Sunday Night Video Flashback Pt. 40!!!

Sorry about the lack of an update last week.. I was busy, it was a a holiday and well…they’re not making any new 80’s videos so what’s the rush?

Here are this weeks. Hope you enjoy them.

Der Kommissar – After The Fire
“Der Kommissar” is a song first recorded by Falco in German in 1981, covered a year later by After The Fire and reworked in 1983 by Laura Branigan. Originally written by Robert Ponger and Falco, the Falco version reached the top of the charts in many countries.

After The Fire’s version featured English lyrics by the band’s Andy Piercy. The song peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Originally written by producer Robert Ponger for Reinhold Bilgeri, Bilgeri turned it down as he felt the song was too soft, so Falco reworked the song for himself instead.

Falco wanted to release “Helden von heute” as the main side (A-side), but the record company wanted “Der Kommissar” (“the commissioner” or police captain) to be released, because they felt it had more potential. The record company decided upon a double A-side release and were redeemed when “Der Kommissar” reached number one in German-speaking countries in January 1982. After this big success, Falco’s management decided to release “Der Kommissar” (as an A-side) in other countries as well.

In the United States and the United Kingdom, Falco’s hit didn’t fare as well, despite topping charts throughout Europe and Scandinavia during spring and summer 1982. In the summer of 1982 the British rock band After The Fire recorded an English version of the song, also called “Der Kommissar”, and released it as a single, but the record floundered. Coming off a tour opening for Van Halen, After The Fire was working on material for a new album when in December 1982 the group announced onstage during a concert that they were breaking up. Both the After The Fire and Falco versions were rising on the Canadian charts at the time, but neither had cracked the U.S. pop charts.

Around that time, American pop singer Laura Branigan began working on her second album, and recorded a new song written over the melody and arrangement of “Der Kommissar”, called “Deep In The Dark”, which was prepared for release, when the After The Fire version finally hit the U.S. charts (Hot 100) on February 22, 1983, and started rising. Though the UK band’s version barely nicked their home country’s Top 50, in 1983 the song ultimately rose all the way to #5 in the U.S., where their music video was an MTV hit.

The song entered the American Top 40 (AT40) on March 5 1983, peaked at #5, and remained in the AT40 for a total of 14 weeks. The hit single was released under the Epic label, with a catalog number of 03559.

Amidst all this renewed attention to the composition, Falco’s own version, which had done well in some U.S. markets but not charted nationally, was re-released, but the German-language record remained essentially a novelty hit there, charting concurrently with the After The Fire version but not rising above #78. (In Canada, Falco’s version had peaked at #11 the same late-January week After The Fire’s version peaked at #12.) After The Fire’s record company, CBS, pleaded with the band to regroup, but to no avail. While UK promos for “Deep In The Dark” were pressed (the After The Fire version missed the UK top 40 and the Falco version didn’t even chart there), Branigan’s record company, Atlantic, officially released “Solitaire” in the U.S., where that song went to #7.

One Thing Leads To Another – The Fixx
“One Thing Leads to Another” is a song by new wave rock group The Fixx, from their album Reach the Beach. “One Thing Leads to Another” is the group’s best known song, and their most successful single, peaking at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1983[1] and peaking at No. 2 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It is featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the fictional radio station Flash FM.

It is also the title of an unrelated dance track by the British band Pet Shop Boys, which appears on their 1993 album Very Relentless.

The video begins at a science lab where Adam Woods is looking in a microscope into a new dimension (the wrist shackle in the video on the wall is seen on the cover of Reach the Beach). It shows a dimension in a black tunnel with lights on top where Cy Curnin is dancing in a classy uniform. He is then in a bright tube, wearing a gray shirt with his arms bare. Then, in a blue tunnel, he is running with a dog. It ends with the tunnel in a 3-dimensional angel to see through out the tube.

Breaking The Law – Judas Priest
“Breaking the Law” is a song by British heavy metal band Judas Priest, originally released on their 1980 album British Steel. The song is one of the band’s better known singles, and is recognized by its opening guitar riff.

