One thing I hate about these comprehensive lists and countdowns is that no matter how much effort I put into it I always forget someone. I've already stumbled over a few I've forgotten and I'd hope that I had caught them all. But out on my walk I realized I'd forgotten the lovely and incomparable Sade and her band. However I did not want to completely rejigger these rankings- I've already spent way too much time doing that. I honestly have no idea where I'd put her. Whenever I listen to a band's songs I inevitably thinking to myself that band should be much higher. Since I think that for mostly every band I've decided to lock my rankings.
Their music isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I love a lot of their songs. Sade both refers to the singer and the band. I wouldn't want to see her in concert- think that would be a tad bit boring. However I've enjoyed getting reacquainted with a lot of her songs the last few days. Most of these songs, but not all of them are from the 80s. Enjoy.
Watching these videos I had never realized how incredibly sexy Sade is. And of course she has that amazingly beautiful voice.
This is the second blog I've written in the recent past requested of me by a commercial entity. The first was for car sharing company Turo. I had never heard of that company and had no interest in doing any advertising for them. However they approached it so wisely and asked me for my road trip playlist. That was a task that I absolutely loved, it kept me distracted at work for the entire day. It was also good as I'll be going to see Billy Idol- two weeks from today!
Then on Friday I received a request about a band called The Heroic Enthusiasts. I was skeptical and even more skeptical when I read this line: "Numbers and emotion may not seem related, but when you listen to the band's new EP Memory Wheel, you'll hear why the connection makes sense." I thought oh boy. But I'm a sucker for finding new music, especially when they said it was "new wave inspired" music. New wave music, although it took me a few years to get it, takes me back to my awesome childhood days.
Thus I gave their 4 song ep "Memory Wheel" a shot and I'm glad I did. I like all 4 songs and am so happy to share their music with the few readers of this blog. Although I do wonder will they be as good when they make a traditional 10ish song CD? Enjoy!
Here's a song not on the "Memory Wheel" ep, "Suicide Angel":
This is probably my favorite song on that ep, "Broken Liquid":
Breaking practically out of nowhere Queensryche roared into summer 1988 with "Operation: Mind- crime". This is one of those CDs I knew about and liked a couple of songs, but that's about it. As I go through this process of counting down the Top 106 80's bands of all-time I keep on remembering all these great songs. "Operation: Mindcrime" has been my drive music for 3 solid days now. What a great CD! The lyrics are from
The CD is 28 years old, but these lyrics fit with today's political situation too well:
Got no love for politicians Or that crazy scene in D.C. It's just a power mad town But the time is ripe for changes There's a growing feeling That taking a chance on a new kind of vision is due
2) "Operation: Mindcrime":
"Speak the word, the word is all of us". 3) "Speak":
4) "Spreading The Disease":
She always brings me what I need Without I beg and sweat and bleed When we're alone at night Waiting for the call She feeds my skin
Fighting fire with empty words While the banks get fat And the poor stay poor And the rich get rich And the cops get paid To look away As the one percent rules America
5) "The Mission":
6) "Suite Sister Mary":
Midnite, she sings praises in the Hall To saintly faces hallowed be their names she can't recall Sister Mary, virgin Mary, silent with her sin ( [Mary:] "What are you doing out in the rain?" ) She feels me, I can taste her breath when she speaks ( [Mary:] "I've been waiting for you. Come in." )
7) "The Needle Lies":
Don't ever trust Don't ever trust the needle, it lies Don't ever trust Don't ever trust the needle when it cries... Cries your name Don't ever trust Don't ever trust the needle, it lies Don't ever trust Don't ever trust the needle when it cries... Cries your name
8) "Breaking The Silence":
Breaking the silence of the night Through the streets I'm screaming Looking for you in the neon light Why don't you answer me? Breaking the silence with my cries Can't you hear me screaming? We could make all this wrong seem right But you never answer me
9) "I Don't Believe In Love":
I don't believe in love I never have, I never will I don't believe in love I'll just pretend she never was real I don't believe in lovev I need to forget her face, I see it still I don't believe in love It's never worth the pain that you feel
10) "Eyes of A Stranger":
All alone now Except for the memories Of what we had and what we knew Everytime I try to leave it behind me I see something that reminds me of you Every night the dreams return to haunt me Your rosary wrapped around your throat I lie awake and sweat, afraid to fall asleep I see your face looking back at me
Here are several of my favorite songs by the Eurythmics. Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox are themusicaddict's 94th Greatest Band of the 80's.
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)":
"There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)":
"Would I Lie To You":
"Here Comes The Rain Again":
"Missionary Man":
"Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves" (featuring the Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin):
"Who's That Girl":
"Love Is A Stranger":
"Power To The Meek":
I listened to a lot of the Eurythmics CDs. For their first 7 CDs they have a lot of great songs, but not a lot of great albums. However with their 8th CD "We Too Are One", the Eurythmics struck gold. Usually when most bands careers are winding down, the Eurythmics released their best CD.
The "We Two Are One" section:
"We Two Are One":
"(My My) Baby's Gonna Cry":
"Angel":
"Revival":
"King and Queen of America":
"Don't Ask Me Why":
"Precious":
"You Hurt Me (And I Hate You)":
And I know this is a solo Annie Lennox song, but I love me some "Walking On Broken Glass":
93) The folkie troubadour, Miss Tracy Chapman:
"Give Me One Reason":
"Smokes and Ashes":
"Bang Bang Bang":
"I Used To Be A Sailor":
"Telling Stories":
Now for the best songs from her amazing self-titled CD. She had a few good songs later, see above, but her debut CD is a classic. One of the 80's best CDs.
Last night I heard this song for the first time ever- I don't listen to the radio- and I was simply blown away. I love these songs that come out of nowhere and completely knock me off my feet. I love this song so much. Their self-titled CD comes out on April 1st. If all the songs are this good.......
Lukas Graham's "7 Years":
Another of their songs- although this song is a bit dark- "Apologize":
I originally listed the B-52's as my #98 Greatest 80's Band on my blog and then looked at my list of rankings. The B-52's are actually #96 on my rankings. Whoops. Honestly #96 still feels a bit low, but I already spent way so much time on this list.
97) Cher:
"Believe":
"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)":
"After All (featuring Peter Cetera)":
"If I Could Turn Back Time":
"Heart of Stone":
"Give Our Love A Fightin' Chance":
"Just Like Jesse James":
Cher released three CD's in the 80's: 1987's "Cher", 1989's "Heart of Stone" and 1982's "I Paralyze". I had the first two CDs in my collection, but I had never heard of "I Paralyze" before today. All four of the below songs are on this CD.
"Walk With Me":
"Back On The Street Again":
"Say What's On Your Mind":
"When The Love Is Gone":
96)The B-52's:
"Private Idaho":
"Love Shack":
"Roam":
"Good Stuff":
"Party Out Of Bounds":
"Mesopotamia":
"Summer of Love":
"Rock Lobster" (Extended Version) (About 20 seconds of silence to start the video):
And my favorite B-52's song "Strobe Light":
For some reason has a bad reputation and many don't consider them a real rock band. I think that's crap. Queensryche might not be everyone's cup of tea- but who is?- but Queensryche simply rock.
95) Queensryche:
From 1984's "The Warning":
"Warning":
"Deliverance":
"NM 156":
From 1986's "Rage For Order":
"Walk In The Shadows":
"The Whisper":
"London":
"Surgical Strike":
From 1988's "Operation: Mindcrime":
"Spreading The Disease":
"I Don't Believe In Love":
"Eyes of a Stranger":
"Breaking The Silence":
From 1990's "Empire":
"Jet City Woman":
"The Thin Line":
"Best I Can":
This song still rocks as much today as when I first heard it. "Empire":
"Silent Lucidity":
From 1993's "Last Action Hero" Soundtrack:
Queensryche featuring Michael Kamen: "Real World":
I wrote this blog on Wednesday, then last night I settled down for some TV. I watched the first two episodes of "Vinyl" and wanted to watch the next episode. Guess who shows up as a character in that episode, yep none other than Alice Cooper. Cooper, played by an actor obviously, showed up in all his snake, golfing, drinking and guillotine glory. In "Vinyl", set in 1973, Cooper had just come off a #1 album- which I'm guessing was "Billion Dollar Babies". He actually released two albums in 1973.
I've locked myself into a countdown of the Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands, but I know that the same topic gets boring quickly. It's boring for everyone involved. But one of the great things about writing these blogs is the ability to find music that may be overlooked or just plain forgotten. Before I select a bunch of songs to represent a band, I listen to a lot of their music. While listening to music for my #102 80's artist, Alice Cooper, I discovered his 1986 CD "Constrictor". His band at the time featured Kip Winger, lead singer for Winger, the "favorite" band of Beavis and Butthead. "Constrictor" is Cooper's 16th CD and it was released on September 22nd, 1986.
Here you go if you just want to listen to "Constrictor" straight through:
