Obscure, And Some Not So Obscure, 80's One Hit Wonders 1980-1985, Part 1

Hello,

I'm using this criteria to define a one hit wonder: Accordingly, Billboard journalist Wayne Jancik defines a United States one-hit wonder as "an act that has won a position on Billboard's national, pop, Top 40 just once." Using this definition, artists are therefore classified as one-hit wonders based solely on Billboard Hot 100 chart performance—other factors such as success in other territories, additional hits on other Billboard genre-specific charts, membership in more prominent bands or musical groups, critical acclaim, and influence are not considered."

But I'm not just looking for the most famous one hit wonders, like Toni Basil's "Mickey" or Bertie Higgins' "Key Largo". I'm looking for the most obscure, yet still amazing, one hit wonders. That was the goal, but I stumbled across all these amazing songs. So the focus is on obscure songs, but some more famous songs did slip through the cracks.

This is the site I used to get these songs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1980s_one-hit_wonders_in_the_United_States

Billy Preston and Syreeta's incredibly beautiful "With You I'm Born Again":

One of my all-time favorite one hit wonders, Steve Forbert's "Romeo's Tune":

The music video is so bad that it's.... no there's no way around it, it's bad. But it's a great song. Rocky Burnette's "Tired of Toein The Line":

Grover Washington's "Just The Two Of Us":

Back when TV themes were good and not instantly forgettable, Larry Carlton's "Theme From Hill Street Blues":

Slyvia "Nobody":

Deborah Allen "Baby I Lied":

I don't know that I remember this song, but I like it. Van Stephenson's "Modern Day Delilah":

Jan Hammer's "Miami Vice Theme":

Don't know that I remember this song either and it's a tad bit cheesy, Giuffria's "Call To The Heart":

I had completely forgot this song, I love Miss Moyet's voice, Alison Moyet's "Invisible":

David Foster "Love Theme From St. Elmo's Fire":

I love some old school dance/funk music. Starpoint "Object Of My Desire":

Roseanne Cash's "Seven Year Ache":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 47 Heart: Their Top 35 80's Era Songs Part 3 #12- #1 (Finished February 1st, 2017)

Hello,

This countdown of the Top 106 Greatest 80's bands is much more challenging and taking much more time than I expected. That's especially since I'm listening to all the CDs that will be considered for each artist. Some CDs are very well known and some CDs have been lost in the mists of time. I'm grateful for YouTube as I can listen to CDs there that I can't find anywhere else. Also as I've forgotten such musicians as Sade, Queen, Meat Loaf and Neil Diamond this list is actually at about 110 greatest 80's musicians.

This is the last blog I'll be doing for Heart, but I have more blogs to write for Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Queen. Also I've started listening to the songs for the 44th greatest 80's musician. Although I'm done with more than half of the musicians, each additional musician takes a bit longer than the one previous. I'll be lucky if I'm at least at the halfway point of this project.

Once I'm done with this project I'm seriously considering going through and reordering all these musicians with the information I've found out and the songs I've discovered. At most I would post one song for each musician on this next project, if I do it. Just don't hold your breath.

Now here are Heart's twelve best songs:

12) "Stranded":

11) "Wild Child":

10) "I Didn't Want To Need You":

9) "Secret":

8) "Straight On":

7) "Tall Dark Handsome Stranger":

6) "If Looks Could Kill":

5) "Nothin' At All":

4) "Who Will You Run To":

3) "Alone":



2) "Never":



1) "What About Love":

themusicaddict

Getting To Know Ghost (B.C.)

Hello,

So every once in a while I crave for something new and that goes with music. I was craving some new rock music. I read about the band The Dillinger Escape Plan and checked them out on Google Play- not impressed as the kids would say. I picked up the latest issue of Classic Rock magazine. This is one of those magazines that comes with a complimentary compilation CD, one of the bands on this CD was Ghost. After I gave up on The Dillinger Escape Plan I checked out Ghost and have been listening to them all day. I quite like them and I only have one complaint. Sometimes I wish they would just let go and rock out.

Since I don't know their music that went I went to thetoptens.com, according to that list these are the 10 best songs of Ghost. Or as they are sometimes known as Ghost B.C.

