Volume 15 - Pac Man's iPod (condensed)

Song #1 - Cheers Theme

Raise up your glass of your finest beer, sit back, and enjoy a collection that takes you back to those okward years known as the 80's. This is an album where everyone knows your name and where all our troubles are the same. The 80's is a time when we all thought about nuclear war, girls, science fiction, high school, and MTV.

Cheers to you and remember that the proper thing to do when playing Pac-Man is to put down only two quarters at a time just above the joystick. So if your hungry, pack your Pac-Man lunch box and listen to this album. Afterwards, you will be ready to spike your hair with aquanet and bust out your old tapes. Becareful not to hold your boom box too close to your head or you will damage your 30 something ears.

P.S. One of my favorite things to do while listening to Pac-Man's i-Pod is to find an old piece of cardboard and break out some dance moves with it. I also enjoy reading the Pac-Man companions guide as to learn the moves to succed at the game (kidding Dan).


Song #2 - You Make Loving Fun - Fleetwood Mac

From Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits comes You Make Loving Fun. This song was not born in the 80's, but man it was heard by these ears many times throughout the 80's, thus has a home as the lead-off man here on Pac-Man's i-Pod.

Greatest Hits is a great overview of Fleetwood Mac's hit making years. Fleetwood Mac continues to utilize the harmonic blends within the group especially Lindsey Buckingham's voice. Lindsey buckingham has made an appearence once before in CMC. Dan actually introduced us to the musical talents of Lindsey on DanPR. In You Make Loving Fun, Lindsey was not involved with producing the song. However he is active all over Greatest Hits. With an outstanding rhtyhm section combined with great vocals, You Make Loving Fun is one of the 70's finest pieces of pop.

"You make me happy with the things you do" is a very cool line and transends great lyrics. It finds it's way into deeper conciousness of love and defines an awesome way of communicating to your lover. If you hear those words you will be very happy and silly with love.

There is some very good drum and guitar work in this song that nicely binds the song to the lyrics. Beautifully played song Fleetwood! There is a great guitar piece at about the 1:25 mark that you can die for. "Oooohhh you make loving fun" says it best.

Song #3 - Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes

This is the only song on my Pac-Man collection that I didn't already have on an album. I had to get it off of i-Tunes. Kim Carnes has a great voice and I like to hear her sing, but she is not allowed to stand near me if she are puffing on a cancer stick. How do women get voices like that? Smoking? Genetics? It is unusual and I dig it greatly.

Bette Davis Eyes spent 9 weeks at the top of the Billboards in 1981. It won Grammys for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. After that brief success, she could not follow it up with anything worth while and returned to her country-folk roots. She moved to Nashville in 1994 and is concentrating on songwriting.

In this song you will hear a gentle and flowing tempo that is caressed with the sultry voice of Kim Carnes. I find the lyrics to be clever and telling. Imagine those eyes watching you or giving you a nasty look from across the room. It would tear through your head man like a powerful laser and destroy all that you are. "Her hair is hollow gold" sets the stage for what kind of girl Kim is singing about. "She will roll you like dice" tells me that she is going to hypnotize you and then take advantage of you. To recap, I most of all love the voice singing those clever lyrics. When I was a kid, I thought that it was Cathryn Hepburn singing. As we all know it was not, but that's what I thought many moons ago. Bette Davis had eyes that were like that of the snake from Disney's Jungle Book movie. Stay away from women like that.


Song #4 - 99 Luft Balloons - Nena

To start, I know Dan hates this song and to him I apologize for nothing. I must include it because this is my collection not his, and because it is one that I dig a ton from the 80's.

After only a year as vocalist for the band Stripes, Nena Kerner created a new band in Berlin called Nena. The band's debut single Nur Getraumt became a number one in German speaking countries. Their second single, 99 Luft Balloons was huge success in the US. What was unique about 99 Luft Balloons is that the German version was more popular than the English version in the US.

I have to admit that their is something incredible about hearing her sing in German. It is exotic and something that I don't get to hear very often. Maybe it is one reason why I like it so much. I very much like the synth. action because it makes this song work. I could hear just the instruments and I immediately know that it is 99 Luft Balloons. Another aspect to this song that I always loved was the mention of Captain Kirk. Who could hate a song that mentions the greatest Starfleet Captain ever? Dan, that's who. Sorry Dan for busting your chops on this one.

The song is about cold war anxiety and it tapped into the fears of a nuclear apocalypse. At the time of this song Germany was split into East and West. 99 Luft Ballons also tells a tale about how balloons that are being mistaken for incoming missles. a very deep and scary song to me. As one who worries about everything, I was always carrying around a lot of anxiety about nuclear war in the 80's. Do you remember practicing drills for bombs? I still remember thinking, "What the hell is a desk going to do for me when the insane heat and blast comes from the explosion?" Did you guys ever see the old films in class about nuclear bomb safety precautions? One amazing thing that songs do is that they are able to take you back into time if you so desire. I LOVE it!


Song #5 - Walk of Life - Dire Straits

From my days of watching MTV as a kid, to working at Philmont, to riding in the back of Mixdorf's truck Dire Staits has been there and had a small impact on me. I distinctly remember the videos and the powerful songs that was transmitted with them. Even though Money for Nothing was mocking MTV it played all of the time. However, the song that stands out more for me is Walk of Life. I really like this song and I marvel at how catchy the song remains. I hum or sing it and I am doing it all day. The up-tempo drives me forward and helps me walk the good life.

Ooooohhh, the sweet synth / keyboard is like a giant banjo minnow dancing infront of me daring me to grab it. Like a fat bass, I lunge for it. I LOVE it! More than he lyrics the music is what really makes this song for me. Walk of Life is sometimes more like a crazy spirit than a walk, but we all have to take it in stride and enjoy the path we are on.

While working at Philmont, I listened to a Dire Straits album that I borrowed from a coworker and it was great. I don't remember the album, but there was one song on there that was superior and it stuck with me since the summer of 93'. That song I believe was called Trail of Tears. It is a great song about the Cherokee people and their horrific journey they took across the south at gun point. It is on my next i-Tunes order.

I want to say the Mixdorf is a fan of Dire Straits or he use to be. Once, while driving up to Minneapolis one wintery break we listened to them. I was riding in the back of his brown Chevy S-10 while listening to Brother in Arms. This is one of the albums from which this song resides. I should mention that Mixdorf's Chevy became mine in the summer of 95'. Steve is probably the only one to be without that usless trivia, but not anymore. I remember enjoying that album and the songs that are on it. Some of the songs from that album include: Money for Nothing, So Far Away, Ride Across the River, and Why Worry. A great album that stands in a distinctive light within their own catalog. In England, Brother in Arms was the biggest selling album in the 80's. Listen to it, love it, and enjoy it!


Song #6 - Magic - The Cars

The Cars were the most successful American new wave band in the late 70's and early 80's. What is known as mechanical pop / rock, the Cars music captured the top 40 many times and many of their albums became platinum.

The first time I heard this song was when I was in Eau Claire, Wisconsin visiting my cousins. Todd and Shawn were a few years older than I was and they always did cool things. I think that I was about 13 and very impressioable. They listened to a lot of Scorpion, which I didn't like, and the Cars. The line "twisted on the sideways down" has been in my head since that vist, and the Cars have too. The band has a great and unique sound. The lead-in is one aspect to this song that I find powerful and intriging. As a newbee fan of the electric guitar, I have discovered new aspects to this song that I never really appreciated before. There are some great representations of awesome guitar work throughout this song.

I also remember hearing this song while at Camp (WSR). I have to guess that it was Gibbons and the Eology Staff that brought forth these tunes and played them generously for those visiting the area to enjoy. Thanks Gibbs for great memories and music at camp.

In my collection, this song comes from The Cars Greatest Hits album. Even though the song sold over an infinity of copies on 1984's Heartbeat City, many old-school Cars fans thought that it was too much of a bubble gum pop tune. bubble gum I think not! It is more like those warm and wondrful mini donuts from the state fair for your hungry ears. I flippin' love this song and it had to be included on this album. The word magic is mentioned someplace else on this album so listen carefully. did you find it?

