MFD Random Five #56

In which I shuffle through some music files and listen to the first five songs from the years 1976-85 that randomly pop up.

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1. "I Will Follow" by U2 (1983, Island)
   I'm treated to the live version from the Under A Blood Red Sky mini-LP. It was released as a single and peaked at #81. So much energy and passion. I really dig these live cuts and they remind me what a great band these guys were in the early '80s, hungry for success and striving to get there. For many years, I thought the lyrics were, like many early U2 tunes, based in Christian teachings and this was a call to follow Christ. I've since discovered I was wrong about that. Nevertheless, that opening riff is so powerful, simple, and aggressive that you can't help but pay attention.


2. "Follow Me" by Chicago (1982, Full Moon/Warner Bros.)
   Two "follow" songs shuffle around consecutively! What are the odds? This tune is immediately recognizable to me as the opening track to side 2 of my old Chicago 16 cassette. An obvious David Foster composition with soulful vocals from Bill Champlin. The icing on the cake are the horn parts from James Pankow, et. al. Then there's the guitar solo coda - that's gotta be Lukather, right?


3. "Tanque-Ray" by Nick Lowe (1983, Columbia)
   Filler track from the 1983 album, The Abominable Showman. Goes to show even great musicians can have an off day just like the rest of us.


4. "I Zimbra" by Talking Heads (1982, Sire)
   Another live track, this time from the brilliant The Name of this Band is Talking Heads. Eno and Byrne were in their African ripoff phase so the chanting is kinda obvious and kinda awesome. The extra percussion in the expanded ten-piece group is perfect and Adrian Belew tears off a tasty solo. I'll take this as a sign to spin the entire album today. 


5. "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" by Culture Club (1982, Epic)
   Pseudo-reggae meets pseudo-soul and dadgummit this thing is still as catchy as it is disposable. I hate it, I love it, I love to hate it, I hate to love it, I hate that I love it, etc. I got issues. Maybe The Name of this Band... will fix 'em.

Counting down my Top 79 of '79: Singles #26 - 11

A breakdown of my top singles from 1979

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	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
26	"Is She Really Going Out with Him"	Joe Jackson	21
25	"I Do Love You"	GQ	20		5
24	"Blow Away"	George Harrison	16	2
23	"Born to Be Alive"	Patrick Hernandez	16			1
22	"Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'"	Journey	16
21	"Shine a Little Love"	Electric Light Orchestra	8	40
20	"A Little More Love"	Olivia Newton-John	3	4
19	"Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls"	Queen	24

	Title	Artist	Pop	AC	R&B	Disco
18	"My Life"	Billy Joel	3	2
17	"Arrow Through Me"	Wings	29	29
16	"Heartache Tonight"	Eagles	1	38
15	"Boogie Wonderland"	Earth, Wind & Fire	6		2	14
14	"Cruel to be Kind"	Nick Lowe	12	36
13	"What You Won't Do for Love"	Bobby Caldwell	9	10	6
12	"After the Love has Gone"	Earth, Wind & Fire	2	3	2
11	"Morning Dance"	Spyro Gyra	24	1	60

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All chart positions are peak positions from Billboard charts. These are my personal top 79 singles of those that peaked on the Billboard charts in 1979. The list is solely my opinion. Using Joel Whitburn's book, Pop Annual 1955-1999, I started with the 475 singles that peaked on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1979. An initial pass through that list narrowed it down to 105 tunes, then listening, ranking, and editing began. The top 79 are presented here, in order.

MFD Random Five #33⅓

In which I click the shuffle icon on the iTunes app and listen to the first five album cuts (no singles) that pop up from the years 1976-85.

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1. "Latin Medley (Frenesi / Bahia / Moliendo Cafe / Porompompero)" by Herb Alpert (1982, A&M)
   Side 2, track 6 on Fandango. A cross between Alpert's Rise-era disco tunes and his Tijuana Brass 'Ameriachi' arrangements. This cut doesn't work on either level, but Alpert picked some good tunes for the medley.


2. "Queen of Sheba" by Nick Lowe (1982, Columbia)
   Side 1, track 4 of Nick the Knife. Typical Nick Lowe (and that's a good thing. Very good.). This entire album is fantastic. While this cut isn't the best tune (that would be "Heart"), this ain't bad with a tasty chord change in the chorus when it switches from a laid back, half-time feel to straight fours.


3. "There Will Always be a You" by Donna Summer (1979, Casablanca)
   Side 3, track 2 of Bad Girls. Quite frankly, I don't listen to Donna Summer for ballads. Not that Summer can't belt one out, it's just that I'd rather hear a Giorgio Moroder disco tune at 120 bpm.


