Saturday, October 27, 2007

Beanie’s Comments on the Songs of the 1980’s

My friend Bob from Edina East is a man who has a great deal of musical knowledge, if somewhat more eclectic than my taste. I recently had lunch with him, and he was kind enough to provide me with his list of the top songs from the 1980's, along with his comments:

  1. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. Created the biggest music BUZZ since Beatle mania;
  2. When Doves Cry by Prince.
  3. Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses.
  4. Losing My Religion by REM. They were a good influence on music that followed in the 1990's including Nirvana.
  5. Fight the Power by Public Enemy. (Tom's note: OK, Bob has gone off the board with this one. Do you remember how Flavor Flav became somewhat famous? It is from this group. And it received more attention when Spike Lee put the song in one of his movies.)
  6. Back in Black by AC/DC. Welcome Back.
  7. Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer. The Best MTV could get. After this song, it was all down-hill for music videos (and MTV).
  8. Rapture by Blondie. 1st melding of rap with a huge Pop Star's legitimacy making it an important song.
  9. Every Breath You Take by the Police. Personally liked 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic' better.
  10. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. Still sung by girls and gays all over the world today.

I thought Bob's list and comments were very perceptive. His insight on MTV's pinnacle being Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love video, is shear brilliance! After this, everyone put out a bunch of mediocre videos, that caused a deluge of bad music and videos. To the point today, where cheap, inexpensive videos are being put out on You Tube and by-passing MTV altogether.

His list also included entries by Don Henley (Boys of Summer), Tom Petty (Free Fallin') and Simple Minds (Don't You Forget About Me), all of which are good additions. But another great part of Bob's list is that he included a list of the worst hits of the 1980's, calling his list "Refuse to Acknowledge":

  • Wham, anything by them;
  • Physical by Olivia Newton John;
  • We Built this City by Starship;
  • Poison;
  • Endless Love;
  • Bette Davis Eyes;
  • Footloose;
  • And finally, Toto.

I hoped you enjoyed Bob's additions.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Bible Memorization

Have you tried memorizing Bible verses before? If you have and have run into problems, let me suggest a product called Memlok (the website can be found at www.Memlok.com) and it is great! Now I am in my forties, and if I can do it, anyone can. The idea is that if you can get started, then you have a much better chance of remembering the verse. So it gives you a simple picture and from the picture you should be able to get started. Here is an example: a face that is drooling. Can you guess how Acts 4:12 starts?

"Salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name found under heaven, by which we must be saved." The hint helps by making me think of salivating (ok, sometimes they are silly hints). But they work! The program is simple enough that my 4 year old son was able to memorize some verses, and even an old fogy like me had 75 verses in a year and a half. If you have 5 minutes a day, you can memorize some great verses. Give it a try!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Top 19 Songs of the 1980's

19. Soft Cell Tainted Love; REASON: It is listed in Wikipedia as one of the top 10 selling songs of the decade.

18. Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Wanna Have Fun/or Time after Time; REASON: #1 for 2 weeks, and became an anthem for women/girls until this day.

17. Blondie Call Me; REASON: #1 for 6 weeks; Blondie melded disco and New Wave to make the Club Scene cool again.

16. Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child of Mine; REASON: #1 for 2 weeks; GNR’s album was the 4th best-selling album of the 1980’s

15. Dire Straits Money for Nothing; REASON: an incredible video. Album Brother’s in Arms was the #9 top-selling album of the decade.

14. George Michael/Wham Careless Whisper; REASON: #1 for 3 weeks. This song was the 7th top selling single of the decade. Throw in his ownership of the top of the charts in 1986, and I can easily be talked into move George up.

13. Whitney Houston How Will I Know?; REASON: #1 for 2 weeks. Part of a string of #1 songs for Whitney. Her sell-named album was the 5th best selling album of the decade (14.2 million units sold!)

12. USA for Africa We are the World; REASON: #1 for 4 weeks. A good case can be made that this song is the top song of the decade. It is far and away the top-selling song of the decade with OVER 20 million units sold.

11. Def Leppard Pour Some Sugar on Me; REASON: a top 3 best video of the decade by VH-1; Hysteria was the 10th best-selling album of the decade.

10. Prince When Doves Cry; REASON: #1 for 5 weeks; Prince put Minneapolis on the musical map; Purple Rain was the 7th best-selling album of the decade.

9. Living on a Prayer Bon Jovi; REASON: #1 for weeks; #1 video of the decade by VH-1.

8. Born in the USA Bruce Springsteen; REASON: Wow, the 1980’s were the Boss’ decade, President Reagan used his song for his campaign – sheesh! Bruce’s album sales in the 1980’s were the only one’s to rival Michael Jackson, with Born In the USA the 3rd best-selling album of the decade with 15.9 million units sold, and his live album the 8th best-selling album of the decade with 13.1 million sold.

7. AC / DC You Shook Me All Night Long; REASON: This album and song were played constantly in Tom’s basement for years. Back in Black was the SECOND best-selling album of the decade with 19.1 million units sold (!!! – wow), and the video was fantastic, for AC/ DC that is. And kids are still wearing their t-shirts. They did something right, and remember this was AFTER they changed their lead singer, having Bon Scott departing on his Highway to Hell. An amazing story of success.

6. Walk this Way Run DMC / Aerosmith; REASON: this song gets in purely for cultural influence. The song was a double winner – it revived the sagging popularity of Aerosmith, and their strong rock, with rap. This was rap’s first entry into real popularity in video, and white people’s CD players. This song helped to put rap music at the top of album sales from 1990 and on. A truly important song from the 1980’s.

5. Like a Virgin Madonna; REASON: Did someone mention cultural importance? Madonna turned a legion of girls into similar make-up/wardrobe/hair style. #1 for 5 weeks. This was also one of a number of songs that topped the charts for the now-spiritual Ms. Madonna.

4. With or Without You U2; REASON: #1 for 3 weeks. U2 is the one band that has survived after the 1980’s to keep cranking out, relevant, good music. And Bono’s relevance on a world stage, where he can talk to the Pope, the President, and kids about third world hunger and third world debt, makes this band a social icon of the Western culture.

3. Addicted to Love Robert Palmer (and the hot babe band behind Mr. Palmer); REASON: #1 for 5 weeks. And Mr. Palmer’s ownership of MTV during the 1980’s. Yes, this is where I am going to tell you I had been cranking his music for years before he released this album. And I still do, the real test of good music!

2. Billie Jean Michael Jackson; REASON: Michael Jackson redefined music in the 1980’s, and his string of #1 songs in the 80’s all could be in the top-10 list. Yes, this song was #1 for an incredible 7 weeks. The album was by far the top-selling album of the decade with over 29 million units sold. His videos made Weird Al Yankovic popular? Enough said!

1. Every Breath You Take Police; REASON: #1 for 8 weeks (bested only by Olivia Newton John’s Physical which was on top for 9 weeks in the musical wasteland of 1981). The haunting lyrics, the cool three person band, the burning cigarette in the ash tray of the video, all make this the best song of the 1980’s. Yes, it was the only true single on the best-selling singles of the decade (#6 behind a song like Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger! Yikes! The Wolff has spoken.)