Vocalist Rob Halford is sitting in the back of a Cadillac with the roof down singing the song and it seems that no one is driving it. Then he meets with two men dressed all in black and carrying guitar cases at a bank and they burst inside, at which point the two men remove their disguises and are revealed to be guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton, and are then joined by bassist Ian Hill and drummer Dave Holland, and point their instruments at the camera singing the chorus “Breaking the law”. They intend to rob the bank and torment the customers and staff by their loud electric guitars and bashing drums, with one shot of an old man who wears glasses breaking them due to the decibels. The Security guard, however, was sleeping but then woke up afterwards because of the robbery. Halford then opens the safe (Note that no tools are used – it is the power of their rock that breaks the metal safe) and reveals that he was looking for (ironically) the Gold Record Award for British Steel. The Security Guard is just smiling. They soon leave the bank with the gold record, get back into the car and drive off at which point Halford gives the camera the finger. And as the Security Guard sees a Rock Concert performance on his Security TV, he takes out his “Hard Board Guitar” and pretends to play the rock song just enjoying himself. Then the car drives by and the video ends with all five band members singing the chorus until the song is finished.

If This Is It – Huey Lewis & The News
“If This Is It” is a song by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News. It was released as the fourth single from their number-one album Sports in 1984, and became their fifth top-ten and third consecutive number-six hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number five on the Adult Contemporary chart.

The music video for the song was shot on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. For the scene where most of the band appears to be buried up to their heads in sand, the band claims to have really been buried. The band made a cameo appearance in the film, Amazon Women on the Moon, in which they spoofed the video.

The popular Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, which is known for naming each episode after a 1980s hit song, named an episode after this song.

Sunday Night Video Flashback Pt. 39!!!

Okay, another week gone by. Here we go with this week’s flashback videos!!!

What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) – Information Society
“What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy)” is a song by dance artists Information Society which was released as a single in 1988. The “Pure Energy” subtitle derives from a sample of Leonard Nimoy’s voice from the Star Trek episode “Errand of Mercy”.

In March and April 2009, VH1 ran a countdown of the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders Of The 80s. Oddly enough Information Society’s “What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy)” placed at #74 on the countdown despite the fact that the group had two other Top 40 hits: “Walking Away” (#9) and “Think” (#28).

The song achieved U.S. success when released in 1988, peaking at #3 on the pop charts. It should not be confused with the Industrial metal song Pure Energy by Crossbreed.

The song was featured in Loverboy.

David Copperfield is known to use this song in his shows.

Valerie – Steve Winwood
“Valerie” is a song written by Will Jennings and Steve Winwood and recorded by Winwood for his third solo album Talking Back to the Night, released in 1982. The song deals with a man reminiscing about a lost love he hopes to find again someday. On its original release, the single reached #70 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

In 1987, a remix by Tom Lord-Alge was included on Winwood’s compilation album Chronicles. The remixed version of “Valerie” was released as a single and climbed to #9 in the U.S. and also reached #19 in the UK.

Eric Prydz sampled the song in 2004 for a house music track and presented it to Winwood. Winwood was so impressed with what Prydz had done, he re-recorded the vocals to fit the track better. The 2004 remix was released under the title “Call on Me”.

Beds Are Burning – Midnight Oil
“Beds Are Burning” is a 1987 hit single by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, the first track from their album Diesel and Dust. This song was the second from the album to be released as a single.

It reached #1 in the South African charts, #3 in the Netherlands Top 40, #5 in the France Top 50, #6 in the UK charts, #11 in Ireland, #17 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and in Denmark.

It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
It is named #95 on VH1’s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.

In May 2001, Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) celebrated its 75th anniversary by naming the Best Australian Songs of all time, as decided by a 100 strong industry panel. “Beds Are Burning” was declared third behind the Easybeats’ “Friday on My Mind” and Daddy Cool’s “Eagle Rock”.

“Beds Are Burning” is a political song about giving native Australian lands back to the Pintupi, who were among the very last people to come in from the desert. These ‘last contact’ people began moving from the Gibson Desert to settlements and missions in the 1930s. More were forcibly moved during the 1950s and 1960s to the Papunya settlement. In 1981 they left to return to their own country and established the Kintore community which is nestled in the picturesque Kintore Ranges, surrounded by Mulga and Spinifex country. It is now a thriving little community with a population of about 400.

Midnight Oil performed the song in front of a world audience of billions (including then Prime Minister John Howard) at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The whole band were dressed in black, with the words “sorry” printed conspicuously on their clothes. This was a reference to the Prime Minister’s refusal to apologize, on behalf of the government of Australia, to the Aboriginal Australians for the way they have been treated over the previous 200 years, particularly in relation to native title and the government-sanctioned removal of Aboriginal children of the Stolen Generations from their families.