4. "Just Friends" by Carole Bayer Sager (1981, Boardwalk)
   Side 1, track 3 of Sometimes Late at Night. Written by Burt Bacharach, Sager, and Peter Allen, produced by Bacharach and Michael Jackson. That's some big names there. (Sager and Bacharach would later marry in 1982). Even with all that star power, there's nothing here that grabs me. It's pleasant enough, but I gotta have a hook a some point.


5. "Mutual Feeling" by Eric Tagg (1977, Poker)
   Side 2, track 2 of Rendez Vous. This is scratching me right where I itch. Light and breezy Latin-tinged West Coast number with Tagg's spectacular vocals all over it. Ah, that middle eight. All that's missing is a Lee Ritenour guitar solo. Never released in the US, I didn't hear this album until 35 years after it's release. Sad!  This hasn't been the strongest Random Five, but this tune is the clear winner of the bunch with the Lowe tune coming in second.

What videos were in rotation on MTV in April 1983?

Here's your answer, according to Billboard magazine. I've highlighted a few of my preferred videos (not necessarily songs) on the list below.

Billboard, April 23, 1983, p. 30

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Here's a selected sampling:

Nick Lowe - "Ragin' Eyes" from the album The Abominable Showman (yes, that's Paul Carrack on keyboard)

Heaven 17 - "Let Me Go" from the US album Heaven 17 and the UK album The Luxury Gap

The English Beat - "I Confess" from the album Special Beat Service

And one that's new to me:

Goanna - "Solid Rock" from the album Spirit of Place

MFD Not-So-Random Five #2

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: Song titles that begin with the word "heart"

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1. "Heart" by Nick Lowe (1982, Columbia)
   The second track from the stellar, highly recommended Nick the Knife album. A reworking of the Rockpile original, I prefer this light-hearted (pun intended) pseudo-reggae take on the tune. (Don't get me wrong, The Rockpile version is great, too. Just different.) I enjoy the background vocals and organ guitar trade-off.


2. "Heart Attack" by Olivia Newton-John (1982, MCA)
   Even though I was trying to be a New Wave hipster in '82, I couldn't resist this tune (or ONJ, for that matter). Written for a greatest hits album by Steve Kipner, this is catchy as all get-out and I love the combination of synth along with the sax solo. Who is that? Tom Scott? My only complaint is that sometimes she's yelling instead of singing, but a lot of artists suffered from that particular malady in the early '80s. Good song, bad video. On a related note, your humble blogger will be seeing ONJ in concert on March 23. ❤


3. "Heart and Soul" by Huey Lewis and The News (1983, Chrysalis)
   When I first heard this song, I rushed out to buy the 45 even though I had given up on buying 45s several years previously. I'm guessing I had to buy the single because the album wasn't yet released. Anyway, it reminds me of a high school post-football game "victory dance" where I was pursuing a young blond named Melody or Mary or something like that (I'd check my yearbook but I really don't feel like getting up). That relationship didn't work out because she had a crush on a friend of mine (how high school is that?). But the song: this synth hook is relentless but somehow never gets old and the breakdown guitar bit is an earworm. Didn't know until I checked the wiki this was a cover of an quirky Exile song and it was later covered by The BusBoys so I learned something new today.


4. "Heart of Ice" by Joe Jackson (1984, A&M)
   The album closer of Body and Soul, this seems like a leftover song from Jackson's Mike's Murder soundtrack. Mostly instrumental; vocals don't appear until 5 minutes in. One of the background vocalists is Ellen Foley who many of you know from "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" but I'm more familiar with her work on Night Court (side note: how great is the Night Court theme?). This song is good, not great, and I don't understand the ending at all. Not to mention the title probably isn't appropriate for Valentine's Day.


5. "Heart to Heart" by Kenny Loggins (1982, Columbia)
   One of my top 5 Loggins singles. What's not to like? Written by Loggins, Michael McDonald, and David Foster with performances by those three, members of Toto and Pages, and a sweet sax solo by David Sanborn. (Pro tip: you should check out Sanborn's 1982 instrumental pop album, As We Speak.) And oh! that middle eight. The fact that this goodness only reached #15 on the pop charts shows you how good the music was in '82*. Somehow, I came across a High Adventure cassette in 1983 and that thing took up residence in the Markmobile's Pioneer deck for a few weeks.

*Curious, I had to see which 14 songs the American public thought were better than "Heart to Heart." Well, hear ya go: