This Is Art, Kids!

It’s been a while, but I’m back at it. This was an interesting crop of tracks, that’s for sure.

49.Michael Jackson(ft Paul McCartney)- The Girl Is Mine

One of the duds from Thriller. It’s just so dog gone corny. It’s amusing to picture the type of girl who would be interested in the both of them.

48.Don Henley-Dirty Laundry

The synth line sounds kind of like fame. I don’t like the Eagles.

47.Lionel Richie-Truly

More sugary sweet pop. It’s even got a swelling string section. Not for me.

46.Naked Eyes-Always Something There To Remind Me

Sometimes you can’t escape the memories of a past love. Especially when even the architecture of your city brings back old feelings. You got to let it go, man. Move on! Great song!

45.Billy Joel-Tell Her About It

There are two types of music aficionados. The type who enjoy Billy Joel and the type who take themselves too seriously. I don’t get how anyone could hate someone so sincere. Listen to how he pleads the listener to be vulnerable, how he tells him to be himself! What a track!

44.Stevie Nicks-Stand Back

Sometimes a lot could be done with a little. The main synth arpeggio bass line to this song is so simple, but it does all the heavy lifting for this song. Video is peak 80’s minimalism as well(Stevie Nicks is seemingly dancing on a treadmill.).Probably my favorite solo Stevie song

43.Billy Joel-Allentown

Hey, I used to live close to Allentown! I think this song is a little too heavy handed. I get the sentiment, but it’s a little too on the nose for me.

42.Stray Cats-Stray Cat Strut

I like the guitar solo here. Songs ok, doesn’t do anything better than the music of this style from the 50’s.

41.Prince-1999

A classic, but I’m a little cooler on it then I am with his other big singles. Still, what a master.

40.Kenny Rodgers and Sheena Easton- We’ve Got Tonight

I really used to like Kenny Rodgers Roasters when I was growing up. He really knew how to cook a bird and good cornbread as well. I even liked the cream spinach.

39.Hall and Oates-One On One

Another hit from the boys. It’s good.

38.Journey- Separate Ways

This definitely feels like a final showdown. One last argument to end the relationship and really seal the fact that it’s over. The music video is prime 80’s cheese as well(I love the part where they keyboardist is playing his instrument on the side of a shipping container.). Great track!

37.Phil Collins-You Can’t Hurry Love

He does a serviceable job with this song, but I’m always going to The Supremes when I want to hear this song. The multiple Phils in the video is cute though.

36.Toni Basil- Mickey

This video always scared me as a child. Something about the way her face is made up always made me feel uneasy. I couldn’t tell you if I like the song or not. The video is the song in my memory.

35.Men Without Hats-Safety Dance

I just learned this was about Pogoing in 80’s clubs ,that’s pretty neat. Anyway not a big fan of the song, but the video looks like a dang Terry Gilliam film. That’s a party I want to be invited to.

34.Culture Club-Time(Clock Of The Heart)

My writer’s block has been driving me mad trying to come up with something to say about this song. It’s good, probably my favorite Culture Club song, but it certainly isn’t very inspiring.

33.Human League-(Keep Feeling)Fascination

I’m a big fan of this song, even if the chorus is basically a rewrite of “Love Action”. The music video for this is pretty dang boring and mostly just features the band swaying in a vanilla white room.

32.Marvin Gaye- Sexual Healing

The most unsexy song about sex that I’ve ever heard. It features a line comparing his dick to a boat. Also the bass and the synths are so sterile sounding. I also can’t imagine who would make love to a song with the closing line “It’s not good to masturbate”.

31.Taco- Puttin’ On The Ritz

Schlocky novelty shit. Who knew there was a market for show tunes with synth? This has a tap dancing solo, I hate it.

30.After The Fire- Der Kommissar

Cheesy, but lovable. I love that synth bass line and the rapping verses are really cool. I never knew that this was a Falco song originally, but I checked that out too(It was bad.)

And that’s that for this crop. Not a particularly good bunch(I liked about 7),but interesting nonetheless. As we near the top 20, I wonder if it gets better. We’ll see next time.