On the cover of mt greatest hits album there are little toy cars. I once had one of those little toy cars, the blue one, and it came with a camper that it pulled. Clearly a 50's toy, it was made of metal and so was the camper. How time has passed. The days were you pulled a camper with your car are over. Who does that anymore? You are mocked if you are not pulling your camper, trailer, boat, yard debris, or horses without an oversized monster truck made by Ford or Chevy. Sorry Gibbs. Just a bit of fun info for me to share.


Song #7 - Small Town - John Mellencamp

The album from which this song was birthed is called Scarecrow. The producers to this album are Little Bastard and Don Gehman. Small Town was written on April 17th, 1985 at 12:00 Noon. This is just one day after Gibbons 14th birthday. Did John Melloncamp attend Pat's birthday party or did he just hold off a day to show reverence to our little Indiana buddy?

John Melloncamp is another heartland rocker that could fit nicely with your Bob Segar collection. Two Americana rockers that love to sing about the little guy and the hard life. John has never been known as master lyrics writer, but in the songs Rain on the Scarecrow and Small Town capture the meat and potato intrests of the poeple in America's Heartland. One could easily stand John Melloncamp, Bob Segar, and Bruce Sprinsteen up on a stage and you would have created an instant aid concert for the average out of work blue-collar and red-blodded American.

What I like most about this song is that it talks about his love for the small town. I have a lot of great memories of small towns. I lived in chatfield, Minnesota for a year and it was a great place to live. The tight knit community was something that I greatly admire. I looked forward to getting my haircut by the same guy each month. We developed a small relationship where we would ask each other how projects were going, how family members were, and what plans we might have in the coming week. It was nice to share more than just the superficial bolonga that you pertake in at Cost Cutters. Playing basketball at the only elementary building in town with town officials and local leaders at 5:30 in the morning every Tuesday and Friday were highlights to living in a small town. After work, I would occassonaly decide to go downstairs and around the corner of the block to get myself a pizza and a movie from Hummdinger Pizza. The store logo was a cowboy pizza maker twirrling a pizza while riding a horse. Brilliant! A ton of great memories made in small towns. The best was meeting my wife when living in Chatfield!

The line, "No I cannot forget from where it is that I come from, I cannot forget the people who love me" sparks my root cap (the part of the root that busts through the soil and rocks to allow the tree to dig deeper into its biological purpose) and it gets me thinking about my family and how it is my purpose to be the glue. Holidays and family events are held at my house because it is neutral ground (kind of like a church in the Highlander movies). I love my family and want them to see that we are all here for just a little while, and that the trival things should be forgotten. My sisters and mon remain bitter towards one another and it's a tough rock to crack. However tough it is, I will continue to fight to be the familt glue that leaves the light on for them. It still amazes me how we all came from the same Small Town and how we remain to be close friends even though nobody lives in that Small Town anymore.


Song #8 -Every Breath You Take - The Police

If you don't like Pac-Man's i-Pod then I will stalk you down and shove it up your pie hole. Kidding. Every Breath You Take is a brilliant song because it is so simple both lyrucally and musically. Sting wrote this song and its simple nature was totally intentional. The stalker that this song is about needs to keep things simple so that he is not discovered. When you add a lot of complexity to this stalker song, things could get messy. Originally, this song was to have a synth-driven instrumental section. It didn't fit the overall feel of the song so it was cut. When things get messy, stalkers get caught. "Every move you make, I'll be watching you." This line sums up exactly how creepy this song is if you really think about it.

The opening drums and bass to this song set the stage wonderfully. Who could not recognize the opening to this song? It is very distinct and incredible. The eighth-not pulse in Sting's bass line is steady and simple. Don't really know what I just said, but Allmusic has been very helpful. Every Breath You Take was #1 for eight weeks and was the biggest hit single in 1983.

I remember listening to this song all of the time because my pop recorded it off of the radio. He played it in his tape deck a lot when we traversed the metro area looking to play Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. We went to Shakey's Pizza, Showbiz, and Sears to get our game fix satisfied. I guess we took the occasional break to play Centipede and Frogger. Once we got back into the car we heard my pop's mixed tape again and looked forward to playing foosball and pool in the basement of his west side home. By the way it still smells like Methuen's stinky ass!

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you.

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I'll be watching you.

