Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jul 13, 2011 12:37:39 GMT 1
Surely Live Aid was just an extension of Band aid though? It's the re-emphasis of the "togetherness" of the pop community- in some ways in the counter reaction to Thatcherism, which viewed in some ways was embraced by the pop world as a whole in terms of the do it yourself attitude, the showiness, the conspicuous consumption, expensive video's etc, and post Band Aid and Live Aid in terms of UK bands that just isn't happening. In some ways you could say that's because people were, on the whole better off than ever before, so they went mad initially with it but then calmed down.
Even S/A/W who were arguably the real stars of the late 80s were in essence a "family" of singers who were patronised by their parents so to speak.....
I may be reading way too much into it, but it's a possible explanation for the division of the decade that I feel happens here (and certainly sales wise does)
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Post by The Moose on Jul 13, 2011 17:18:30 GMT 1
Prince "Little Red Corvette"/"1999" - Similar thoughts as Gezza regarding Prince. I've liked a number of his songs but only one that is more than perhaps a 7/10 in my eyes ("Sign 'O' The Times"). I've seen him in concert on his last tour at the O2 arena. No doubting the man's talent, but it was far too self-indulgent for my liking - guitar solos that seemed to go on forever amongst other things. I've seen lots of artists live but have never been as bored as that Prince concert. "Little Red Corvette" would be one of my favourites of his where as "1999" has just been played to death. Wasn't that keen in the first place! King "Love And Pride" - One of my favourite No.2's of the 80's thus far. Didn't particularly like any of the others if I can recall as can't really remember them now but "Love And Pride" is a great pop song in my eyes and has stood the test of time (despite the sprayed Doc Martin's) Alison Moyet "That Ole Devil Called Love" - Interesting opinions regarding Ms Moyet. Loved her material with Vince Clarke in Yazoo (they definitely should have had at least a couple of No.1's) but have never been blown away by her solo material. No doubting she has an exceptional voice and this is probably her stand out track but in my eyes (or ears) it would have been a travesty if this had denied "Easy Lover" the No.1 spot. Loved the Philip Bailey song and I think it is only tarnished by the strange disliking of Phil Collins by the public in general. Frankie Goes To Hollywood "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" - Should have been the 4th No.1. My favourite band at the time and I agree that the 13 minute version is by far the definitive version. The 12" release does indeed have a mix that is very similar to the album version. Unfortunately it did go downhill from here but that debut album is still one of my favourites which includes the brilliant cover of Edwin Starr's "War", which of course was also the 'B' side to "Two Tribes". Tears For Fears "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" - Was also a big fan of TFF but preferred the debut album and singles. "Mad World" is one of the finest 80's songs. Wasn't overly fussed by "Everybody..." but it was a bit of an injustice that it should have been denied the top spot by "We Are The World". Duran Duran "A View To A Kill" - definitely getting the sense that Gezza was a Duranie Personally think this is second only to A-ha in the bond themes and it is undoubtedly another great song by the Brummie boys. 1985 is actually looking better than I remember and after having a sneaky peek into the future we should have one of the very best No.2's of the decade next. Looking forward to the continuation of this increasingly enjoyable read.
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Post by evansabove on Jul 13, 2011 18:56:58 GMT 1
VTAK is one of my favourite Bond themes and i remember the great video which interspersed clips from the film with performances by the band members
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jul 13, 2011 20:50:23 GMT 1
The name's Bon. Simon Le Bon.
Genius.
Never liked EWTRTW, TFF's earlier (and later) stuff was far more arresting.
My theory of the collapse of music is different and that it started earlier. Just that the gigantic FGTH and Band Aid hype in 1984 disguised it. Before "Thriller" you needed music to go along with the hype and image. After it you just needed hype. I remember the massive hype about it at the time - and everyone at school (i.e. the 45 purchasers) dismissing it (Billie Jean apart, which is a tune) as being rubbish, with boring videos (remember we had Madness doing much better clips at the time). But if enough people talk about how legendary it was, people start to believe it. Just look at the Take That becoming fashionable BS...
