“Say after me It’s no better to be safe than sorry”
The 1980’s was a decade of excess in every sense of the word, but it was also the decade that gave birth to so many one-hit wonders. One such wonder was a song that I never failed not to like no matter that I grew older. Even now I would sing-along to this song whenever I come across it on-line or I find a mixtape of it.
“Take On Me” by the Norwegian synthpop band A-ha was a simple enough song, but when heard by way of it’s groundbreaking music video which combined live-action scenes with rotoscoped pencil sketching of the video it became an instant classic. The video was just like most music videos of the 1980’s in that it tried to wrap a story around the song though most of the time I had no idea what was going on.
Despite the video making little sense I still consider it a nostalgic favorite of mine from the days when MTV actually played music videos.
“Gimme all your lovin’ All your hugs and kisses too, Gimme all your lovin’ Don’t let up until we’re through.”
I didn’t know what blues and blues rock was when I first heard it on the radio and then watched it on MTV. I did know that they had a real unique sound that was very much like rock, but also had a sort of country vibe to it.
One of the first bands of blues rock that I really ended up being a fan of was ZZ Top and it was mainly due to their three videos for three singles off of their Eliminator album. The first one that I saw was for the track “Gimme All Your Lovin’“.
The video itself was just very cool. It had everything a young boy was curious about. Cars, girls and rock and roll. Well, mostly it was the girls and the video to this song introduced the “Three ZZ Girls”.
It was much, much later in high school that I went back to listening to ZZ Top and their songs and realize that they were pretty much singing about sex, sex and more sex to the tune of Texas boogie blues. I ended up loving the band even more then.
“Taking More Than Her Share Had Me Fighting For Air She Told Me To Come But I Was Already There”
You shook me all night long! Yes, on the KTSL charts at No. 15 is just one of the greatest rock songs ever. Hyperbole and all that, but this song is just awesome times awesome equals awesome.
AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” first appeared in their mega-blockbuster album in 1980, Back In Black. It wasn’t until 1986 when it was re-released as part of their Who Made Who album. It was during it’s re-release that I first heard and first saw the new video that accompanied the song. I think every teenage boy ended up glued to their TV’s whenever this video came on. They probably ended up taping the video for further repeat viewing.
As is their style, the song was just full of double entendres and the video itself just played up on the song’s lyrics. This video and song was just hard rock at it’s most 1980’s excess and debauchery and it was great.
I didn’t hear #14 the year it came out in 1983. I wasn’t too much into heavy metal at that age (still just 10). Now, once I got into high school and expanded my circle of friends (still not much but did include a couple who were into metal) I was finally introduced to heavy metal.
One of the first songs I really got into was Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” from their Piece of Mind album. Even from the first time hearing the song I had an idea what the song about. I was already a huge hoarder of all things military history in my teen years and I knew the song was about the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.
What I didn’t realize at that time was that the song itself was using a famous poem about said charge. So, in addition to getting me into heavy metal (which waxed and waned in the years since until meeting necromoonyeti online), I ended up learning about Tennyson and his poem about that fateful charge of British Light Cavalry against a well-defended and heavily-armed Russian artillery battery.
Also, seeing the cover for “The Trooper” with Eddie in full light cavalry regalia waving a cavalry saber and a bloodied, tattered Union Jack just hit me right in my wheelhouse.
Early last year I posted one of my favorite songs from my youth and it was by the band Heart. That song was “These Dreams” and still continues to be a favorite of mine to this day. My second favorite from this band is their power ballad from their 1987 album Bad Animals.
“Alone” is actually an even better song but “These Dreams” was just the song that first introduced me to the Wilson Sisters, Ann and Nancy. Where the earlier song was more folksy in it execution with “Alone” we get a full out power ballad that includes Nancy doing a guitar solo near the end. Ann Wilson crushes this song and just reinforces the fact that she remains one of the best, if not the best, female rock vocalist to ever belt out a song.
Oh, I still have a major crush on Nancy Wilson right up to this day. She’s definitely the first lady of rock.
“All alone silence fills my room But in a memory, I hear you calling me”
Hitting the KTSL charts at No. 12 is the 1990 ballad from the Latin freestyle girl group Sweet Sensation.
