Here we go again…got caught up watching the Masters so sorry it’s a bit late!
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Centerfold – J. Geils Band
“Centerfold” was a single released by The J. Geils Band from their album Freeze Frame. The song is about a man who is shocked to discover that his high school crush did a centerfold spread for a male-oriented magazine. The song could be a reference to actress Angel Tompkins’ relationship with Peter Wolf.
It was released in autumn 1981, and eventually went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in February 1982, and stayed there for six weeks, and also reached number one on the Rock Tracks chart for three weeks, and on the ARIA Chart in Australia. It was the first single released from the band’s album Freeze Frame and was an early staple on MTV. The band’s lead singer Peter Wolf revealed on In the Studio with Redbeard that “Angel in Blue” was going to be the album’s first single. Then during the “Angel in Blue” video shoot, Peter got a call from the president of EMI America Records suggesting that the band change the single’s title to “Centerfold”.
In February 1983, a year after the song hit #1 in the US Billboard Hot 100, “Centerfold” peaked at #3 in the UK Top 40, earning The J. Geils Band their only major hit single in the UK, although follow-up “Freeze-Frame” was also a minor UK hit.
The song lists at #52 on Billboard’s All Time Top Songs.
I Was Made For Loving You – KISS
“I Was Made for Lovin’ You” is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1979 album Dynasty. It was released as the A-side of their first single from the album. It was the band’s second Gold single, selling over 1 million copies. The single was certified Gold In the US on 1979-08-16 and in Canada on August 1, 1979. The B-side of the single is the album track “Hard Times”, which was written by Ace Frehley. The single reached #11 on the US Billboard singles chart. The song also became a top ten hit in Australia reaching #6 on the ARIA charts in 1979. The song fared the best in Western Europe (Where it became a top 20 hit in Sweden, a top 10 hit in Norway, made it to the number 2 position in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and in Holland it became a #1 smash.)
The song was one of the band’s few singles to chart in the UK in the 1970s, though only peaking at No. 51, where a 7 min 54 sec version was released on 12″ single in addition to the shorter 7″.
Our House – Madness
“Our House” is a single by English ska/pop band Madness, from their UK album The Rise & Fall and their US compilation Madness. Released in November 1982, it peaked at #5 in the UK singles chart and was their biggest hit in the United States, reaching #7 in the Billboard chart in 1983. Though Madness produced many successful singles over a period of twenty years, the enormous American popularity of “Our House” means that they are often regarded as one hit wonders in the USA (though technically they are two hit wonders in America, as their version of “It Must Be Love” also subsequently entered the US top 40). It won Best Song at the May 1983 Ivor Novello awards.
The video depicts the band acting out the song’s lyrics in an old mews. The song’s lyrics mostly describe the daily activities in the house, with some of the band portraying the “family.” The video cuts between scenes of the “family”, the band playing in a living room, and exterior shots of various other houses including Buckingham Palace.
Together Forever – Rick Astley
“Together Forever” is a song recorded by Rick Astley, which ascended to number one atop the Billboard Hot 100 on June 18th, 1988. It was Astley’s second and final US chart-topper. It uses the same chords and a similar melody to Never Gonna Give You Up, but different lyrics.
The popular Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, which is known for naming each episode after an 80s hit song, named an episode after this song.
In the early 1990s, an instrumental version of the song was the “Demo” song in many Casio electronic keyboards. The song was featured in the FX show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia in the episode “The Aluminum Monster vs. Fatty McGoo.”
