Wednesday, June 13, 2007

I Gotta Cut Loose, Footloose!

I saw this on Smoke and Mirrors and just couldn't resist since it's music related, and for me 80's music related. Here's how it goes:

These are the rules:1. Go to this website (scroll down and you’ll seen them separated by decades on the left in the sidebar)
2. Pick a year you were in high school
3. Get yourself nostalgic over the songs of that year
4. Pick 5 songs and write something about how these songs affected you
5. Pass it on to 5 more people




Cyndi Lauper-Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Aside from thinking Ms. Lauper was the coolest thing because of her partially shaved head and flaming red hair and thrift shop clothes, this was one of my favorites back in the day. I remember asking one of my friends to buy this for me for either my birthday or Christmas, which she did. After I opened it, she told me how embarassed she was to have to actually walk into a record store and purchase this kind of music from a person that looks like she does. Mmmk...get over yourself!! The album is called "She's So Unusual" shouldn't that be your first clue??

My parents were sort of taken aback from the looks of Cyndi Lauper too. But when they saw her on an interview and found out she has like a 3 octave range voice, and was classically trained, they were o.k. with things.




U2-Pride in the Name of Love

U2 was pretty new on the scene in 1984, still playing small clubs, etc. When the album Under a Blood Red Sky came out (yea, I know, this song is not even on UBRS, just hear me out) we played the heck out of that vinyl. These guys were gods to us. Our friends that were in bands all played their music and we sang our hearts out with them.

I remember buying The Unforgettable Fire on cassette (which does contain Pride) on my trip to Ireland back in 1990.


Prince-Purple Rain


Speaking of gods..my friends and I went to see this movie like a million times. Each of us was totally ga-ga over Prince. I remember one of my "guy" friends asking me what was so cute about him. I still can't put my finger on it, he just is. The down side is his waist is probably as big as my arm.


Every song on this album is a classic. We 'specially loved "Darling Nicky" because it was dirty.






Billy Idol-Rebel Yell

Billy was/is an enigma. I had demo albums and mainstream albums of his. One album cover in particular was a huge picture of his head complete with spiky hair. I loved to freak out my elders with is. They thought for sure I was a satan worshipper.


I had a friend who was in a band that was nuts about Billy Idol. He was the first person I knew to go see him in a club in NYC. Billy actually sweated on him!!! Because of my friend he introduced me to the band Billy was in previous to his solo career, that was Generation X. They're on my iPod right this minute.





Stray Cats-Look At That Cadillac

Love, love, loved this band! I was a member in the fan club and actually got to see the band back in the 80's (not on a recent reunion tour.) I got to touch both Brian Setzer and Slim Jim Phantom too. I have washed my hand since then, just in case you're wondering. This was another band I had U.S. and import albums of. I remember the imports being such a big deal. Guess there is no such thing anymore since and mp3 is an mp3?!?!










Ah, that was fun! I miss the 80's. I'm gonna go put on my wayfarers, make my hair real big and listen to some music!

3 comments:

NittanyBri said...

Welcome to 1988:

1. I'll second Cyndi Lauper. She is the first concert I remember going to - as a side note her opening act was a then unknown girl band called The Bangles.

2. Guns N Roses, any song from Appetite For Destruction. When I was in Basic Training in the fall of '88, the company of trainees that shared the other end of the barracks were a then experimental group. They were allowed to listen to music in the evenings. G-N-R was a staple in their repertoire.

3. Don't Worry Be Happy. Could you go anywhere and not hear that? One of many song everyone loves to hate, but know all the words. You can sing it note by note...

4. Forever Young. Haunting melody. I heard this one during our HS talent show. One of the girls did an interpretive dance routine to it. As one of the few seniors in the light and sound club, I got the privilege of working the spotlight.

5. U2. Any U2. In my not so humble opinion, the greatest rock band ever. Sorry John, Paul, George and Ringo. The music playing as the soundtrack of our high school years is always the nearest and dearest to our hearts.

Anonymous said...

But, I wasn't in high school in the 80's. I was too little :P

Anonymous said...

I HAVE THAT BILLY IDOL ALBUM ON VINYL! It's in my closet right now! I LOVED that album. I used to request Rebel Yell at the skating rink all the time.