Wokka Wokka Wokka - Mix Reviews Volume 15

Ahh, the 1980's. Without it, this collective would not exist. Those were formative years, when Dan's form was perfect, my shirts were green, Stephen was the next Kurt Loder, Mighty Tom was one insatiable step away from calamity, and TClog...well, he was in east Waterloo. Those ten years certainly set my musical direction without freezing it in time there. They included the best of times and the worst of times, though not even really the best. Good times.

Weight lifting and boxing in the Central gym late at night.
'Fishing' on the Wapsi.
Laser tag and tracer disks on Alpine Drive.
Basketball at Irving.
Field of 64.
and many more...

And through it all there was music.
Disco drew to an end, as did punk. Rock and roll reemerged in several forms, from the early gritty hair bands like Night Ranger and their ilk to New Wave and the earliest inklings of something that would come to be known as alternative. At the beginning of the decade I would have been seen as a disco fan, digging The Bee Gees and ABBA. The middle of the decade would have found me riding the MTV wave wherever it led me. And boy did it lead me. Other than Yo MTV Raps and Headbanger's Ball I enjoyed most of what it had to offer, though I certainly resisted the pull of the hair bands and their later glam rock children. I was a New Wave child to be sure and was later absorbed whole heartedly into alternative, but even still I knew the top 40 as well as anyone and radio had not lost its allure.

I remember clearly 107.9 (KFMW?) playing Toni Basil's Mickey ten point seven times in a row. I sat through them all for some reason, though other than the novelty, I can't imagine why. I was a huge Dr. Demento fan through a chunk of the 80's, making room in my schedule for three hours of listening on many Sunday nights. I endured several summers of detasseling, and no song brings back the sense of that experience than Luka by Suzanne Vega.

To this day I can tell you what year (within one) that any particular hit from the 80's came out. These songs fall comfortably within that sweet spot.

Song Zero - Cheers Theme (short version)
There are only a few TV theme songs with lyrics that ever really made an impact for me. The Greatest American Hero theme is probably at the top of that list, particularly from that era, but the Cheers theme is solid. Interesting to have an extended version on this collection. The short version is the one that we all know, and it was wisely chosen over the long form version which goes some places emotionally that the TV show wasn't really trying to get. Everything about this version is pleasantly nostalgic. Cheers was a show that I watched plenty of, though perhaps not as much as Dan. And I've seen it recently, on TVLand or whatever channel it exists in syndication. It holds up pretty well, though having moved to the area, no one in the show really seems like they would be from Boston. Cliff has an accent, but it's one that I've never really heard from any real life person, and the rest of them seem completely devoid of the Boston accent, no matter the level of their education.

Song One – You Make Lovin’ Fun

Lots to things to like about Fleetwood Mac and this song combines signature elements for them, but it is not amongst my favorites. By my understanding this song was a total fuck you to John McVie from Christine McVie after they broke up/divorced. She was now singing about her new guy and giving it to John in as nasty a way as she could manage. He apparently, no longer made loving fun.

Some interesting stereo action with the drums on this one and some funky guitar – like really funk guitar. The bass seems to march through the song as a pissed off guy stomping out of the room, or perhaps I’m reading too much into this.

Song Two – Bette Davis Eyes

After 20 plus years I’ve finally resolved the line that always perplexed me, and without turning to the internet to do it.

…she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush…

as opposed to what my 10 year old ears heard

…she knows just what it takes to make a proplush..

Subtle I know, but my young mind couldn’t get there. I suspect I really didn’t know the word pro in this context and possibly not really why one would blush. So naïve.

It has a very 80’s keyboard sound to it, but the drums are solid, and the bass is workable. The lyrics are pretty well worked out even if the subject matter doesn’t interest me or grab me. Her voice is her signature, 3 packs a day and all, and it works, even if you know that Kim will never be the girl with Betty Davis eyes. Phone sex maybe.

