballads that pulled at my heartstrings or synthesized pop confections like “Crazy In The Night.”
The best ballad Kim has ever done in my opinion is the title track to this compilation, “Rough Edges.” The music is very minimalist and the song is mostly just Kim singing her misery but it’s so chilling, leaving me awestruck every time I hear it. For some reason, it’s the song I turn on every time I break up with some bastard.
Chosen as the third single from Barking At Airplanes, the song never had a chance on the radio, but Kim performed it around the TV circuit and I caught a live performance on some award show and I immediately fell in love with it.
Beginning in a similar vein to Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors”, there’s a bongo playing and then some clever guitar loops for Kim to sing along with. “Rough Edges” came out about six months before Cyndi’s “True Colors” and this song really should’ve been just as popular as Cyndi’s ballad. The second single from Barking was the synth laden “Abadabadango”. Abadaba what o? I know, it sounds silly and it is silly but like “Crazy In The Night” which isn’t exactly poetry, this song is fun. And it’s done for fun’s sake.
If I were to analyze this song, I would say "abadabadango" is the moment when you hear that inner voice telling you how stupid you’ve been acting, how you need to realize what you have right in front of you. But I’m not Kim Carnes so what the hell do I know about abadabadango?
“Divided Hearts” is the final song of Kim’s EMI America catalog chosen for Rough Edges. The song comes from Kim’s 1986 album Lighthouse. The album went back to Mistaken Identity territory, not only in musical styles (mixing country pop with rock pop) but also reuniting Kim with producer Val Garay. It would be her last EMI album and her last contemporary pop album. But what a way to go.
So now you know the songs and stories of that smoky voiced Kim Carnes. Perhaps you too can share some of her rough edges and see beyond those Bette Davis Eyes. It’s all in the draw of the cards, but choosing Kim will give you an ace every time.
Track List: 01. Voyeur 02. Invisible Hands 03. Rough Edges 04. Bette Davis Eyes 05. More Love 06. Abadabadango 07. Does It Make You Remember 08. Crazy In The Night (Barking At Airplanes) 09. Don't Call It Love 10. I'll Be Here Where The Heart Is 11. Looker 12. Draw Of The Cards 13. I Pretend 14. Divided Hearts 15. Still Hold On 16. Take It On The Chin 17. Young Love 18. The Arrangement 19. You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)
bub 16 Linda Ronstadt - THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION (2003) I didn't realize how much I love Linda Ronstadt until I decided to make this compilation. Not the new Linda, the one who does Broadway and Spanish tunes or even the late 80s Linda who hooked up with Aaron for a series of successful though benign duets, I'm talking the uber popular, radical (though thankfully she's still quite radical) and 'there isn't a song I won't cover' 1970's Linda Ronstadt. Dubbing the official sound 'the Southern California sound' hybrid of rock and country folk, she did it before the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac - after all the Eagles were Linda's first backing band and the Mac hadn't yet recruited Stevie or Lindsay when Linda began scoring her hits. It's a real testament to her voice that most of these songs were huge hits, since hardly any of them were originals. After all Linda is foremost a vocalist and she would take any old song she wanted and make it her own, another testament since most of the arrangements she used were identical to the originals. I decided to do the Linda songs I would listen to over and over so there's no Aaron duest here, no big band but plenty of 70's and early 80's stuff including a slew of album tracks from the Mad Love album, which was her new wave attempt in 1980 and probably my favorite Linda album.
But between the first and last songs are a ton of really great tracks, some familiar, most hits and all of them great. We begin with her rockin' 1982 little hit "Get Closer" mostly known now as the Dentyne single from a few years back, there really is a song in here and it has a rockin' little back beat. My ultimate favorite Linda track ever "You're No Good" follows and it just goes from there.
All her early and late 70's hit singles - "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", "It's So Easy", "That'll Be The Day", "When Will I Be Loved", "Blue Bayou", "Tracks Of My Tears", "Tumblin' Dice" - you know all the covers she did.
When going through the Ronstadt catalog I had, I realized there were a few early hits I may have overlooked and luckily I realized what gems they really are - her very country "Silver Threads & Golden Needles" has a great vocal take, "Love Is A Rose" another country ditty is so catchy and "Long Long Time" is a song I hadn't really ever listened to but it is now one of my favorites.
From her later years in the rock new wave mode I put on her hit singles from Mad Love - the Billy Steinberg composition "How Do I Make You","Hurt So Bad", "I Can't Let Go" and the album cuts "Mad Love", and the Elvis Costello cover "Girls Talk". Also from her 1982 Get Closer album is her cover of the 60's "Lies" and "Tell Him", both real rocking little ditties and the ballads (both which were singles) "Easy For Me To Say" and "I Knew You When" which is amazing in just the opening lines Linda sings. The only left over from her post hit making period is the single "Heartbeats Accelerating" from 1994 which I immediately fell in love with back in '94 when I heard it on the radio - too bad that it wasn't a hit.
