80s
Favorite 100 Songs of the 80s: (#24) Men At Work – Who Can It Be Now
Chances are if grew up during the 1980’s, Men at Work were part of your album collection. Off their first-rate Business As Usual debut came my favorite single, Who Can It Be Now. Truthfully, it’s of the most entertainingly senseless tunes ever recorded. Lyrically it’s no masterpiece. It took many years and air-sax practice to come that conclusion but I’m at peace with it.
I was 11-years old when the single came out and it instantaneously felt rooted into my DNA. I was hooked the first time I heard it—loved the sax playing and unique singing voice I was hearing. Playing Who Can It Be Now became part of my daily routine, such as my morning bagel and glass of chocolate milk.
Everything about this song was is gratifying, from the aforesaid impressive sax playing to the broad rock feel with a marriage to the new wave sound. I’m too young to know if karaoke was a thing in the 80’s but if it were I’d wager this would be one its most popular selections. As a group Men at Work were the Cinderella story of the new wave movement, and by Cinderella I’m talking glass slipper not authors of heavy metal jams like Don’t Know What You Got Til It’s Gone. They came out of Australia and seemingly overnight broke down the walls of American pop music, becoming the top-selling group of 1982.
Their ambush on the Billboard charts was led by Who Can It Be Now (and also Down Under), both soaring to number-one. The former was their first single.
Their success was significantly abetted by MTV, who had their quirky video about a paranoid man alone in his house in heavy rotation.
Who Can It Be Now signified a stimulating time of my pop music/new wave education as a youth back in 1981, and it’s a standard on my IPod playlist during social gatherings to this day.
Chart Success: Who Can It Be Now reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week, sandwiched before Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes (Up Where We Belong) and after John Cougar (Jack and Diane). It stayed on the charts for a whopping 27 weeks and finished 1982 ranked 30th on the year-end Billboard Hot 100.
Great Lyrics: They lyrics were inspired by lead singer Colin Hay being hunted down by debt collectors. Dude just wanted to be left alone.
“Who can it be knocking at my door?
Go ‘way, don’t come ’round here no more.
Can’t you see that it’s late at night?
I’m very tired, and I’m not feeling right.
All I wish is to be alone;
Stay away, don’t you invade my home.
Best off if you hang outside,
Don’t come in, I’ll only run and hide.”
Fun Facts: Business As Usual album spent 15 weeks at number-one on the U.S. Billboard charts, a record at the time for a debut album. Down Under also gave the album a lot of support, joining Who Can It Be Now as chart topper Billboard singles. Unfortunately the band didn’t exactly have staying power. They put out two more albums before the band bottomed out and broke up: Cargo (1983) and Two Hearts (1985).
Never did a song make me wish I had girlfriend with a specific first name solely so I can play a song for her more than Toto’s “Rosanna” in `1982. Unfortunately I struck out in the girlfriend department during those days seeing I was 11, and in hindsight I’m not confident I even knew a girl in my age realm named Rosanna.
If you’re a fan of Rosanna and maybe even if you’re not it’s well known the song was written for actress Rosanna Arquette. As the story goes Arquette was dating Toto keyboardist Steve Pocaro at the time, ironic considering the song was actually written by band member David Paich and sung by lead vocalist Bobby Kimball. Confused yet?
For the record—the song did nothing to secure Pocaro and Arquette’s long-term future. Arquette broke up with Pocaro not long after Rosanna was released. What a vixen!
I hope it wasn’t because she didn’t like the song, because her taste in music is deplorable if so. Rosanna went on to win the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1983 and based largely on Rosanna the group also won Album of the Year for Toto IV.
Easily one of the best power ballads of the decade. If you don’t agree please stop reading—forever.
Chart Success: Rosanna didn’t quite reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two. It did remain on the charts for 23 weeks and finished 1982 ranked 14th on the year-end Billboard Hot 100.
Great Lyrics: I would’ve done anything to be able and hit those glory notes like Kimball so effortlessly did.