Oh can't you see
You belong to me?
How my poor heart aches
with every step you take.

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you.

Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace.
I dream at night, I can only see your face.
I look around but it's you I can't replace.
I keep crying baby, baby please..................

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you.

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you.......

Song #9 - Against the Wind - Bob Seger

Bob Seger started off as a Michigan garage rocker with a band trio called the Decibels. Bob Seger has a distinct American sound and maybe a poster child for something that I call Americana rock. He is definately a blue collar musician who sings about the common man. Against the Wind became Seger's first number one album in 1980. This poor man has gone through a million and one bands. Is he hard to work with or does everyone he hooks up with fizzle out on him? Something to explore I guess. After the Decibels he was involved with the Town Criers, Doug Brown and the Omes, the Beach Bums, solo stuff, Silver Bullet Band, and then more solo stuff. His latest album was released in 2006 and is called Face the Promise.

A song about turning against the grain of life, and to use the metaphor swimming upstream says it all. Sometimes in life people choose the more difficult path of hard knocks. However, on that path we get some of our best life lessons and experiences. Many a songs and even a music genre or two have come from the path of hard knocks.

This song gets me thinking about how hard my life has been at times. I was thrown a lot of roadblocks in my young life and I guess the easy path would have been to accept the hand that was delt to me and to be happy with that. My internal operating system doesn't allow for me to work that way. I saw a challenge and thus found a way to win. The path to success is a narrow one, while the road to folding is wide and heavily used. What I am saying is that sometimes you need to go against the wind. This song is a constant reminder to me that I need to keep challenging myself and not to become complacid.

This gentle song with it's gradual beat gets my musical pulse in rhythm. I really like the lyrics. Bob Seger in the liner notes states that he never liked the line "Wish I didn't knoe now what I didn't know then" and it bothered him for a long time. However, everyone that he ever talked to about it loved the line. Thus, he left it in the song. The original thought was to have a piano solo. Glenn Frey of the Eagles had an idea that Drew Abbott, the guitarist, should play along with the piano solo. Bob Seger and Glenn Frey then sang the background vocals together. "Well those drifter days are past me now" really hits home. Great lines throughout. At the end of the song you will hear the line "Let the cowboys ride!" This line sets for me a strong punctuation to the end of a great song.

It seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
Janey was lovely she was the queen of my nights
There in the darkness with the radio playing low
And the secrets that we shared
The mountains that we moved
Caught like a wildfire out of control
'Til there was nothing left to burn and nothing left to prove
And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

Against the wind
We were runnin' against the wind
We were young and strong, we were runnin'
Against the wind

The years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
I found myself further and further from my home
And I guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live
Never worryied about paying or even how much I owed
Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
Breaking all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searching
Searching for shelter again and again

Against the wind
A little something against the wind
I found myself seeking shelter sgainst the wind

Well those drifter's days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out

Against the wind
I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm older now but still runnin' against the wind
Well I'm older now and still runnin'
Against the wind
Against the wind
Against the wind

Still runnin'
I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm still runnin'
I'm still runnin' against the wind
Still runnin'
Runnin' against the wind
Runnin' against the wind
See the young man run
Watch the young man run
Watch the young man runnin'
He'll be runnin' against the wind
Let the cowboys ride
Let the cowboys ride
They'll be ridin' against the wind
Against the wind ...

Song #10 - I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty

I have been on the fence for awhile with this song, and have just recently allowed myself to place it into this album. What I mean is that I can easily throw this song into three or four albums that I want to put together. Full Moon Fever is an awesome album. There are few albums out there that I buy because all of the songs are gems. Usually, especially in the old days, you have to buy the entire album even if you liked only a couple of songs. Those days are over thank God. I bought this album back in the 80's when I only had a cassette player, thus it is not played any longer. I am very tempted to look for it online in the cd format. I have a greatest hits album that has "I Won't Back Down", my favorite Tom Petty song, so I guess that's why I have not gone ahead and tracked down the album on cd.