Track List: 01. Get Closer 02. You're No Good 03. Poor Poor Pitiful Me 04. Hurt So Bad 05. It's So Easy 06. I Knew You When 07. That'll Be The Day 08. Just One Look 09. Love Is A Rose 10. Easy For You To Say 11. How Do I Make You 12. Heartbeats Accelerating 13. Blue Bayou 14. Lies 15. Tracks Of My Tears 16. I Can't Let Go 17. Someone To Lay Down Beside Me 18. Girls Talk 19. Tell Him 20. Tumbling Dice 21. Long Long Time 22. Mad Love 23. Ooh Baby Baby 24. Silver Threads & Golden Needles 25. When Will I Be Loved
bub 17 Blondie - MUSICKLADEN LIVE '78 (2003) A live concert on DVD taped for German TV, the Leivas put this on a disc for me and I couldn't just let it sit there without a Bubbatunes makeover now could I? It's a pretty interesting CD just for the fact that this was a show where they were basically promoting the Plastic Letters album, so this is when they still very new and hadn't hit the world over yet. 11 songs of pure punky pop and surf bliss that was early Blondie. Some of these songs were probably never played live again so it's kind of a rare treat to have such oddities as live versions of "I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No", "Kidnapper" and "Bermuda Triangle Blues." The actual DVD that is available is worth having as well since Debbie shows off what made her the star she would become include her fetish for camoflauge which I immediately took up as well.
Track List: 01. X Offender 02. Little Girl Lies 03. Look Good In Blue 04. Man Overboard 05. In The Flesh 06. I'm On E 07. Love At The Pier 08. I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No 09. Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45) 10. Kidnapper 11. Youth Nabbed As Sniper bub 18 Pat Benatar - LIVE HEAT (2003) As you know, where there's Debbie there's going to be Pat. Here is another really great oldies live set. Recorded in Denver in early 1980, this was recorded on the tour of her very first album In The Heat Of The Night, this is Pat at her earliest and grittiest. Her vocals are young and raw and it's really quite a thrill to hear some of these songs. Not to mention some songs are ones she never recorded or did a different version of, including the Richie Valen's cover "Come On Let's Go", which she never recorded but really rips up on stage; and a really early and super gritty version of the Raider's "Just Like Me" which she did end up recording for album in 1981, but it wasn't as cool as this live version. Of course there's songs from the debut album all performed live, the hits "Heartbreaker", "We Live For Love", "I Need A Lover" all before they were hits and as an encore she comes back with "You Better Run" which she would end up recording and releasing as the first single from her second album Crimes Of Passion.
Track List: 01. If You Think You Know How To Love Me 02. So Sincere 03. I Need A Lover 04. My Clone Sleeps Alone 05. In The Heat Of The Night 06. We Live For Love 07. No You Don't 08. Just Like Me 09. Heartbreaker Encore: 10. You Better Run 11. Come On Let's Go
And there you go, you made it through #s 13-18 - I know I'm long winded but these CDs are great! Stay tuned for next time when we visit some boys who made a real difference in the world of alternative music and the world, and oh I don't know probably some Pat Benatar and Blondie.
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!
and the count goes on... today, we sift through another five classic singles on our way to the #1 Single Of the 80s!
30. PASSING STRANGERS - Ultravox (Cann/Cross/Currie/Ure) Chrysalis single #2457 Chart Debut: October 18, 1980 UK Chart Position: #57 UK
This lesser known track is a true gem, and if you haven't heard it - I suggest you email me so we can talk and I can send you one of the greatest singles of the 1980s or at least the 35th greatest single of the 1980s. Ultravox is known mostly for their "Vienna" single which though not terribly popular here in the US, was a big success in the UK, and is the song most historians choose to put on the endless new wave compilations that come out. But "Passing Strangers" is the real piece of musical genius in the Ultravox catalog. It's steamy and creepy and driven with a sense of danger. The video was one of the very first videos I ever saw on MTV and to this day the whole imagery is captured in my head forever. Anytime I hear the beginning synth I'm lost to the world of secret strangers and black and white film noir. Watch the video here.
#29. LITTLE TOO LATE - Pat Benatar (Alex Call) Chrysalis single #03536 US Chart Debut: March 5, 1983 US Chart Position: #20 US
Back in the early 80s if you lived in the middle of nowhere and didn't read every music magazine every week, the only time you knew a new album or single was out was when you walked into the store and there it was in front of you. Which is exactly how I found out Pat Benatar had a new single out when "Shadows Of The Night" was staring at me. Of course I had to buy it and loved it. But I would have to wait until Christmas to get the album Get Nervous that the single and its heavy metal mania B-side "The Victim" had been pulled from.