Song Three – 99 Luftballons

Ah Nena, you could join running Lola in the pantheon of idiomatic German chanteuses. You were there first regardless of her fast running, but of course you were far behind Marlene Dietrich and even Lili Von Schtup. Still, your place will remain inviolate until those 99 luftballons find their way home.

This song is 80’s all the way. I do like some of the drumming though the keyboard reeks of 80’s, and even in German her voice is pleasant enough. And amongst the German one hit wonders including Falco and The Scorpions, I’ll take Nena any day. Thanks in some small part to all of them, the cold war ended without those air balloons causing any trouble.

I don’t recall drilling for nuclear Armageddon, just tornadoes. At the schools I went to I think everyone had come to the realization that putting your head between your knees was just going to be an awkward position to be found dead in. When we moved out of the house I grew up in we did find a Build Your Own Bomb Shelter pamphlet clearly from an age when that seemed like a good idea.

Song Four – Walk of Life

Truly one of those classic ‘inside baseball’ rock and roll songs, with all sorts of possible references to some glory day of blues emergence. Short of a reference to Clarksdale this song has it all. It comes from a pretty excellent album even if you’d happily die without hearing Money for Nothing ever again. Lots of good tracks and ending with a song so poignant and moody it’d almost make you cry (the title track – Brothers in Arms).

This track follows the aforementioned post-modern Money for Nothing with a straight back to rock and roll riff asking nothing of the listener but to sit back and enjoy. No irony, no jabs at the appliance industry, or even MTV, just a little romp and the likely sequel to Sultans of Swing.

A good track this, though not my favorite from the album. And to agree with Mighty Tum Tum, Mark Knopfler is an excellent guitarist, though this doesn’t show him at his most excellent.

Dire Straits Greatest Hits is filled with good tracks including songs like Down to the Waterline and Telegraph Road.

Song Five – Magic

From the weird boys of Boston, as opposed to that other Boston group, the bad boys of Boston, and well, Boston. The Cars are one of those bands that almost everyone had the greatest hits album and no actual albums no matter how popular they were. Stephen may break that streak – I’m hoping he has some insight to share since I only know what everyone else knows, other than perhaps that they’re from Boston.

Candy-o is supposed to be a great album. Anyone heard it? Why?

For me, particularly in that time period, The Cars were well represented on radio and on MTV and that’s about as deep as my musical exploration went. It was really after this era that I got more interested in plumbing the depths of a band’s catalog. Who knows, a deeper understanding of The Cars might offer up some bounty. Rik was certainly literate in a way that would appeal to my sensibilities, but I suspect The Cars will remain hidden from my view.

As to the song….other than Drive this is really what I think of when I think of The Cars, correctly or incorrectly. And that makes me think of very skinny Rik perched over a pool, and a cartoony fly, for of course they were video pioneers. It’s got a very 80’s vibe and TClog and I will have to agree to disagree on that 80’s synthesizer sound. In most cases it doesn’t really endear itself to me. There are some interesting guitar effects, some good harmonies and some solid drumming with some tidy little fills.

Song Six – Small Town

I recently learned that JM didn’t choose Cougar for himself. The first he saw it was when the album art for his first album was presented to him. The record company thought Mellencamp was too German. He may be talking his way out of a bad decision, but for me the whole Cougar thing really started me off with a bad taste in my mouth. I hated Jack and Diane. There was clearly more to it than the Cougar and most likely it was his complete contrast with Flock of Seagulls, but we all grow and I have grown to respect his musical talents. His latest song incorporated into a sickening Chevy ad may undo much of that good will, but we’ll have to see how that plays out. It did knock Bob Seger off regular commercial play, and there’s something to be said for that.

When this song first came out I was still mostly annoyed by JM, though I have since come to appreciate its sensibility relative to the way he seems to live his life. It was however the era that had an MTV contest where your house would be painted pink and JM would perform in your back yard. To this day I clearly recall the ‘paint the mother pank’ (spelling intentional) tagline of the advertising. God I hated it.

