Friday Mailbag - 4/23/21
My Ten Favorite Songs of the Eighties
Welcome to the Friday Mailbag. Today, I’m happy to present my ten favorite songs of the 1980s.
AND NOW TO THE MAILBAG…
Loyal N.E.H. reader, Uncle Dom, says:
Tell him I’d like to see his perspective on songs of the ‘70s and ‘80s…
In case you missed it, last month I went deep on my favorite music of the 1970s. Now I will list my favorites songs of the eighties. Tight.
The eighties, man… Big hair, big drums, and a big old piece of garbage in the Oval Office. What a time! I was born in September of ‘86, and almost immediately things got a whole lot better for mankind. Pretty cool effect to have on the world.
As usual, I spent my week immersed in the music of the ‘80s. So many fascinating musical developments:
Hardcore
New wave
Prince
…and vibey boomers
Before we begin, here’s my long list. It’s twice as long as my ‘60s list. Tracks listed alphabetically:
A-ha - “Take on Me” (Warners Bros, 1984)
Agnostic Front - “Victim in Pain” (Rat Cage, 1984)
The Alan Parsons Project - “Eye in the Sky” (Arista, 1982)
Alphaville - “Forever Young” (WEA, 1984)
Another Sunny Day - “I’m in Love With a Girl Who Doesn’t Know I Exist” (Sarah, 1988)
The B-52’s - “Private Idaho” (Warner Bros, 1980)
Bad Brains - “Attitude” (ROIR, 1982)
Beastie Boys - “Shadrach” (Capitol, 1989)
Beverly Glenn-Copeland - “Ever New” (Atlast, 1986)
Big Black - “Kerosene” (Homestead, 1986)
Billy Joel - “Uptown Girl” (Columbia, 1983)
Bob Dylan - “Jokerman” (Columbia, 1984)
Bob Marley & the Wailers - “Could You Be Loved” (Island, 1980)
Brian Eno & Harold Budd - “Steal Away” (E.G., 1980)
Bruce Springsteen - “Used Cars” (Columbia, 1982)
Chicago - “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (Full Moon/Warner Bros, 1982)
Cro-Mags - “Seekers of the Truth” (Profile, 1986)
The Cure - “Plainsong” (Fiction, 1989)
Cyndi Lauper - “All Through the Night” (Epic, 1984)
David Bowie - “Ashes to Ashes” (RCA, 1980)
Depeche Mode - “Never Let Me Down Again” (Mute, 1987)
Descendents - “Bikeage” (New Alliance, 1982)
Echo & the Bunnymen - “The Killing Moon” (Korova, 1984)
Eddie Money - “Take Me Home Tonight” (Columbia, 1986)
Elton John - “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” (Geffen, 1984)
Eric Carmen - “Hungry Eyes” (RCA, 1987)
Fugazi - “Waiting Room” (Dischord, 1988)
Genesis - “Invisible Touch” (Charisma, 1986)
The Go-Go’s - “Our Lips Are Sealed” (IRS, 1981)
Huey Lewis & The News - “Do You Believe in Love” (Chrysalis, 1982)
INXS - “Never Tear Us Apart” (Atlantic, 1988)
Jimmy Buffett - “Last Mango in Paris” (MCA, 1985)
Joy Division - “Atrocity Exhibition” (Factory, 1980)
Judge - “The Storm” (Revelation, 1989)
Laura Branigan - “Gloria” (Atlantic, 1982)
Madonna - “Live to Tell” (Sire, 1986)
Marshall Crenshaw - “Cynical Girl” (Warner Bros, 1983)
Michael Jackson - “Billie Jean” (Epic, 1983)
Minor Threat - “Filler” (Dischord, 1981)
Morrissey - “Suedehead” (HMV, 1988)
Neneh Cherry - “Buffalo Stance” (Virgin, 1988)
NWA - “Straight Outta Compton” (Ruthless, 1988)
OMD - “If You Leave” (A&M, 1986)
Philip Oakley & Giorgio Moroder - “Together in Electric Dreams” (Virgin, 1984)
Quincy Jones - “Just Once” (A&M, 1981)
New Order - “Your Silent Face” (Factory, 1983)
Phil Collins - “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” (Atlantic, 1984)
R.E.M. - “Harborcoat” (IRS, 1984)
Rupa - “Moja Bhari Moja” (1982)
Sheila E. - “The Glamorous Life” (Warner Bros, 1984)
Slayer - “Angel of Death” (Def Jam, 1986)
Steely Dan - “Hey Nineteen” (MCA, 1980)
Steve Winwood - “Back in the High Life Again” (Island, 1986)
Stevie Wonder - “Do I Do” (Tampa, 1982)
The Stone Roses - “She Bangs the Drums” (Silvertone, 1989)
Suicide - “Surrender” (Chapter 22, 1988)
Talking Heads - “Radio Head” (Sire, 1986)
Tears For Fears - “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” (Phonogram, 1985)
‘Til Tuesday - “Voices Carry” (Epic, 1985)
Tom Petty - “Free Fallin’” (MCA, 1989)
Tracy Chapman - “Fast Car” (Elektra, 1988)
Tracey Ullman - “They Don’t Know” (MCA, 1983)
U2 - “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (Island, 1987)
When In Rome - “The Promise” (Virgin, 1988)
Whitney Houston - “How Will I Know” (Arista, 1985)
AND NOW FOR THE TOP 10
Q Lazzarus - “Goodbye Horses” (1988)
For the most part, I don’t like dancing in groups. People have awful taste in music, and they’re terrible, inhibited dancers. I did, however, like to dance at a Chicago nightclub called NEO. Every Thursday was new wave night. Me and my friends (including N.E.H. alumni John and Diego) would go and drink PBR and dance. If you stayed long enough, you’d eventually hear the big new wave hits: “Bizarre Love Triangle,” “Suedehead,” maybe “Take On Me.” And if you were really lucky, “Goodbye Horses.”