10) "Elizabeth":

9) "From The Pinnacle To The Pit":

8) "Deus In Abstentia":

7) "He Is":

6) "Ghuleh/ Zombie Queen":

5) "Square Hammer":

4) "Monstrance Clock":

I don't like some of the lyrical content of the songs of Ghost, that includes this song. 3) "Year Zero":

2) "Ritual":

1) "Cirice":

themusicaddict

"No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA"

Hello,

Something is brewing in this country that's frightening the hell out of me. Tomorrow will be one week mark that Trump has been the President and so far he hasn't had any good ideas. The latest ideas about sending feds to Chicago, bringing back water boarding, actually going through and moving funds from other programs to build his wall and then whining about President Obama having a bigger inauguration. My hell the man has been a complete mess so far. These are some songs that remind me of his disastrous first week in office.

This is where I got the title of this blog, thanks to Green Day:

For some reason this song title made me think of Trump, R.E.M.'s "World Leader Pretend":

Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth":

Moby and the Homeland Choir "Trump Is On Your Side":

Arcade fire featuring Mavis Staples "I Give You Power":

Creedence Clearwater Revival "Fortunate Son":

Crosby Stills Nash and Young's "Ohio":

I'm not advocating violence in any way, shape or form. Rage Against The Machine's "Bullet In The Head":

U2 "Sunday Bloody Sunday":

Pink Floyd "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2":

Public Enemy "Fight The Power":

Bob Marley "Get Up Stand Up":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands Misses Addendum: ZZ Top (Finished January 26th, 2017)

Hello,

I was reading about the latest ZZ Top live CD the other day- which isn't very good- and I thought to myself I wonder where ZZ Top is on my Top 106 Greatest 80's bands. I looked through my list quickly and then I looked through my list more slowly. I still couldn't find them on my list and realized I somehow forgot them. Unlike Queen, who I briefly considered, I just completely forgot ZZ Top. I have no excuses, only shame.

ZZ Top was one of the bands that took most advantage of MTV featuring videos of cars and beautiful women.

Current members are bassist and lead vocalist Dusty Hill, guitarist and lead vocalist Billy Gibbons (the band's leader, main lyricist and musical arranger), and drummer Frank Beard. (Thanks to Wikipedia).

Here are some of ZZ Top's best 80's era songs as determined by your ever so faithful musicaddict:

"Sharp Dressed Man":

"Gimme All Your Lovin'":

"Legs":

"Rough Boy":

"Cheap Sunglasses":

"Tube Snake Boogie":

"Got Me Under Pressure":

"Viva Las Vegas":

"Sleeping Bag":

"Doubleback":

"I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide":

"Velcro Fly":

and a song from 1994's "Antenna" , the very good "Pincushion":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands Misses Addendum: Stryper (FInished January 21st, 2017)

Hello,

Isaiah 53:5King James Version (KJV)

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

One of the top bands of the 80's definitely wasn't Stryper, they had some okay songs. But a lot of their music was the very sludgy, not particularly quality sounding heavy metal. The reason I'm writing about them is I wanted to continue this series of 80's blogs with something a little more wholesome. On this Sabbath Sunday the music of Stryper allows me to do that. Stryper are known as a rock band with a religious element. Sometimes they would throw Bibles out to their audiences and they have the above verse attached to most of their marketing material. I don't know if they are sincere or if this is just a gimmick, but it is a nice change of pace from the typical rock song lyrics. Too bad they aren't a better band. Skillet is probably my favorite so called Christian Rock band, I'm looking forward to seeing them on February 24th.

Current members of the still touring Stryper are:

Michael Sweet - lead vocals, guitar (1982–1992, 1999-2001, 2003–present)

Robert Sweet - drums, percussion (1982–1993, 1999-2001, 2003–present)

Tim Gaines - bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, piano (1983–1986, 1986–1988, 1990-1993, 1999-2001, 2003–2004, 2010–present)

Oz Fox - guitar, backing vocals (1983–1992, 1999-2001, 2003–present), lead vocals (1992–1993) (Thanks to Wikipedia)

Now here are some of Stryper's best songs, these songs are from their older CDs.

