Author Topic: MTV in the 80s Song of the Day (Read 308331 times)

lonestar · « **Reply #280 on:** April 10, 2012, 09:23:43 AM »

As a disgruntled, isolated thirteen year old scifi reading loser who was head over heels in love with Styx, this video was the greatest thing ever. I later realized that as a concept album and as a song, the idea was lame. Still, it will always have a place in my heart.

KevShmev · « **Reply #281 on:** April 10, 2012, 09:26:15 AM »

Europe - The Final Countdown

Say what you want about this song, but how many songs can attain such popularity with the hook being a keyboard melody, as opposed to a vocal one? Not many. Interestingly, and I know I have expressed this before, when I first DT, my instant thought was they were a heavier and more intense Europe. They had similar elements: operatic singer, cool use of keyboards, etc. The massive difference was soon pretty evident, but that was my first impression.

lonestar · « **Reply #282 on:** April 10, 2012, 09:37:29 AM »

Cool song, loved it in the day.

I love the line by Sebastian Bach on one of those VH1 specials about this song though,"Any song about spaceflight by a band named after a continent has to suck."

KevShmev · « **Reply #283 on:** April 10, 2012, 09:39:44 AM »

Bach had some major pipes back in the day, but have you seen him lately? He looks like an aging, obese woman.

lonestar · « **Reply #284 on:** April 10, 2012, 09:43:50 AM »

Rockstars in general never seem to age gracefully.

BlobVanDam · « **Reply #285 on:** April 10, 2012, 09:47:18 AM »

I love The Final Countdown. From that iconic keyboard riff that everyone knows, to those silly scifi lyrics that make little sense even once you figure out the words. I love it all. I'd call it a guilty pleasure but for the fact I have no shame in it at all.

KevShmev · « **Reply #286 on:** April 10, 2012, 09:52:45 AM »

I give the middle finger to the idea of guilty pleasures, since I have none. I like what I like, and if someone has a problem with it, that is their problem, not mine. I have ZERO guilty pleasures.

But I have seen The Final Countdown called one by many over the years, so I get it.

Ravenheart · « **Reply #287 on:** April 10, 2012, 09:57:45 AM »

I enjoy it, if only for the iconic synth intro.

lonestar · « **Reply #288 on:** April 10, 2012, 10:05:42 AM »

One of the cooks at work loves the song. You want entertainment, watch a 250 pound Mexican line cook sing this a the top of his voice.

bosk1 · « **Reply #289 on:** April 10, 2012, 10:09:30 AM »

Quote from: lonestar on April 10, 2012, 10:05:42 AM

One of the cooks at work loves the song. You want entertainment, watch a 250 pound Mexican line cook sing this a the top of his voice.

Okay. Time and address?

Dr. DTVT · « **Reply #290 on:** April 10, 2012, 10:35:05 AM »

I love that song for one reason...our HS band played it at the beginning of every 4th quarter our team had the lead, which was pretty much every game.

Lowdz · « **Reply #291 on:** April 10, 2012, 02:00:42 PM »

Great song. great band- unfairly slated as talentless empty crap probably because the singer had the audacity to not be fugly. Unfortunately it's one of those songs (Livin' On A Prayer, Sweet Child o' Mine, Summer Of '69 etc) that suffers from overexposure.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #292 on:** April 10, 2012, 02:07:18 PM »

Overplayed but who cares?! great tune and like everybody else said, "Who can forget the keyboard intro?"

bosk1 · « **Reply #293 on:** April 10, 2012, 02:16:43 PM »

Quote from: kingshmegland on April 10, 2012, 02:07:18 PM

Overplayed but who cares?! great tune and like everybody else said, "Who can forget the keyboard intro?"

How did it go. I'm not remembering it.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #294 on:** April 10, 2012, 02:20:39 PM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

bosk1 · « **Reply #295 on:** April 10, 2012, 02:31:58 PM »

Well played.

lonestar · « **Reply #296 on:** April 10, 2012, 02:50:23 PM »

Quote from: bosk1 on April 10, 2012, 02:31:58 PM

Well played.

This. Free lunch for King.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #297 on:** April 10, 2012, 03:08:50 PM »

jingle.boy · « **Reply #298 on:** April 11, 2012, 06:00:08 AM »

Quote from: kingshmegland on April 08, 2012, 03:19:54 PM

Quote from: jingle.boy on April 08, 2012, 07:17:17 AM
Quote from: kingshmegland on April 08, 2012, 06:13:12 AM
Chad, how about Red Skies or Are We Ourselves or Saved By Zero?

Honestly, I don't remember The Fixx at all other than this track.

Try the songs I suggested on Youtube. I'd love to hear what you think about them.

Got around to checking them out a couple of days ago. Still didn't do anything for me. Not sure it would've 25 years ago either.

Mr. Roboto ... the cheesiest of all Styx tunes. Fun, but cheesy as hell. And stay away from that video. It's horrid on the same level Separate Ways is!

Final Countdown... nice track on a horribly under-rated album. Overplayed song back in the day yes, but the album was as good as Slippery When Wet. Solid, top to bottom.

Thankfully, King's YT clip got pre-empted with an ad, so I didn't get 'rolled'.

Orbert · « **Reply #299 on:** April 11, 2012, 07:33:45 AM »

I thought "Mr. Roboto" was okay the first time I heard. A bit repetitive, but catchy. The second time, it seemed even more repetitive and somehow less catchy. I'm not sure I've ever made it all the way through the song a third time. Cheesy is right.

I was a Styx fan from Equinox, Crystal Ball days; my first concert was The Grand Illusion. But man, when they fell, they fell hard.

KevShmev · « **Reply #300 on:** April 11, 2012, 08:24:55 AM »

Big Country - In a Big Country

Now, talk about a song that just sounds like great fun, that describes In a Big Country to a 't'. I am a little fuzzy on remembering this video as well, but I think I remember it being good fun to match the music; I'll have to check it out here shortly.

Orbert · « **Reply #301 on:** April 11, 2012, 09:06:06 AM »

I always liked this song, especially the way the electric guitar sounds like bagpipes but without the whine.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #302 on:** April 11, 2012, 09:45:34 AM »

Huge fan of Big Country. even bought a few albums in the 90's as imports before Stu took his life. Loved the song and the lower harmonies. The drummer rocked and both the drummer and bass player played a bit with Pete Townsend on album and live (Well, the bass player did).

Next album has one of my all time fav songs buy them, Where The Rose Is Sown.

T-ski · « **Reply #303 on:** April 11, 2012, 11:04:57 AM »

Big Country should have been as big as U2. The album "The Seer" is fantastic.

Sir GuitarCozmo · « **Reply #304 on:** April 12, 2012, 07:36:30 AM »

Late to the party, but wanted to chime in on Final Countdown:

1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjeMDvCdrtc (How far can you make it?)

2) Good tune, cool solo.

3) Always makes me thing of the record stores in the Grand Theft Auto games: Vinyl Countdown

4) I heard Sebastian Bach a couple of times in the last couple of years. He sounds like he just stepped out of 1989. Seriously, he still sounds excellent.

KevShmev · « **Reply #305 on:** April 12, 2012, 08:39:06 AM »

Men at Work - Down Under

I loved this song when it first came out, even though at the age of 8, I thought he was singing, "I come from the land of under."

But how can you not love a well-written pop song that not only has a great video, but features a flute?!

Sir GuitarCozmo · « **Reply #306 on:** April 12, 2012, 09:11:09 AM »

I love that song. Probaably the only song in history to have the word "vegemite" in it.

BlobVanDam · « **Reply #307 on:** April 12, 2012, 09:17:01 AM »

As an Australian, this song is just a huge embarrassment to this entire country.

Orbert · « **Reply #308 on:** April 12, 2012, 10:25:45 AM »

I guess I can understand that, but the rest of the world thought it was pretty cool, and I think it raised the overall opinion of Australia in general. People who'd never even heard of Australia went "Hey, they're pretty cool. They have the one band with that one song, you know?"

bosk1 · « **Reply #309 on:** April 12, 2012, 10:32:01 AM »

Quote from: Sir GuitarCozmo on April 12, 2012, 09:11:09 AM

I love that song. Probaably the only song in history to have the word "vegemite" in it.

Quote from: Orbert on April 12, 2012, 10:25:45 AM

I guess I can understand that, but the rest of the world thought it was pretty cool, and I think it raised the overall opinion of Australia in general. People who'd never even heard of Australia went "Hey, they're pretty cool. They have the one band with that one song, you know?"

All that.

Jaq · « **Reply #310 on:** April 12, 2012, 12:23:15 PM »

Belated comments on Big Country:

I loved their first two albums. It's a shame In A Big Country gave them a gimmick as being "the band with the bagpipe guitars" because they were a lot more than that. The Crossing and Steeltown are two of my favorite albums ever.

Down Under by Men at Work-yet another one of those endlessly catchy songs with a great video that the 80s seemed to fire out constantly. Also a remnant of the days when albums could be out forever before taking off. They were pretty close to releasing their next album when Who Can It Be Now and Down Under blew up. Great, next I'll be waxing nostalgic about the days when a band could sell out an arena in Detroit and no one knew who they were in New York

Sir GuitarCozmo · « **Reply #311 on:** April 12, 2012, 12:27:50 PM »

Quote from: Orbert on April 12, 2012, 10:25:45 AM

People who'd never even heard of Australia went "Hey, they're pretty cool. They have the one band with that one song, you know?"

Well, to be fair, it had that effect on the rest of the world that wasn't already saying that about AC/DC.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #312 on:** April 12, 2012, 03:58:57 PM »

Quote from: Sir GuitarCozmo on April 12, 2012, 12:27:50 PM

Quote from: Orbert on April 12, 2012, 10:25:45 AM
People who'd never even heard of Australia went "Hey, they're pretty cool. They have the one band with that one song, you know?"

Well, to be fair, it had that effect on the rest of the world that wasn't already saying that about AC/DC.

Or Midnight Oil.

Very catchy tune but I never bought their albums. It's funny how hard they fell after the second album. I see Colin Hay still tours and does solo albums once in a while.

Orbert · « **Reply #313 on:** April 12, 2012, 05:14:35 PM »

I remember reading an article about Men at Work back when they were hot, about how they were all very private people. Some celebrities are fine with the spotlight and thrive on fame, some deal with it as a necessary evil that comes with the turf, and some really reject the whole thing. The guys from Men at Work didn't like doing interviews, didn't see the point in telling everyone about their personal lives, are they married or what, any of that. After the second album, we never heard from them again, and I remembered that article and thinking that fame goes both ways. They were cool, but they weren't that cool, they weren't superstars or anything, and the public wasn't going to continue embracing them if they weren't going to hug back. So they disappeared.

Sir GuitarCozmo · « **Reply #314 on:** April 12, 2012, 07:28:13 PM »

Colin Hay still does solo gigs. Playing in Baltimore in the near future.

News: Welcome back, Mike Portnoy!

Author Topic: MTV in the 80s Song of the Day (Read 308331 times)