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jul 14, 2011 9:12:48 GMT 1
Duran Duran "A View To A Kill" - definitely getting the sense that Gezza was a Duranie Actually one of the surprises in doing this is revisiting stuff I know and "trying" to listen things for the first time almost. Before doing this I liked Duran Duran but I certainly wouldn't have classed myself as a "fan" really but I think the No 2's I've reviewed here have been quite good really (certainly in comparison to other songs I've been subjected too) By the way I was far too young to be a durannie first time around- i was into He-Man, Transformers, and Football with little time for Music until 1988 when it all changed!!
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Post by Earl Purple on Jul 14, 2011 9:56:19 GMT 1
I think all the singles from Thriller were quite good other than The Girl Is Mine, and I don't think it caused the downturn in music. Frankie Goes To Hollywood's hype possibly did, if only that it seemed to inspire Stock Aitken Waterman, who produced Dead Or Alive, Divine and Hazell Dean that year with similar "gay-bar" music. I say it was "gay-bar" but I think it appealed to straight people too, I liked some of it anyway, and I don't think that all gay people like that kind of thing either, it's just a bit too stereotypical.
I'm stiill waiting to see what gezza has to say about Marillion up next.
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Post by The Moose on Jul 14, 2011 14:43:30 GMT 1
Actually one of the surprises in doing this is revisiting stuff I know and "trying" to listen things for the first time almost. Before doing this I liked Duran Duran but I certainly wouldn't have classed myself as a "fan" really but I think the No 2's I've reviewed here have been quite good really (certainly in comparison to other songs I've been subjected too) By the way I was far too young to be a durannie first time around- i was into He-Man, Transformers, and Football with little time for Music until 1988 when it all changed!! Was only teasing but do think Duran Duran's music is underrated in general really. They are still seen as an 80's boyband but you certainly couldn't class them in the same boyband mold as acts such as Boyzone, Westlife, NKOTB or Wanted. "Save A Prayer" has to be one of the all-time great songs IMO. As for He-Man or Transformers I'm not so sure........for me it would have to be Battle Of The Planets.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jul 14, 2011 16:09:48 GMT 1
15TH JUNE- KAYLEIGH- Marillion (1 week)It would be easy to tear into this as mid 80s hairspray rock ballad, but it's much too tender a record to suffer that indignity. Marillion are, apparently, a prog rock group which throws up images of genesis and Pink Floyd, but to my mind "Kayleigh" is actually a better record than that image gives rise to. Introspective lyrics seems almost like a psychoanalystic session with Fish and in era of big haired rock a la Bon Jovi, Cutting Crew, Peter Cetera etc, this is actually a far more subtle record than those. What salvages it from that genre is simply the realism of the record, their is much subjectivity on the record, Fish writing apologetically to former girlfriends about his lousy behaviour seems rather an intimate emotion to be played on the panorama of the big rock ballad. In reality the record is neither a ballad nor a rock song but a curious hybrid. "By the way didn't I break your heart?/ Please excuse me, I never meant to break your heart?/ So sorry , I never meant to break your heart/ but you broke mine" seems almost callous and matter of fact, but the analysis of emotion is exactly what is going on here, yet it sounds clumsily expressed, just as emotions often are. It's all rather great in a very unexpected way....
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jul 14, 2011 16:10:20 GMT 1
29TH JUNE- CRAZY FOR YOU- Madonna (1 week)I will prefix this review with the announcement than I am a Madonna fan, all the albums bought and all the singles since "Justify my Love" BUT i have to say I've never been crazy about "Crazy for You". The songs is uninspiring and almost like Madonna on auto-pilot. She can do ballads marvellously "I want You" and "Oh Father" are fantastic but "Crazy for You" appearance on this list is more a testament to Madonna's growing status in the pop world than to the merits of the record itself. The track was recorded for the "Vision Quest" Film, and was therefore, the first single not to be available on an album since she had hit it big with "Holiday" some 18 months earlier. She had justifiably become become a major star, the gloriously trashy "Like A Virgin" had flirted its way into the top 3 followed by "Material Girl" with it's equally famous video, the girl had shown that she was just as capable as Jackson at understanding the visual importance of pop stars, and that the power of the music promo, "Crazy For You" seems like a step back, not a bad record, but just a record anyone could have done. Perhaps the bar was set too high by previous efforts, and naturally a little calm was going to happen, she was going to do much better just a year later with a track which is everything "Crazy For You" ought to have been, but for me the record is a let down- sorry Madonna, the one consolation she can take is that she didn't have a hand in writing it.....