"Can't Stop The Rock":

Of course Stryper would cover a song by Earth, Wind & Fire, it makes perfect sense. "Shining Star":

"To Hell With The Devil":

"Always There For You":

"Honestly":

"In God We Trust":

"Lady":

These songs are from their newer, crisper and most recent CD, 2015's "Fallen":

"All Over Again":

"Fallen":



"Pride":



"Heaven":



"After Forever":



"Let There Be Light":


\
"The Calling":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands Addendum: Queen Their 44 Best 80's Era Songs Part 2 #44-#34 (Finished 1/24/2017)

Hello,

Yeah, yeah I know how the hell did I not include Queen on my list of greatest 80's era bands? It was mostly because I mostly thought of them as a 70's band and indeed that was an incredibly productive decade for them. However they also had a very productive 80's. They released nine CDs in the 80s, six studio CDs, two live CDs and their first greatest hits CD. Again I don't usually include live CDs or hits CDs. This series of blogs covers 1977's "News of the World" to 1991's "Innuendo". If I had included them in my countdown they probably would have landed in this mid-40's ranged. But after listening to all their 80's studio albums, they probably should have finished higher. Queen is an incredibly amazing band and the first band in this countdown to have four blogs.

Queen was Freddie Mercury 1946-1991 played piano and sang, Brian May is the lead guitarist, Roger Taylor plays drums and John Deacon is the bassist. May and Taylor are still touring under the Queen banner with Adam Lambert doing the singing. (Thanks to Wikipedia for the biographical info.)

44) "Don't Lose Your Head":

43) "One Year Of Love":

42) "These Are The Days of Our Lives":

41) "Was It All Worth It":

40) "Calling All Girls":

39) "Cool Cat":

38) "Dead On Time":

37) "Sleeping On The Sidewalk":

36) "Let Me Entertain You":

35) "Get Down, Make Love":\

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands: Queen Their Top 44 80's Era Songs Part 1 (Complete)

Hello,

We are just hours away from the unthinkable happening, one of the most misguided billionaires will become President of the greatest nation on the Earth. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I'm fearful for our country. This song has been playing in my head the last couple of days and it seems so appropriate for this seeming dark moment in our history.

These are some songs are on the upcoming 4 blogs for Queen's Top 44 songs as my 43rdish Top 80's musicians.

"Coming Soon":

"Las Palabras De Amor":

"Cool Cat":

"Dragon Attack":

"Get Down, Make Love":

I can't think of many songs that Queen have had covered over the years. I'd forgotten about this one until I started working on this blog:

"Sleeping On The Sidewalk":

Okay and one that will probably be in the Top Ten, "Bicycle Race":

themusicaddict

The Best of Freddie Mercury's Solo Work

Hello,

Until yesterday I had no idea that Freddie Mercury even had a solo career.

While finding songs for my blog about the songs that won't appear on my Queen countdown blogs, I kept on seeing advertising for Freddie Mercury's "Messenger of the Gods: The Singles Collection". As I like to be fairly thorough in my research about these musicians, I went to Google Play and listened to "Messenger".

Now I understand better why I didn't know that Mercury had a solo career after listening to this collection. None of these songs have the grit, humor, bombast, sex and fun of the even average Queen song. The 25 songs that are on "Messenger" are mostly interchangeable, one generic mid-tempo song followed by another similar sounding song and so on. He recorded two solo CDs, one of those was "Barcelona". He recorded that CD with Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe. I admire Mercury's chutzpah, but quite simply that experiment didn't work. Some of the songs from "Barcelona" are okay until Caballe starts singing. I'm sure she's a fine singer, but her singing sounds completely out of place on "Barcelona". Also as soon as she starts singing, the song's listenability takes a nosedive. I'm not criticizing Caballe's singing ability. I'm just saying that her singing on "Barcelona" is completely unneeded. That was an idea that should have been nipped in the bud at the beginning.

But let's not forget that Mercury was one of last century's most charismatic entertainers. This world could use a Freddie Mercury infusion about right now. (The Struts lead singer Luke Spiller has the same look as Mercury and is also a good singer. But to ask him to live up to Mercury's pizzazz is asking too much of any mortal. I like the music of The Struts, but it's doubtful they'll ever be as big as Queen.) Mercury was another amazing musician that the world lost too soon. R.I.P. Freddie Mercury (9/5/1946 - 11/24/91)

Anyway these are the best songs on "Messenger of The Gods", such as they are.

