MTV in the 80s Song of the Day

[DebraKadabra]

There's a part of me that would love to forget that the band Europe ever existed but...

[King Postwhore]

There's a part of me that would love to forget that the band Europe ever existed but...

But then you hear that keyboard melody and your earwormed to death.

[DebraKadabra]

Yep.

[jjrock88]

Europe is a great band; this is one of their best songs for sure.

[KevShmev]

Slade - Run Runaway

Always loved this song. And the video was hysterical, with the singer hamming it up quite a bit.  Being a fan of silliness, I always loved it.  The song is just foot-stomping greatness.

[Jaq]

Oh yes, this is from Slade's brief return to relevance as "the band that Quiet Riot covered."  This was a fun little track though. Always dug Slade, even if mostly these days they're known for other people covering them.

[Orbert]

Fun song that I'd totally forgotten about.

[DebraKadabra]

I always dug that one.

[King Postwhore]

Didn't mind it.  Never bought it.

[KevShmev]

Katrina & the Waves - Walking On Shunshine

This song is from 1985, but I don't have any memory of hearing it prior to becoming familiar with it after it was featured in the 1987 movie, The Secret of My Success, a movie I liked a lot.

[Orbert]

The song is catchy, your typical 80's feel-good song.  But for me, the song will forever be associated with this really cute girl named Katrina who worked at the mall.  Dear lord, she was cute.  I swear, just seeing her smile could make me walk on sunshine.

[King Postwhore]

Catchy tune again I never owned.

[DebraKadabra]

It was kind of cute the first time I heard it, but then... overkill...

[Jaq]

Total, utter earworm type of song. One of the catchiest songs of the 80s, if not all time, even if I didn't particularly like it. Oddly for some reason I associate it with a lot earlier in the 80s than 1985 though...it just feels more like a 1983 song. And no, I don't know HOW a song can feel like a particular year, it's a gut kind of thing.

[Kwyjibo]

Nice catchy feelgood song, that got a little overplayed

[KevShmev]

America - You Can Do Magic

Maybe an odd choice, as this is an early 80 song by a 70s classic rock band, this is one of the first 80s songs I really loved back in 1982, so it works here.  I still love it, too.  Great little tune.

[KevShmev]

Guess that one was a swing and a miss.

George Michael - I Want Your Sex

This was quite the controversial song at the time.  Of course, if it came out now, it wouldn't be at all, which speaks to how different the times were back in the 80s.  But anyway, enjoyable song.  Not my favorite of his, but probably one of his better solo hits.

[bosk1]

Honestly, I think it was only controversial because it was a pop (i.e. "mainstream") song.  There were much more explicit songs in rock and rap at the time.

[Orbert]

Of course, but that's exactly why it was controversial.  We don't want our kids to hear it on mainstream radio.  Stuff like that needs to be hidden where kids can find it but parents can naively believe that it doesn't exist.

[bosk1]

  Well put.

[DebraKadabra]

It's got a good beat and you can dance to it, but it's not my favorite of his solo stuff.

[Jaq]

I loved how the controversy about this song was not, in fact, about him having sex, but somehow the suggestion that the song was about promiscuity and the video had to add the bit about PRACTICE MONOGAMY to make people shut up. The early days of people finding out about AIDS-after years of the media not even knowing it existed-were in retrospect a little hilarious. Never much of a fan of the song though.

[KevShmev]

Good points there, Jaq.

Boy Meets Girl - Waiting for a Star to Fall

A very catchy, infectious pop song.  Probably a bit too poppy for some, but the vocal melodies are all very catchy and memorable.  Most artists go their entire careers without writing a hook as strong as the one in the chorus of this song.

[KevShmev]

Dang, two swings and misses in the same week.

Duran Duran - The Reflex

If you watched MTV in 1984, it was impossible to avoid this song; it was played seemingly every hour, every day, for months.  Good song, one that still sounds nice, but not one I would call one of my favorites from Duran Duran.  But every time you hear this song, you can't help but think of the video.

[Cool Chris]

Boy Meets Girl - Waiting for a Star to Fall
A very catchy, infectious pop song.  Probably a bit too poppy for some, but the vocal melodies are all very catchy and memorable.  Most artists go their entire careers without writing a hook as strong as the one in the chorus of this song.

Yes, very poppy, good song for what it was. Can’t really imagine getting too jazzed about hearing it now though.

[/quote]

 Duran Duran - The Reflex

If you watched MTV in 1984, it was impossible to avoid this song; it was played seemingly every hour, every day, for months.  Good song, one that still sounds nice, but not one I would call one of my favorites from Duran Duran.  But every time you hear this song, you can't help but think of the video.

Oddly, I can’t recall this video, but remember really liking this song. Was a moderately big Duran Duran fan back in the day. Revisited them recently and this song did not age well for me.

[Beowulf]

I liked the Boy Meets Girl as well, but that was yesterday...





Anyone catch the obscure Foreigner reference?

But you're right, Kev.  That's one of those songs that when you hear it, you're playing the video in your head.  Like "Take On Me" by A-Ha.

[DebraKadabra]

Duran Duran - The Reflex

If you watched MTV in 1984, it was impossible to avoid this song; it was played seemingly every hour, every day, for months.  Good song, one that still sounds nice, but not one I would call one of my favorites from Duran Duran.  But every time you hear this song, you can't help but think of the video.

Definitely NOT my favorite DD song - this one was all over the place for a good long while.  Looking back though, it's really not a half bad tune, it just got majorly overplayed at the time.

[Big Hath]

at one time, The Reflex was my favorite song (I was 7 or 8 at the time).

Wasn't the video kind of a "live" setting with a big wave coming out of the video screen?

[DebraKadabra]

Yep, that's the one.

[Jaq]

My sisters saw Duran Duran on the tour for this album. They didn't like it when I asked if a wave came out of the screen during The Reflex. 

[King Postwhore]

Dang, two swings and misses in the same week.

Duran Duran - The Reflex

If you watched MTV in 1984, it was impossible to avoid this song; it was played seemingly every hour, every day, for months.  Good song, one that still sounds nice, but not one I would call one of my favorites from Duran Duran.  But every time you hear this song, you can't help but think of the video.

Wasn't a big fan of this song.  I thought they has way better songs but it was a big hit.

[KevShmev]

Heart - Alone

This was a monster hit in 1987, spending three weeks at number 1.  I myself was never a big fan of this one - I greatly preferred the other hits from the Bad Animals album - but it was easy to see why this song was so popular at the time.  I don't remember the video really at all.

[King Postwhore]

Always loved this great emotional song.  Funny, I just listened to this album for the first time in years last week.

[DebraKadabra]

Heart - Alone

This was a monster hit in 1987, spending three weeks at number 1.  I myself was never a big fan of this one - I greatly preferred the other hits from the Bad Animals album - but it was easy to see why this song was so popular at the time.  I don't remember the video really at all.

Good song, but I have other favorites from that time period that trump this one.  That, and the older the better with Heart anyways...

[Jaq]

Pretty much Heart's last gasp as a major commercial force. While the outside writer thing worked big time with the previous album, it didn't quite fare so well here. This is a great 80s style power ballad, though, I'll give it that.