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Post by Earl Purple on Jul 14, 2011 16:51:20 GMT 1
With regards to Marillion, like Pink Floyd who you mentioned, they weren't really a singles band although they released them. They were really an albums band and so the song Kayleigh is really just a track from Misplaced Childhood, which does indeed come under Progressive Rock, maybe a bit "late" for some people's liking but nevertheless that's what it is.
The whole album is lyrics about looking back at his childhood and Kayleigh is right at the start, where he is wondering where he might have done things differently to make things better.
In the end of the album though the mood changes and he's proud of where he is now. "I will wear your white feather, I will carry your white flag, I will swear I have no nation, But I'm proud to own my heart, My heart, this is my heart". So while he might have done things differently, he is very proud of who he is.
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Post by evansabove on Jul 14, 2011 18:38:08 GMT 1
The start of an amazing number of #2 singles. I cant remember if she has the most or maybe it is Cliff Richard or Kylie?
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jul 14, 2011 19:50:51 GMT 1
If you meet an attractive girl called Kayleigh, here's a tip. Ask her if she'll sleep with you if you can guess her age. And if she says yes, guess at 25 or 26.
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vya
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Post by vya on Jul 15, 2011 0:17:58 GMT 1
Ha, ha, vas tariner. I can almost better that. re the lyric "Loving on the floor in Belsize Park". There was a time when I had a part-time job in a public library not quite in, but not a million miles from Belsize Park (it still would have been the nearest tube station though, just about). I recall a regular user of the library, called Kayleigh, who indeed was born round about 1986. She was still at school, so no way could I have gone through with your suggested line. But I did smile whenever she came in, in a kind of "I can guess where you were conceived and it wasn't in a bed now, was it" kind of way... Which was nothing compared with the look I would give her father
At their best Marillion were very very good songwriters and performers. Great that they had a few real, genuine, big hits (overlooking the releases to get artificially high chart position thing they did much later on). In truth - and this would not please many diehard fans - I think they were better after Steve Hogarth took over from Fish; they were more efficient, less prone to needless bombast and prolixity. "Easter" would probably be my absolutely favourite track from then, but - for all that they weren't really, principally, a singles band, all 3 of the 1991 singles "Cover My Eyes", "Dry Land" and especially "No One Can" are works of great beauty, and a cut above much else that was around. Still sound great today, too.
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Post by Earl Purple on Jul 15, 2011 0:31:29 GMT 1
I never really got into the later Marillion, and Fish solo was far more successful in my chart than Marillion post-Fish, still together they had 4 NM #1s and subsequently none between them although Fish has had a few top 5 hits, most recently "Arc Of The Curve" in 2008.
I think Fish was a great lyricist. You remember what he is singing about. Incidentally, assuming there isn't another one besides the one in Hampstead, there is no actual park in Belsize Park. Hampstead Heath isn't that far away but that isn't Belsize Park as such. This is assuming that we set the boundary of Belsize Park to Lyndhurst Road, Fitzjohn's Avenue, College Crescent, Eton Avenue, England's Lane, Haverstock Hill (a few metres), Parkhill Road, Fleet Road, Pond Street and that's quite a decent boundary really. Even if we extend it south as far as Adelaide Road it still doesn't have one.
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vya
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Post by vya on Jul 15, 2011 7:30:38 GMT 1
Earl Purple - There *was* a park there once, obviously. Called Belsize Park itself, again, of course. I found it marked on an old (Edwardian possibly) street map of London, before the property developers moved in. It was more or less where you'd expect it be, in the area where most of the current streets include the word "Belsize" in their name - south-west of the tube station. I can't remember the exact boundaries, but have a feeling they included England's Lane and possibly Belsize Park Gardens. Evidently if there was once a park at Tufnell Park it disappeared even earlier.
As for Fish, I agree that at his best he was a great lyricist. Of his solo work "A Gentleman's Excuse Me" stands out for me as a fine single, really classy.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jul 15, 2011 17:18:00 GMT 1
6TH JULY- AXEL F- Harold Faltermeyer (3 weeks)OK we have to acknowledge (whilst simultaneously wiping our collective memories of) the crazy frog version which topped the UK charts for 4 weeks back in 2005. Some 20 years before German Producer Harold Faltermeyer had the original hit taken from the film "Beverley Hills Cop" starring Eddie Murphy as the lead role of Axel Foley (hence the title). Faltermeyer had become over the course of the 80s increasingly involved in writing music for films and was to go on to produce the Top gun Theme in 86 before co-producing the album "Behaviour" with the Pet Shop Boys in 1990. That's the history bit, now onto the song. I'm always at a loss with Instrumentals really- I need words to guide me, otherwise you're left with a general impression or mood which is pretty hard to describe nad to justify an opinion on. Certainly the tune is catchy and has been much played over the years, certainly more than those early 80s hits like "Cha Mai" fr example and it also has less of teh gimmickery that the Crazy Frog injected into it 20 years later. You could look at this record in terms of the progression of Dance music- teh bridge between those early rap/ dance hits and the dance explosion of the late 80s, and there is a progresion and a valid link, perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay this record is that it is VERY 1985, it takes me back to pacman, spacedust, A-Team, and StreetHawk, and that's not a bad place in my memory..
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jul 15, 2011 17:20:22 GMT 1
17TH AUGUST- HOLIDAY- Madonna (1 week)Let's all be clear the fact that "Holiday" is on the list and at this point in time is hugely significant. Far more significant than the actual record itself which is passable dance pop but its original No 6 position back in 1984 was probably the right result. The record feels, and indeed actually is, a step back for Madonna (just like "Crazy For You") and indeed there are two Madonna's in 85 the one which is pushing ahead and towards "True Blue" and the one that is playing catch up. Whilst this was at No 2 it was held out by "Into The Groove" (my personal favourite Madonna song from the 80s), and her lock of the top 2 positions can be read as the moment she was transformed from pop star to "Madonna- The Brand" when Madonna-mania really set in. The birth of a pop star is always a tough point to identify but with her it has always felt like this moment, the nation accepts the star and suddenly they can do little wrong, between 1985 and 1991 that was Madonna, "Holiday" is therefore a catch up, a chance for people to fool themselves that they were in this from the start (the 1986 re-issue of Borderline" is much a similar affair but I wont get ahead of myself). I've never been overly keen on it because it's like every great artists's early work, a work in progress of how they got to the point of stardom when it is stardom that attracts. For all these reasons "Holiday" as a record in this list is just a symbol of the arrival of a superstar....
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Post by evansabove on Jul 15, 2011 23:46:29 GMT 1
Holiday is of course one of Madonna's classic song and about as far away from 'passable pop dance' as is possible. It made the top 6 on 3 separate occasions within a 7 year period and remains one of her enduring anthems
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jul 16, 2011 0:07:39 GMT 1
Holiday is of course one of Madonna's classic song and about as far away from 'passable pop dance' as is possible. It made the top 6 on 3 separate occasions within a 7 year period and remains one of her enduring anthems Haha I thought you wouldn't be impressed Evansabove . I don't think "Holiday" is on this list because it's a great record for 1985, it's on here because it's by Madonna. It isn't the first time, nor the last that a record would be on this list because of who sings it but we need to be honest and identify that. I promise to be kinder to her in the future
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jul 16, 2011 13:01:54 GMT 1
14TH SEPTEMBER- HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO- Bonnie Tyler (3 weeks)Good grief I love a bit of Jim Steinman. No-one does gloriously OTT soft rock like him, witness a multitude of Meat Loaf creations, and of course a fair few for Tyler. She's on her usual raspy form here, racking up the adrenaline to fever pitch levels, to be honest I have a soft spot for her and certainly "Total Eclipse of The Heart" remains one of my guilty pleasures and whilst "Holding Out For A Hero" isn't quite up to that standard it's still an enjoyable romp through soft rock country. The song was originally on the "Footloose" soundtrack but when first released did next to nothing in the charts in 1984, but a year later the pop landscape had altered and Tyler was back. The trouble is that this almost sounds like a spoof of the genre- for example compare this to "The Power Of Love" by Jennifer Rush (which was in the charts at the same time) and you see how lightweight this song appears, the tempo seems too rushed in parts, the break at 2.22 seems almost a necessity not only for the song but for the audience as well, that kind of excitement can only be sustained for so long. It's also a song filled with sexual innuendo "Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?/ late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need" she sings, I've obviously no idea what she's banging on about but it's getting her going evidently. All told I don't mind the song but neither is it in my top 100 of all time (must get working on that).......
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