"Love Kills" (Wolf Euro Mix):

"Love Kills" (Regular Version):

"Stop All The Fighting":

"I Was Born To Love You":

"The Golden Boy": (This is the best of the songs that Montserrat sang on.):

"Living On My Own" (Julian Raymond Mix):

"Living On My Own" (Regular Version):

A remake of The Platters original, a version that will never be topped. "The Great Pretender":

The Platters "The Great Pretender":

"Time":

Near the beginning of this song, it feels like it's going to equal a Queen song. But when it's just about to get up and go, it stops. "Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow":

"Let's Turn It On":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands Addendum: Queen Their Songs That Won't Be On My 80's Era Countdowns

Hello,

I know I know that I should be ashamed of myself. When writing a list of the top 106 Greatest 80's Musicians, how did I forget Queen. Well honestly I have no excuse. My weak reason is that I considered them mostly a 70's band. But once I educated myself I knew that not to be the case.  But as I'm writing 80's era blogs some of Queen's most timeless songs won't be on my countdown blogs for them. In honor of those songs I'm posting this blog of those blogs that won't be included in my 80's blogs. Enjoy.

All of these songs are from the 70's except for the 90's song "Made In Heaven". I picked most of these songs because of how great they are, but I also picked a couple of songs because I liked their titles.

"Keep Yourself Alive":

"Seven Seas of Rhye":

This might be my favorite Queen song ever. "Killer Queen":

"Now I'm Here":

"Stone Cold Crazy":

"In The Laps of the Gods":

"You're My Best Friend":

"Bohemian Rhapsody":

"Death On Two Legs":

"Tie Your Mother Down":

"Somebody To Love":

"Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy":

"The March of the Black Queen":

"The March of the Black Queen":

"Made In Heaven":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 45 David Bowie: His Top 37 80's Era Songs Part 1 #37- #25 (Finished January 17th, 2017)

Hello,

Originally I titled this as a Bruce Springsteen blog, obviously these songs are the work of the great David Bowie.

I realized recently that it was about about a year ago that I was writing a series of blogs about the music of David Bowie. That was on the news of his too early death,  with just how sick he was kept as a secret.  Thankfully this is a happier blog about the music of David Bowie, aka Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke. He ranks as my # 45 Greatest 80's musician.

I realize that I still need to finish the series of blogs for Heart which will finalize with their Top 12 songs. I also need to post the Top 24 Bruce Springsteen songs, with and without the E Street Band. I also realized I somehow had forgotten Queen on this countdown. I think the reason why I forgot them is that I mostly considered them a 70's band although they did release 5 CDs in the 80s. If I had remembered them they likely would have been in the mid 40s on this countdown. I'll be making an addendum for Freddie and the boys in the next little while. Finally I have 3 countdown blogs to write for David Bowie.

At the end of the 80's and early 90's Bowie bagged his solo career and joined with 3 other gentlemen and created Tin Machine. Besides Bowie Tin Machine featured brothers Hunt and Tony Sales and Reeves Gabrels. For this series of blogs I could either include that band or pretend like they didn't happen. But I thought to myself he probably had some colloboration on creating these songs, but his vision drove most of the songs. Using that criteria, I decided to include the two Tin Machine studio albums in this countdown. I was surprised how much I like Tin Machine 2- the one with that cover. That CD has 8 songs on this countdown and Tin Machine include 13 songs overall on this blog. However Tin Machine's highest rated song is at #8.

Including Tin Machine I have 99 David Bowie songs on my iTunes.

37) "Tumble and Twirl":

36) "When The Wind Blows":

35) "Ashes To Ashes":

34) "Criminal World":

33) "Heroes":

This is a Tin Machine song. 32) "Video Crime":

31) "Real Cool World":

Tin Machine 30) "Shopping For Girls":

Tin Machine 29) "One Shot":

28) "Neighborhood Threat":

27) "Shake It":

Like I said, THAT Cover. This is the cover from "Tin Machine 2". Tin Machine 26) "You Can't Talk":

25) "Fashion":

themusicaddict

Comparison and Contrast of the original 1972 "Ziggy Stardust" & 1983's "Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture"

Hello,

This is part of my research for writing a series of countdown blogs for my # 45 80's musicians of all-time, Mr. David Bowie. I had seriously considered the songs from "Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture" to be used in my countdown blogs. But after overthinking about it I decided against that. First it's a live CD, songs from which I usually don't use in my countdown blogs. Second of all the Ziggy Stardust CDs aren't even close to the 80's era. For my Bowie blogs I'll be considering 1977 "Heroes" to his second studio CD with Tin Machine, 1991's Tin Machine 2.

