Smartassery

I’ve been pondering (yes, I ponder a lot) on the rotten state of modern pop music (I’m not including electronica which has only gotten better). I’m not complaining about the dull lyrics, or the forced rhymes, or even the soft porn videos. However, I’m truly concerned with the sterilized one-size-fits-all undanceable tunes. If you think I’m the only one in this quandary, see Lozo’s take on Kelly Clarkson’s lyrics.

At some point, MTV stood for Music Television. They used to play music videos all day long. Gasp! Imagine that. That point in time was the 80’s, a.k.a. the best decade in music. Ever. Period.

Back then, we also had cheesy songs with criptic messages. However….they were ALL catchy funky tunes you could losen you hair and get down to. And if they were not danceable, they were by golly, inspiring. The kind of songs that build your confidence, and you go out on the street with a know-it-all smile strutting down the sidewalk…We stood for leg warmers, unruly eyebrows, spandex, punky hair, crucifixes, and music, damnit!

Following is my best of the 80’s dance music compilation. I might be leaving some out as my memory is not what it used to be but you’ll let me know which good ones are missing:

3 AM Eternal - The KLF 
All Night Long - Lionel Ritchie
A Little Respect - Erasure
All She Wants to Do is Dance - Don Henley
Always on my Mind - Pet Shop Boys
Beat It - Michael Jackson (anything by the King of Pop)
Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
Blue Monday - New Order
Can’t Touch This - MC Hammer
Dancing on the Ceiling - Lionel Ricthie
Don’t Stand so Close to Me - The Police
Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
Every Breath You Take - The Police
Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears
Flashdance…What a Feeling - Irene Cara
Forever Your Girl - Paula Abdul
Get Down on It - Kool and the Gang
Hey Now (Girls Just Want To Have Fun) - Cindy Lauper
It’s Raining Men - The Weather Girls
Into the Groove - Madonna (in fact anything by the Material Girl) 
Invisible Touch - Genesis
I Ran - Flock of Seagulls
It’s the End of the World as We Know It - R.E.M.
I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston
Jump - Van Halen
Just Can’t Get Enough - Depeche Mode
La Bamba - as performed by Los Lobos
Land of Confusion - Genesis
Last Night a DJ Saved my Life - Indeep
Let’s Dance - David Bowie
Listen to your Heart - Roxette
Maneater - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Material Girl - Madonna
My Prerogative - Bobby Brown (yes, it’s not Britney’s)
Nasty - Janet Jackson
Oh L’amour - Erasure 
Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes 
People are People - Depeche Mode
Rapture - Blondie (inspired by 1979’s Rapper’s Delight - The Sugarhill Gang)
Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
Rock the Casbah - The Clash
Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash  
Shout - Tears for Fears
So Emotional - Whitney Houston
SuperFreak - Rick James
Sussudio - Phil Collins
Take on Me - A-Ha
Temptation - New Order
The Final Countdown - Europe
The Locomotion - Kylie Minogue
Thriller - Michael Jackson
You Spin me Round (Like a Record) - Dead or Alive
Wake me Up Before you Go Go - Wham
Walk Like an Egyptian - The Bangles
West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
What I Like About You - The Romantics
What Time is Love? - The KLF
When Doves Cry - Prince
Whip It! - Devo
 

This entry was posted on Friday, May 5th, 2006 at 8:31 pm and is filed under raves. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.