80s0n8 Big 40 Countdown Schedule

Jon

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2008
16,013
5,784
168
51
Personally I put Uh-Huh and Whenever We Wanted ahead of Scarecrow. But in all fairness, I've never listened to Scarecrow all the way through.

If you take the cheesy Casio track "Jackie O" off of Uh-Huh, you've got 6 solid bangers in a row.

And I am probably in the minority here, but my fav is Whenever We Wanted. Every track a solid rocker. I've listened to that one front to back 100+times.
Uh-huh (minus Jackie O) was great, close second to Scarecrow. Whenever we wanted I couldn't gauge an opinion on since I've never heard any song short of 'Get a leg up' (which kicks). Scarecrow is really where he matured as an artist.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sadchild

sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
14,937
16,297
168
55
NH
www.asimplecomplex.com
I found this article interesting.

In fact, I removed an unreferenced (and false - because I found the interview and he never said it) quote from the Whenever We Wanted wiki page where John had once supposedly bad-mouthed his own album. I replaced it with some of the quotes below instead.

25 Years Ago: John Mellencamp Gets Frisky on 'Whenever We Wanted'

he’s described Whenever We Wanted – a platinum-selling Top 20 album released on Oct. 8, 1991 – as an attempt to write “American Fool with better lyrics.”

“(A fan) said, ‘I loved your last two records (Big Daddy / Lonesome Jubilee), but there wasn’t one thing about sex on either one of them,'” Mellencamp recalled in David Masciotra’s Mellencamp: American Troubadour. “I realized he was right, and I didn’t really like that.”

“Do you really think that after I wrote ‘Rain on the Scarecrow’ and ‘Jackie Brown,’ that I didn’t realize ‘Get a Leg Up’ was leaning in another direction?”

This newfound lyrical vigor was matched stride for stride with the kind of direct musical approach unheard since 1983’s Uh-Huh. “(Whenever We Wanted is) very rock ‘n’ roll,” Mellencamp admitted in a talk with the Houston Chronicle in 1991. “I just wanted to get back to the basics.”


 
  • Like
Reactions: microbob

Aaron

Moderator
Oct 10, 2008
16,967
11,734
168
South Louisiana
1982

40. TWO LESS LONELY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD - AIR SUPPLY
39. YOUR LOVE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY - SAMMY HAGAR
38. DOES IT MAKE YOU REMEMBER - KIM CARNES
37. ALLENTOWN - BILLY JOEL
36. HEART OF THE NIGHT - JUICE NEWTON
35. SHOCK THE MONKEY - PETER GABRIEL
34. WHAT ABOUT ME - MOVING PICTURES
33. A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS - TAVARES
32. EVERYBODY WANTS YOU - BILLY SQUIER
31. LET'S GO DANCIN' - KOOL & THE GANG
30. SHAME ON THE MOON - BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND
29. ON THE WINGS OF LOVE - JEFFREY OSBORNE
28. YOU GOT LUCKY - TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
27. LOVE IN STORE - FLEETWOOD MAC
26. I DO - J. GEILS BAND
25. GOODY TWO SHOES - ADAM ANT
24. HAND TO HOLD ON TO - JOHN COUGAR
23. MISSING YOU - DAN FOGELBERG
22. HEART TO HEART - KENNY LOGGINS
21. UP WHERE WE BELONG - JOE COCKER & JENNIFER WARNES
20. YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE - PHIL COLLINS
19. THE LOOK OF LOVE - ABC
18. THE OTHER GUY - LITTLE RIVER BAND
17. BABY COME TO ME - PATTI AUSTIN & JAMES INGRAM
16. YOU AND I - EDDIE RABBITT & CRYSTAL GAYLE
15. ROCK THE CASBAH - THE CLASH
14. AFRICA - TOTO
13. SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT - PAT BENATAR
12. HEARTBREAKER - DIONNE WARWICK
11. IT'S RAINING AGAIN - SUPERTRAMP
10. TRULY - LIONEL RICHIE
9. ROCK THIS TOWN - STRAY CATS
8. DOWN UNDER - MEN AT WORK
7. SEXUAL HEALING - MARVIN GAYE
6. STEPPIN' OUT - JOE JACKSON
5. GLORIA - LAURA BRANIGAN
4. DIRTY LAUNDRY - DON HENLEY
3. THE GIRL IS MINE - MICHAEL JACKSON & PAUL MCCARTNEY
2. MICKEY - TONI BASIL
1. MANEATER - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES
 

Jon

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2008
16,013
5,784
168
51
1982


37. ALLENTOWN - BILLY JOEL

One of those songs that could have been written today.