I like the song now, as I have come to like Pink Houses even, appreciating its straight forward rock and roll sensibility with seemingly heartfelt lyrics. My favorite JM remains ‘I Saw Her First – Key West Intermezzo’. There’s something about the hook in that song that totally floats my boat.

Good choice Clog – no synth, just some organ. Hopefully for TClog, since there can be only one, it is he.

Track Seven – Every Breath You Take

In the hands of a less gifted songwriter and set of musicians this song would risk coming across as annoyingly repetitive. But, these are The Police, and they pull it off. From the Sting dominated era of The Police and the last tremendous gasp before they passed the baton, this remains the most well known song from an almost universally great album. Only Mother puts a dent in its greatness. It is sublime, even if the lyrics occasionally go where no man has gone before – possibly following lemmings back into their shiny metal boxes.

Clog (or Allmusic) is right that the song requires simplicity to work, but without gifted musicians it would probably have sucked. Great bass and drums with the guitar finding its way in at the edges and few piano plinks at the chorus. Just great. It is relentless and beautiful, like no stalker you’ve ever known.

Track Eight – Against the Wind

Much of my opinion of Bob Seger stems from an unbelievably strong dislike of Like a Rock. God I hate that song. It makes me wince.

But, I will not hold that against Bob and I will listen to this with as fresh ears as I can manage. And for the most part these new ears find what they hear to be pleasant. I like the piano part quite a bit and for the most part the lyrics seem to come from an authentic place. The metaphor is an interesting one though I get a little lost in the end with the cowboys and the young man. The romantic notion of the cowboy maybe running counter to the pull of society, but the reality of the cowboy lifestyle is no more resistant than dozens of other jobs that seem unchanged through history. And even those of us working ‘modern’ jobs, many of us are fighting the natural flow of society, the wind that I sense he is generally referring to.

A Bob Seger Greatest Hit for me, and possibly only as part of an EP.

Track 9 – I Won’t Back Down

Almost inexplicably Full Moon Fever dominated the radio during our (sorry Clog) freshman year in college. Even as an album I enjoyed a lot, looking back I simply can’t explain it. And that’s no offense to Tom, he’s pretty much been making the same album for 25 years, unapologetically and without pretense. But the stars aligned and made FMF into a freak of nature.

Straight ahead rock and roll, with lyrics to match, it’s hard to be too critical. Of Tom’s songs like this one I prefer the energy of American Girl more, but this is a good song to get one pumped up, and TClog asks for little more.

Track 10 – Take on Me

Truly a mind blowing video and much gratitude is owed them for that. This song is pure 80’s. Clog loves his synth and he gets a full dose here along with a full load of computer generated sounds. And man, that falsetto. Impressive.

I’m not sure whether the lyrics are challenged by the song’s construction or the writer’s grasp of the English language. Comprehension always seems to be one or two syllables away and other than what seems to be a challenge I can’t quite grasp what he’s after.

Track Zero point Two – Cheers Theme (full version)

It’s fairly obvious why they never used this version. It goes places psychologically that the short version does not and would have been more appropriate for the movie version like the song Suicide is Painless is for the MASH movie versus the TV show. This is not quite the feel good bar fly version.

This version is also far more garishly produced, including something like a clarinet or possibly an oboe really wound up. I appreciate the fact there is more to this song than just the TV ditty, though my memory will likely be permanently affected by its hearing. The TV show may not be the same again.

Conclusion.

The 80’s were the decade where we all began to come into our own, some of us faster than others. I count myself in the middle of the pack in terms of figuring myself out. And from that decade sprouted the friendships that are the source of this musical co-op, among many other things, and for that there can be no sufficient amount of gratitude. We all have our individual memories of that decade, but it was also the decade where our memories began to converge and thus holds a significant place in our collective experience. We would not be where we are today with those ten years and its music holds a special place in my heart.

BS – hard to compete with Every Breath You Take

SIWHI – on Pac Man’s iPod? Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr.

Bring on the shadows.