Best Ever Albums

Re: 80's pop songs

Charicature — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:07:27 GMT

Author: Charicature

Posted: 04/23/2010 13:07

Elston wrote:

Isreal has been making nukes since the late 60s and dozens were armed and operational during the Yom Kippur War (in 1973). And when I said Middle East - I meant Pakistan & India also. But they are actually in South Asia...anyways, those countries are very close to each other, all within striking range & hate each other passionately. The point is that the tension between countries in the (greater) Middle East during the Cold War (in the 80s at least) was more hostile and dangerous than the battle between the superpowers. That place was a total mess and still is. Now, I hope you won't think me too forward for asking, but is it your old age that gives you such a bland taste in music or is it some other factor?

Your premise is flawed - mine isn't a bland taste in music - yours is an uneducated and limited taste in music. There's a difference 😉 I know you felt insulted by my earlier comment about not understanding the situation back then, but frankly, your comments about not singing about the Middle East made no sense and showed no small degree of ignorance about the situation in the 80s. Believe me, no one was thinking much about the Middle East then because war between the U.S. and Russia remained a very real threat that we felt constantly until about 1987...about that time things seemed to begin to thaw, and they finally melted after the 1993 overthrow of Russia's communist party. Though they've been getting very chilly again ever since Putin took over from Yeltsin in 1999.

As for Israel, they may have had missiles in the 60s and 70s, but that was hardly common knowledge. They still officially deny possessing nuclear weapons, so the deterrent factor is limited and it also has the effect of not making people worry about them. "Out of sight, out of mind." Aside from the still unsatisfactorily explained and completely unprovoked Israeli attack on the U.S.S. Liberty in 1967 during their 6 Days War with Egypt (killing 34 servicemen and wounding 174), the U.S. and Israel haven't been seriously adversarial in relations.

As for your comment "musicians should do some research or something" you're also forgetting that information was much harder to come by back then due to the lack of a publically available internet. Indeed, development of the World Wide Web which we all take for granted now to casually surf for information was not even begun until 1989 and didn't go live until late '91/early '92 (I'm doing my research here 😉 ). Songwriting is an emotional process and to say they should do research - which would have meant painstakingly long hours in the periodicals section of the local library and hoping it was a decently stocked one. If they did that, how good would any song have turned out? You'd be criticizing the clumsiness of the lyrics.

Sorry for the long response delay, but I never saw your comment until now.

Re: 80's pop songs

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 07:10:20 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/23/2010 11:10

Link

80's music (apart from Prince!)

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 06:52:23 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/23/2010 10:52

http://www.youtube.com/user/JoyofDivision#grid/user/88004639F58AFA2B

http://www.youtube.com/user/JoyofDivision#grid/user/3AA055D7AE6E8900

http://www.youtube.com/user/JoyofDivision#grid/user/F9CD738C2466710F

Re: 80's pop songs

haleyyew — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:47:56 GMT

Author: haleyyew

Posted: 04/22/2010 22:47

80s pop music? culture club

Re: 80's pop songs

Elston — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:32:25 GMT

Author: Elston

Posted: 10/20/2009 21:32

Isreal has been making nukes since the late 60s and dozens were armed and operational during the Yom Kippur War (in 1973). And when I said Middle East - I meant Pakistan & India also. But they are actually in South Asia...anyways, those countries are very close to each other, all within striking range & hate each other passionately. The point is that the tension between countries in the (greater) Middle East during the Cold War (in the 80s at least) was more hostile and dangerous than the battle between the superpowers. That place was a total mess and still is. Now, I hope you won't think me too forward for asking, but is it your old age that gives you such a bland taste in music or is it some other factor?

Re: 80's pop songs

Charicature — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:50:50 GMT

Author: Charicature

Posted: 10/20/2009 16:50

Elston wrote:

"Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun "

That's a good line.

These musicians should do some research or somethin before writing songs like these. You don't see anyone singing about the Middle East and how that is the most dangerous place for a nuclear war to break out. There might not be as many nukes there, but the countries are much more apt to use them. Stupid musicians and their feelings.

Umm...you realize when the song was written, only 5 countries had nukes, and none (officially) were in the Middle East? Indeed, only Israel has nukes now (though still unofficially) - Iran's just trying to get them soon. Meanwhile China, India, and Pakistan all have them, and none of them are "Middle East" either. China's are going to mostly be aimed at us in the United States, whereas India and Pakistan aim most of their missiles at each other. If the Taliban succeeds in taking over Pakistan (still a threat - two days ago they were able to take a key strategic town BACK from the Pakistani military) then THAT will be the greatest threat for the use of nuclear weapons in the world. If you missed what the Taliban did for fun when they were in control of Afghanistan, let me assure you: those folks are downright insane.

You must be too young to remember the Cold War to make a statement like that.

Re: 80's pop songs

badfaith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:03:51 GMT

Author: badfaith

Posted: 10/19/2009 23:03

Elston wrote:

I'd rather hear the most naive of songwriters saying SOMETHING at least, than a million Kanye's Jay zeds telling me about the increased burdens of responsibility associated with "mo money", "Hos" etc!

Let's hear it for those stupid musicians and their stupid feelings!!!!!!!!

LONG MAY THEY CONTINUE.

Re: 80's pop songs

Elston — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:52:16 GMT

Author: Elston

Posted: 10/19/2009 22:52

"Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun "

That's a good line.

