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MFD Random Five #28

In which I click the shuffle icon on the iTunes app and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the years 1976-85.

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1. "Meanwhile" by The Moody Blues (1981, Threshold)
   I came to Long Distance Voyager waaaay late but better late than never. This song opens side two of that album and is filler, but better-than-average filler. Fun chord progressions, lots of electric piano, and a happy bubblegum chorus. It's not in the top half of songs on that album, but enjoyable nonetheless. (That album should be enjoyed as a full album from top-to-bottom, so the designation of tracks as filler is probably a moot point, but I did it anyway.)


2. "Bustin' Loose" by Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers (1979, Source)
   The "Godfather of Go-Go" layin' down the funk! This tune has everything I could want in a funk tune: clavinet, call-and-response, tight horn licks, Hammond organ, percussion breakdown, and Chuck Brown telling me what to do. For the record, I listened to the complete 7:46 version this morning, not the single edit (just when you think it can't get any better, a sax solo by Leroy Fleming kicks in at about the 6:40 mark). So good, I don't want to move on to anything else, but I'll power through to the next tune and circle back around to this one. Wikipedia claims that the Washington Nationals play this tune after every home run in their ball park, so that means it's good enough for my new ring tone, right?


3. "Police and Thieves" by Junior Murvin (1976, Wildflower)
   The segue to this reggae tune wasn't as jolting as you might have expected. I'm more familiar with the cover of this tune by The Clash, but I like this one better. As with many reggae tunes, protest never sounded so good. Sadly, the lyrical themes (police brutality and gang warfare) are as timely today as they were when they were first written.


4. "Don't Walk Away" by Rick Springfield (1984, RCA)
   For reasons now unknown, I was done with Ricky S. by 1984 so I'm not too familiar with this tune, the soundtrack album it came from, and I've never seen said movie. Anyway, this is a fairly pedestrian pop-rock tune with aggressive drum reverb and out-of-tune sax interludes. The synth solo ain't bad, though, so there's that.


5. "Up on the Catwalk" by Simple Minds (1984, A&M)
   The lead track from Sparkle in the Rain and if it's not the best song on the album, only "Waterfront" can best it. Like the previous song, there's plenty of "aggressive drum reverb" but it works here; maybe it's the syncopated, cascading drum part. Lots of Simple Minds-ish piano licks in octaves and synth pads. Then Jim Kerr name-checks the likes of Nastassja Kinski, Deodato, Robert DeNiro, and Martin Luther.  And while I've always enjoyed the metaphoric imagery of Kerr's lyrics, I never have a clue what he's on about.

The Top 40 hits of Rick Springfield, 1976 - 1985

If you had asked me to guess how many top 40 hits Rick Springfiled had during his career, I would have said 4 or 5.  But as I'm putting together the "My Favorite Decade Top 40 Megalist" I keep finding more and more and more Springfield tunes.  Turns out that Slick Rick had fifteen(!) Top 40 hits in the US from 1976-85. To be honest, this number surprises me and I don't remember most of these.  Here's a breakdown table, including year, peak chart position, and number of weeks on the Top 40 charts.

Year	Peak	Weeks	Title
1981	1	22	Jessie's Girl
1981	8	12	I've Done Everything For You
1981	20	10	Love is Alright Tonight
1982	2	16	Don't Talk to Strangers
1982	21	9	What Kind of Fool am I
1982	32	5	I Get Excited
1983	9	13	Affair of the Heart
1983	18	11	Human Touch
1983	23	6	Souls
1984	5	12	Love Somebody
1984	26	6	Don't Walk Away
1984	20	9	Bop 'Til You Drop
1984	27	6	Bruce
1985	26	6	Celebrate Youth
1985	22	8	State of the Heart

In the interest of full disclosure, I did buy a vinyl copy of Springfield's 1982 album Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet in April of that year.  I made the purchase for two reasons: 1) the girls were crazy about Rick so I thought listening to his music would help me with the ladies (it didn't), and 2) "Don't Talk to Strangers" is softrocktastic.  I just gave the album another listen while writing this post and I didn't remember much of it other than "Don't Talk to Strangers."

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Springfield singles that made the Hot 100, but didn't crack the Top 40:

• "Take a Hand" - #41 in 1976
• "Taxi Dancing" - #59 in 1984