This is a comparison and contrast between two CDs. The first is 1972's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" original CD. The second is 1983's "Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture".

Although the two CDs were released 11 years apart, they were recorded within a year of each other. The original CD was released June 6, 1972 and the live soundtrack was recorded July 3rd, 1973. Other than the Ziggy Stardust title, the two CDs don't share many songs. Only four songs are on both CDs. Those songs are also radically different, studio vs. live, different arrangements and honestly the four songs are better on the original CD.

Those four songs are:

"Moonage Daydream":

original:

soundtrack version:

"Ziggy Stardust"

original:

soundtrack version:

"Suffragette City":

original: 

soundtrack version:

"Rock 'n' Roll Suicide":

original:

soundtrack version: 

themusicaddict

Some of the Songs I'm Considering For The Upcoming David Bowie Blogs

Hello,

These are some of the songs that I'll be considering and ranking for the upcoming David Bowie blogs. He's my #45 Top 106 Greatest Musician of the 80's. I'll be working through 10 of his CDs and 11 non-album singles to compile this list. It will take me awhile, but it will be fun. I will consider both his solo stuff and the two studio CDs he recorded with Tin Machine.

In this blog I'll be posting all 11 of his non-album singles- as determined by Bowie's discography wikipedia page. I know that Wikipedia gets a bad rap, but I find most of their information to be accurate. Also their specific web pages have great detail.

Queen and David Bowie "Under Pressure":

David Bowie with the Pat Matheny Band "This Is Not America":

David Bowie and Mick Jagger "Dancing In The Street":

"Absolute Beginners":

"When The Wind Blows":

"Breaking Glass":

"John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)":

Covering the Doors, who were doing their own cover. "Alabama Song":

"Crystal Japan":

"Wild Is The Wind":

"Loving The Alien":

"Real Cool World":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 46 Bruce Springsteen: His Top 36 80's Era Songs Part 1 #36- #25 (Complete)

Hello,

I will post Heart's Top 12 best 80's era songs soon.

But I wanted to get started on my series of blogs about the Boss. When I say the Boss, this of course includes his amazing band.That would be The E Street Band. Now some people will look at this and wonder why Bruce and his band are so low? And he likely would be higher if I included his entire career. In my opinion Bruce's best CD is the 9/11 tribute CD "The Rising". But this series of blogs doesn't include that CD. This blog series also doesn't include 1975's "Born To Run".

Included are their CDs from 1978's "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" to 1992's twin CDs. That obviously includes the twin classics 1980's "The River" and 1984's "Born In The U.S.A.".  1978's "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" is also a very solid CD. But it also includes four lesser CDs- 1992's "Human Touch" and "Lucky Town"- neither of which is particularly good. The other two CDs considered for this blog is 1987's "Tunnel Of Love" and 1982's Nebraska". Now I know that many people consider "Nebraska" a classic, but to me it's not. In my opinion it's not even a good CD, the only song that makes this countdown is "Atlantic City".

This is the most key members of The E Street Band: Clarence "Big Man" Clemons, saxophones and percussion. Died June 18th, 2011. Clemons would have turned 75 tomorrow. Gary Tallent, bass. Also there's Danny Federici, multi-instrumentalist. Unfortunately Federici died April 17th, 2008. Both David Sancious and Roy Bittan have played piano. The main lead guitarists have been Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren. The E Street Band's long-time drummer is Max Weinberg. And of course Patti Scialfia, wife and background vocals, of The Boss.

