This Is Art, Kids!

I’m back again to explore more of the year’s popular music. Another interesting bunch of tracks here.

79.Sammy Hagar-Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy

I kinda like this one. It’s got a nice little riff driving(Heh.)it. A suprise,for sure, I’ve never been a big Hagar fan.

78.Debarge-All The Love

This is a pretty swinging R&B track with a great string section in the chorus. Good jam

77.Culture Club-I’ll Tumble For You

Culture Club sound like the 80’s in all the worst ways. This song features calypso steel drums and really cheezy horns. Not a fan.

76.Men At Work-It’s A Mistake

Opening note from this sounds like the opening note of The Neptune’s “Frontin”(It isn’t.). Nothing special.

75.Loverboy-Hot Girls In Love

Party music. Not for me.

74.Elton John-I’m Still Standing

I’m still sick of this song. I think everything he put out after Yellow Brick Road was pretty much trash.

73.Lionel Ritchie-My Love

Sappy and bland ballad. I really don’t like his ballads.

72. Kenny Loggins- Heart To Heart

A prime piece of yacht rock. It’s got a nice little bounce to it, like a sunny California morning.

71.Bryan Addams- Straight From The Heart

Never really seen the appeal of this guy. He’s got a pretty interesting voice, but the music is so bland.

70.Christopher Cross-All Right

Speaking of an interesting voice! I really love his vocaling style and I think I hear Michael Mcdonald on backup here. Not a favorite of mine, but it has it’s moments.

69.Toto- I Won’t Hold You Back

The album cover for the song that this is off of looks like a cool ass fantasy novel. That’s the nicest thing I can say about this.

68.Michael Jackson-Wanna Be Starting Something

Those three drum hits right into THAT Bass Line! The best song on Thriller, by far! So much life and energy on this track. I don’t want this party to end!

67.Hall and Oates- Family Man

This song ends with the chorus repeated three(!) times. I’ve also never read the lyrics to this before. It reads like a dramatization that married man would write to prove to his wife he wasn’t cheating. A good track though.

66.Air Supply-Making Love Out Of Nothing At All

You can tell instantly that this is a Jim Steinman song. He’s got to be the luckiest theater kid in all of pop music. His songs are just so grandiose, and big! This one is too much for me though, it also sounds too much like “Total Eclipse Of The Heart.”

65.Little River Band-The Other Guy

An interesting song from a lyrical standpoint. This is about divorce, most notably how it will effect the kids. It’s a plea for a lover to fix the marriage before it’s too late. It’s really too bad about the tonal mismatch that this songs instrumental brings to the material. It’s too bouncy, it trivializes the message.

64.Naked Eyes- Promises,Promises

Naked Eyes? As opposed to clothed eyes? Silly band name aside, this song slaps. That bass line kills it!

63.The Kinks-Come Dancing

Sounds like a song out of time. It’s very nostalgic and hammy. Had no idea that this was as late as the 80’s. It’s fine, I prefer their mid 60’s to early 70’s output personally

62.David Bowie-China Girl

The best song from an uneven record. I always preferred this over the Iggy version as well. Video is a real surrealist trip and worth checking out.

61.Laura Brautigan- How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?

Sentimental, over dramatic pap. Everything about this is overproduced and way too glossy(Check out that guitar solo!). Meh.

60.Styx-Don’t Let It End

I kind of like the abrupt tempo change from the first verse into the chorus of this one. . 2 seconds of a nearly five minute song isn’t nearly enough though.

59.Laura Brautigan-Solitaire

Not as bad as her other song on the charts, but still not good. Has a buildup that goes nowhere interesting.

58.The Tubes-She’s A Beauty

The lead singer of this band’s name is Fee Waybill! Unfortunately the music isn’t as weird as that. I like the pre chorus and the chorus of this track, but the verses sort of sound like Huey Lewis. Which reminds me I’m probably going to have to hear a ton of him for this list(Sports was huge that year.).Ugh!

57.Rick Springfield-Affair Of The Heart

This sounds like it would fit perfect as a theme of a Rocky film and I mean that in the best way possible.

56.Laura Barutigan-Gloria

Really straddles the line between synth pop and disco. It feels really empowering, but a further look at the lyrics has me confused. “I think they’ve got your alias that you’ve been living under”. Is she a spy? What’s going on here? A good song though.

55.Duran Duran-Is There Something I Should Know?

Music video features the common 80’s trope of having the band move around in a art deco/surrelist location in lieu of having a plot. I like the song, but it is one of their weaker hits in my opinion

54.Men At Work-Overkill

“Especially at night, I worry about situations I know will be alright”. This sums up a paranoid mind in a nutshell. I emphasize heavily with this song and those horns are so damn smooth.

53.Madness-Our House

Love the opening to this song. The pounding piano and that horn section. I think the singer is too monotone here for how jubilant the songs sounds. It’s also very unlike their earlier(much better) material. Not a fan.

52.The Clash-Rock The Casbah

The Clash go pop! Song is really wild for them, that piano line almost has a swing type feel to it. It’s a good one

51.Adam Ant- Goody Two Shoes

Its got a fun melody, but it outstays its welcome. That’s saying a lot for a song that is shorter than 4 minutes.

50.Kajagoogoo-Too Shy

That intro is so dang long. It’s a fun track again for a little bit, but then the bridge is also kind of meandering. “Too Long Long, that is this song”

Another block of tracks where I am 50/50 on it. Some absolute classics here(“Wanna Be Starting Something” “Overkill” “Rock The Casbah”), but also some straight rubbish. Still, I press on! See you on the flip side!