“I can see your face still shining through the window on the other side
Rosanna, Rosanna
I didn’t know that a girl like you could make me feel so sad, Rosanna
All I want to tell you is now you’ll never ever have to compromise
Rosanna, Rosanna”
Fun Fact: True Toto and more specifically, Rosanna fans will know Patrick Swayze was in the music video, well before he became one of the world’s most recognizable actors. If you watch the video closely Swayze is one of Rosanna’s many suitors and wearing a red jacket. Dirty Dancing fans will recognize the lady who played Rosanna in the video far easier. It’s Cynthia Rhodes, who played Penny Johnson in the iconic 80s movie.
(Daily disclaimer— This is a countdown of my personal 100 favorite songs of the 90’s, not necessarily the most commercially and/or critically successful tunes.)
“Secret Garden” marinated for a few years before Bruce Springsteen finally unleashed it. Per Songfacts.com, Springsteen originally wrote this for his “Human Touch” LP in 1992 but decided against including it on the album. He waited three years to actually record it and eventually released it on his 1995 album.
Of course, the song is best known for being featured in the iconic movie Jerry McGuire. I fell in love with this song far more than Renee Zellweger. It’s a superb, affectionate ballad about a woman clearly burned before and now has her wall up in relationships with men.
“Secret Garden” only enjoyed moderate success commercially. It landed as high as No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 (as high as five on the Adult Contemporary chart) and finished 1997 ranked 77th on the year-end Billboard Hot 100.
Who cares.
Springsteen had already long left a lasting mark on mainstream American in the 1980s, yet “Secret Garden” displays some of his best work and certainly among his most tender.
“Secret Garden” is an undervalued gem from The Boss.
Fun fact— Springsteen’s one of just five acts who makes at least one appearance on both this 90s and my previous 80’s countdown.
You’d be hard pressed to find a handful of things more 80s symbolic than Jon Cusak, a boom box and this jewel of a song by former Genesis front man Peter Gabriel.
Of course, I’m referring to the movie “Say Anything” in which a devastated Cusak (Lloyd Dobler) stands on the front lawn serenading his ex-squeeze Diane Court, holding a boombox over his head blasting this song. It’s indisputably one of the more iconic movie moments of the decade.
Because of that scene it’s easy to forget that Gabriel’s song was already a hit years before. “In Your Eyes” was released in 1986, although it’s more connected with casual fans to the 1989 movie.
That sort of bothers me, as this is a pleasing record on its own. Although Gabriel had other singles that reached higher on the charts: Sledgehammer, Shock the Monkey and Big Time— In Your Eyes was far and away my favorite.
Chart Success: Peaked at 26 on the Billboard Top 100 charts in late 1986. It reemerged 42nd on the charts three years later thanks to the movie. It ended up spending a total of 28 weeks on the charts. It didn’t finish on the Billboard Top 100 Songs of 1986 because the Billboard Top 100 Songs of 1986 are stupid.
Great Lyrics: So many great lyrics to choose from in this song. To me it’s great from the first lyric.
Love I get so lost, sometimes
Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
Fun Fact: While to my knowledge it’s never been confirmed, it’s been widely reported that Rosanna Arquette is the inspiration for the song. Gabriel lived with her for several years. Additionally, Arquette was the inspiration for the Toto hit “Rosanna”.
-
Blog4 days agoMalia Manocherian: The Visionary Behind Transformative Artistry
-
Blog4 days agoThe Benefits of Using SpeedyShort.com for Your Links
-
Business4 days agoBe1Crypto: A New Era of Cryptocurrency Journalism
-
80s4 days agoFavorite 100 Songs of the 80s: (#21) Don Henley – Dirty Laundry
-
Blog4 days agoDavante Adams Takes a Swipe at the Bears. A Look at the Rivalry’s Latest Chapter
-
80s4 days agoFavorite 100 Songs of the 80s: (#70) REO Speedwagon – Keep On Loving You
-
Business4 days agoDrive Social Media Lawsuit on Digital Marketing Strategies
-
Wings4 days agoChicken Wing Review/QB Comparison: Kelly’s Korner