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).
80s
Favorite 100 Songs of the 80s: (#63) Europe – The Final Countdown

I was roughly 15-years old at the time this song came out and at once it became my essential training song. Back in those days I felt reasonably confident I was just a few short years away from making my debut as a WWF superstar and the future tag team partner of Mr. Wonderful Paul Ordnoff (I always wanted to be a heel). While visualizing my worldwide squared circle supremacy, I went as far to envision “The Final Countdown” as my theme song while strutting down to the ring—greeted by a rousing course of boos.
In reality this song wasn’t really intended to get aspiring athletes fired up. Inspired by David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, it’s actually about taking a trip to Venus and leaving planet Earth behind—or something like that.
Who really gives a shit anyway?
Whether Europe intended so or not is irrelevant. “The Final Countdown” became the backbone of sports anthems at arenas everywhere and remains so over 30 years later.
They keyboard riff at the beginning is one of the coolest things I’ve heard in my life. It deserves to be on my countdown for that alone. Everything about “The Final Countdown” is outstanding. It’s on the National Honor Society of all 80s music that’s gloriously cheesy.
Chart Success: It reached number-eight on the Billboard Top 100 and remained on the chart for 18 weeks. It didn’t finish in the 1986 year-end Billboard Top 100, which is clearly some bullshit. It did finish number-one on the Netherlands year-end charts and third in France because both countries are way cooler.
Great Lyrics: If I had paid better attention as a 15-year old, I’d have put the curling bar down and wondered what the fuck this song is even about.
“We’re heading for Venus (Venus)
And still we stand tall
‘Cause maybe they’ve seen us (seen us)
And welcome us all, yeah
With so many light years to go
And things to be found (to be found)
I’m sure that we’ll all miss her so”
Fun Fact: On of the all-time bogus fabrications is that Europe is a one-hit wonder with this song. It even made VH-1’s list of 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders. “The Final Countdown” wasn’t even their biggest hit on the album! “Carrie” reached as high as number-three on the charts, and “Rock the Night” was a third hit that cracked the Billboard Top 30.
80s
Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#86) Culture Club – Kissing To Be Clever

YEAR RELEASED: 1982
NOTABLE TRACKS “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”, “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya”, “Time (Clock of my Heart)”, “Take Control”
ALBUM MVP: “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”
WHY I LOVED IT: This was the Culture Club’s debut album and to call it a guilty a pleasure is an understatement. Let’s keep things real here—back in late 1982 as an 11-year old it wasn’t exactly manly to like groups like Culture Club, featuring a lead singer literally dressed like a girl. It was a different world in those days and Boy George’s appearance was far more unique than would be so today. More importantly the group’s sound was a far cry from most groups I enjoyed then, such as Styx, Journey and REO Speedwagon. Despite all that I really enjoyed this album, probably more than I should’ve. Even as a pre-adolescent teen I found “Do You Really Want To Hurt” as kind of heartbreaking. It got re-popularized years later thanks to Adam Sandler’s The Wedding Singer movie. Now that I think about it Sandler deserves a lot of Culture Club credit to a newer generation because he featured “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya’ in his Billy Madison movie. I loved “Time (Clock of my Heart)”. It was chic back then to ridicule groups like Culture Club but don’t allow prejudice to stand in the way of quality music. It doesn’t get anymore 80’s than Culture Club, man—and I love it.
COMMERCIAL SUCCESS: The album reached No.14 on the United States Billboard Top 100 and enjoyed even more success around the world—reaching number-two in Canada, New Zealand and France while peaking at three on Sweden and Norwegian charts. “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” and “Time (Clock of my Heart)” were both monster singles, each reaching number-two on the Billboard Hot 100. “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” was the group’s third top 10 hit from the album, peaking at nine.
FUN FACT: Courtesy of Songfacts.com on their hit single “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me: “This was Culture Club’s first single released in the United States. It was a huge and unlikely hit for the British band, who embarked on an American tour in 1983 to gain traction in that country. The song crossed over to Adult Contemporary radio, where most listeners had no idea the lead singer dressed like a girl. MTV, whose library was mostly British bands when they launched, had acclimated their US audience to guys in makeup, so Culture Club wasn’t so shocking on the channel and the group developed a huge audience of young people who liked the sound and the look.
The “look” was authentic: Boy George had been wearing makeup and women’s clothes since his school days, and while he exaggerated it for publicity, it was his preferred style. In a 1983 Trouser Press interview, the singer explained: “I wear my hair this way ’cause it makes my face look longer, my hat because it makes me look taller, black clothes because they make me look thinner, and makeup because it makes me look prettier.”
80s
Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#80) Phil Collins – …But Seriously

YEAR RELEASED: 1989
NOTABLE TRACKS: “Another Day in Paradise”, “I Wish It Would Rain Down”, “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven”, “Do You Remember”, “Hang In Long Enough”
ALBUM MVP: “Another Day in Paradise”
WHY I LOVED IT: This was Collins’ fourth studio solo album after leaving Genesis and you can make a strong case it was the most refined of his four. “Another Day in Paradise” may not my favorite Phil Collins tune but it’s easily in my top five. It addresses social issues, something I don’t recall Collins abundantly speaking to before this track. It deservedly won a Grammy. “I Wish It Would Rain Down” is a sappy, gloomy love song that gives you all the feels. As a whole I’m not sure this is one of the archetypal 80’s cheesy pop albums we often associate the decade with. There’s a lack of good natured fun and a bit more substance on this effort, at least in my opinion. Having said that there is that one constant, where few if any 80s pop albums had the mega production that always seemed to accompany something Phil Collins put out.
COMMERCIAL SUCCESS: “…But Seriously” is barely eligible to be considered an 80’s album, being released just before decade’s end on November 20, 1989. This is the most commercially successful album of Collins career, as it sold over four million copies in the United States, reached number-one on the Billboard 200 and stayed there for three weeks, and produced a mind-blowing four top-five hits. “Another Day in Paradise” reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the 1991 Grammy for Record of the Year. “I Wish It Would Rain Down” peaked at three on the Billboard Hot 100 while “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven” and “Do You Remember” both maxed out at four. “Hang In Long Enough” even got in on the action, hitting No. 23 on billboard.
FUN FACTS: From Heavy.com: “Phil Collins net worth is a staggering $250 Million. His royalties around his eight solo studio albums that have sold 33.5 Million units in the US, and about 150 million worldwide make him one of the best-selling artists in the world. Collins is also one of three artists to have sold 100 million + records both as solo artists and as principal members of a band, the list includes Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. He has won seven Grammy Awards, six Brit Awards, an Oscar, and a Disney Legend Award.
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