Damn Her
Lesley beat me to the punch with the latest meme. Mine was in process when I had to leave for softball this morning, giving Lesley her window of opportunity. Here for your consideration are the top 100 songs from 1984, the year I graduated high school, and my take on them.
1. When Doves Cry, Prince
2. What's Love Got To Do With It, Tina Turner
3. Say Say Say, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson
4. Footloose, Kenny Loggins
5. Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now), Phil Collins
6. Jump, Van Halen
7. Hello, Lionel Richie
8. Owner Of A Lonely Heart, Yes
9. Ghostbusters, Ray Parker Jr.
10. Karma Chameleon, Culture Club
11. Missing You, John Waite
12. All Night Long (All Night), Lionel Richie
13. Let's Hear It For The Boy, Deniece Williams
14. Dancing In The Dark, Bruce Springsteen
15. Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper
16. <The Reflex, Duran Duran
17. Time After Time, Cyndi Lauper
18. Jump (For My Love), Pointer Sisters
19. Talking In Your Sleep, Romantics
20. Self Control, Laura Branigan
21. Let's Go Crazy, Prince and The Revolution
22. Say It Isn't So, Daryl Hall and John Oates
23. Hold Me Now, Thompson Twins
24. Joanna, Kool and The Gang
25. I Just Called To Say I Love You, Stevie Wonder
26. Somebody's Watching Me, Rockwell
27. Break My Stride, Matthew Wilder
28. 99 Luftballons, Nena
29. I Can Dream About You, Dan Hartman
30. The Glamorous Life, Sheila E.
31. Oh Sherrie, Steve Perry
32. Stuck On You, Lionel Richie
33. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues, Elton John
34. She Bop, Cyndi Lauper
35. Borderline, Madonna
36. Sunglasses At Night, Corey Hart
37. Eyes Without A Face, Billy Idol
38. Here Comes The Rain Again, Eurythmics
39. Uptown Girl, Billy Joel
40. Sister Christian, Night Ranger
41. Drive, Cars
42. Twist Of Fate, Olivia Newton-John
43. Union Of The Snake, Duran Duran
44. The Heart Of Rock 'N' Roll, Huey Lewis and The News
45. Hard Habit To Break, Chicago
46. The Warrior, Scandal
47. If Ever You're In My Arms Again, Peabo Bryson
48. Automatic, Pointer Sisters
49. Let The Music Play, Shannon
50. To All The Girls I've Loved Before, Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson
51. Caribbean Queen, Billy Ocean
52. That's All, Genesis
53. Running With The Night, Lionel Richie
54. Sad Songs (Say So Much), Elton John
55. I Want A New Drug, Huey Lewis and The News
56. Islands In The Stream, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
57. Love Is A Battlefield, Pat Benatar
58. Infatuation, Rod Stewart
59. Almost Paradise, Mike Reno and Ann Wilson
60. Legs, ZZ Top
61. State Of Shock, Jacksons
62. Love Somebody, Rick Springfield
63. Miss Me Blind, Culture Club
64. If This Is It, Huey Lewis and The News
65. You Might Think, Cars
66. Lucky Star, Madonna
67. Cover Me, Bruce Springsteen
68. Cum On Feel The Noize, Quiet Riot
69. Breakdance, Irene Cara
70. Adult Education, Daryl Hall and John Oates
71. They Don't Know, Tracy Ullman
72. An Innocent Man, Billy Joel
73. Cruel Summer, Bananarama
74. Dance Hall Days, Wang Chung
75. Give It Up, K.C.
76. I'm So Excited, Pointer Sisters
77. I Still Can't Get Over Loving You, Ray Parker Jr.
78. Thriller, Michael Jackson
79. Holiday, Madonna
80. Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us, Ollie And Jerry
81. Nobody Told Me, John Lennon
82. Church Of The Poison Mind, Culture Club
83. Think Of Laura, Christopher Cross
84. Time Will Reveal, Debarge
85. Wrapped Around Your Finger, Police
86. Pink Houses, John Cougar Mellencamp
87. Round And Round, Ratt
88. Head Over Heels, Go-Go's
89. The Longest Time, Billy Joel
90. Tonight, Kool and The Gang
91. Got A Hold On Me, Christine McVie
92. Dancing In The Sheets, Shalamar
93. Undercover Of The Night, Rolling Stones
94. On The Dark Side, John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band
95. New Moon On Monday, Duran Duran
96. Major Tom (Coming Home), Peter Schilling
97. Magic, Cars
98. When You Close Your Eyes, Night Ranger
99. Rock Me Tonite, Billy Squier
100. Yah Mo B There, James Ingram and Michael McDonald
Wow, I didn't like an awful lot of them.
Comments
Hey wait, you didn't like Huey Lewis and the News? Since when?
BTW, no Cars song bolded? Not one? Do I even know you?
We will not discuss striking out "Sister Christian".
Posted by: Lesley | August 28, 2005 11:06 PM
I also call foul on your lack of bolded Springsteen songs. You loved Springsteen. I'm the one who couldn't stand him.
Posted by: Lesley | August 28, 2005 11:08 PM
The question is which songs do you like today, not which songs did you like then. Huey Lewis & The News, while fine at the time, didn’t stand the test of time. I never liked “Cover Me” by the Boss, and while I did like “Dancing in the Dark” at the time, I don’t like it anymore. And I do like the Cars, just not those two songs. So there!
Posted by: Jon | August 29, 2005 09:26 AM
Well, I read it differently. I was fessing up to the songs I liked at the time. Otherwise that hideous Tommy Tutone song would not be bolded on my list. I don't know what possessed me at the time.
Posted by: Lesley | August 29, 2005 09:37 AM
When I get through making porn n music available for the latest batch of colelge students I will ahve to go through this list, or something like it. I never liked sister christian. My brother was a huge Olivia Newton John fan, I couldn't stand her. Prince was at the top of his form then. I remember thinking Micheal Jackson and Van Halen were an odd mix that found something special with Beat It, but the collaberation with McCartney didn't do much for me, I never got into the Beatles or much of their solo work either. I find it funny that Lennon's last(?) hit was Nobody Told Me there Would be Days Like These. Almost as good a final song as Cobain and "I swear I don't have a gun..."
I too am an Orewellian graduate, and I remember not liking quite a few of the songs that got radio time. I had several albums that were rarely heard on the radio (even the LA and San Fran stations I was able to find late at night). The local station was quite similar to WKRP, minus Loni. We had hog and feed lot reports, and a wide range of music styles depending upon the DJ and the hour of the day. I "borrowed" one of the DJ's cars one day by sending a girl into the station to distract him while I hot wired it and drove off. The door from the booth looked out into the parking lot right at his car, and he didn't even notice his car rolling away right over her shoulder. And the door was open!
The station manager would go through the new batches of vinyl and "key" the tracks he didn't want played. Black Sabbaths Mob Rules didn't make to air time.
Posted by: Justin | August 29, 2005 02:39 PM