themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands: Part 3: 103-101 (Finished February 29th, 2016)

Hello,

As I thought I would I realized this morning I forgot some bands that should be on this list. Instead of doing something a bit more important, I figured out where to put Neil Diamond and Christopher Cross On this list. That caused me to shuffle some bands below them, which caused me to update the three blogs I've written on this project so far.

Let's Do This! To paraphrase a recent commercial "We Got The Beats".

Fine Young Cannibals only released two CDs, but their limited output had maximum effect. 1985's self-titled CD and their 1988 classic "The Raw and the Cooked" produced some very good music. Fine Young Cannibals were made up of singer Roland Gift, guitars and keyboards by Andy Cox and multi-instrumentalist David Steele.

103) Fine Young Cannibals

"I'm Not The Man I Used To Be":

"Suspicious Minds":

"Don't Look Back":

"Good Thing":

"She Drives Me Crazy":

I recently saw Cooper open for Motley Crue (yes, they are coming up on this list) and he's still a very good and vital performer.
102) Alice Cooper (Non-"Constrictor" Division, more on that later):

"Poison":



"Bed Of Nails":



"Lock Me Up":



"Roses On White Lace":



"Not That Kind of Love":



"House Of Fire":



One can tell that these songs are from the early-80's. Why? Because I couldn't find an actual officially made video for any of these six songs.
101) Christopher Cross:

"Think of Laura":



"Sailing":



"Say You'll Be Mine":



"Never Be The Same":



"Arthur's Theme (The Best You Can Do):



"Ride Like The Wind":

themusicaddict

(Started February 23rd, 2016, Finished April 4th, 2021) Part 1 of themusicaddict's Ideal Road Trip Playlist, Songs 1-19

Hello,

I was thinking a lot about a road trip I'll be taking soon to see Billy Idol in Vegas. I wanted to share a road trip playlist. I was asked to write this by a rep of car rental company Turo (https://turo.com/) - check them out if you're hitting the road soon!

Obviously this is a commercial venture for this company, Turo, that I hadn't heard of until I received this e-mail. Wow, it already worked! But I liked the idea so I spent all day thinking up with the list. If you come up with a fun idea you'd like me to work on, let me know. And while I'm dishing out opinions: whatever you do don't vote for Donald Trump. My idea for a road trip playlist is the weather has to be fairly warm, warm enough that you can open up the windows and blast the music. The music is usually happy and optimistic, but not all the time. The music has to be songs that you can sing along with or at least fake well enough to act like you know the words. But it can't be all the same music you always listen to, you need a good solid mix to keep the talk flowing and time passing by. Let's be honest road trips become better when they are finished. Here's some great CDs, more obscure CDs, great artists and a selection of perfect songs for a road trip playlist. Great artists: The B-52's, The Go-Go's, Van Halen, Loverboy, Def Leppard, New Politics, Erasure, American Authors, Madonna, Fitz and the Tantrums. The Cars, The Beach Boys, Black Box and Fountains of Wayne. CDs: Led Zeppelin's "4" (of course it goes with anything), Guns N' Roses' "Appetite For Destruction" several Madonna CDs (the older the better), almost any Beach Boys CD, Nine Inch Nails' "Pretty Hate Machine", The Cars "Greatest Hits", Pearl Jam's "Vs.", Fountains of Wayne "Welcome Interstate Managers", Billy Idol's "Greatest Hits", every Paramore CD, almost any 80's compilation, Prince's "Purple Rain". Obscure CDs include music by Eisley, Misterwives, Delta Rae and New Politics 1) Fine Young Cannibals "Good Thing": 2) Tom Cochrane's "Life Is A Highway": 3) Bryan Adams "Cuts Like A Knife": 4) Paul Simon "You Can Call Me Al": 5) Modern English's "I Melt With You": 6) Paula Abdul's "Straight Up": 7) The Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited": 8) Sir Mix A Lot's "Baby Got Back": 9) En Vogue's "Free Your Mind": 10) Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again": Is it really a road trip without ZZ Top? 11) ZZ Top's "La Grange": 12) ZZ Top's "Stages": 13) ZZ Top's "Heard It On The X": 14) Loverboy "Working For The Weekend": 15) Walk The Moon's "Anna Sun": 16) Van Halen's "Cabo Wabo": 17) Nu Shooz's "I Can't Wait": 18) Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA": 19) Cyndi Lauper's "I Drove All Night": themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands: Part 2: 106-104 (Finished February 27th, 2016)

Hello,

A bad thing about writing these kind of all-encompassing blogs is that invariably I'll forget someone. Well I realized this morning that I had forgotten Neil Diamond, Christopher Cross and James Taylor. Taylor has bad an amazing career, but he was pretty much on the oldies circuit in the 80's. Thus he only earns an honorable mention spot. You'll see both Diamond, who had an extremely productive early 80s, and Cross sooner rather than later.