“If Wishes Came True” makes this list because it is such an earnest love song that we don’t get much of anyway. This was a song made in a much simpler and less cynical age. While some of its continuing appeal seems to be based on the feeling of nostalgia it brings up for those who grew up during the time this song was released it doesn’t change the fact that it’s an uplifting and hopeful song.
The lyrics are sugary-sweet to the point of causing cavities, but they’re easy to sing-along to and, in the end, there’s nothing wrong with reminiscing about one’s memories.
I’m not sure how much this song was played over and over by heartbroken teens during my high school years but I will guess that it would top a million easy.
“Seasons Change” by the group Exposé comes in at 11 on our “27 Days of Old School” countdown. The group itself was one of the big names during the freestyle and dance-pop scene during the 80’s, but surprisingly this song was their only No. 1 hit. It just goes to show the power of the ballad and this one became of the the go-to songs for teens (probably college age ones as well) during my days.
It’s actually a pretty downbeat song considering it’s about how couples break up not due to any one major falling out, but due to drifting apart because of time and changes.
For teens who fell in love with this song it became a sort of theme song whenever they broke up with their first, second and upteenth true love. I know that as much as school dances love their slow songs this was rarely played during.
“Ice Cube, will take a funky beat and reshape it Locate a dope break, and then I break it”
The first time I heard this song it was on the plane trip from San Francisco to Washington, DC. I was part of a high school civic studies program called CLOSE-UP. It took high school students (who can afford the fee of, at that time, 2000 dollars) from all 50 states to attend a 5 day learning tour of the nation’s capital and learning how the Federal government worked. Let’s just say that even as a high school senior I was already passed the idealistic stage and onto that cynical stage.
“Jackin’ for Beats” was part of Ice Cube’s Kill at Will album and it was the CD I brought onto the plane with me and it literally became the soundtrack to my trip.
This song is literally nothing but sampled beats from other songs and remixed together to form a unique funky beat and bass sound for Cube to drop his lyrics on. Ironically, the lyrics to the song was Cube talking about him stealing (jackin’) beats he thought was cool and funky and using it himself but making it better because he’s Cube.
Below are the songs whose beats were sampled to make up this song and I have a feeling there’s probably a few more that people haven’t been able to figure out.
“If it Don’t Turn You on (You Outta Leave it Alone)” by B.T. Express * “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”, “The Payback”, “Funky President” & “Funky Drummer” by James Brown * “I Know You Got Soul” & “Hot Pants. . . I’m Coming, I’m Coming, I’m Coming” by Bobby Byrd * “Bop Gun (Endangered Species)” by Parliament * “Sing a Simple Song” by Sly & The Family Stone * “Big Ole Butt” by LL Cool J * “So Wat Cha Sayin'” by EPMD * “Ashley’s Roachclip” by The Soul Searchers * “Bon Bon Vie” by T.S. Monk * “Psychedelic Shack” by The Temptations * “Hector” by Village Callers * “More Bounce to the Ounce” by Zapp * “Big Beat” by Billy Squier * “Buzzsaw” by The Turtles * “The Haunted House” by Disney * “Welcome to the Terrordome” by Public Enemy * “The Humpty Dance” by Digital Underground * “100 Miles and Runnin” by N.W.A.”
All of the meat and cheese of BlizzCon’s content is traditionally crammed into Friday. They open with a bang, throw all of the big news at you all at once, and then spend Saturday giving you some time to soak it in. Lots of Q&A panels are the norm, along with a growing collection of e-sports grand finals and a big rock concert to send you off in style. 2014 was no different, and there is certainly no major news to bring to the table, but it was nevertheless a day full of entertaining events, and I would like to share with you my two favorites.
