MFD Not-So-Random Five #13

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: cover songs

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1. "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" by Naked Eyes (1983, Virgin)
   Originally by Lou Johnson (1964). Synth-pop Bacharach? Count me in! This song ranks somewhere in my Top 10 list of favorite pop songs of the '80s.  I never tire of hearing it.  Back in '83, I bought a copy of the group's self-titled debut LP on the strength of this one song. Just listened to this cover version twice this morning.


2. "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow (1982, RCA)
   Originally by The Strangeloves (1965). You'd never know it, but this song only reached #62 on the singles charts. You can't get away from it now. I'll sometimes try to imagine what this tune would have sounded like if Boy George (Lieutenant Lush) had stayed in the group and done the vocals. I once ranked this cover as the 24th best single of 1982, so yeah, I like it. And I like candy when it's wrapped in a sweater.


3. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by Devo (1977, Warner Bros.)
   Originally by The Rolling Stones (1965).  I love when cover versions are complete deconstructions of the original (see Isaac Hayes' "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," for example). This fits the bill perfectly. The anxiety and neuroses of the lyrics are finally given the proper, manic musical context. It's all tension, no release, then it's over. For more on how the cover came about, click here.


4. "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell (1981, Sire)
   Originally by Gloria Jones (1964). I can't hear this song without thinking of my dear friend Scott. It was his absolute favorite tune of all-time, no question. He never cared much for the original nor did he want to hear this cover segue into "Where Did Our Love Go" so I adopted the same biases. For more on how the cover came about, click here.


5. "Dear Prudence" by Siouxsie And The Banshees (1983, Polydor)
   Originally by The Beatles (1968). I wasn't much of a Siouxsie fan until I heard this cover around the time it was released. That led to an enjoyable deep dive into her catalog. This cover is even dreamier and more psychedelic than the original and seems like it was written specifically for Siouxsie's voice. For very little on how the cover came about, click here.

Bubbling Under 1982 [Part 1 of 5]

A few years back, I posted about all the great songs that didn't quite make Billboard's Hot 100 chart in 1983 (you can find that post here). Around these parts, we have long avowed that the greatest year for pop music is 1982, so I thought I'd do a similar post for the Bubbling Under charts of that year. And that became a problem. For the 1983 list, I simply used the 1983 Music Yearbook from the folks over at Record Research, but that was the first of its kind meaning no such yearbook exists for 1982.

I figured I could craft my own yearbook by using the actual Billboard charts in the 1982 issues, but couldn't find Bubbling Under charts in the four issues of March 13 & 27 and July 24 & 31. However, the Record Research people did print a 54 page 1982 supplement to their Pop Annual book that included the bubbling under charts for that year, including the info from the four issues mentioned above.

The supplement makes no mention of the four missing charts, but I'm sure Record Research had exclusive access to all the charts regardless of publication and I guess it really doesn't matter 36 years after the fact. Anyway, because I just spent $6 for a copy of the above book and since it's easier than constructing my own list from the actual charts, we'll go with that book (I'm not lazy, just efficient 😉).  Below is an annotated list of the songs listed in the supplement, provided with links in hopes of helping you find some vintage tunes that are new to you. Click on the title to hear the tune or see the video, click on the artist for a Wikipedia entry, and click on the album for the Discogs entry. In all, there were 105 tracks that "bubbled under" the Hot 100 in 1982, here's 21 of those.

Title	Artist	Album	BU	Rock	AC	RB	Dance	Country
Mountain Music	Alabama	Mountain Music	101					1
Rock 'N' Roll Party in the Streets	Axe	Offering	109	23
He was Really Sayin' Somethin'	Bananarama	Deep Sea Skiving	108				16
If Love Takes You Away	Stephen Bishop	Summer Lovers	108		22
Baby, Oh No	Bow Wow Wow	I Want Candy	103				58
It Was I	Lindsey Buckingham	Law and Order	110
Do the Donkey Kong	Buckner & Garcia	Pac-Man Fever	103
Jamaica	Bobby Caldwell	Carry On	105			54
Just Be Yourself	Cameo	Alligator Woman	101			12
Baby I Need Your Loving	Carl Carlton	The Bad C.C.	103			17	35
Blue Moon with Heartache	Roseanne Cash	Seven Year Ache	104		37			1
It Ain't Easy Comin' Down	Charlene	I've Never Been to Me	109		23*
Harder than Diamond	Chubby Checker	The Change has Come	104	33
Stage Fright	Chic	Take It Off	105			34
Take a Lickin' and Keep On Kickin'	William "Bootsy" Collins	The One Giveth, The Count Taketh Away	103			29
One Hello	Randy Crawford	Windsong	110			50
There She Goes Again	Marshall Crenshaw	Marshall Crenshaw	110
Slow Down	Lacy J. Dalton	16th Avenue	106					13
Ragin' Cajun	Charlie Daniels Band	Windows	109					76
Through Being Cool	Devo	New Traditionalists	107				32
Peek-A-Boo!	Devo	Oh, No! It's Devo	106				13

*Charlene's single "It Ain't Easy Comin' Down" was originally released in 1977 and the #23 peak on the Adult Contemporary chart is from that year, not 1982.

Vintage Music Pinbacks #3

Third in a series.

Buttons, badges, pinbacks - whatever you call 'em, I've got a shoebox full. Here's a few of my vintage music pinbacks from the late '70s and early '80s:

1.  1x2" The Atlantics, Big City Rock, 1979
2.  1.25" Bow Wow Wow, "Do You Wanna Hold Me?" 1983
3.  3 cm. MTV  (pinback dated 1984)
4.  1.25" Haircut One Hundred, ca. 1982
5.  2" Adam Ant, Friend or Foe, 1982
6.  2.25" Miles Davis, Dr Pepper Music Festival, WPLJ, 1982
7.  1" Police, ca. 1979
8.  1.25" Joe Jackson, Night and Day, 1982