This started out with 102 bands plus over a couple of dozen honorable mentions. I spent several hours working on this project so that I wouldn't miss any bands. Although I knew that I would still miss some bands. Not only that, but I'll probably stumble across a few more bands that will be added. If you disagree with these rankings, I understand. I look at some of my own choices and I disagree. But sadly I only have so much time to work on my blog. Now if someone wants to pay me $40,000 a year to do it, then I'll be glad to focus more time on my blog. :)

For the purposes of the rankings for this blog I considered a band's entire career, but I'm focused mostly on what they released in the 80s. For the this specific blog, I'll be posting mostly music released in the 80s. Mostly being the key word.

After doing a little research I realized that En Vogue really isn't an 80's band per se. Although they started in 1989, they didn't have big time success until 1992's "Funky Divas". That CD went on to sell more than 5 million copies. En Vogue has a very 80's feel to them so I'm going to keep them here. They would sound in their element along side Michael, Janet, Prince and all the other great r&b, soul, funk acts of the 80's.

According to Wikipedia En Vogue will be releasing a new CD in the first quarter of 2016, other than a couple of small mentions about it I couldn't find any more references. I listened a bit to their 2000 CD "Masterpiece Theatre"- I could only handle about 3 songs. Very boring and dreary. I know I should listen to the whole CD at least a couple of times before passing on an opinion, but I don't have time to listen to music that bores me.

To prepare for writing this part of my blog, I've been listening to En Vogue's classic "Funky Divas". As with all these songs a lot of good memories. 106) En Vogue:

I wasn't aware that En Vogue was on this song either, Salt-n-Papa's "Whatta Man":

"Free Your Mind":

"Love Don't Love You":

"My Lovin' (You're Never Going To Get It)":

The funked up "Yesterday":

105) Echo and the Bunnymen:

"Lips Like Sugar":

"The Killing Moon":

"The Cutter":

"Bring On The Dancing Horses":

"People Are Strange":

104) The Pointer Sisters:

"Fire":



"Slow Hand":



"Automatic":



"Jump (For My Love):



"I'm So Excited":



"Dare Me":

themusicaddict

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson and the Dubious Classic Status of "Pet Sounds" On It's 50th Anniversary

Hello,

I've long heard how great of a CD "Pet Sounds" is, Brian Wilson even is touring with it during it's 50th year anniversary. I'm a big time Beach Boys fan, I think they have written some of the most sublime songs in the history of music. How can one question the band that has released such classics as "Fun, Fun, Fun", "California Girls", "Surfin' U.S.A.", "Help Me Rhonda", "Barbara Ann", "I Get Around", "Good Vibrations" and "Surfer Girl"?

"Pet Sounds" features some of The Beach Boys best ever songs. That includes two of my favorites "Wouldn't It Be Good" and "God Only Knows" and my theme song "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times". But this CD also has some real clunkers. Songs such as "You Still Believe In Me", "That's Not Me", "I'm Waiting For The Day" and the boring ballad "Let's Go Away For Awhile" call into question that this CD is indeed a classic. Indeed while listening to this CD on Google Play, I only gave the thumbs up to 6 of the 13 songs. In themusicaddict's opinion this CD isn't even close to being a classic. As much music as I've bought over the years, the fact that I never bought this CD should tell you all you need to know about my opinion of it.

"Pet Sounds":

1) "Wouldn't It Be Nice":

2) "You Still Believe In Me":

3) "That's Not Me":

4) "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)":

5) "I'm Waiting For The Day":

6) "Let's Get Away For Awhile" (Instrumental):

7) "Sloop John B":

8) "God Only Knows":

9) "I Know There's An Answer":

10) "Here Today":

11) "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times":

12) "Pet Sounds" (Instrumental)";

13)"Caroline, No"

themusicaddict

The Continuing Music Legends: Yes, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Trevor Rabin, Alan White, Tony Kaye and "90125" (Partial Blog)

Hello,

This series of blogs is mostly aimed at great rock stars that are still alive. I realize that Chris Squire has passed away. The main band members for the recording of "90125" were Jon Anderson (vocals), Chris Squire (guitar and vocals), Trevor Rabin (guitars, keyboards and vocals), Alan White (percussion, drums and chorus) and Tony Kaye (organ, piano and chorus).

"90125": (2004 Version)

1) "Owner of A Lonely Heart":

2)"Hold On":

3) "It Can Happen":

4) "Changes":

5) "Cinema":

6) "Leave It":

7) "Our Song":

8) "City of Love":

9) "Hearts":

10) "Leave It" (single remix)

11) "Make It Easy":

12) "It Can Happen" (cinema version)

13) "It's Over":

14) "Owner of A Broken Heart":

15) "Leave It" (a capella version):

Besides Yes, the following folks also worked with other bands. Dates of birth, and Squire's death, listed below.

