Adventures in freakdom.
People suck.
Saturday, I came across my third timber rattler, on the McKay Hollow trail on Monte Sano. Someone had smashed its head with a rock, cut its rattles off, and left its remains posed on a rock so everyone walking by would see it.
Assholes.
I moved it away from the trail.
And now, happier things.
In 1981 I was fourteen years old, a gawky dork halfway between boyhood and manhood. I’d just moved from Decatur and living with my mom to Huntsville and living with my dad. A new school year was beginning, and with it, a whole new school for me. I had no friends yet, and only two things to keep me company during the long hours after school and on the weekends: my music and my television.
August of that year brought something magical for both — a new television station. The station originally came on the air showing an astronaut standing on the moon next to a flag with three letters, and a really catchy guitar riff playing in the background. The screen went black for a second, and then history was made:
The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
I spent the next several years glued to MTV during my free time. I had a little crush on Martha Quinn. I was proud that Alan Hunter was from Alabama. And yeah, I can still name the other three VJs who complete the original five. In addition to Martha and Alan, there were Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, and J. J. Jackson. I loved that channel, and I loved my music.
Sadly, these days I can only tell the spud, “I remember when MTV used to play music videos.”
Yesterday, I discovered something I have to share. YouTube has almost every single 80’s music video I can remember. You can search on a band, and find anything. I realize this probably doesn’t mean much to those of you under 30 or much over 40, but to those of us who are children of the 80’s, it’s a wonderful find.
Think about it: almost any video from any song you remember and love from MTV’s heyday.
Including my absolute number one favorite song of the entire decade. A song I thought was lost forever, because it’s not out on any CD I can find. And believe me, I’ve searched.
There was a group, popular in England but not so popular here in the US, named “Doctor and the Medics”. Big hair, goth-like makeup, and a really nice sound. Their first hit, a remake of Norm Greenbaum’s Spirit in the Sky did pretty well, but it was their followup song that I loved more than any other.
I thought it was lost, but now, thanks to YouTube and the internet, I have it again:
Doctor and the Medics - Burn
My God, I love this song, though the video embarrasses me now.
Here’s a sampling of the music that made me happy in my formative years, and brings a new smile to my face today:
Adam and the Ants - Stand and Deliver
EBN-OZN - A E I O U sometimes Y (these guys were lawyers (Lieben and Rosen) before their one semi-hit)
Taco - Puttin’ on the Ritz (I loved Broadway before I knew I loved Broadway, apparently)
The Communards - Don’t Leave Me This Way
Another absolute favorite of mine. Jimmy Somerville has a hell of a falsetto.
Let me just interject here and say that, after watching the videos above, I completely understand why my parents thought I was gay.
Camper Van Beethoven - Pictures of Matchstick Men (thank you YouTube — I’d only seen this video one time ever, and it was enough to get me to buy the album. It’s good to see it again)
Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart
Run DMC & Aerosmith - Walk This Way
Fat Boys - Stick ‘em (this song is responsible for all the noises I still make around the house)
The Go-go’s - Our Lips Are Sealed
The Housemartins - Happy Hour
The first guy in the video is Norman Cook in his pre-Fat Boy Slim days.
Another band I’d have never heard of but for MTV, and one of my all-time favorites.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - The Waiting
Tracey Ullman - They Don’t Know
Billy Joel - We Didn’t Start the Fire
Living Colour - Cult of Personality
Guns ‘n Roses - Sweet Child o’ Mine
Men Without Hats - Safety Dance
My number two all-time favorite 80’s song.
It is with great reluctance that I stop here; I could link to videos all day long. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of them. If you love 80’s songs and videos like I do, you might be interested in this site, which gives you step-by-step instructions for ripping videos to MPEG files to store on your hard drive or burn to a DVD. See the “help” tab on that site for details.
So what’s your favorite 80’s song?
If you want to get notified whenever Fred writes a journal entry, this link will do the trick.
If you want to get notified whenever Fred posts a crazy link, this link is what you want.
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Excellent selections Fred! You Tube has become my new best friend because of videos like these (and posted episodes of Scrubs, of course).
two that made me recently giggle with memories are Bon Jovi’s “She Don’t Know Me” and Animotion’s “Obession”.
one more: Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me”
I can’t get the “YouTube” screens to work.
I remember MTV when it played music also. I’d clean the house with the TV blasting. Sitting around with friends, waiting for the newest hot video to come on for the first time…especially “Thriller”.