From the minute I put my Get Nervous cassette into my new tape recorder I was in heaven. Luckily the first song was the forementioned single, but when I flipped that cassette over, something amazing hit me. "Little Too Late" with its pounding drum rhythm and keyboard backing - the sassy vocals, "Now the conquered has been back/I feel the heat of your attack/ want me to take you back/ I'm giving you the sack/ so don't waste your time..." cuz baby it's a little too little, it's a little too late.
With the drum break in the middle and Pat growling, this is the Benatar I love. And just like the Go-Gos "Vacation," I saw the MTV World Premiere video for Little Too Late with my girl in a black leather skirt and jacket and hot pink high heels. She was tough, sexy and luckily for us all it is never too late to enjoy all that is Pat - so turn it up and hiss along with the rock goddess. Watch her goddess in hot leather here!
#28. HARDEN MY HEART - Quarterflash (Marv Ross) Geffen single #49824 (US) / #1838 (UK) Chart Debut: November 7, 1981 (US)/ February 27, 1982 (UK) Chart Position: #3 US / #49 UK
Oh, that saxophone, that guitar, that hard ass vocal and that leotard in the video - "Harden My Heart" has everything I look for in 80s rock. Quarterflash emerged onto the scene with this killer single and provided all the punch and attitude as some of their contemporaries - the Pretenders, Pat Benatar. Though the music was more inclined to radio friendly pop than say Chrissie Hynde and her boys, Rindy Ross and her husband Marv Ross provided enough gusto to at least make it interesting. Quarterflash would provide a few more note worthy singles - "Find Another Fool," "Take Me To Heart", "Take Another Picture" before fading away, but this little chunk of radio history still gets plenty of airplay. Watch the video here.
#27. EDGE OF SEVENTEEN (Just Like The White Winged Dove) - Stevie Nicks (Stevie Nicks) Modern single #7401 US/ WEA single #79264 UK Chart Debut: March 16, 1982 US Chart Position: #11 US
Only someone in Stevie Nicks' league could pull off a five and a half minute rock song filled with unknown poetry, strange ethereal instances and a nightbird singing "come away." But since it is the Welsh witch we are talking about, we already know we are powerless against her unique blend of rock. Stevie insists the song "Edge Of Seventeen" is inspired or written because of the deaths of both her grandfather and John Lennon, but for some reason I just don't hear those references in the song. Of course with our girl it's fairly hard to decipher what she means, it's best to just sing along and enjoy the ride. This song is in my opinion Stevie's best single ever. With it's rocking guitar riff and Stevie's dead on vocals, the song weaves and bends through five minutes of strangeness - but lovable strangeness. "The clouds never expect it when it rains but the sea changes color but the sea does not change..." What? Oh well, who cares, let the girl chant on about the white winged dove and her singing, while we wonder who or what was at the edge of 17, past the stairs, down the hall; we'll never find the answer, we'll only hear the call of the nightbird singing "come away..." Watch the video here with Stevie's own commentary.
#26. KISS ME DEADLY - Lita Ford (Mick Smiley) RCA/Dreamland single #6866 US/ #49575 UK Chart Debut: May 14, 1988 US / December 17, 1988 UK Chart Position: #12 US / #75 UK
"I went to a party last Saturday night/ I didn't get laid, I got in a fight/ huh huh/ it ain't no big thing..." such is the story of my life, and the story so well told by rocking Lita Ford in this gem of a single. Full of angst, fun and melody, Lita proved the boys weren't the only ones who could handle hair metal. Though when it came to Lita, she was so much more than the Warrants, Cinderellas and Poisons.. coming from the Runaways, she had learned and studied with some of the best female rock musicians. Joan Jett, spent her time trying to mesh and mold glam rock with the fringes of hard rock while Lita went the other way meshing hard rock with pop melodies. Lucky for us, they both succeeded very well. Prior to 1988's Lita album, which "Kiss Me Deadly" is taken from, Lita's brash was showing through on two prior albums, but bring in Mike Chapman (Yes, that Mike that I love so) and he helped her create one of the best hard rock albums of the 1980s. Lita can growl, punch, sing and play her way through a melody like a mad woman, and that is something no amount of big hair or a pair of nads can compete with. Watch the video here.
And so we were passing strangers who found out it was a little too late to kiss deadly at the edge of seventeen, unless of course you have a hardened heart... what new and exciting things will we learn when we head into the top 25? You'll have to come back and see....
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.
