MTV in the 80s Song of the Day

[KevShmev]

I remember the first time I heard Amanda on the radio, when the DJ said pretty much what I would have in his position. "No, really, it is new Boston. At last!" 

Of the first three Boston albums, though, Third Stage is the one, oddly enough, that has aged worst in terms of production values. The first two Boston albums, while recorded in basically a basement by largely one man, sound organic and huge. Third Stage sounds almost plastic in comparison, despite being created in the same way as the first two albums. Not sure why, either.

This is not the kind of post I was looking forward to you from you.   I think you spoiled us with the epic Carrie story.

[jingle.boy]

Yeah, I was hoping he knew an "Amanda" in 1996.

[DebraKadabra]

 

Sometimes I think it's a bit cheesy, but it's still a decent song

Totally agreed.


Although, one of my really good friends named her daughter Amanda after the song.

[Jaq]

I remember the first time I heard Amanda on the radio, when the DJ said pretty much what I would have in his position. "No, really, it is new Boston. At last!" 

Of the first three Boston albums, though, Third Stage is the one, oddly enough, that has aged worst in terms of production values. The first two Boston albums, while recorded in basically a basement by largely one man, sound organic and huge. Third Stage sounds almost plastic in comparison, despite being created in the same way as the first two albums. Not sure why, either.

This is not the kind of post I was looking forward to you from you.   I think you spoiled us with the epic Carrie story.

1986 was one of my calmer years, as it was the year that my circle of friends had spread across the country briefly and I didn't go out much. By 1987, they'd all returned for one reason or another, and I was back to being up to my ears in adventures. 

[KevShmev]

1986 was one of my calmer years, as it was the year that my circle of friends had spread across the country briefly and I didn't go out much. By 1987, they'd all returned for one reason or another, and I was back to being up to my ears in adventures. 

Hehe, I hear ya.

*searches for a 1987 song that could possibly have a great Jaq adventure story*

 

[King Postwhore]

Come on Jaq, you at least must have some good puking stories from 1986 down?!

[Jaq]

Actually, I didn't drink for half of 1986 because of a night where I drank far too much grain alcohol and nearly gave myself alcohol poisoning...but that WAS the weekend I bought Third Stage! 

[King Postwhore]

See!  I knew it because I was in the same boat.

[DebraKadabra]

 

[KevShmev]

Okay, a 1987 song it is...

Aerosmith- Angel

Pretty good song; it was my 2nd favorite of the three Permanent Vacation big hits (liked it more than Dude Looks Like Lady, but not as much as Rag Doll).  Sounds like a run of the mill 80s ballad to me now, but it does remind me a lot of 8th grade. #nostalgia

[DebraKadabra]

Sorry, I never really liked that one at all - too cheesy.

[KevShmev]

Too cheesy??  Uh, you do remember that this is the 80s thread, right?

[DebraKadabra]

Silly me.

[King Postwhore]

Okay, a 1987 song it is...

Aerosmith- Angel

Pretty good song; it was my 2nd favorite of the three Permanent Vacation big hits (liked it more than Dude Looks Like Lady, but not as much as Rag Doll).  Sounds like a run of the mill 80s ballad to me now, but it does remind me a lot of 8th grade. #nostalgia

Kev I was at the concert they filmed for the video.  They did 3 takes and it took a 1/2 hour.  So the world premier happens on MTV and they used maybe 5 seconds panning the crowd?!  WTF?!   Dokken opened for them.  It was a very good show.  I also had fake printed tickets that worked!  The only time I did it. I was nervous as all hell.

[KevShmev]

Haha, that's great!

[Jaq]

Sadly, I've already blown my 80s Aerosmith story talking about my high school crush who was huge on them back before their more commercial 80s turn, and how she reacted to them when I asked her about it a couple of years ago. 

I could say that there were certain things she did better than Carrie, but let's face it, I'd just be trying to top that damn story and that ain't happening!

[jingle.boy]

Like Amanda, its on the lower end of the scale on where I'd rank the obligatory ballady song from a late 80s album. Was pretty meh about it, and I still am.

[KevShmev]

Mike + the Mechanics - The Living Years

The least best of the three big hits by them, IMO, so naturally it did the best on the pop charts.   It's a decent enough song, and I get the widespread appeal it had at the time, but it was never a favorite of mine at all.

