Tag Archives: 80s Music

20 Album Challenge, Artists, Music

20 Album Challenge – Day 10

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The 20 Day Album challenge continues. Today’s pick is Queen’s Greatest Hits.

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After Star Wars came out in 1977, and changed my life, sci-fi and fantasy movies became all the rage, capitalizing on the Star Wars success. One of these movies was 1980s Flash Gordon. One of the greatest things about that movie was the theme song. It was my introduction to Queen, and I was obsessed with that song. Not long after that, “Another One Bites the Dust” was released, and I became a Queen fan for life. At the time, the only songs I knew other than those two were “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You“. Those songs alone were worth getting the Greatest Hits album. The first song on the first side was “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It was my first time hearing that song since the radio stations in the U.S. never played it. Within one second of hearing the song, “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?”, I was blown away, and my music world was turned upside down! And then we get to the opera portion of the song, which was insane! And then Brian May’s guitar blowing off the roof! There didn’t need to be another song on there! But, man am I glad there was! I loved “Fat Bottomed Girls” and “Bicycle Race.” And I was once again blown away. This time it was by “Now I’m Here“. If you listen to the song on headphones, you hear Freddie sing “Now I’m here” in one headphone, then you hear him sing “Now I’m there” in the other headphone. You can do that?! Queen was now my favorite band. And move over Steve Perry (but not too far over), Freddie was, and still is, my all-time favorite singer. And this was the first full album that started it all for me.

Here is the album on Spotify:

And if you’d like to get the album from Amazon, you can click on the album cover below:

Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song – 2/14/20

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Can you name the artist and song:

It ain’t no use
We’re headed for disaster
Our minds said no
But our hearts were talking faster

Last Song: “The Way You Love Me” by Karyn White from the album Karyn White (1989)

Great job Shaun (@ShaunHaynes22)!!!

‘Cause when I think about your lovin’ and how good it can be
I get excited from the feeling that is given to me,
so won’t you keep me comin’ baby
‘Cause I love the joy you bring

If you’d like to get this song from Amazon, you can click on the album cover below:

20 Album Challenge, Artists, Music

20 Album Challenge – Day 9

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The 20 Day Album challenge continues. Today’s pick is ZZ Top’s Eliminator.

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There were several artists who had been around since the 1970s who I did not discover until the early to mid ’80s (Thank you MTV!). Along with David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen, ZZ Top is one of those bands to me. Of course most of us remember the iconic trilogy of videos – “Gimme All Your Lovin’“, “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs“. However, the entire album is awesome. “Got Me Under Pressure” is a solid track. And while the “trilogy” gets all the music video attention, I absolutely loved the video for “TV Dinners,” which is also a great song. And my favorite underrated track on the album is “Thug“.

While I love the follow-up album, Afterburner, the Eliminator album helped shape my taste in rock music, and kept me glued to MTV. And while I was bored in class in high school, I loved drawing the ZZ Top logo on my book covers and notebooks.

Here is Eliminator on Spotify:

And if you’d like to get this album on Amazon, you can click on the album cover below:

Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song – 2/13/20

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Can you name the artist and song:

‘Cause when I think about your lovin’ and how good it can be
I get excited from the feeling that is given to me,
so won’t you keep me comin’ baby
‘Cause I love the joy you bring

Last Song: “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” by Daryl Hall & John Oates from the album Private Eyes (1982)

Great job Adora (@Adora2000)!!!

Easy, ready, willing, overtime
Where does it stop
Where do you dare me
To draw the line

If you’d like to get this song from Amazon, you can click on the album cover below:

20 Album Challenge, Artists, Music

20 Album Challenge – Day 8

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The 20 Day Album challenge continues. Today’s pick is Raised On Radio by Journey.

Raised_on_Radio_(Journey_album_-_cover_art)

In the ’80s, Journey was my favorite band. From the mid-70s through 1983, the band released a new album every year or 2. After Frontiers was released in 1983, Journey took a little break. Lead singer, Steve Perry, had a mega-successful solo album in Street Talk. In 1986, they returned with Raised On Radio. The drummer, Steve Smith, and founding member and bassist, Ross Valory, were no longer in the group. A lot of people complained about this album, but I loved it. This is the first album I remember going against the grain with. I always liked what I liked unashamedly. But, this is the first time where I saw so much backlash against something.

