Monday, October 05, 2009

Revisiting the 80s

Speaking of the 80s, husby and I spent a reasonably large portion of the weekend watching the top 500 80s songs on the foxtel. No idea on what basis the list was made (sales, weeks in the chart etc) but it was too much fun not to share. The memories brought back by so many of these songs were in turns funny and cringeworthy! No images in this post but those of you who were around in the 80s will be able to supply your own mental images, I'm sure!

Here's the top 20:

20. Wake me up before you go go - Wham. Yes, I did have a "Choose Life" t-shirt (they were way better and rarer than the "Go Go" t-shirts!!) - with (OMG) pink flourescent writing. I wore it with white trousers (with the cuffs rolled up to 3/4 length), white and pink flouro double belt, pink flouro socks and clear plastic shoes. Oh my... I'm pretty sure there's no photographic evidence - thank goodness!

19. Simply Irresistable - Robert Palmer. Oh, if only the tight black dress, slicked hair and red red lips would actually suit me. A much better outfit choice than the Wham tribute.

18. Never Tear Us Apart - INXS. Oh, poor Michael Hutchence. I wonder if he would think the manner of his death was fitting for the way he lived? Love the violins, the bass and the sax solo. Where would the 80s have been without the sax solo?

17. Footloose - Kenny Loggins. ooooh. A song guaranteed to make you dance!! A do love a dance movie for good mindless entertainment.

16. Run to Paradise - the Choirboys. This was practically an anthem for Australians during the 80s. So far, the mullet count in the videos is not as high as I thought it would be. Only really Andrew Ridgeley and 2 members of the Choirboys. And also only one acid wash shirt so far.

15. Take on Me - A-Ha. Who did not fall in love with Morten Harket after this video??

14. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2 - well, it wouldn't be a top 20 without at least one U2 song. Although I hope this isn't the only one in the countdown.

13. Love Shack - B-52s - but of course! Ti-iiiiIIIIIN roof! RUSTED!

12. Working Class Man - Jimmy Barnes. Barns-SIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Another unofficial Australian anthem. Possibly to Australia what Born in the USA is to Americans? Classic scene of the sweaty yelling Barnsie in front of the burning cane fields.

11. Down Under - Men at Work. This is almost a joke song. But a worldwide hit anyway. With a flute solo. And an obvious mouthing of the F word in the video - love it! But oh dear, they appear to be drinking Fosters! Clearly a video made for the overseas market!!

Any surprises yet? How about the top 10?

10. Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper. Love Love LOVE this song. And Cyndi Lauper. And the entire album (which yes, I do still have - as an actual record...). Score one for the sideways mullet, Cyndi! And who remembers the movie of the same name, starring a very young Sarah Jessica Parker (and also with Helen Hunt) and the classic line "I just LOVE to dance".

9. Power and the Passion - Midnight Oil. Hmm, this is a surprise. What a trip seeing Peter Garret (now a federal government minister) "dancing". I probably would have put Beds are Burning higher than Power and the Passion. Interesting.

8. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams. Another pull you on the dancefloor hit.

7. Heaven is a Place on Earth - Belinda Carlisle. Was it just the 80s that seemed full of one-hit wonders?

6. 1999 - Prince. Finally, a Prince song! But again, this wouldn't have been my pick for #6. What about Purple Rain? When Doves Cry? For a relatively unattractive very petite man, Prince is sex-personified. A live-in-concert must see!

5. You're the Voice - John Farnham. Well, I guess it wouldn't be an Australian 80s top ten without a Farnsie song. Hello Derryn Hinch in the video. Also, Farnsie gets double points for his mullet. And for including a bagpipe solo (although this was clearly a homage to AC-DC!)

4. Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi. Another "but of course!" song. The head hair! The chest hair! The chest hair! I remember listening to this album in my friend Rebecca's bedroom, over and over again. And Jon Bon Jovi went on to guest star in an episode of the West Wing. Who'da thunk it!

3. Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran. No surprise to see a Duran Duran song in the top 10, although I was never a huge fan in the 80s - I liked them more in their later years.

2. Thriller - Michael Jackson. Wonder if that means Madonna is #1?

1. Like a Virgin - Madonna. Weeeeeeeeeeeeee! Have always been a big fan of Madonna, ever since I saw her perform Holiday live on Countdown (my, now that was a long time ago!). Especially early Madonna, where she was slim but not gaunt, toned but not over-muscled. A woman with a great sense of style, constantly re-inventing herself. Not that I agree with all her decisions, but I don't think she's the worst role model a person could have.

Well, that was fun, for me anyway! Do you agree with the top 10/top 20 choices? It was a uniquely Australian list I think. What songs or artists would you have put up there?

20 comments:

Bells said...

You know me, love a nostalgia kick. Great run through!