[Orbert]

I defy you!

This is a great song.  It is a poignant song, deep and personal.  Listen to the words, place yourself in the shoes of the man who wrote it, feel the regret, feel the pain.  Now, feel the catharsis which comes from writing a song to him, which he of course will never hear (or maybe he will), expressing all the regret and pain.

It did the best of all their songs because it is the best.

[masterthes]

Angel and The Living Years are just okay songs

[DebraKadabra]

The Living Years was fine enough the first time I heard it... before radio ran it into the ground, that is... >.>

[wolfking]

Mike + the Mechanics - The Living Years

The least best of the three big hits by them, IMO, so naturally it did the best on the pop charts.   It's a decent enough song, and I get the widespread appeal it had at the time, but it was never a favorite of mine at all.

Great song, great band.  I have a greatest hits by them and it's awesome.

Silent Running was their best song though, very underrated.

[jingle.boy]

What Bob said.  I always found it to be a very touching and emotive song.

[King Postwhore]

What Bob said.  I always found it to be a very touching and emotive song.

Same here.  I listened to this album a lot and this song but I really haven't listen to them  at least a decade plus.

[Jaq]

It's a great song, given a bit more resonance by the unexpected death of a father of a friend of mine mere weeks after it became a hit. Did get a bit overplayed, but there were far worse songs that happened to.

One of the oddities about this song, at least to me, is that a casual listener to the career of Mike Rutherford would go from the heartfelt, emotional Living Years...to the song's antithesis with Genesis and No Son of Mine. 

[Lowdz]

Like Amanda, its on the lower end of the scale on where I'd rank the obligatory ballady song from a late 80s album. Was pretty meh about it, and I still am.

Not the best Aero-ballad (that would be Janie's Got A Gun or any of the Pump ballads for me) but it's ok.

[Orbert]

Interesting.  I never thought of "Janie's Got a Gun" as a ballad.  Yeah, it's a slower, mellower song, but I guess the subject content keeps me from thinking of it as a ballad.  Technically, a ballad is a specific type of poem in a specific meter, but nowadays it's usually a mellow love song, often from a band not necessarily known for mellow songs.  "Janie" is definitely not a love song.

[DebraKadabra]

How is "Janie's Got a Gun" a ballad?

[masterthes]

Well, Janie does fit the traditional definition of a ballad in that it tells a story 

[KevShmev]

Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror

I was never a fan of this song really at all, but the song does make me chuckle now because of a friend, Almira, who is often referred to by just Mira (pronounced with a thick accent, almost like Me-da).  Well, one day, I jokingly sang the main line of this song by changing "mirror" to "Mira," and she thought it was awesome and that has stuck as one of our running gags.  In fact, at a mutual friend's wedding last summer, she requested that song to be played and when it came on, her and another mutual friend ran over and dragged me out to the dance floor because we just had to dance to Man in the Mira. 

[Mindflux]

Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror

I was never a fan of this song really at all, but the song does make me chuckle now because of a friend, Almira, who is often referred to by just Mira (pronounced with a thick accent, almost like Me-da).  Well, one day, I jokingly sang the main line of this song by changing "mirror" to "Mira," and she thought it was awesome and that has stuck as one of our running gags.  In fact, at a mutual friend's wedding last summer, she requested that song to be played and when it came on, her and another mutual friend ran over and dragged me out to the dance floor because we just had to dance to Man in the Mira. 

So she made it about getting laid?

 

[KevShmev]

Haha, no, I think it was more about fitting her "Mira" moniker into the main line of the song, rather than making a lyrical statement.

[Jaq]

No, if it had been one of MY stories, then yeah, it would have been about sex. Because you know how my stories roll. 

[DebraKadabra]

No, if it had been one of MY stories, then yeah, it would have been about sex. Because you know how my stories roll. 

 

As to "Man in the Mirror"?  Like Mister Shmev, I was never really a fan of it either.  Cute story though.

[KevShmev]

  to the last two posts.

The Motels - Only the Lonely

Nice little song, featuring some nice-sounding 80s synths.  MTV played the snot out of this for a while, so I remember the video really well.  It really wasn't a notable video by any means, but it is just one I saw a ton.