From the film "Light of Day", don't feel bad if you've never heard of it. 36) "(Just Around The Corner To The) Light of Day":

One of only two longs from "Lucky Town" that makes this countdown. 35) "Lucky Town":

One of eight songs from "The River". 34) "Independence Day":

33) "All or Nothin' At All":

32) "Real World":

31) "Tougher Than The Rest":

30) "Man's Job":

29) "Factory":

28) "Better Days":

The second song from "Tunnel of Love". 27) "Spare Parts":

26) "Downbound Train":

25) "Atlantic City":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Very Enthusiastic Review of Van R. Mayhall Jr.'s "Judas The Apostle"

Hello,

Thanks to iUniverse, LLC, author Van R. Mayhall Jr. and NetGalley for access to this book. It took me awhile to get around to reading it, but I'm so glad I did.

First a disclosure, I very much believe in the Lord, Our Savior. While not even close to being a scriptorian, I have read and studied the story of Jesus and Judas multiple times. While this book is a work of fiction, that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of truth and good points in it.

Some of the questions this book brings up are: What exactly was Judas' role in the life and death of our Savior? Was he a good or bad person? Was he a villain or did he just have a role to play, although the word role doesn't give his task enough credit. With a Gospel of Judas possibly found and first published in 2006, what other scripture could there be out there? In 2012 a Gospel of Jesus's Wife was presented as a conference in Rome. It seems that no one knows the authenticity of these, but it does make me wonder what other scriptures might there be out in the world. And what is it those Gospels might reveal to the world? But ultimately does it matter what Judas' actual role was, as long as it was finished? Also how close is this book to "The Davinci Code"? It is similar, but goes down a different path than "Code". I liked both books quite a bit.

"Judas The Apostle" starts off with a double barrel shotgun. First we meet Elazar ben Yair. It seems he's the last member of the Sicaii- who had lead a revolt against the authorities, chiefly the Romans. After the Romans sacked Jerusalem in AD 70, Elazar led the remaining Sicarii in their flight to Masada. There so they wouldn't be captured by the Romans, they set up an elaborate suicide. This mass suicide wiped out all of the Sicarii- or so it seemed.

Second "Judas the Apostle" moves it's way to Louisiana with an assailant attacking an old man. The old man is Thibodeaux Lejeune, better known as Thibs. The assailant thinks that that Thibs has something extremely valuable. But what the assailant doesn't know is that Thibs, is a war hero. A man that knows how to defend himself and the assailant is in for an unpleasant demise.

"Judas The Apostle" begins with this explosive beginning and never takes it's foot off the pedal. We meet Cloe, Thibs' daughter, and J.E., Thibs grand son. Cloe had left Louisiana and Thibs behind several years ago. Thibs untimely death brings Cloe and J.E. back to Louisiana and the mystery of why Thibs was killed.

It has to do with a jar that Thibs had brought home from World War 2, a jar he had found in a cave in Tunisia. This is the beginning to an exciting book as we follow the journey of the jar, Cloe, J.E., The Monsignor Albert, Thibs brother Sonny and the evil and greedy The Kolektor.

Cloe wants to find out what's in this jar, could it really be The Gospel of Judas? If so what does that mean.? Obviously representing the Vatican, the Monsignor has a vested interest. But hating the Catholic Church, The Kolektor also has a vested interest. Who will win this showdown between these two very divergent viewpoints and styles? As we read this book we see both the best and worst of mankind.

Some books I read for NetGalley can be a bit of a chore, but this book is a much different story- so to speak!! If you haven't been able to tell already, I absolutely loved this book. While it isn't the perfect book, it's very, very good. I loved the characters and how the author used them to express viewpoints. I loved learning more about the story and possibilities of Judas' life. These possibilities are related through a non-condescending tone. The author doesn't speak down to the reader, but explains these possibilities in a very enlightening and logical way.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of both the life of Jesus, Biblical mysteries and high quality fiction. This is the first part of a trilogy, which is good. As I finished reading this there were still several things unanswered. I thought to myself I wish there was another book in this series. Not only is there another book, there are two more books in this series. You can get all three books for only $1.99 each to your kindle.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 47 Heart: Their Top 35 80's Era Songs Part 2 #24- #13 (Finished January 7th, 2017)

Hello,

I have 38 Heart songs on my iTunes.