“Goodbye Horses” is one weird song, made in 1988 by the enigmatic Q and her songwriting partner Garvey. The lyrics make no sense, but they also hit hard if you’re in the right headspace. Think of all the timeless one-liners:
Oh no, sir! I must say you’re wrong
I’ve seen my hopes and dreams a-lying on the ground
and of course
Goodbye horses, I’m flying over you
I wish I could get into that transcendent “Goodbye Horses” headspace one more time, but alas, NEO closed in 2015.
The Smiths - “Ask” (Rough Trade, 1986)
Recently, Morrissey has been working hard to tarnish the reputation of his band, The Smiths. In years past, I probably would’ve slotted a Smiths song in the top 3, but taste is fluid, and The Smiths find themselves near the bottom of my top 10. Still pretty impressive.
“Ask” is beyond catchy, beyond propulsive, a go-to track for when I’m feeling good. Is it 70 degrees for the first time in months? Is the sun out? Am I sipping on a beer? If so, I’m listening to “Ask.”
I don’t know a single person who doesn’t love this song. It’s unimpeachable. If it’s not love, then it’s the bomb that will bring us together.
Youth of Today - “Take a Stand” (Wishing Well, 1986)
Friends of N.E.H., Peter and Joey, were in a hardcore band called Mark My Words. Back in the day, I learned they’d be covering “Take a Stand” at Arabian Knights, and as somebody who never knows covers, I decided to commit the lyrics to memory and sing along. I did my homework, in other words, and was rewarded by appearing to be “in the know.”
YOT recorded “Take a Stand” twice–once on their debut, and again on their best album, Break Down the Walls. The latter is superior. The bass and drums intro, the possessed vocals, the precision. The best hardcore band of the ‘80s.
Don Henley - “The End of the Innocence” (Geffen, 1989)
You know I had to pick at least one vibey boomer track for my list. “The End of the Innocence” is a masterclass in spacious cheese. I listen to it every day.
I admit that, as I get older, I’m drawn to the deeply uncool music made by the fading stars of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Don Henley and Bruce Hornsby wrote this one together, and if you like Hornsby’s windswept piano odysseys, you’ll be right at home here.
Lyrically, “The End of the Innocence” is as strong as any song on my list. Consider the following:
Who knows how long this will last
Now we’ve come so far, so fast
But somewhere back there in the dust
That same small town in each of us
It’s a lesson built into so many country songs; no matter how much you grow or how far you travel, you cannot run from where you came from. Powerful stuff.
Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers - “When Harpo Played His Harp” (Rounder, 1987)
Not every song has to be heavy. Jonathan Richman knows this. His best songs–“Velvet Underground,” “New Kind of Neighborhood”–find beauty in the banal.
“When Harpo Played His Harp” concerns the Marx Brothers, specifically Harpo, the silent, harp-playing one. Clearly, Harpo has made an impression on Jonathan. This song is a testament to the power of music and art. I’m a Jonathan Richman super fan, and it’s in the ‘80s that he landed on his simple, magical formula.
Gorilla Biscuits - “New Direction” (Revelation, 1989)
Gorilla Biscuits occupy their own lane. They’re posi, righteous, poppy, and hard. “Start Today” has a harmonica solo for Pete’s sake, and “New Direction” – my fifth favorite song of the ‘80s – opens with a trumpet fanfare. I don’t think modern hardcore bands know what to do with Gorilla Biscuits. Their influence is at an all time low.
Hardcore’s default perspective skews negative. To sing about “hardcore pride” and following your heart takes not only guts, but a real long view. Community, inclusion, cooperation, and optimism are far more appealing to me–and I think constructive–than just saying “fuck the government” or whatever. Obviously, the government should get fucked, and I love a lot of music in which saying that is the whole point, but I like Civ’s lyrics better.
