The MJ Show #14 (80s Hits!)
When I was on radio, I knew, when I had nothing, always go with the 80s.
ALWAYS worked! Still will :)
Here we go. Get ready to go down the memory lane with some of the BEST songs you KNOW you grooved to from the 80s! :)
1st Song - Baltimora - Tarzan Boy #TheMJshow
A song from April 1985. Come on! I know you've danced to this. Haven't you? :)
2nd Song - Lipps Inc - Funky Town #TheMJshow
It ain't the 80s till you've moved to Funky Town!! :)
It reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Dance charts in 1980, also reaching number 1 in Austria, Switzerland, Norway and The Netherlands. It reached No. 2 in the UK, Sweden and on the U.S. R&B chart. "Funkytown" is often considered to be one of disco's last stands. It was Lipps Inc's only U.S. Top 40 hit.
3rd Song - A-Ha - Take On Me #TheMJshow
This was one of THE songs of my childhood days. What a brilliant video eh?
This brilliant song by this Norwegian pop band A-ha, was written by the band members for the group's first studio album "Hunting High and Low" and released in 1985.
The original "Take on Me" was recorded in 1984, and took three releases to chart in the United Kingdom, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart in November 1985. In the United States the song reached the top position of the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1985, due in no small part to the wide exposure of its memorable and cutting-edge music video on MTV; directed by Steve Barron, the video features the band in a pencil-sketch animation/live-action combination called rotoscoping. The video won six awards, and was nominated for two others at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.
4th Song - Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight #TheMJshow
Love this song by Cutting Crew. Again...quintessential 80s music!
"(I Just) Died in Your Arms" is a power ballad written by Nick Van Eede and introduced by his band, Cutting Crew, in 1986. It was their biggest hit, peaking at #1 in the United States, Canada and Norway, and reaching the top five in the UK, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland.
5th Song - Duran Duran - Rio #TheMJshow
"Rio" is the seventh single by Duran Duran, released on November 1, 1982.
The song was the fourth and final single lifted from the band's album "Rio". It was issued worldwide in November 1982 and became an immediate Top 10 hit in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #9 on December 11, 1982.
6th Song - Billy Idol - Rebel Yell #TheMJshow
Loved this song! Also sang it with The Works. What a song!!!
"In the midnight hour she cried- "more, more, more"
With a rebel yell she cried- "more, more, more"
In the midniight hour babe- "more, more, more"
With a rebel yell- "more, more, more"
More, more, more."
"Rebel Yell" is the first song on the Billy Idol album of the same name. When first released in 1984, it charted outside the UK Top 40, but a re-issue in 1985 reached #6. It did not fare as well in the US, only reaching #46. The song was named the 79th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.
7th Song - Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger #TheMJshow
1982...this song...Rocky III...can anyone miss the connection? #Awesomeness
The song was from Survivor's album Eye of the Tiger, released in 1982. It was used at the request of Sylvester Stallone for the film Rocky III.
"Eye of the Tiger" topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for six weeks beginning July 24, 1982.
8th Song - Donna Summer - She Works Hard For The Money #TheMJshow
"She Works Hard for the Money" is a 1983 single for Donna Summer.
Built on a rock-dance fusion, the song became a smash hit for Summer and one of the singer's signature songs, reaching number one for a three-week stay atop the R&B chart (her first since 1979), number three on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and number three on the dance chart. It was a number twenty-five hit in the UK. The single went onto sell over 5 million copies worldwide.
9th Song - Michael Sembello - Maniac #TheMJshow
Flashdance! Who doesn't remember this video! HOT!! :)
The song was used in the 1983 film Flashdance and was inspired by the 1980 horror film Maniac. The film Maniac was about a serial killer who stalks his victims in New York City. The song's performer and co-writer Michael Sembello recalls that an early version of the chorus was:
He's a maniac, maniac that's for sure,
He will kill your cat and nail him to the door.
At the suggestion of the record's producer Phil Ramone, the lyrics were rewritten to describe a girl with a passion for dancing. The lyrics became:
She's a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she's dancing like she's never danced before.
"Maniac" reached number one in the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in September 1983, and is one of the highest grossing songs ever written for a film.
10th Song - Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams #TheMJshow
"Shattered Dreams" is a hit pop song by British pop group Johnny Hates Jazz.
Written by the band's lead singer, Clark Datchler, the band's debut single was a worldwide hit.
The song entered the UK Singles Chart in March 1987 at a lowly #92 but gained popularity through extensive radio play and video rotation on MTV and the song quickly climbed the charts and peaked at #5 in mid May 1987 and spent 3 weeks there, and the song would spend a total of 16 weeks in the chart.
The song fared even better the following year in the U.S. There, "Shattered Dreams" was released early in 1988 with a totally different music video, shot entirely in black and white, and the single peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and went all the way to #1 on the ARC Weekly Top 40 chart. The song also topped Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart for one week. A midtempo club remix of the track was released on 12" vinyl.
11th Song - Culture Club - Karma Chameleon #TheMJshow
The song featured on the group's 1983 album "Colour By Numbers" and was a MASSIVE hit for them!