30. SHAME ON THE MOON - BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND

One of my favorite Seger tunes, and that was before I knew it was written by Rodney Crowell, another favorite from the Country genre (who was also Johnny Cash's Son-In-Law when Crowell was married to Roseanne Cash for a short time back in the 80's).



28. YOU GOT LUCKY - TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS

One of those songs I never get tired of hearing.


25. GOODY TWO SHOES - ADAM ANT

One of the more memorable songs and videos from the MTV era.



9. ROCK THIS TOWN - STRAY CATS

I always believed Brian Setzer never got full credit for being the Rock Guitar God he is. Not among the public anyway.



4. DIRTY LAUNDRY - DON HENLEY

There has never been a song written that still holds as true today (maybe more so) as it did when it was written. And hey, Joe Walsh on guitar.

3. THE GIRL IS MINE - MICHAEL JACKSON & PAUL MCCARTNEY

The worst song off 'Thriller'.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sadchild

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
53,935
19,921
168
Toledo, Ohio
1982

30. SHAME ON THE MOON - BOB SEGER & THE CENTRUM SILVER BULLET BAND
FIFY

1982
28. YOU GOT LUCKY - TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
One of those songs I never get tired of hearing.
Yep. I love that guitar tone. Big monster hollow body with that watery tremolo. Good stuff.

1982
9. ROCK THIS TOWN - STRAY CATS
I always believed Brian Setzer never got full credit for being the Rock Guitar God he is. Not among the public anyway.
Setzer doesn't get enough credit indeed. He's great, and a lot of fun to watch live if you get the chance.
 

sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
14,937
16,297
168
55
NH
www.asimplecomplex.com
34. WHAT ABOUT ME - MOVING PICTURES

Was a fav of mine back in the day. Still love it. Onederland spins it regularly.

33. A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS - TAVARES

"A penny for your thoughts, a nickel for a kiss, a dime if you tell me that you love me." What's a quarter get ya, a happy ending?

11. IT'S RAINING AGAIN - SUPERTRAMP

Think I just said this six-ish weeks ago, but this is one of many bad songs... that I enjoy singing along to. Go fig!
 
  • Like
Reactions: microbob

Aaron

Moderator
Oct 10, 2008
16,967
11,734
168
South Louisiana
1989

40. SHE WANTS TO DANCE WITH ME - RICK ASTLEY
39. BACK ON HOLIDAY - ROBBIE NEVIL
38. KISS - TOM JONES/ART OF NOISE
37. SPY (IN THE HOUSE OF LOVE) - WAS (NOT WAS)
36. EARLY IN THE MORNING - ROBERT PALMER
35. THANKS FOR MY CHILD - CHERYL "PEPSII" RILEY
34. WALKING AWAY - INFORMATION SOCIETY
33. GHOST TOWN - CHEAP TRICK
32. FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED - VAN HALEN
31. WILD THING - TONE LOC
30. THE LOVER IN ME - SHEENA EASTON
29. THE PROMISE - WHEN IN ROME
28. STRAIGHT UP - PAULA ABDUL
27. I DON'T WANT YOUR LOVE - DURAN DURAN
26. I WANT TO HAVE SOME FUN - SAMANTHA FOX
25. WILD WORLD - MAXI PRIEST
24. HOW CAN I FALL - BREATHE
23. HOLDING ON - STEVE WINWOOD
22. LITTLE LIAR - JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS
21. BABY I LOVE YOUR WAY / FREEBIRD - WILL TO POWER
20. WALK ON WATER - EDDIE MONEY
19. WHEN THE CHILDREN CRY - WHITE LION
18. ALL THIS TIME - TIFFANY
17. BORN TO BE MY BABY - BON JOVI
16. WHEN I'M WITH YOU - SHERIFF
15. THE WAY YOU LOVE ME - KARYN WHITE
14. WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE - GUNS 'N ROSES
13. SILHOUETTE - KENNY G
12. PUT A LITTLE LOVE IN YOUR HEART - AL GREEN/ANNIE LENNOX
11. I REMEMBER HOLDING YOU - BOYS CLUB
10. SMOOTH CRIMINAL - MICHAEL JACKSON
9. ARMAGEDDON IT - DEF LEPPARD
8. LOOK AWAY - CHICAGO
7. WAITING FOR A STAR TO FALL - BOY MEETS GIRL
6. DON'T RUSH ME - TAYLOR DAYNE
5. IN YOUR ROOM - THE BANGLES
4. GIVING YOU THE BEST THAT I GOT - ANITA BAKER
3. TWO HEARTS - PHIL COLLINS
2. MY PREROGATIVE - BOBBY BROWN
1. EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN - POISON
 

sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
14,937
16,297
168
55
NH
www.asimplecomplex.com
38. KISS - TOM JONES/ART OF NOISE

Just as terrible now as it was back then.

