Damn, if I heard that, I would run up to the band and say, “No, no, not that one, the one from Atom Heart Mother.”
The majority of the complaints (by the OP and the couple pages I read), are about song lyrics being silly or meaningless.
I don’t know why people care that much about lyrics; meaningful lyrics are a “nice to have” IMO. So I can’t relate to most the choices here; most of them are melodically or rhythmically interesting tunes.
Carry on.
ok can we really put this behind us?
Ok, so, with me (and I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this before) when I was kid I thought Jimmy’s “…lookin for myyyyy last shaker o’salt” was “…lookin for myyyyy last nigger assault.”
ok - let’s hope there’s really no more of those.:rolleyes:
With the exception of Elvis Costello, Talking Heads and XTC (who weren’t quite as ‘mainstream’ as the previous two*), I can’t think of any worthwhile 80’s “new wave pop”, which might not be the best title, but at least hopefully distinguishes them from the IMO lesser Modern English/Fabulous Poodles/Depeche Mode/Flock of Seagulls ilk. (Was that fair of me lumping those bands together?)
Not even gonna link it - Rod Stewart’s “Hot Legs”.
Not. Really. Trying.
*XTC did have “Making Plans For Nigel” and “Life Begins at the Hop”, but still, they weren’t as ‘commercial’ (or well known, say?) as EC and TH.
aaaaa fuck it I guess The Smiths and The Cure deserve an 80s nod as well.
The number one thing that bugs me and makes me hate or dislike a song is bad/stupid/nonsensical lyrics.
Roxy Music, David Bowie, Japan, Aztec Camera, Joe Jackson, Squeeze, to name some of the most musically talented.
Elvis Costello And The Attractions were worthwhile 80s new wave pop; his band carried him, IMO. He’s a talented songwriter, and a decent singer; but Pete Thomas, Bruce Thomas, and Steve Nieve had some of the best musical chops out of that entire decade, and they are more responsible for the overall sound of the band than E.C. was. In my opinion.
No argument here, I nearly defended MWH in the “don’t deserve to be a one-hit wonder” thread. It’s funny that Safety Dance is not a fave of their hardcore fans and Ivan often refused to play it at all in 80’s concert sets.
What’s upsetting me is here that a lot of 80’s pop (as in popular and top selling) is justifiably forgotten, and the alternative artists because of their staying power are being remembered as the popular ones.
So, you’re saying some people want to fill the world with silly love songs?
Run Joey run by David Geddes. Awful.
The #1 songs the week I was born were:
US: Brand New Key, Melanie
UK: Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West, Benny Hill
So there’s 2 right there.
Hey, you know, my love does it good.
“Hey, the producers have bought the rights to this French song and they want me to write new English lyrics to it, but I’m stuck for what to write.”
“Eh. Just go smoke way too much weed and then write down whatever pops into your head. It’ll be good enough for radio.”
No, it’s from the early 80s song “Mirror in the Bathroom” by the Beat (or the English Beat in US and Canada and British Beat in Australia.)
I tend to be that way, too. It depends on the type of song, of course, but lyrics to me are generally secondary, so nonsense doesn’t bother me. Actively bad lyrics, though, do make me cringe a little. I’d rather have a chorus like “Money spine paper lung kidney bingos organ fun” (“Kidney Bingos” by Wire) than much of MacArthur Park, for instance.
Love Shack. I fucking hate this fucking song.
blech
There’s a whole interrogation scene right there.
Sadistic Captor: " Oh, you’ll tell us the damned launch coordinates !! Play the song at 80 db !! "
Steely-Willed Captive: " Pffft !! No dice, pally. You can’t break met. "
Sadistic Captor: " Oh yeah?? Here. Read the first chapter of this Danielle Steele novel. And I use the term ‘novel’ with extreme prejudice ! "
Steely-Willed Captive: " Oh, please. My steely-willed mind cannot be bent no less broken simply by dint of reading a few poorly turned phrases. "
Sadistic Captor: " Play the song WHILE he reads the novel !"
Steely-Willed Captive: " Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. --whimper-- Here, here, gimme a paper, here are the coordinates !! They’re 66.7520634,123.3853572 !!! "
I’ll throw in " I Think I Love You ", nominally by The Partridge Family. 
Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes.
Especially the 1993-1994 period. Not a good song in sight. Other decades had their annoying or silly songs but 1993-1994 is just… bland and boring. I remember having MTV in the background and not hearing a single noteworthy number for hours. Nothing that was terrible and certainly nothing good either. Not even so-bad-it’s-good. The aural equivalent of beige.
Apart from Björk.
A song from a hit musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics based on a poem by T.S. Eliot, that has been recorded by over 100 people, including versions by Elaine Paige, Barbra Streisand, and the afore mentioned Barry Manilow that makes me want to put pencils in my ears?
I can’t take that MEMORY.
It may be because 93-94 was my freshman year of college, but some of my favorite music comes from those years. Two of my three most listened-to albums are from '93: Liz Phair’s “Exile in Guyville” and Smashing Pumpkins “Siamese Dream.” (My most listened-to album is probably “The Smiths Best Vol I & II.”)
Everybody Else is Doing it So Why Can’t We, the Cranberries album containing Linger and Dreams, was released in '93.
1994 was the year that Weezer came along with their debut album of hard-hitting power-pop - which is still IMO the best album of their career, even though Pinkerton is a very close second.
They’re not everyone’ cup of tea and they certainly wouldn’t have been on MTV, but Phish were doin’ their thing all through the early and mid 90s. Whatever else you could say of them, they were not part of the Nirvana-clone period. (Also one of the very first groups to utilize the internet to connect with fans.)
One of my favorite songs ever - Buena by Morphine with the late Mark Sandman - a power trio with a singer who played chords on a bass with two strings, a drummer, and a baritone sax. Not the aural equivalent of beige, IMO.
This is just off the top of my head, there may be many others that I’m not thinking of.