In my opinion, the music and lyrics are very explosive on this album. "There ain't no easy way out ...But I won't back Down" is a theme that underdog lovers flock towards. I love flexing my discernment muscle in the blind eyes of corrupt authority. I won't back down either. The beat in this song marches strong and it's simple structure makes it easy to tap my foot to. At about the 1:50 mark you will hear some outstanding guitar paired with the steady drum beat picks me up to new levels of feeling it. This song broke into the top 20 in 1989, and has been my top 100 ever since.

1989 was my first year on camp staff. Was that the year all of us except Methuen worked on staff, or was it 1990? I remember hearing it and playing it at Elliott.

Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

/ Bm A D - / / Bm A G - / 1st /

No, I'll stand my ground
Won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground
And I won't back down

... / Bm A D GD /

{Refrain}
  I won't back down
Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
  I won't back down
Hey I will stand my ground
And I won't back down

/ G D A D G - A GD / G D A - Bm A D - / Bm A D - /

Well I know what's right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down

{Refrain thrice}

No, I won't back down

Song #11 - Take On Me - A-Ha

A-Ha formed in the early 80's. From this formation of musical talent came one of my favorite 80' hits. "Take On Me" hit number 2 in the UK in November of 1985. The song did one better in the US mostly because of it's creative video which was played on MTV over and over again. The video fused animation with real-life action which was a new technology / concept in the early to mid 80's. The album from which this song played from was called Hunting High and Low. This cohesive album carries the same energy and synthesizer pop fix that "Take On Me" provides.

As a kid growing up in East Waterloo we didn't have a lot. However, the one thing that we did have was MTV. I watched that damn channel all of the time. Early MTV was good programming. The song "Take On Me" became an 80's hit for me mostly because of the video. I remember being floored by the flow of animation and live-action in the video. The song it's self is an interesting story told best by Wikipedia.

The saga of the video begins as a blonde young woman (played by actress Bunty Bailey^[1]) is in a coffee shop (London's Kim's Café), reading a comic book about competitive motorcycle racing.

Bunty Bailey and Morten Harkett in the "Take on Me" music video.

After winning the race, Morten Harket (who plays the winner of the race) winks at the girl; she raises her eyebrows. He then reaches his black and white cartoon hand through the comic book pulling the girl into his animated world with his band in tow. Through a creative effect they both view each other through a comic frame which shows them (and the band members) alternately in live-action and animation.

The waitress, coming back for the bill, angrily crumples up the comic book in retaliation for what appears as a stiffing and throws it into the trash. As this happens, two of Harket's competitors in the race come back for revenge. One, wielding a monkey wrench, smashes the comic frame. Harket punches one of the henchmen, and retreats with the girl down a maze created by the crumpling. Harket tears a hole for the girl to escape through, as he faces the two. The entire coffeeshop peers over the counter at the heavily newspaper-print stained girl lying next to the waste-paper basket. The startled girl grabs the crumpled comic book and runs out of the coffeeshop to her room, where she tries to smooth out the creases.

One of the panels shows Harket lying unconscious, and she begins to cry. Harket then comes back to life - appearing in the girl's room - smashing himself against the wall as he flashes back and forth between animated and live-action. Eventually, he becomes the latter, and the girl and Harket embrace.

What I like the most about the song are the synthesizer and poppin beat that is carried throughout. The levels that he rises his voice to are incredible. His testosterone levels must be very low or he has not yet gone through puberty. Singing that high is a WOW factor for me. A-HA is from the Netherlands and which I think are apart of the European Union? Europeans have embraced the synthesiszer and have gone wild with it. I applaude them and their efforts for doing that. I believe that I would have a great time hanging out in Europe listening to what that continent has to offer. I am a solid fan of the synth, and feel that it is hard to have too much of it. Take On Me........................Take Me On!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talking away
I don't know what I'm to say
I'll say it anyway
today's another day to find you
Shying away
I'll be coming for you love O.K.


Take on me
Take me on
I'll be gone
in a day or two


So needless to say I'm odds and ends
But that's me, stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is O.K.
Say after me
It's no better to be safe than sorry.


Take on me
Take me on
I'll be gone
in a day or two.


The things that you say
Is it live or just to play
My worries away
You're all the things I've got to remember
You shying away
I'll be coming for you anyway


Take on me
Take me on
I'll be gone
in a day or two


ad lib to end

Song #12 - ?