Sorry about the snake. Yes, unfortunately, some people are assholes. My daughter and I once took home a snakeskin, but the snake was done with it. Heck, if I had seen the snake, I would have jumped a mile and ran the other way!
I love many of the ones you listed, but I always think back and a few special ones come to mind from MTV’s early years.
Bow Wow Wow - “I want Candy”
J Giles Band - “Love Stinks”
Go Go’s - any song/video they made
The Bangles - “Walk like an Egyptian”
Van Halen - “Jump”, “Just a Gigalo”, “Hot for Teacher”
Hey, remember that song (don’t have a CLUE of the band) that sang “Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Roly Poly Fish Heads… fish heads fish heads, eat them up… YUM!” And the fish heads were the ones singning the song in sort of a helium balloon-ish voice? What was up with that?
Thanks for the fun trip back to the 80’s!
Lori
Lori:
That’s Fish Heads, by Barnes and Barnes. I remember that from the MTV Dr. Demento countdowns.
Great songs Fred. My favorites are anything from The Cars’ Heartbeat City album (I love Stranger Eyes and You Might Think( and Devo’s Time Out For Fun. Also tracked down Whirly Girl by OXO and She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby.
Oh my GOD how I loved Adam Ant… *sigh*
Lots of faves, but the one that came to mind was “Come On Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Also “Pass the Duchie” by Musical Youth and “Love Plus One” by Haircut 100.
Great post! Thanks for the memories. We got MTV when it was very new (that first week, I am pretty sure) and I was in 8th grade. Sigh.
Oops, that was me with “Come On Eileen” — was so excited I forgot to give my name!
AMADEUS! Hell YES. I crank that as loud as I can stand it when it comes on the radio.
Also, Chris loves Tainted Love. Marilyn Manson’s version is a little too harsh, but still interesting. And there’s a new pop girl named Rhianna (maybe?) that has a song out called S.O.S. - Chris fell in love immediately, but it was after a few listens that we realize the whole song is laid out over the Tainted Love music, explaining the overwhelming feelings. It’s catchy!
Kinzie - I really like Marilyn Manson’s cover of “Tainted Love”. And I recently heard the new song with the underlying melody. Sadly, today’s kids think it’s original, just like they think Jessica Simpson probably wrote the “Jack and Diane” riff underlying her song back in the late 90’s.
Um, Fred? I’m 53, and I LOVE 80s music! I have a ton of it on my iPod.
Wow, so many of you are mentioning some of my faves from then. Amadeus, Eileen! Anything by Phil Collins and REO Speedwagon and almost all the hair bands are my all time favorites. But over all I’m a classic rock girl.
The kids now-a-days thing had to make me laugh. A few years back when the movie 40 Days/40 Nights came out they used the music from Under Pressure by Queen and Bowie for the promos. My husbands younger sister was so exited in the movie theater when the preview came on, she looked over at us and said with a huge grin on her face and said, “Ooohhh, ooohhh Vanilla Ice, whooo hooo!” We couldn’t help but breakout laughing. Too damn funny.
Oh god. How am I going to explain to my three-year-old son about the 80’s? I do miss the music, though…thank you for the YouTube link!
Oh….how about “Mary’s Prayer” by Danny Wilson? Gives me 80’s flashbacks every time!
My favorite video was always “Love Plus One” by Haircut 100. Thanks for the nostalgia! I enjoyed myself and sang at the top of my lungs!!! Until I noticed my coworkers looking at me funny. =0)
Can I also say…
Watching Adam Ant now makes me wonder how I couldn’t know hw was gay! Of course I had no idea about the Frankie Goes To Hollywood bunch either. I guess the lyrics didn’t speak to me in that way.
Don’t feel bad, Suzanne. My mother’s favorite band was Queen. Bless her heart, she never could figure out why they called themselves “Queen.” She thought it was because they were British.
Great list, Fred! And speaking of Adam and the Ants, they put on one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Who’da thunk it?