Jon Anderson: Born October 25th, 1944

Chris Squire: Born March 4th, 1948, Died June 27th, 2015 Of all these people, the one that had the most interesting side project was Squire. He was part of the band XYZ (ex-Yes/Zeppelin) with Jimmy Page. Elements of both Yes and Led Zeppelin mixed together? If that's the question, then the answer is an exuberant Yes!!

Trevor Rabin: Born January 13th, 1954

Alan White: Born June 14th, 1949, White was also part of the short-lived XYZ.

Tony Kaye: Born January 11th, 1946

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 104 80's Greatest Bands of All-Time: The Honorable Mentions (Updated February 23rd, 2016)

Hello,

Updated February 28th, 2016. I knew that I would forget some bands. All four of these musicians deserve at least a honorable mention: The Jets, Vanessa Williams, Klymaxx and James Taylor (his 80s output wasn't that great).

This has been updated as I remembered both The Pointer Sisters and En Vogue- you'll be seeing them in my next top 104 80's bands of all-time.

This was inspired by someone asking me a question at a Valentine's Party. I was teasing her about her music selection, a lot of OMD, so she asked me my Top Ten 80's bands. Since I had a lot of free time at work, I was able to come up with this list. I honestly was quite surprised with some of my own choices.

The reason I didn't list the Eagles in my rankings is because their last studio CD for several years, the excellent "The Long Run" was released in 1979. They released a live CD "Eagles Live" in 1980, but that's basically a live greatest hits CD. The Eagles released three other Greatest Hits CDs in the 80s. Although they are still active in some form, R.I.P Glenn Frey, they were never really a "80's band". If I ever write a 70's Greatest Bands of All-Time. They'll definitely be very high on that list. A lot of other bands fit that same criteria, for instance Fleetwood Mac (I've been loving "Rumors" lately), Yes, Paul Simon, Diana Ross, The Clash and Genesis.

In alphabetic order:

Anita Baker:

Big Audio Dynamite:

Neneh Cherry:

The Clash- yes I know they are a much loved band, but they never moved the needle much for me:

Sheena Easton:

Fleetwood Mac:

Samantha Fox:

Aretha Franklin:

Firehouse:

Genesis:

Don Henley:

Iron Maiden:

J. Geils Band:

The Jets:



Joe Jackson:

Joan Jett and the Blackhawks:

Klymaxx:



Kool and The Gang:

LL Cool J:

Martika:

Men At Work:

Missing Persons:

New Order:

Quarterflash:

Diana Ross:

Paul Simon:

Rick Springfield:

James Taylor, with J.D. Souther:



"Never Die Young":



"That's Why I'm Here":



Tesla:

Vanessa Williams:

Yes:

themusicaddict

The Continuing Music Legends Series: Blondie, Debbie Harry and "Parallel Lines" (2001 Edition)

Hello,

I only so much time each day, so I get as much done as I can in my limited time. I hope to finish most of these partial blogs someday.

"Parallel Lines" is a CD released in 1978, produced by Mike Chapman. This was the first CD Chapman produced for Blondie. Chapman also produced The Knack's amazing debut CD "Get The Knack" and three more CDs with Blondie. At the time of this CD, their band lineup was Deborah Harry (vocals & inspiration for the band's name), Chris Stein (guitar), Clem Burke (drums) Jimmy Destri (keyboards), Nigel Harrison (bass guitar) and Frank Infante (guitar). It was recorded in June-July 1978 and released in September, 1978. The recording and releasing of new music was much more streamlined back in the day.

Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry was born July 1st, 1945. The lovely and still radiant Miss Harry will be 70 years old. I expect she and Blondie still have a few more tricks up their sleeves. (Thanks to YouTube, Wikipedia and Google Play for sources for this blog.)

The full "Parallel Lines" CD:

1) "Hanging On The Telephone":



2) "One Way Or Another":



3) "Picture This":



4) "Fade Away and Radiate":



5) "Pretty Baby":



6) "I Know But I Don't Know":
7) "11:59":
8) "Will Anything Happen":
9) "Sunday Girl":
10) "Heart of Glass":
11) "I'm Gonna Love You Too":
12) "Just Go Away":
13) "Once I Had A Love (The Disco Song)":
14) "Bang A Gong (Get It On)" (Live):
15) "I Know But I Don't Know" (Live):
16) "Hanging On The Telephone" (Live):

Upcoming blogs: themusicaddict's Top 100 80's bands of all-time.

themusicaddict