Whether you wanted it that way or not, few things in the mid-80s were bigger than Phil Collins. Between his work with Genesis and a solo career beginning to flourish, Collins was at the forefront of pop/rock music during this era. Collins’ legend grew in 1984 when he was asked to produce Philip Bailey’s (of … Read More
When I was 14-15 years old in the mid 80’s, most my friends idolized various athletes and celebrities. Generally they ranged from Larry Bird, Wayne Gretzky, Don Mattingly, Michael Jackson and Eddie Murphy. Not me. I desperately wanted to be Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties—I’m talking to the point that as a seventh and … Read More
Alright, people. Not every song needs to be about lost love, making love, world peace, imperative social issues or scorned revenge to be a classic tune. Every now and then it’s alright to simply say what the fuck ever, and have a little joy in your life. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go may be … Read More
As I write the first few sentences for this entry, I couldn’t tell you if Still Loving You by the Scorpions actually spent a day on the Billboard charts. Frankly, I don’t give a shit either. In fact, it leads to one of my bigger musical hot takes, which is this—- Still Loving You by … Read More
As I grew older, I gained an appreciation for the premise of Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry”, which for the record is great. However, this was released when I was 11 and back then the song grabbed my attention for two reasons: it was once theme music on Saturday morning WWF programming, and I really (really) … Read More
In a way, We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off may be the biggest oxymoron for me on my countdown. Despite its sobering deeper message when released in 1986, all I wanted to do as a 15-year old, literally was take my clothes off. In conducting research for this series I stumped upon plenty of … Read More
If you’re too young to have been around for the 80s, think Kevin Hart. With his success in stand-up comedy and the big screen, I suppose Hart’s the modern day equivalent to Eddie Murphy, although personally I don’t think Hart holds a candle to Murphy’s popularity back in the day. Murphy pretty much saved Saturday … Read More
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 … Read More
“Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky & Mike.” That has to be among the most reminisced one-liner lyrics from the 80s, regardless of music genre preference. The most ironic thing about Cool It Now is that it’s a song that nearly didn’t get made—not by New Edition anyway. As the story goes songwriters Vincent Brantley and Rick Timas penned … Read More
Madonna’s been a mainstay in the music scene four decades (sorry for making her sound old) strong but her most dominant remains the 80s, where she along with Whitney Houston ascended to become the leading female titans of the industry. This is Madonna’s fifth and final appearance in the countdown—the most of any solo artist or group … Read More