I do remember the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun movie! I remember watching it on a school trip in year 7 and telling anyone who would listen about this AMAZING movie. he he. Like all great 80s movies, totally empty and mindless but great fun!

1999 is so not the best Prince song. I'm with you. When Doves Cry would have got my vote.

jp said...

Ok...so the Choose Life t-shirt in my case went with a yellow (yes that flourescent one) tube skirt and flourescent pink socks and plastic shoes - snap....Eek!

Oh and favourite Prince Song - I love 7. But for a crowd pleaser Little Red Corvette or Raspberry Beret.

MadMad said...

Oh, my goodness! That is such a trip down memory lane! Wow. Have you ever seen the movie Music and Lyrics? They have "mock video" at the start, of Hugh Grant in an 80s music video, and it was so exactly right, that I fell off the couch laughing so hard.

Lynne said...

I remembered most of those songs - which of course is not the same thing as I liked most of those songs! I became a mother in the mid-80s so my memories would be a lot different to yours!

Thanks for sharing - it was fun!

TinkingBell said...

Oh dear - i was wearing the same as you - I think my choose life was the fluoro blue - and sometimes worn with a fluoro blue country road blue line skirt and sometimes with leggins - and the belt. and heair Oh dear.
and Working Class man is the Australian anthem - have you heard Adam Hills version of Advance Australia Fair sung to the tune of Working Class Man?

2paw said...

Finally a list where I know all the songs!! Hurrah!!!
I have no time to be worried about the order, I am just really happy to be able to sing a bit of them all in my mind!!!

Bells said...

oh Tink is right. The Adam Hills version of Working Class Man with the lyrics of Advance Australia Fair - yes! Totally anthemic!

Oh and Belinda Carlisle is SO not a one hit wonder. She had at least three, as well as Our Lips are Sealed with the Go Gos!

Alwen said...

Now I am feeling old old old, you young whippersnappers you!

Anonymous said...

Trippy! Wham's album was the first I ever bought with my own money. I had the Go-Go shirt in flouro pink, worn with skin-tight capri-length jeans (with zippers at the ankles), and flouro-pink bobby socks, but not plastic shoes - I had Dunlop Volleys that I had painted in swirling flourescent patterns.

Sarah said...

Love it - I'm sure Wham would have to be higher up a UK 80's top 20 though I'm betting Mads would still be top.

Hope you'll show us the Jacaranda tree in bloom - like gallahs they're something I've heard of but not seen - and I thought they were Oz natives - learn something new every day :)

LynS said...

Nothing is more evocative of particular eras and times in your life than music. Some of these, mostly the ones near the top of the list, are a bit familiar to me, but none are particularly meaningful. But the Beatles - lots of memories.

Gidgetknits said...

Oh gosh - do you realise we might both have been watching Holiday at the same time back in the 80s? And I loved 'Take On Me'. But I still have fun watching 'Dancing in the Street' with Mick Jagger and David Bowie - seriously bad trousers. And Pat Benetar's "Love is a Battlefield." I liked her outfit!! I'm telling you, a generation with that much florescent colour can never have been an angry generation!

Anonymous said...

I was just over the moon that INXS' Never tear us apart got airtime.

I did think Madge at #1 was the biggest anticlimax though. They announced it and I switched it off. (Sorry, not a fan).

And John Farnham twice?! Come on.

Anyway. Mick Jagger and David Bowie was still the most awesome of all music videos. The Magpie didn't know the song existed. Until now.

mwahahaha. Looking forward to the Classics weekend next weekend.

Donna Lee said...

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun took me right back to Sesame Street. They did a bit on it and my kids were all small and watching at that time. I love Cindy Lauper. Time after Time is one of my all time favorites.

So many of the 80's songs make you want to jump up and dance around.

Kate said...

I only knew about ten of those songs. Though, considering I wasn't born until 1989, I don't think that's too bad...
Not a bad list, but not the top 20 I would have put together.

Anonymous said...

I can't really tell it was a uniquely Australian list because I knew (and loved) at least 15 of those! But then, I listened to a lot of non-U.S. music, too. Prince as a "relatively unattractive very petite man" made me LOL!!

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DrK said...

hmm i wonder if web sherrif above is thinking about protecting your rights on the internet when he uses your comments to run some free advertising? and i didnt see you say anywhere that you actually LIKED bryan adams! i know i didnt, thats for sure. not a fan of the white man with mullet style of 80s music myself, but wham and duran duran were on my list i must confess. great trip down memory lane there!

kgirlknits said...

ahh...I just LOVE to dance :)

then I carry watermelons!

great commentary on the list, so many memories, and giggles along the way - think we may have had the same adolescence!

Linda said...

A Ha have been back recently, I do like them and did back then too. I think the old Frankie Goes To Hollywood should have been in there somewhere. I remember all the relax t shirts!