Cool It Now – New Edition
“Cool It Now” is a 1984 hit single by R&B/Pop group New Edition, and is the first single from their eponymous second album, New Edition.

With the group now signed to MCA Records, “Cool It Now” (and album of which it came) was given more extensive and widespread promotion than any single from their previous album (which had been released through a smaller, independent label), and helped bring the group a bigger fan base. The song was the group’s first top 10 pop single, peaking at #4 on the pop chart, and their second #1 R&B hit. Amongst fans, “Cool It Now” remains one of the most requested songs in the group’s repertoire to this day.

The song is notable for a mid-section rap recited by lead singer Ralph Tresvant, which calls out the rest of the group: “Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, and Mike.” In later years the rap has been changed to include “Johnny” for the last member to join Johnny Gill. Either including his name as a fifth name called out or replacing “Bobby”

*** Sorry about the advertisment at the start of the last video. It’s there due to Dailymotion, not me. In order to bring you the best quality and “Official” video, it’s a small price to pay.***

Hrmmm…Daughtry’s new single. “No Surprise” it’s more of the same?

Have you heard it?

It’s very raido friendly but it’s just another song on the radio for me.

He debuted it on the May 6th episode of “American Idol” (which explains why I never heard it) and the new album is set to come out on July 14, 2009.

Give it a listen:

Purchase it on iTunes: Here

And since I’m cool like that, here it is for you to download.  Choose your format:

128 kbps mp3: Download

320 kbps mp3: Download

Give it a listen and let me know what you think!!!

At the REEEEEDDDD House!!!

High Point, NC – You never cease to amaze me.

This post was for Black people and White people and Hispanic people too.  All people.

Behind the Scenes:

Sunday Night Video Flashback Pt. 38!!!

Alright, here we go again!!!

Have a great Mother’s Day!!!

V

Danger Zone – Kenny Loggins
“Danger Zone” is a rock song from the soundtrack to the 1986 American motion picture Top Gun. It was composed by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock, and performed by Kenny Loggins. Moroder originally asked Bryan Adams to record this song, but he was said to have rejected it because he had disliked the jingoism expressed in Top Gun.

The second single released from the Top Gun soundtrack, “Danger Zone” was a commercial success, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song continues to be popular today, continuing in heavy rotation on Classic Rock radio stations in the United States.[citation needed] The song was covered by Oh, Hush! and released on the band’s Don’t Judge a Record by Its COVERS EP.

The song was also featured in the films Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Sex Drive and 17 Again, and the episode “Eight Misbehavin” of the television series The Simpsons.

A music video was released to promote the single. The video featured footage of Kenny Loggins singing, as well as clips from the film Top Gun.

Dann Huff; the lead vocalist and guitarist from ’80s Metal Group GIANT performed the guitar work on this song.

Genius Of Love – Tom Tom Club
“Genius of Love” is a 1981 song by Tom Tom Club from their eponymous debut album, Tom Tom Club.

“Genius of Love” was Tom Tom Club’s second single. Although the album had not been released in North America, over a hundred thousand copies of the single sold as imports from Island Records’s UK, at which point Sire Records made a deal to release the single and the album in North America in late 1981.

“Genius of Love” was a huge hit making the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (Peaking at #31), in the clubs and on the R&B and dance charts, soon earning the Tom Tom Club LP a Gold Sales Award in 1982. Despite its relatively low chart position in the United Kingdom, the song received a great deal of airplay on UK radio and became a club favourite in Britain, helped by the popularity of the accompanying video.

The song’s narrator implies that her boyfriend is a “maven of funk mutation” and compares him to James Brown, Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Hamilton Bohannon, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Sly and Robbie, and Kurtis Blow.

Tom Tom Club appeared in the 1984 Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense performing “Genius of Love,” although this incarnation of the group did not include Tina Weymouth’s sisters Laura and Lani. Director Jonathan Demme added “Genius of Love” to the concert primarily so that David Byrne could exit the stage and change into his oversized suit, and he assured Weymouth that the performance would not be included on the final cut of the film. When Weymouth saw an early screening of the film she was thus surprised and irritated to see “Genius of Love,” but Demme refused to change anything before the official release.

The B-side of the “Genius of Love (Long Version)” 12″ vinyl has a lesser-known underground hit called “Yella.” On some pressings, the song is sometimes credited to Mr. Yellow and, on others, it is credited to Yella. It is assumed that this is really the Tom Tom Club using a pseudonym. This cover repeats the chorus: “You’ve got to have a strong heart to live in New York…”.

Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel produced the animated music video based on the pop art work of James Rizzi, which took off from the cartoony style of the Tom Tom Club album cover.

Learning To Fly – Pink Floyd
“Learning to Fly” is the second song on Pink Floyd’s album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. The first single released from the album, it reached #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.

The song was primarily written by David Gilmour. It describes Gilmour’s thoughts on flying, for which he has a passion, although some listeners and musical commentators have interpreted it as a metaphor for beginning something new, experiencing a radical change of life, or, more specifically, Gilmour’s feelings about striking out as the new leader of Pink Floyd after Waters’ departure. Gilmour confirmed the latter interpretation on the Pink Floyd 25th Anniversary Special in May 1992. Also an avid pilot, drummer Nick Mason’s voice can be heard around the middle of the song. “Learning to Fly” was included on Pink Floyd’s greatest hits collection Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.

The track was regularly performed live on the band’s two post-Roger Waters tours, with touring guitarist Tim Renwick playing the song’s guitar solos (although David Gilmour played the solos on the studio version of the track).

The music video was filmed in Canada, 50 to 75 km west of the City of Calgary, Alberta during rehearsals for the band’s 1987/88/89 tour directed by Storm Thorgerson. The video combined performances of the band with a Native American working in a field who then runs and jumps off a cliff to turn into an eagle. The original video also depicts a factory worker who turns into an aeroplane pilot as well as a child who breaks free from his mother and dives off a cliff into a deep river, swimming away. The video went to #9 on MTV’s Video Countdown in November 1987 and was the #60th best video of MTV’s Top 100 Videos of 1987. The video also won the band its only Video Music Award for Best Conceptual Video in 1988. The yellow aircraft shown in this video is likely a Piper Cub. The red/orange airplane is a Beech Model 17 Staggerwing.

Dude (Looks Like a Lady) – Aerosmith
“Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” is a song by Boston hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the first of 3 singles from the Permanent Vacation album in 1987. It reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #41 on the Hot Dance Club Play charts, and #4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song was written by songwriter Desmond Child, lead guitarist Joe Perry and lead singer Steven Tyler.

The song, which originally started out as “Cruisin’ for a Lady”, talks about a male with an effeminate appearance who is mistaken for a female. There is a story that the song was inspired by the glam look of the members of Mötley Crüe and their constant usage of the word “dude”. Steven Tyler says in the book Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith, “Then one day we met Mötley Crüe, and they’re all going, ‘Dude!’ Dude this and Dude that, everything was Dude. ‘Dude (Looks Like a Lady)’ came out of that session.”

Joe Perry came up with the chorus riff, and Tyler came up with the chorus refrain.

In his recent book, The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe claims that the song was specifically inspired by Vince Neil, singer with Mötley Crüe.

The video for Dude (Looks Like a Lady) features the band performing live onstage as well as random moments of characters portraying transvestites, including a cameo appearance by A&R man John Kalodner dressed up in a wedding dress at one point. This is a joke based on the fact that Kalodner always dresses in white.

There are also some provocative sexual performances, both by lead singer Steven Tyler as well as an attractive female who has her skirt partially lifted to reveal an Aerosmith “wings” tattoo on her buttocks.

Sunday Night Video Flashback Pt. 37!!!

Crap…I wasn’t feeling well this weekend and completely missed posting the blog until this morning.

Please forgive me!!!

V

Owner Of A Lonely Heart – Yes
“Owner of a Lonely Heart” is a song by the progressive rock band Yes. It is the opening track of their 1983 album 90125. Written primarily by Trevor Rabin (who was new to the band at the time), the song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 — to date Yes’ biggest chart success by far, and also reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, a first for the band (they would go on to have two more number one hits on this chart). Since then, it has seen many releases; the original release had Our Song as the b-side, while others had various b-sides such as Leave It, Make It Easy, and remixes of this song.

Standout features of the song include the catchy, heavily distorted introductory guitar riff, which establishes a motif for the song; producer Trevor Horn’s innovative use of jarring, heavily synchopated orchestra hits and other high-tech sound effects; Rabin’s disorienting, schizophrenic guitar solo, which was played through an MXR Pitch Transposer, which mixed the original note with one a perfect fifth higher.