33. GHOST TOWN - CHEAP TRICK

Great album - but here is the only bad song on it.

32. FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED - VAN HALEN
10. SMOOTH CRIMINAL - MICHAEL JACKSON
9. ARMAGEDDON IT - DEF LEPPARD


Songs I loved in 1989 that I'm now lukewarm about.

26. I WANT TO HAVE SOME FUN - SAMANTHA FOX

Topless at 16 years old in the UK's biggest daily newspaper. Oh you crazy British lolita fetishists...

NSFW: https://t.co/Uwd9PAvUj5

21. BABY I LOVE YOUR WAY / FREEBIRD - WILL TO POWER


As I was listening to this song, I was thinking 'What a strange combination of songs. But hey, I guess it worked for 'em." I lol'd when Mark Goodman said exactly the same thing at the end of it.

14. WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE - GUNS 'N ROSES

I remember walking around in Times Square back in 1988. Outside of some movie theaters, there was a 5 foot tall box with a TV in it that played movie trailers. I remember my first exposure to Ice-T was on one of those (the music video for the film 'Colors').

One of the movies being promoted featured the song "Welcome To The Jungle" playing while scenes from the movie were alternated with Axl lip-synching at the camera in a bedroom. I remember liking the song, and wanting to know what band it was. I eventually of course figured it out, because Sweet Child O Mine went to number one later that year. Plus, in 1989 Appetite For Destruction was everywhere you went. But I've never been able to find that video I saw.

I did, however, just find Jim Carrey doing the same thing. I guess it's a scene from the movie itself - Clint Eastwood's "The Dead Pool". So I suppose Axl probably did the same thing back then to promote the movie (re-enacting that scene from the film to his own song).
 

Jon

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2008
16,013
5,784
168
51
1989


38. KISS - TOM JONES/ART OF NOISE

One of those so bad it's good songs. I've never done karaoke in my life, but if I did this would be one of my go-to's.



32. FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED - VAN HALEN

Van Hagar had it's moments, I would place OU812 as a close second behind For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge for overall listenability.


31. WILD THING - TONE LOC

Speaking of VH, is that an Eddie sample of 'Jamie's Cryin' in this song?



28. STRAIGHT UP - PAULA ABDUL

Man she was hot back in the day! Some of her songs weren't horrible either.



18. ALL THIS TIME - TIFFANY

I will never forgive Tiffany for butchering 'I think we're alone now' along with 'I saw her standing there'. It's bad enough to chop one classic song to pieces, you don't have to do two!


14. WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE - GUNS 'N ROSES

I've told the story before of sitting there watching MTV when this video premiered and I was fucking floored!! Nirvana finished off the hair bands from this era, but it was these guys that helped that. Made the likes of Poison and Winger look downright silly in comparison.

13. SILHOUETTE - KENNY G

That scene in Wayne's World 2 with Garth struggling in the dentist's chair while Kenny G plays in the background pretty much sums up my feelings.


10. SMOOTH CRIMINAL - MICHAEL JACKSON

'Bad' was really the last decent album Michael Jackson made, it went downhill from here. But that run of 'Off The Wall', 'Thriller' and 'Bad' was legendary. There aren't a whole lot of artists who could rattle off three albums like that and make it work. I put Off the Wall in that group because that's when we were really getting to know him as a solo artist, also the Disco era then Thriller was the big breakthrough, while bad was just continuing the streak of superstardom.



7. WAITING FOR A STAR TO FALL - BOY MEETS GIRL

One of those one-hit-wonders that you wonder how it became a hit, but it was definitely right place, right time for this song. Disappeared off the radar after this one however.



1. EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN - POISON

Their first, and really only, #1 song in the U.S., if they did more stuff like this and less 'Unskinny Bop' I would probably have liked them more. Although they were considered posers in high school by those who were listening to Iron Maiden thanks to the makeup and the cheesy lyrics.
 

paulsonj72

Member
Dec 8, 2008
38
77
18
3. EYE IN THE SKY - ALAN PARSONS PROJECT

Had no idea this song was big enough to reach #3. Knew it was a hit, but I would've wondered if it had even reached the top 40.

There was an instrumental paired with this song on the album called Sirius(not related at all to sat rad service) Even if you don't know the title of the instrumental I'm sure you know it.

 

sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
14,937
16,297
168
55
NH
www.asimplecomplex.com
Van Hagar had it's moments, I would place OU812 as a close second behind For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge for overall listenability.

For me OU812 is one of their worst albums, along with VH2 and VH3. Before OU812, Van Halen could do no wrong in my world. But they lost me on this one. Some of the songs are good, some are ok, some kinda suck.

Speaking of VH, is that an Eddie sample of 'Jamie's Cryin' in this song?

Don't think so, but that's definitely Alex on the drums.

'Bad' was really the last decent album Michael Jackson made, it went downhill from here.

It did go downhill, but I thought (and still think) Dangerous is a solid album. A step down, but a small step down. Just about everything after Dangerous did nothing for me though.

Even if you don't know the title of the instrumental I'm sure you know it.

Yep you are 100% correct - on both counts!
 

Aaron

Moderator
Oct 10, 2008
16,967
11,734
168
South Louisiana
1987

40. JACOB’S LADDER – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS
39. THE NEXT TIME I FALL – PETER CETERA WITH AMY GRANT
38. FOR TONIGHT – NANCY MARTINEZ
37. STAY THE NIGHT – BENJAMIN ORR
36. THE FUTURE’S SO BRIGHT, I GOTTA WEAR SHADES – TIMBUK 3
35. TO BE A LOVER – BILLY IDOL
34. TALK TO ME – CHICO DEBARGE
33. NOBODY’S FOOL - CINDERELLA
32. YOU GOT IT ALL – THE JETS
31. STOP TO LOVE – LUTHER VANDROSS
30. TWO PEOPLE – TINA TURNER
29. LOVE YOU DOWN – READY FOR THE WORLD
28. THIS IS THE TIME – BILLY JOEL
27. BALLERINA GIRL – LIONEL RICHIE
26. WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME – CHICAGO
25. FALLING IN LOVE (UH-OH) – MIAMI SOUND MACHINE
24. DON’T GET ME WRONG – THE PRETENDERS
23. WE’RE READY - BOSTON
22. LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER – BON JOVI
21. COMING AROUND AGAIN – CARLY SIMON
20. KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF – THE GEORGIA SATELLITES
19. ALL I WANTED - KANSAS
18. STAND BY ME – BEN E. KING
17. LOVE IS FOREVER – BILLY OCEAN
16. TOUCH ME (I WANT YOUR BODY) – SAMANTHA FOX
15. THE WAY IT IS - BRUCE HORNSBY & THE RANGE
14. WAR – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND
13. CHANGE OF HEART – CYNDI LAUPER
12. SOMEDAY – GLASS TIGER
11. VICTORY – KOOL & THE GANG
10. EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT – WANG CHUNG
9. IS THIS LOVE - SURVIVOR
8. LAND OF CONFUSION - GENESIS
7. OPEN YOUR HEART - MADONNA
6. CONTROL – JANET JACKSON
5. AT THIS MOMENT – BILLY VERA & THE BEATERS
4. WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN – THE BANGLES
3. NOTORIOUS – DURAN DURAN
2. C’EST LA VIE – ROBBIE NEVIL
1. SHAKE YOU DOWN – GREGORY ABBOTT
 

sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
14,937
16,297
168
55
NH
www.asimplecomplex.com
1987

38. FOR TONIGHT – NANCY MARTINEZ
37. STAY THE NIGHT – BENJAMIN ORR
31. STOP TO LOVE – LUTHER VANDROSS
28. THIS IS THE TIME – BILLY JOEL
26. WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME – CHICAGO
25. FALLING IN LOVE (UH-OH) – MIAMI SOUND MACHINE
21. COMING AROUND AGAIN – CARLY SIMON
16. TOUCH ME (I WANT YOUR BODY) – SAMANTHA FOX
13. CHANGE OF HEART – CYNDI LAUPER


ton of songs this week i've barely heard since the 80s. i haven't really missed them, but they certainly flip that nostalgia switch to on.

22. LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER – BON JOVI

add this to my list of songs i once liked but have been killed, resuscitated, killed again, defibrillated, killed again, exhumed, and then killed yet again.

5. AT THIS MOMENT – BILLY VERA & THE BEATERS

giphy.gif
 
Last edited: