Tuesday, August 22, 2006

back in the summer of '85


this link spotlights some hits from the summer of 1985. i remember that summer very clearly. i was 12 years old, and i was really, REALLY starting to get obsessed with music. my best friend was this girl named alison that lived across the street from my grandmother, so we saw each other practically every single day that summer. we taped millions of songs off the radio. we bought every 45 that ever came out, it seemed. we bought magazines that had nothing but song lyrics in it. we watched videos like crazy. we would crank up these records and sing at the top of our lungs. my parents also FINALLY bought a VCR that summer, so i rented every music-related video out there.

alison and i laughed and laughed about everything. we really had fun. we also were into boys and "general hospital" and all that other pre-teen crap, but the music is what i remember the most. i was REALLY REALLY into madonna. TOTALLY. i loved the police and was sad that they broke up. i was still very much into prince. and i loved wham! LOVED LOVED LOVED wham! alison's favorite bands were culture club and duran duran. i also know she had every hall and oates album ever released, but by '85 she may have moved on. i had yet to discover the likes of the cure, the psychedelic furs, etc. that came a few short years later. i think i started to get a clue in maybe late '86 or early '87.

my favorite song on that entertainment weekly guy's list? "shout" by tears for fears. i flippin' LOVE that song. man, i still love tears for fears.

refresh your memory with wikipedia's entry for the music of 1985. i love wikipedia!

here's the top 100 songs of 1985. my favorites?

"Careless Whisper".....Wham!
"I Want To Know What Love Is".....Foreigner
"Money For Nothing".....Dire Straits
"Everybody Wants To Rule The World".....Tears for Fears
"Can't Fight This Feeling".....REO Speedwagon (YEAH, I SAID IT! I'M NOT ASHAMED!)
"Crazy For You".....Madonna
"Everytime You Go Away".....Paul Young
"Don't You (Forget About Me):.....Simple Minds
"Everything She Wants".....Wham!
"Shout".....Tears for Fears
"Alive and Kicking".....Simple Minds
"Sea Of Love".....Honeydrippers
"A View To A Kill".....Duran Duran
"Raspberry Beret".....Prince & The Revolution
"If You Love Somebody Set Them Free".....Sting
"Things Can Only Get Better".....Howard Jones
"The Boys Of Summer".....Don Henley
"All I Need".....Jack Wagner (this was my first concert EVER-which happened in 1985! i loved him.)
"One Night In Bangkok".....Murray Head (GREAT SONG)
"Never Surrender".....Corey Hart
"Head Over Heels".....The Go-Gos
"The Search Is Over".....Survivor (i remember singing this with alison in her backyard, listening to the 45 on her portable record player)
"Glory Days".....Bruce Springsteen
"Obsession".....Animotion
"Some Like It Hot".....Power Station
"Valotte".....Julian Lennon
"Material Girl".....Madonna
"Too Late For Goodbyes".....Julian Lennon
"Freedom".....Wham!
"Lay Your Hands On Me".....Thompson Twins
"I'm On Fire".....Bruce Springsteen
"Would I Lie To You?".....Eurythmics
"Voices Carry".....'Til Tuesday
"Walking On Sunshine".....Katrina & The Waves
"Pop Life".....Prince & The Revolution
"Get It On (Bang A Gong)".....Power Station

one question: where is "west end girls" by the pet shop boys?!?

i don't really know why i remember that particular summer so vividly...but i do. every morning i would watch an hour of "gidget" reruns, then some game shows. later i'd ride my bike over to alison's, and we'd hang out. then we'd faithfully watch "gh" at 3, and "dancin' on air" at 4. (that was a local dance show that got syndicated as "dance party usa" the next year. we were totally obsessed with that, too...)

and, in case you were wondering, we had some big falling out when i was a freshman in high school over the fact that i met some new friends, and she never talked to me again. typical. :/

completely unrelated: how to make a bra purse. you can put your duct tape wallet in it!

3 comments:

anubis44 said...

That was truly a great year. The year I graduated high school. 21 long years ago. :(

flatlander said...

That Tears for Fears album was the first cassette tape I ever bought. I still find the end of the song "Head Over Heels" haunting. And there a many other great songs from that album.

But for me, 80s music hit its high point in '84 with the Thriller video. They used to play it alot at the roller rink....

ah, those were the days!

mondo retro said...

ha. we are all old.

kenny: isn't it funny that in 1985 you were a senior in high school and i was 12? we would have never been friends then, because it would have been weird and wrong.

flatlander: ahhh, the roller rink!!! another great thing about the 80's. i won a limbo contest at our local roller rink in 7th grade! ha!

p.s. "thriller" ruled! :)