This is from Heart's 1982 CD "Private Audition", which is one of their weaker CDs. Only two songs from that CD made this countdown. 24) "One Word":

The other song from "Private Audition". 23) "Fast Times":

Speaking of fast times, this is the beautiful Nancy Wilson in a scene from "Fast Times At Ridgemont High":

22) "Dog & Butterfly":

21) "The Heat" (from the "Up The Creek" soundtrack):

20) "Sleep Alone":

19) "Cruel Nights":

18) "Even It Up":

17) "Allies":

16) "How Can I Refuse":

15) "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You":

From "Rock The House! Live" 14) "You're The Voice":

13) "There's The Girl":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 47 Heart: Their Top 35 80's Era Songs Part 1 #35- #25 (Finished January 5th, 2017)

Hello,

This blog covers 1978's "Dog and Butterfly" to 1990's "Brigade". That's a total of 7 CDs, but 22 of the songs on this blog are from 1985's "Heart", 1987's "Bad Animals and "Brigade". For Heart it was good they had their 80's comeback, because that's when they made some of their best and most memorable music. Without their come back I don't know how well they would've been remembered. I actually selected 39 songs for the Heart blogs, but am only including 35 of the songs.

Heart currently consists of Ann Wilson, the powerhouse vocalist, her sister Nancy, who is the lead guitarist, Ben Smith, who handles drums and percussion, Craig Bartock, lead and rhythm guitar, Dan Rothchild, bass guitar, Chris Joyner, keyboards. Also in researching this series a blog a former member that came up a lot is Roger Fisher. Fisher was with the band in 1967 when they were known as The Army. (The Army was probably not a popular name as America was in the disastrous Vietnam conflict.) Fisher was guitarist and background vocals.

The band is marking their 50th anniversary this year, 50 is damn old I know!. Along with The Army, the band was also known as White Heart, Hocus Pocus and finally in 1974 became permanently known as Heart.

Roger Fisher was with the band in this video. 35) "Cook With Fire":

34) "Together Now":

33) "The Wolf":

Yeah I know this was a big hit, it just never did much for me. 32) "These Dreams":

31) "Heavy Heart":

30) "All Eyes":

29) "Easy Target":

28) "Wait For An Answer":

27) "Under The Sky":

26) "Shell Shock":

25) "The Night":

The below song falls outside of my time frame for these blogs, but this was probably their last hit. Although this colloboration with Mutt Lange only reached # 39 on the Billboard charts. And it's a great song. "Will You Be There (In The Morning)":

themusicaddict

The 5 Best songs from Heart's "Beautiful Broken" + 3 Early Classics

Hello,

The next band on my Top 106 Greatest 80's musicians is Heart. These blogs will cover 1978's "Dog and Butterfly" through their 80's comeback up to 1990's "Brigade". By sticking to these seven CDs, this countdown will miss out on some of Heart's most classic songs. Those songs include "Magic Man", "Crazy On You" and "Barracuda". That's unfortunate, but I'm trying to be consistent. That's why I'm adding those songs to this blog along with the 5 best songs from Heart's recently released "Beautiful Broken."

I'm posting this blog until I can finish listening to their 7 CDs being considered for this blog.

"Two":

"Beautiful Broken" (featuring Metallica's James Hetfield):

"I Jump":

"City's Burning":

"Down On Me":

And those early to mid 70's Heart classics:

"Magic Man":

"Crazy On You":

"Barracuda":

Also this song isn't really a Loverboy or a Heart song, although the lead singers from both band sing this duet. I probably won't include this song on Heart or Loverboy's countdown blogs. But it still is a great song. Mike Reno and Ann Wilson "Almost Paradise":

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themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 48 Erasure: Their Top 33 80's Era Songs Part 3 #12- #1 (Finished January 2nd, 2017)

Hello,

Welcome to my first blog of 2017!! I just barely finished watching USC's amazing victory over Penn State 52-49. I thought for sure that game was going into overtime, but it didn't. USC's red shirt freshmen quarterback, Sam Darnold, was absolutely amazing. A pretty great game between two teams that seem equal.

Anyway here are Erasure's Top 11 songs.

11) "Star":

Posting this video without comment. 10) "Who Needs Love Like That":

9) "Phantom Bride":

8) "Chorus":

7) "River Deep, Mountain High":

6) "Victim of Love":

5) "It Doesn't Have To Be":

4) "Chains of Love":

3) "A Little Respect":

2) "Drama":

1) "Oh L'Amour":

themusicaddict