These musicians should do some research or somethin before writing songs like these. You don't see anyone singing about the Middle East and how that is the most dangerous place for a nuclear war to break out. There might not be as many nukes there, but the countries are much more apt to use them. Stupid musicians and their feelings.

Re: 80's pop songs

Charicature — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:12:20 GMT

Author: Charicature

Posted: 10/19/2009 17:12

The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades (1986) - Timbuk3 - Not a positive song, imagining a world after a nuclear holocaust.

Forever Young (1984) - Alphaville
lyrics of the first several verses:
Let's dance in style, lets dance for a while
Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?
Let us die young or let us live forever
We don't have the power but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad men
Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun
Praising our leaders we're getting in tune
The music's played by the madman

Think of Laura - Christopher Cross (1983)
Melancholy, and you might think it's just a wistful remembrance of a past girlfriend - but in fact it's the sad memory of a young girl that died, and the impact she had on the lives of those who knew her. According to the Wikipedia article, the song was about a college student Cross knew who was killed by a stray bullet from an act of violence between four men over a block away. She was in the back seat of her father's car - her parents were visiting her during parents' weekend at the college.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_of_Laura

It's a Mistake (1983) - Men At Work

Quote:

The song's lyrics deal with the mindset of military men across the world in the 1980's, wondering if and when the democratic countries of NATO and the Warsaw Pact communist states will end the Cold War standoff with conventional battle or a nuclear exchange. Hay sings in the persona of a mid-level officer wishing to learn from his superiors if his men are going to war or not.

Russians (1985) - Sting

Quote:

Sting cautions about the repercussions of the Cold War, singing how he hopes that the "Russians love their children too", since he sees this as the only thing that protects the world from a nuclear holocaust.

Depeche Mode songs "Everything Counts" (1983) and "People Are People" (1984) are definitely worth a listen, and "Blasphemous Rumours" (1984) is a masterpiece of electronic music coupled with a deeply philosophical portrait of two tragic stories (which supposedly involve the same girl and are based on a real person), and the irony between them. The chorus states "I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours, but I think that God's got a sick sense of humor and when I die I expect to find him laughing."

Other than that, the 80s are not a decade to be overlooked by anyone serious about music. For all its bad reputation and - frankly - a lot of bad, throw away music, it also was VERY rich musically. There were a lot of great bands, a lot of variety in styles, and a lot more depth to the lyrics than people initially gave the decade credit for.

Re: 80's pop songs

1234567890 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:28:10 GMT

Author: 1234567890

Posted: 10/19/2009 08:28

maxperenchio wrote:

It wasn't until recently that I noticed Toni Basil's 1982 hit "Mickey (You're So Fine)"

No words can describe how much i hate that song. did you see the video? like a train wreck.

Re: 80's pop songs

maxperenchio — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:10:20 GMT

Author: maxperenchio

Posted: 10/19/2009 08:10

It wasn't until recently that I noticed Toni Basil's 1982 hit "Mickey (You're So Fine)" to be a keen, subversive piece of postmodern-pop. Even if she plays coy lyrically, the paranoid atmosphere provides a decadent backdrop to a kaleidoscopic meditation on the Cold War.

Re: 80's pop songs

RFNAPLES — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:53:28 GMT

Author: RFNAPLES

Posted: 10/16/2009 15:53

Guns N' Roses-Sweet Child O' Mine-1987
Joy Division-Love Will Tear Us Apart-1980
Michael Jackson-Billie Jean-1982
New Order-Blue Monday-1983
Prince and The Revolution-Little Red Corvette-1982
Prince and The Revolution-When Doves Cry-1984
Public Enemy-Fight the Power-1989
Run-D.M.C.-Walk This Way-1986
The Police-Every Breath You Take-1983
The Smiths-This Charming Man-1983
The Specials-Ghost Town-1981

Re: 80's pop songs

Norman Bates — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:03:25 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 10/16/2009 15:03

I think Pet Shop Boys enter precisely your category, Being Boring or Rent for example. Catchy synth-disco tunes, nice lyrics, melancholy undertones.

Re: 80's pop songs

ffudnebbuh — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:39:54 GMT

Author: ffudnebbuh

Posted: 10/16/2009 12:39

"They don't know' Tracy Ullman (with Paul McCartney on bells)
"Real Love', Lakeside

Re: 80's pop songs

telefunker — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:26:44 GMT

Author: telefunker

Posted: 10/16/2009 12:26

toto are my favourite 80s pop group

"africa", "rosanna", "hold the line" etc are great tunes.. and they also wrote "human nature" for michael jackson

and toto iv is as good as any pop album of the last 25 years.. it should make an appearance in my chart having thought about it..

80's pop songs

badfaith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:17:39 GMT

Author: badfaith

Posted: 10/16/2009 12:17

Listened to Aha's- I've been losing You the other day, for the first time in years, and only just realised it's about a guy who kills his wife through desperation... then I remembered Nik Kershaw's- I Won''t Let the sun go down on me, a very well written protest song about the cold war and particularly nuclear catastrophe... and Grace Jones'- Slave to the rhythm... about black slavery.
This got me wondering, do 80's pop songs not get the credit they desrve, for actually being very well written, and covering a broader range of topics than is commonly supposed? It seems that because they were wrapped up in catchy pop tunes people often didn't pay attention to what the songs were about.

Are there any others anyone can think of that sureptitiously slipped an alternative agenda or message through a good pop song that went right over people's heads.?

Doesn't have to be from the 80s.