Now with the internet, and connecting with people all over the world, I’m happy to find that I’m not crazy, and that a lot of other people love this album too. I could not get enough of “Suzanne” and “Be Good To Yourself”. And the title track kicking off the second side was an incredible rocker. Another great memory I have from this album is that we took a family trip from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania. On the drive down, I listened to this brand new tape on my Walkman the entire time.

Here is Raised On Radio on Spotify:

And if you’d like to get this album on Amazon, you can click on the album cover below:

Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song – 2/12/20

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Can you name the artist and song:

Easy, ready, willing, overtime
Where does it stop
Where do you dare me
To draw the line

Last Song: “Brand New Lover” by Dead Or Alive from the album Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know (1987)

Great job ⓐⓝⓨ ⓜⓐⓙⓞⓡ ⓓⓤⓓⓔ (@ENewill), Adora (@Adora2000), and Lisa (@gabbyg89)!!!

Your sweet nature darling
Was too hard to swallow
I got the solution
I’m leaving tomorrow

If you’d like to get this song from Amazon, you can click on the album cover below:

20 Album Challenge, Music

20 Album Challenge – Day 7

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The 20 Day Album challenge continues. Today’s pick is The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

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In 1982, I listened to mainly rock music, and whatever was playing on the Top 40 station. Then one of my best friends got this 12-inch vinyl album by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five called “The Message”. I was blown away by this brand new genre called rap! We got into the new rage – break dancing. My friends and I would practice all kinds of break dancing moves. We got giant pieces of cardboard to spin on, and even spray painted logos on it. I was also thrilled when I got some parachute pants! Since rap was so new at the time, it was very difficult to find new music. There was The Sugarhill Gang and Kurtis Blow. But, “The Message” was our go-to. It was a great song, and since it was a 12″ record, it played for a while before you had to start over or find another song.
I don’t have any old pictures of me in my parachute pants. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But here is the actual record that we played:

Here is The Message album on Spotify:

And if you’d like to get this album on Amazon, you can click on the album cover below:

Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song – 2/11/20

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Can you name the artist and song:

Your sweet nature darling
Was too hard to swallow
I got the solution
I’m leaving tomorrow

Last Song: “Almost Over You” by Sheena Easton from the album Best Kept Secret (1984)

Great job Rich (@RichIMET)!!!

I saw an old friend of ours today
She asked about you
I didn’t quite know what to say

If you’d like to get this song from Amazon, you can click on the album cover below:

20 Album Challenge, Artists, Music

20 Album Challenge – Day 6

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The 20 Day Album challenge continues. Today’s pick is Survivor’s Vital Signs.

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I first discovered Survivor, along with most people, with the release of “Eye of the Tiger”. That song was my favorite at the time. Then Vital Signs came out, which helped me see that Survivor was much more than one song, and became one of my all-time favorite bands. I was blown away when “I Can’t Hold Back” was released as the first single. I still love that song every time I hear it. This was the first album featuring the lead singer Jimi Jamison. His voice blew me away.

There are only 9 songs on this album, and every single one of them are great. Two of my favorite songs on the album were not released as singles – “It’s the Singer, Not the Song” and “I See You in Everyone”.

Here is the album on Spotify:

And if you’d like to get this album on Amazon, you can click on the album cover below:

20 Album Challenge, Artists, General, Music

20 Album Challenge – Day 5

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The 20 Day Album challenge continues. My pick on Sunday, February 9, is by one of my first crushes, Olivia Newton-John, with her album Olivia’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2

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This was actually an album my Mom bought, but I listened to it all the time. Not only did I think that Olivia was beautiful and talented, but I loved every single song on this album. It included songs from the Grease and Xanadu soundtracks, the Totally Hot and Physical albums, as well as two original tracks – “Heart Attack” and “Tied Up”.

This album is not on Spotify, however I did create a playlist with all of the songs from this album. Unfortunately, Olivia’s version of “Tied Up” is not on Spotify. However, the song was written by the legendary guitarist and songwriter, Lee Ritenour. So, I included his version of the song in the playlist.

And if you’d like to get this album on Amazon, you can click on the album cover below: