Greetings and salutations Hivers. Today let's go into another Three Tune Tuesday post.
As always, thanks to 
Today I'm going to change it up a bit. I've been posting about Japanese jazz and introducing various jazz bands for the past few months, so today I'm going to temporarily escape from this corner I'm writing myself into. Today, 1980s music! But with a twist: 80s music as chosen by my oldest son, age 10.
I was a kid in the 80s so naturally the music of the time imprinted on me. I have since grown to love music from every era, including the current one, but 80s music will forever be my favorite. There is the nostalgia, of course, but just that sound... it will always do it for me.
I have a number of 80s playlists on my phone that I am always playing around the house and in the car, so my kids have grown up with the music as well. I know this won't last; as soon as they get into middle school and beyond, they will start exploring their own musical tastes (the oldest already is) and will start to see "my music" as old fashioned and undesirable, and that's perfectly fine. It's the way of the world, eh? But for now, it's fun to watch them enjoy the songs I grew up with.
So for this post today, I asked my oldest to sit down in front of my computer, Apple Music open in front of him, and pick out his three favorites. He picked a ton! He is a kid, after all. But we managed to whittle the list down. Let's explore his picks!
His top pick was She Blinded Me With Science. Good boy!, I told him. That song is one of my favorites and I think I probably include it on nearly every playlist I make. It goes well with almost any 80s song. But I'm sure I've featured it in Three Tunes Tuesday before, long ago, so we will skip it this time.
Moving on...
Styx - Too Much Time on My Hands
This might be their definitive 80s hit. Babe might come close. At least Too Much Time on My Hands is the one that I heard most often in my childhood and the one that seems to be included on every 80s compilation CD that comes out. That could be because it has a very New Wave sound, which was the sound of the decade. Maybe Renegade or Blue Collar Man came close in popularity, but those were from their 1978 album Pieces of Eight so they don't fit in this list! As I get older I like the Dennis DeYoung written songs better, but undoubtedly when I was a kid Tommy Shaw's songs appealed to me more. He could really write a rock song!
Anyway, Too Much Time on My Hands was the 3rd track to their 1980 album Paradise Theatre. The entire album is fantastic. This was Styx on top of their game.
Michael Jackson - Beat It
My son loves Michael Jackson. He sings the songs along with the music and tries to dance. It's adorable to watch. He almost picked Thriller for this spot, but he commented that Thriller might be too scary for some people, so Beat It is better. The wisdom of kids, eh? Who are we to argue with that?
What can I write about this that hasn't been said a million times? This song has probably been posted on #ttt close to a million times alone! This was the 3rd track of the 1982 album Thriller, was also released as a single, and was the biggest hit in the world. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and is certified 8x platinum, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The music video was a constant on MTV.
By the way, have you seen Weird Al's Beat It parody, Eat It? If you were around in the 80s, I'm sure you have. MTV also showed it a lot, both mixed in with other regular music videos and as part of AlTV, which was when the network would give him a few hours to do whatever he wanted. Jackson himself loved the song so much that he helped Weird Al make his own video, which was basically shot for shot the same as the Beat It video, even using many of the same dancers. Watch it here.
Toto - Africa
You can easily see why my son picked this. Just like Beat It and Too Much Time on My Hands. Africa is very catchy. It's a weird song, from the band's 1982 album Toto IV. Neither of the songwriters, David Paich nor Jeff Porcaro, had been to Africa and knew virtually nothing about it except what they had seen on TV documentaries. Yet they decided to write a song about the continent, a love song to the continent, according to Paich. Despite being strange, it is so catchy that it's hard not to sing along with the chorus. See if you can resist!
Ok, those top three were my son's picks. How did he do? I think he picked a pretty good short playlist there.
After I wrote those down, as it so often does, another song instantly popped into my head. Isn't it funny how that happens? A youth wasted making too many mixtapes I suppose, which conditioned me to always be trying to figure out the perfect next song. Maybe I'll be a DJ in my next life.
So I'll give that song as a bonus pick!
Bonus: Journey - Don't Stop Believin'
This was from their 1981 album Escape and went on to become probably their most popular song. I love the story that the song lyrics paint and the melody, making it a great rock song. Rolling Stone agrees, putting it as #133 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. I'm sure all of you have heard it before. If not, hit play, lay back, close your eyes and enjoy.
Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane. So what's your favorite? Feel free to share your 80s favorites in the comments below.
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| David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |