I have to say that Florida has better beaches than Utah. But Utah has much better radio stations. I’ve been listening to 101.9 The End since it used to be 107.5 The End, which made a lot more sense, since 107.5 is much closer to the end than 101.9. Anyway, it’s kind of embarrassing to admit how populist my taste in most things is, but there you have it.
So imagine my chagrin when one of the deejays was dissing the 80s as a bad time for rock-n-roll. While I do agree that Nirvana and Pearl Jam did good things in the 90s, one can hardly dismiss the contributions of even one-hit-wonder 80s bands. After all, those great 80s high school movies (Some Kind of Wonderful, The Breakfast Club) would hardly be as mesmerizing without their fantastic soundtracks. And Flashdance, which I have rediscovered thanks to Clearplay, has some of the greatest music of all time, except for that obligatory weird song that occurs in every musical-type show that you just have to fast-forward. What is up with that?
As further proof, I offer the original benefit single, Do They Know it’s Christmas? from 1984. The songwriters heard about the famine in Ethiopia (remember: “finish your dinner, there are starving kids in Ethiopia”?) and wanted to raise awareness and money. This was before celebrities realized how easy it was to just adopt from Africa. Could the same song have been written in the 90s or this decade? I think not. For one, it’d have to be more politically correct, something like, Do they know it’s Kwanzaa?
What would I do without wikipedia.com, imdb.com, and youtube.com? Probably a lot more around the house. Trivia: Bono didn’t like the line: Tonight thank God it’s them instead of you. In protest, or something, of the sad fact that, however much we might empathize with the poor, we have no desire to switch places, he sang it an octave higher, and thus immortalized it. David Bowie was supposed to sing the first line, and it’s a shame he wasn’t there to record it. Still, overall, I get a bit teary, and I want to dance, all at the same time.
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Ugh. I have to say I just don’t get 80′s music and never really have. I think it was a necessary stage for music to go through in order to evolve, but… I think the 90′s generated much more substantial and powerful music. The 80′s were “fun,” the 90′s were moving and edgy. And now as a result we have a much wider range of new music available. That video was hilarious, so much hair!
I love 80s music – particularly the love songs/ballads. Although I do have a sneaking suspicion that many of the ones I love might have come from the early 90s. I wasn’t (and probably still not) into the faster stuff – but you can’t beat those love songs. I have a mix CD I titled “The Best 80s Love Songs Ever!” I used to sit around at night with my headphones on and dream about my Mr. Right, whoever he was at the time. And I still love it just as much now – I just know who my Mr. Right is.
Starter for 10 had great 80′s music. It wasn’t as good as, say, Some Kind of Wonderful, but it was a pretty good movie.