It’s been a long time…I shouldn’t have left you. But I’ve spent most of the past month prepping my new podcast Detoxicity, and my writing has had to take a pretty significant back seat. But…it looks like the COVID-19 outbreak is going to corral my social calendar plus I’m going to be working from home.… Read More “Holiday” by Madonna (1983)
It was late June 1996. I’d just attended my second ever Pride celebration. I feel like it was still mid day, and I was at a Chelsea bar called King. They were having a post-Pride underwear party and, having never attended an underwear party before, was curious to see what it was all about. I… Read More “Here Comes The Rain Again” by Eurythmics (1983)
So here are two things you may not know about “Heart And Soul”. One, Huey Lewis & The News didn’t write it; Mike Chapman (who also wrote “My Sharona” and “Mickey”, to name a couple) and Nick Chinn did. Two, “Heart And Soul” is a cover. The country band Exile (of “Kiss You All Over”… Read More “Heart And Soul” by Huey Lewis & The News (1983)
“Girls Just Want To Have Fun” is an anthem for feminists and those who love them. Interestingly, it was originally written from the male point of view. Yep, Cyndi Lauper’s breakout hit was a cover, written and originally performed by Robert Hazard in 1979. Hazard might lay claim to the first version of the song,… Read More “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper (1983)
Speaking In Tongues takes David Byrne’s weirdness, tosses it in a blender with the avant garde funk sounds that Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz developed during their time as the Tom Tom Club, and what comes out is pretty damn glorious. It’s accessible without feeling like a sellout move. And it’s a perfect album for 1983,… Read More “Girlfriend Is Better” by Talking Heads (1983)
“Drive” is a very un-Cars like song. It’s a dreamy, atmospheric ballad. Benjamin Orr sings lead, not Ric Ocasek. Of course, “Drive” isn’t the only Cars song Ben handles lead vocals on, but he wasn’t the primary lead singer of the band, and when “Drive” was a hit, my Cars vocabulary consisted of three songs-”Shake… Read More “Drive” by The Cars (1983)
Writer/producer Leon Sylvers III (yes, of the “Boogie Fever” Sylvers) took Black music into the post-disco era with a stream of killer records by Shalamar, Lakeside, Dynasty and The Whispers. Essentially, he created the sub-genre “boogie”, which was a catch-all brand name for danceable pop/soul that was a few steps removed from disco. A couple years later,… Read More “Dead Giveaway” by Shalamar (1983)
Pre-Control Janet wasn’t bad. Before JJ’s Jam/Lewis-assisted breakthrough, she recorded two albums. The second of the two, 1984′s Dream Street, was a bit messy and unfocused. Her self-titled 1982 debut, though? It’s not…I mean it isn’t The Velvet Rope, but it’s a solid piece of early ‘80s dance/boogie/funk, contemporaneous with what acts like Shalamar (whose Howard… Read More “Come Give Your Love to Me” by Janet Jackson (1982)
“Cold Blooded” was a humongous R&B hit, spending over a month at the #1 spot on the soul singles charts. It also represented maybe the last time anything Rick James did could ever be considered cutting edge. The King of Punk Funk simplified his sound on this track, relying on a percolating drum machine pattern… Read More “Cold Blooded” by Rick James (1983)
Rick James started experimenting with a more synthesizer-dominated sound beginning with this song, which climbed the charts in early 1983. It was the first hit for The Mary Jane Girls, a group of young women that he put together in the wake of his arch rival Prince’s success with Vanity 6. Or did Rick have… Read More “Candy Man” by The Mary Jane Girls (1983)
Five Star Jamz 