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
Many think the J. Geils Band suddenly erupted on the scene in 1981 with their smash hit Centerfold, but for more than 10 years prior the band toured the country sans the benefit of a single top 10 hit. That changed, seemingly in the blink of an eye as the MTV era rolled in. Centerfold was one of … Read More
I can’t lie to ya’ll—there’s few songs from this decade, or any other that pump me up harder than this Sir Kenny Loggins jam. It’s literally on my CD of car jams blasted at peak volume with the windows rolled down. By the way— did I just write “Sir” Kenny Loggins? Yes, I most certainly … Read More
I’d be a liar if I tried passing myself off as a rabid Van Halen fan from day one. With the exception of Running With The Devil (a great song) off their self-titled debut album in 1978, I’m not sure I heard of any song off their first four LPs, and if I did I … Read More
When looking back at my musical youth in the 1980s, few if any moments rival the spring of 1985 when We Are The World by USA For Africa was released. I’ll never forget the first handful of times I heard the song and saw the accompanying video, and how utterly awestruck I was by the … Read More