I bought Start Today when I was in high school. Maybe you need to be sixteen to truly appreciate “New Direction.” Imagine you’re in the backseat of an old-ass car with a portable CD player and tape adapter. You hear that trumpet fanfare. You are young, and you are moshing.
The Bangles - “If She Knew What She Wants” (Columbia, 1986)
The Bangles had a gift for taking songs written by men and vastly improving them. “Manic Monday,” “Walk Like an Egyptian,” “Hazy Shade of Winter,” and my fourth favorite song of the eighties, “If She Knew What She Wants.”
“If She Knew What She Wants” is catchy. I know, plenty of songs are catchy, but this one seems, I dunno, catchier. I love Susanna Hoffs’s voice, I love the backing vocals, and I love the melody. Every element of this recording gives me a rush of serotonin and makes me fall in love a little.
The Jules Shear original comes off as a bit accusatory, but that’s not a problem for The Bangles. They had the opportunity to flip the pronouns, and they were right not to. The Bangles were one of the decade’s best “singles bands,” and this is their crowning achievement.
Paul Simon - “Graceland” (Warner Bros, 1986)
I don’t need to tell you about Paul Simon’s recording sessions in South Africa. Instead, let’s take a look at the lyrics to “Graceland,” the best song on Paul’s best solo album.
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
To Paul, Elvis Presley’s Memphis estate is an American Mecca. The road there winds through the Mississippi delta, “through the cradle of the Civil War.” I can’t help but think of slavery, and of the musical traditions that exist because of–or despite–slavery. The blues, jazz, folk, rock, rap–practically every significant American genre.
Elvis used–some say ripped off–black music on his early hits. Paul knew that. He also knew that that he was in danger of being charged with the same offense. He did it anyway. Make of that what you will.
She comes back to tell me she’s gone
As if I didn’t know that
As I get older, I’m losing interest in music made by young people. Against the exuberant instrumental, “Graceland” has a hard-won wisdom, and this line captures that. Paul sings it with a shrug. I’ve always loved that.
“Graceland” was my gateway to the music of Africa. Soukous, palm-wine, highlife, Afrobeat, kwassa kwassa… It’s been such a blast diving in.
Yaz - “Only You” (Mute, 1982)
Vince Clarke formed Depeche Mode in 1980, wrote a big ol’ new wave classic called “Just Can’t Get Enough,” and then left the band in 1981. Geez. Mistake? I don’t necessarily think so. He almost immediately assembled Yaz, and in 1982, Yaz released the second best song of the decade, “Only You.” Great job, Vince.
Of course, singer Alison Moyet was the star of Yaz, and she brings a ton of feeling to “Only You.” It’s such a romantic tune. If you marry somebody, might as well make it your first dance.
For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t hold “Only You” in such high esteem if it weren’t for The Office. If you know, you know.
Prince - “When Doves Cry” (Warner Bros, 1984)
Prince opened the decade by dropping three classic albums: Dirty Mind, Controversy, and 1999. In 1983, for the first time in his career, he took a “year off.” During that year, he worked on a movie/soundtrack called Purple Rain. Have you heard of it?
I became aware of Purple Rain’s lead single, “When Doves Cry,” when I was just a kid. My dad had the cassette, and VH1 used to play the music video pretty regularly. Prince steps out of a steamy bathtub, extends his hand to the camera, and crawls slowly across the floor. There are doves, of course, and flowers. It’s a beautiful video.
It’s a beautiful song, too. It’s got something for every Prince fan. Guitar god Prince, songwriter Prince, horny Prince, and drum machine Prince.
And then there’s Prince the lyricist. So underrated. Consider the chorus:
How can you just leave me standing
Alone in a world so cold?
Maybe I’m just too demanding
Maybe I’m just like my father – too bold
Prince takes a big ol’ leap by acknowledging that he probably inherited his lonely horn dog tendencies from his dad. That just kills me. As a species, we procreate and evolve and try to improve. In the end, though, we are like mourning doves; we are horny, and we are crying.
Prince remained a supernova until he died in 2016. He repeatedly torpedoed his career, only to release incredible music that reeled us back in. I knew from the start that he would occupy my top spot. But which song? “When You Were Mine,” “DMSR,” “I Would Die 4 U,” and “The Beautiful Ones” all crossed my mind, but in the end, I had to go with the first Prince song I fell in love with: “When Doves Cry!” The best song of the eighties.
Got a question? Feel free to comment on this post or e-mail me at newexperimentalhours@gmail.com. Thanks!
Thanks for reading, everyone! What did you think? Who got robbed? What did I leave out? Drop me a line. The nineties are next. That’s going to be hard.
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