The first is a documentary called “Looking for Group”. In celebration of the ten year anniversary of World of Warcraft, Blizzard created a one hour documentary about how the game came to be. The film leaves a lot to be desired from the players’ perspective. Blizzard took up a great deal of the time archiving fan experiences in the game–a married couple talks about first meeting in Stormwind, a teen reflects on growing up playing the game with his father, a handicapped woman remembers playing WoW to help mentally recover from her accident. It is probably incredible for a game developer to think that they made that much of an impact on peoples’ lives, but anyone who has played the game long enough has run into situations like this before. It’s nothing particularly novel or exciting for the fans. But the film also incorporates plenty of behind-the-scenes looks into how the company has operated over the years and the personalities leading the charge. I found the details on the early developmental years of the game especially interesting. If you have ever enjoyed World of Warcraft, it’s worth taking an hour to watch this:
The second video I want to share with you might take some persuasion. When your two favorite professional sports are golf and Starcraft, it is really hard to make friends. But such is my fate. Despite all of the columns I was pumping out Friday, I actually did manage to watch live all 30 matches of the Starcraft II World Championship Series Global Finals that took place at BlizzCon. MMA knocking off Bomber 3-1 might have been the biggest upset, but Classic’s rocky 3-2 finish over herO made MMA’s path to the final round feel easy. Life ultimately outclassed him 4-1 in a way that was certainly impressive but not exceptionally fun to watch. The real excitement came in the bottom bracket semi-finals. Life and TaeJa breezed their ways past San and INnoVation 3-0 and 3-1 respectively, and both players looked to be at the peak of their game rolling into the semi-finals. Life ultimately progressed to the finals 3-2 in what was surely the most intense series of the event. The video below was my favorite match of that series. It starts off with both players taking extremely aggressive and risky stances–in Life’s case one you would almost never see at this level. I’m not going to spoil who wins, but the 24 minute length of the video should tell you that both players move beyond the opening chaos. Neither player is willing to put on the breaks all game, forcing some really unconventional gameplay. With practically perfect micro on both fronts, we get to see what a top tier SC2 match ought to look like–two masterminds who can’t hope to surpass the other’s technical precision and have to bluff, gamble, and predict moves ahead of time to pull off a win.
I suppose that a lot of e-sports boil down to mind games as a sort of maximum skill level is reached. The glory of Starcraft II is that reaching that threshold is so difficult even many of the pros in the global finals succumb to error in basic techniques and strategy. That was not the case this weekend with TaeJa and Life, and that is what made this series my favorite at BlizzCon 2014.
And lastly, for those of you who were actually watching yesterday, what did you think of Metallica? I had a lot of fun on IRC during the closing ceremonies trash talking Lars, predicting what song would come next, and blabbering about metal in general. How did this band selection rank for you in the annals of BlizzCon closing ceremonies? Blizzard have offered a lot of variety in their selections over the years. From the somewhat genre-appropriate (Metallica), to the big ticket, high-budget rock sensation (Foo Fighters), to the bottom-barrel (Blind-182), to the in-house absurd (Lvl 80 Tauren Chieftain), we’ve seen a lot. Is it enough? Blizzard is all about nerd aggro. It is the heart and soul of their ethos. I’ve long thought a fantasy-oriented power metal band would be the best choice to reflect that. Even if most of the spectators had never heard of Blind Guardian before, you know they would bring the house down. Amon Amarth, Dethklok, Iced Earth, Iron Maiden, and Rhapsody of Fire were some of the other names that got dropped. Of course the most popular choice for a future BlizzCon was GWAR.
This will be my last post on BlizzCon 2014. Thanks for reading! Here are links to my previous entries:
“I talk sense condensed into the form of a poem
Full of knowledge from my toes to the top of my dome”
It was 1989 and MTV was already something I was watching on a daily basis, but there was something missing from their daily music video rotation. They were criminally lacking with hip-hop videos. So, into the void was BET.
Where MTV was more about dance, pop and rock music videos, BET was all about R&B and hip-hop videos.
I will get all “grumpy old man” and say that I definitely enjoyed hip-hop the way it was during the 80’s and as late as the mid-90’s. For me things in that music scene just ended up becoming too commercialized. Not saying there’s no gems and gold in the trash I here now, but the hip-hop artists back in the my day were pure lyricists. Sure, their rhymes were still all about machismo and bragging about how they’re the best, but they had skill in doing so. I will put it up there that No. 9 on the 27 Days was one hell of a lyricist and he did so at the age of 16 (15 depending on when one thought the track was recorded).
I am talking about Special Ed and his hit track “I Got It Made”.
Through the Shattered Lens