Hi Everybody! Welcome back to the countdown! If you missed yesterday’s list of songs, you can go ahead and check them out. Where were you at this time in 1985? I was 14 and midway through my first year of high school. The beginning of the school year was exciting. I went to a catholic school from 2nd through 8th grade. Then I went to a good size public school for high school. The change was exciting. I got to go to a different classroom for every class, and I didn’t have to wear a uniform! However by this point, the newness wore off, and I wasn’t liking school too much, and didn’t do to well. Even though I wasn’t enjoying school at all, this was still a great time for music, movies, and TV. There will be a few familiar songs on today’s list of songs that bring us back to that great time of music. For my good friends in the U.K., there may be even more songs that bring you back to that time. Now let’s Return to the week ending January 12, 1985, and either relive, or discover the great music of that time.
[Also, I should point out that you can click on the song title to listen/watch the YouTube video, and you can click on the album cover to get the song from Amazon]
Before this artist became known as Alvin Stardust, he was known as Shane Fenton. He had success in the pre-Beatles era, hitting the UK top 40 with four singles in 1961–62. However, he became better known in the 70s and 80s with his Alvin Stardust persona. This song had reached up to #7 on the U.K. charts.
Love this! This is a novelty song that was a huge hit in the UK, peaking at #2, and spending 30 weeks in the Top 75. I am reading up on these songs before I listen to them, just so I can know the background. In a survey for dotmusic in 2000, this song was rated the 4th most annoying song of all time. That really got my attention! I just had to listen to it. This is from Wikipedia:
In a poll for Q magazine in 2003, a panel of music writers voted “Agadoo” as the worst song of all time, saying: “It sounded like the school disco you were forced to attend, your middle-aged relatives forming a conga at a wedding party, a travelling DJ act based in Wolverhampton, every party cliche you ever heard.” The panel also described it as “magnificently dreadful”.
No wonder I like this so much! I’d be one of those middle-aged relatives forming a conga, to this train wreck of a song, at a wedding reception.
When I first saw the song title, I thought this was going to be a Beatles cover. Instead, this is a very good power ballad.
Here is a throwback song by the Welsh singer. This sounds like it came right out of the ’50s. It makes sense that this was a hit, as there was a lot of nostalgia for the 50s and 60s in the 80s.
Very cool funk/R&B song. Council Collective was a collaborative effort put together by The Style Council. It was put together to raise money for striking miners. The proceeds also went to the family of David Wilkie, a Welsh taxi driver who was killed during the miners’ strike.
This song was my introduction to Chaka Khan, and was a big comeback hit for her. It has an iconic introduction by Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Oh by the way, this was written and originally performed by Prince. But, Chaka Khan made it her own, and was a smash hit in the U.S. and U.K. It also won Prince the 1985 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song, as the songwriter.
To say that this was a smash hit, is just putting it mildly. This was Stevie Wonder’s biggest hit, topping a record 19 charts. This was one of those cases where the song was much bigger than the movie that it was featured in. In this case, it came from the 1984 soundtrack album The Woman in Red. This was actually Wonder’s only #1 hit in the U.K. He made it count though, as it topped the charts for 6 weeks, and it became Motown Records’ biggest-selling single in the UK, a distinction it still holds today.
This is the third song in a row that we all know. This was the first cassingle I ever owned. Whenever I hear this song, the Mad Max type video of this song comes to mind.
Well, I learned something new, which I probably should have known. This song is from the album 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother), which was the soundtrack from the film Nineteen Eighty-Four. I never knew there was a soundtrack for that movie. I’m pretty sure I saw the movie, but I don’t remember it. There’s no need to go back and watch it, seeing that we are living it now.
Great soulful song by the awesome Yazoo singer. In my opinion, she is very underrated (at least in the States).
Well, that wraps up today’s list of songs. They seem to be getting better and better! What do you think so far? Also, feel free to email me at returntothe80s@gmail.com if you would like to make a long distance dedication. We’ll continue the countdown tomorrow.
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Hi Everybody! Welcome back to the countdown! If you missed yesterday’s list of songs, you can go ahead and check them out. Where were you at this time in 1985? I was 14 and midway through my first year of high school. The beginning of the school year was exciting. I went to a catholic school from 2nd through 8th grade. Then I went to a good size public school for high school. The change was exciting. I got to go to a different classroom for every class, and I didn’t have to wear a uniform! However by this point, the newness wore off, and I wasn’t liking school too much, and didn’t do to well. Even though I wasn’t enjoying school at all, this was still a great time for music, movies, and TV. There will be a few familiar songs on today’s list of songs that bring us back to that great time of music. For my good friends in the U.K., there may be even more songs that bring you back to that time. Now let’s Return to the week ending January 12, 1985, and either relive, or discover the great music of that time.