Ok, now I have officially had a “Flashback”! I was reading through your favorites and thinking… “Ohhhh I loved that one… that was my favorite, NO, that was it!”. Scary that you liked the same songs I did
I was waiting to see “99 Balloons” one of my favorites from the ‘Era’. Sigh, I, to, remember when MTV had videos. Shhh going to look at the site now.. although it will embarrass my daughter to no end. *Big cheesy grin*
The Communards… the lead singer was in what other group? I can remember his face and voice… he was big @ the gay bars I used to frequent. Or, rather the music. Man, the 80’s. Love them, miss them, glad you shared!
fred, you just made my day. I could spend days sitting here watching Duran Duran videos. A tiny part of me will always be in love with Simon. I also adore Wham!, Tears for Fears, Level 42, Cinderella, Poison…to name a few. It was a very proud day for me when I learned that my 16-year-old niece loves Def Leppard (another of my faves!) Ah, the memories…
When I got my iPod a couple of months ago, “Don’t Leave Me This Way” was the very first song I downloaded for it. I lived in England for a couple months when I was 15 (in 1986 - and yeah, could that have gotten ANY BETTER?) and that was my favorite song EVER…I played it over and over and over until my grandparents took my record player away.
Jimmyn Sommerville the lead singer for the Communards used to front Bronsky Beat, another fine band. I thought Madness, Simple Minds and The Fine Young Cannibals were great British Bands of the 80’s as well. Very interesting posts from a UK perspective.
“Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring
The Communards had an excellent followup to “Don’t Leave Me This Way”, titled “You Are My World.” It’s pretty awesome, but I don’t think there’s a video for it. The piano playing in the extended version of that song is phenomenal.
Okay, I have to share another one. This cracks me up — but I still like the song.
Eddie Murphy - Party All the Time
Fred, you have brought back lots of memories. I, too, remember MTV when they actually played music. I also remember them showing concerts on Saturday nights–Journey, Rush, and Triumph seem to stand out in my mind for some reason. And I can remember all the original VJ’s names as well.
Thanks for linking the Tracey Ullman song. I was thinking about it the other day. I’ve also been listening to a lot of the 80s channel on XM, but it nice to have video to go along with the songs.
And, I must admit, was a diehard Duranie!
I am so in love with this site! Thank you, thank you, thank you for finding it and posting it! As a product of the 80’s myself, I’ve already spent over an hour watching videos and wallowing in memories attached to them.
Okay Fred, yesterday I was singing your praises! Last night around 8:30pm I went to YouTube and did a search on “80’s.”
Then stayed up until 2:30am watching and singing along with all the videos I loved!
Today I am tired - but still singing your praises! What a great post!
Thank you. I can’t wait for the office to close so I can play some of this stuff.
Too bad about the snake, people suck.
Wow! You’re the first person I’ve ever known to mention Ebn Ozn! I loved those guys. When I bring them up, no one ever knows who I’m talking about. I’m flabbergasted!
Thanks for the tip, too.
Thanks a lot, Fred! Now I will waste another day of my life on the internet watching Duran Duran!
Fred!
I am having a ball over at You Tube looking up all the old videos, thanks for the heads up! I’m sure you’ve seen the Evolution of Dance? If you haven’t by chance you have to look that one up, it is hysterical.
This is why I’ve been reading this site since 2000. Fred, you freaking rock.
This was one of the most fun posts ever
I listened to “Safety Dance” twice while I was reading through all of it. That was definitely my favorite 80’s song. I also loved the Police, and Sting after he went solo (still do - I’ve seen him in concert 4 times). I was in junior high school during the 80’s, so Wham! was also a biggie 
(speaking of not knowing a man was gay). And, of course, Duran Duran. Those videos were the best. Michael Jackson was “normal” back then, and “Off the Wall” and “Thriller” are his best albums, as far as I am concerned. When the “Thriller” video came out, it was all we could talk about. Those were the days 
Evolution of Dance is so funny, if you haven’t seen it yet Fred it is there on YouTube.
One night in Bangkok by Murray Head was one of my favs along with most of the ones already listed.
Mexican Radio - Wall of Voodoo. Voices carry - Till Tuesday. I Ran - Flock of Seagulls.
And tell your country music lovin’ wife to not even mock me or I’ll tell the world how she sobs while driving down the road singing along to the Little Drummer Boy. Heh.
A couple of my favorite vidoes and/or songs were:
Herbie Hancock the robot video
Olivia Newton John - Physical
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax
Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Miami Sound Machine - Bad Boy
Devo - Whip it
The Romantics - Talking In Your Sleep
The Stroke - Billy Squier
New Edition - Cool it Now and Mr Telephone man
Gosh I know there is a ton more. I’m gonna have fun looking for them. Thanks for the link!
What a great entry and comments! Thanks, Fred and everyone! I’m going to load up my mp3 player with those fun songs that brought back so many memories.
Wow that took me back. I am 38 btw so you can imagine why! Thanks!