The song’s falsetto titular refrain is actually sung by producer Trevor Horn as well as (lead singer) Jon Anderson. Rabin also ably performed this song during his 1989-90 solo tour, with a bit of difficulty on the higher vocal range. Invariably, the Rabin-era band performed this song, preceded by a truncated “Make it Easy” intro. Jon Anderson has also performed “Owner”, even though Yes guitarist Steve Howe has repeatedly expressed dislike for the song.

At the time of recording, everyone was already ready to leave. As the song was being recorded, drummer Alan White’s drums were being taken away, until he only had the bass drum and snare drum. He used these two for the first recording, then played each individual instrument (crash, hi-hats, toms) separately and dubbed them over the original track to make what is heard in the recording.

The song’s music video, directed by Peter Christopherson, received a great deal of airplay on MTV, introducing the revamped Yes lineup and sound to a new generation of fans largely unfamiliar with the band’s very different earlier work, which had helped to define the genre of progressive rock. The video begins in standard music video fashion with the band members performing in a studio all the way through the first chorus. Then, abruptly, Jon Anderson says, “Hang on, hang on! Maybe there’s another way to do this.” Then, each of the band members is shown transforming into a different type of animal before the song is re-started as the soundtrack of a black and white film. The film follows an archetypal Everyman as he tries to make it through a day whilst being shocked by pseudo-psychotic flashes of being menaced by the various animals. He is brought to court by government-looking toughs, summarily thrown out of court and into a boiler room where he fights a bruiser, then runs onto the roof of the building. There, he is confronted by the various band members, shifting back and forth between human and animal guises, which drives him to leap from the building. The video then ends with the same man in the same crowd as at the beginning of the video, but instead he turns back, presumably to go home and avoid the day.

Hold On – Wilson Phillips
“Hold On” is the debut single by Wilson Phillips, released in 1990. At the Grammy Awards of 1991, the song received a nomination for Song of the Year, losing to “From a Distance” by Julie Gold and performed by Bette Midler.

“Hold On” became Wilson Phillips’ first number one single, reaching the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 on June 9, 1990. The song also spent a week atop the adult contemporary chart that same year. In addition, “Hold On” peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart.

Up Where We Belong – Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
“Up Where We Belong” is a song from the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman. Written by Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, with lyrics by Will Jennings, it was performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes.

The single, released by Island Records in 1982, became a number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on November 6, 1982 and kept the position for three weeks, also reaching number 7 in the UK, where the film was less popular.

“Up Where We Belong” won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1983. It also won the BAFTA Film Awards for Best Original Song in 1984. Cocker and Warnes also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1983 for their rendition of this song.

Producer Don Simpson unsuccessfully demanded “Up Where We Belong” to be cut from An Officer and a Gentleman, saying, “The song is no good. It isn’t a hit.”

Blue Monday – New Order
“Blue Monday” is a dance pop song recorded in 1982 and originally released as a single in 1983 by British band New Order, and later remixed for further releases in 1988 and 1995.

“Blue Monday” is often seen as one of the most important crossover tracks of the 1980s pop music scene. Synthpop had been a major force in British popular music for several years, but “Blue Monday” was arguably the first British dance record to exhibit an obvious influence from the New York club scene, particularly the work of producers like Arthur Baker (who collaborated on New Order’s follow-up single “Confusion”).

A music video for a shortened version of the original song was created in 1983, featuring military clips with false colour, simple computer-generated graphics such as colour blocks and geometric lines, digitised video of band members at very low resolution and framerate, and a short appearance of the game Zaxxon (reportedly the Apple II port). The colour blocks were created using Peter Saville’s colour coded alphabet.

The music video for “Blue Monday ‘88″ (the Quincy Jones re-recording and mix of the song), shortened by several minutes and featuring added vocal effects, appears on the Substance video collection released as a companion to the album of the same name. It features sketches by photographer William Wegman and his Weimaraner dog named Fay Ray doing balancing acts intercut with hand-drawn animation by Robert Breer. The band members are shown standing around doing various tasks, such as walking a wooden plank over a floor that is painted blue, holding wire-mesh constructed art and milk crates over their faces, being hit by tennis balls, and standing still while they flip through various flip books (tying into the hand-drawn animation sequences).

“Blue Monday” has been a hit several times in the UK. In 1983, it charted twice, initially reaching number 12, then re-entering the chart later in the year and climbing to number 9, helped by the fact that neither side of the single (the B-side “The Beach” was an instrumental re-working of “Blue Monday”) was featured on the UK version of the group’s subsequent album, Power, Corruption & Lies.