The song spent three weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1984, becoming the group's biggest hit and only US number one. "Karma Chameleon" hit number one in sixteen countries worldwide. In the group's home country, it became the second Culture Club single to reach the top of the UK singles chart, where it stayed for six weeks in September and October 1983, and became the biggest-selling single of 1983.
12th Song - Spandau Ballet - True #TheMJshow
"True" is the title track from Spandau Ballet's 1983 album True. It was composed by group leader, Gary Kemp, and is a six-minute (in its original album version) slow pop-ballad love song that in part pays tribute to the Motown artist Marvin Gaye and the sound he helped to establish. The song was recorded before Gaye's murder a year later.
The song was a huge worldwide hit, peaking at number one in the UK for four weeks in the spring of 1983 and charting highly in 20 other countries. It is Spandau Ballet's biggest and most remembered song in the U.S., reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the autumn of that same year and topping the adult contemporary chart for one week.
Here's a brilliant live version of the song from the 1985 Live Aid concert!
13th Song - Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go #TheMJshow
The song was written and produced by George Michael in 1984 and became the first UK number one hit for Wham!
14th Song - Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody #TheMJshow
"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is the first single from Whitney Houston's second studio album Whitney.
The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1987 (the same day that Houston's album Whitney debuted at number one, the first time ever by a female artist), and remained there for two weeks. It remained in the top forty of the Hot 100 for fourteen weeks, and was ranked fourth on the Year-End Chart.
The song reached number one on the Hot 100 Single Sales chart for two weeks, and on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for three weeks, Houston's longest run at that time. It was also a milestone in Houston's career, as it sold enough units to be certified platinum, her first single to achieve this. It was also number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks, and reached number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. It became Houston's first number-one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.
Internationally, Houston made the song a global smash, as it became her biggest hit at that point. It reached number one in over a dozen other countries, including the United Kingdom, West Germany, Australia, and Switzerland, propelling the parent album Whitney to number one in all of those countries as well. At 4.2 million sold globally, it is Houston's second best-selling single after "I Will Always Love You".
15th Song - Hall & Oates - Maneater #TheMJshow
"Maneater" is a single recorded by American duo Hall & Oates from their 1982 album H2O. It reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 18, 1982. It remained in the top spot for four weeks, more than any of the duo's five other number-one hits. According to John Oates the inspiration for this song was English model and actress Kelly LeBrock.
16th Song - Modern Talking - You're My Heart, You're My Soul #TheMJshow
"You're My Heart, You're My Soul" is the very first single by German europop duo Modern Talking released off their debut album "The 1st Album". The single was released on October 29, 1984 but entered the top-10 in Germany on January 28, 1985, almost three months after its release date. It took another five weeks for the single to top the German single chart, it spent six weeks at the No. 1 position in Germany and total of 25 weeks within the German Single Chart eventually reaching a gold status for selling well over 250,000 units at home. "You're My Heart, You're My Soul" is considered their best selling single up to date with worldwide sales exceeding 8 million copies and reaching the top of the charts in 35 countries.
The single was also certified gold in France for selling over 500,000 units. The music video of the single was shot in 1984 at the RTL studios in Luxembourg.
17th Song - Starship - We Built This City #TheMJshow
"We Built This City" is a song written by Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, and Peter Wolf, and originally recorded by the group Starship and released as its debut single on August 30, 1985. The lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, best known for his longtime collaboration with Elton John. The song features Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick on lead vocals, and the single version reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on November 16, 1985, and also number one on the U.S. Top Rock Tracks chart and number twelve in the United Kingdom. The song was engineered by Grammy-winning producer Bill Bottrell and arranged by Bottrell and Jasun Martz.
18th Song - Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart #TheMJshow
"Total
The song remains Tyler's most successful song, peaking at #1 in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. At its peak, it sold 60,000 copies per day, and approximately 6 million copies in total. It won the Variety Club award in the UK for best single of 1983.
Tyler's career reached new heights with this release and put her as the only Welsh artist to hit the number-one slot in the U.S Billboard charts.
19th Song - Pat Benatar - Love Is A Battlefield #TheMJshow
"Love Is a Battlefield" is a song written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman, after Pat Benatar asked Chapman to write her a hit song. It was released as a single from Benatar's album Live from Earth, which was popular in 1983 and 1984. The single has been certified gold and is her highest charting single in the United States, as it topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and made number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It topped the Australian singles chart for five weeks in 1984. The song was finally released in the United Kingdom in March 1985 and reached #17.
The song won Benatar a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
20th Song - Europe - The Final Countdown #TheMJshow
How could I not have this song to end the show :) Back then...no matter what you were doing for fun, you had to have this song to end stuff right? :)
God! I remember a time when I was so fed up of this song I could scream! But now, looking back, it's not all that bad is it :)
"The Final Countdown" is a rock song written by Joey Tempest for the Swedish
That's it for tonight! Hope those songs took you down memory lane :)
This is your "Musicman" Mihir and I'll see you again soon...
Take care...and...good night!
p.s. If you were wondering, what happened to Ep 13, wonder not! I've kept that episode aside for Quentin Tarantino as I had promised a very special "listener" that Ep 13 WOULD be for songs from his movies :) It'll be up once I've finished watching Jackie Brown and Death Proof again :)
