MFD Not-So-Random Five #10

In which I select five songs from 1976-1985 based on an arbitrary theme. (Not to be confused with this blog's Random Five feature, a different exercise in arbitrariness). Today's theme: songs that include a celebrity name in the title.

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1. "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes (1981, EMI America)
   This was the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 for 9 weeks and was like nothing else on the radio at the time; me and my friends sang along with Kim every time we heard the thing.  But lemme tell ya: this tune still sounds as good today as it did over 35 years ago.


2. "John Wayne is Big Leggy" by Haysi Fantayzee. (1982, Regard)
   A horribly written song, both musically and lyrically. The music is a weak derivation of Bow Wow Wow and the lyrics describe John Wayne sodomizing a Native American woman. Let's move on to something more deserving of our time:


3. "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" by Scritti Politti (1984, Warner Bros.)
   A few years back, I named Cupid & Psyche 85 as my top album of 1985 and picked this song as the second best track. Released in February 1984, I didn't hear until almost two years later, in December 1985. The song's parenthetical subtitle alludes to the Aretha Franklin song "I Say a Little Prayer" which producer Arif Mardin had also worked on. Lots of hooks and synths, which was right up my alley when I finally heard this tune. And while the original is just fine as is, I prefer the remixed version.


4. "Michael Caine" by Madness (1984, Stiff)
   A different sound for Madness, no ska influence and sung by the songwriter Carl Smyth instead of Suggs; Michael Caine contributed a vocal sample. According to wikipedia, "The song is about an informer during the troubles in Northern Ireland, and the lyrics suggest a state of paranoia and mental disintegration." Maybe that's why it never charted in the US. It's pleasant enough, the verse reminds me a bit of Squeeze, but it's nothing that will get stuck in my head.


5. "Robert De Niro's Waiting..." by Bananarama (1984 London)
   I have no idea what this song is about, but according to The Guardian, the songwriters claim it's about date rape (the 80's were apparently much darker than I care to remember). Anyhoo, I like this group's music; maybe I shied away from them because I'm a musical snob and couldn't imagine liking a pop group with a ridiculous name (and yet I liked Kajagoogoo so there goes that argument). In any case, this is a bouncy, fun song that was much bigger in the UK than in the US, where it peaked at #95.