13/100 Video - "West End Girls" - Pet Shop Boys (1986)

 

Recorded in one take, "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys originally missed the UK Top 40 in 1984 until re-recorded with producer Stephen Hague. Once slowed down and the story told a little clearer, the single vaulted to #1.

"West End Girls" isn't just another synth-pop song: it's intellectual pop. For me, the song creates a cityscape in your mind. 

The music was inspired by hip-hop artist Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" while the lyrics inspired by TS Eliot's poem 'The Waste Land'. The lyrics recount the class tensions and inner-city pressure in London, specifically how the boys from the East End of London pine for rich girls from the West End.

The street chatter and car horns intro followed by hypnotic synths before Neil Tennant's dead-pan vocals immediately grab our attention. But it's that unforgettable bass-synth hook and cryptic lyrics that keeps bringing me back to live vicariously in the "dead-end world". 

Watching the video as a 17-year-old verified that a much bigger world laid out there waiting to be explored.

When Joelle and I visited London in 2012, I couldn't help but point out the many famous London landmarks shown in the iconic video:

• Waterloo Station
• a No 42 red double-decker bus to Aldgate
• Tower Bridge
• Westminster Palace Clock Tower
• the South Bank
• Leicester Square

50/100 Video - "Land of Confusion" - Genesis (1986)

 

Phil Collins has done in all in the video arena.

As a solo artist, he invented air instruments.

Along with Philip Bailey, he made the first documentary style video about the making of a video.

And here with Genesis, he helped create one of the most elaborate and expensive videos ever made, during the heyday of the video era.

"Land of Confusion" by Genesis is also one of the most creative music videos ever made. 

The popular video was made using puppets created by the British TV series called The Spitting Image. The show would often make fun of Genesis, and by hiring their tormentors, the band proved that they could take a joke.

The video was directed by Jim Yukich, an American, who would watch The Spitting Image on his trips to England and loved the show. 

He got the idea to use the puppets in this video when he saw a Phil Collins parody on the show that made fun of his angst-ridden solo work.

Released during the President Reagan years, the video is an important part of the Cold War cultural time capsule. 

At the end of the video, the Ronald Reagan puppet accidentally launches a nuclear missile.

The video was very expensive to make; each puppet of which there are many, cost about $10,000.

61/100 Video - "Livin' on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi (1986)

 

"Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi is of course a quintessential 80s rock anthem. 

On this track, Jon Bon Jovi's storytelling shines during the verses while the chorus shows off his charisma. 

The video starts off in black-and-white for the first half of the clip, showing the band in rehearsal participating in shenanigans, then around two-thirds in, suddenly transforms to full colour as the band takes the concert stage with a live audience. 

A song forever associated to great memories with the high school gang. 

68/100 Video - "Venus" - Bananarama (1986)

A long, long time ago, more than a decade before The Spice Girls, there was Bananarama.

"Venus" by Bananarama was immediately catchy, easily among the best cover songs of the decade.

Released when I was seventeen years old, I tuned in primarily to see the three girls dance and flail about.

There appeared to be choreography for the dance moves, but the girls preferred tomfoolery.

Siobhan, the shorter blonde, was always my favourite.

1986 - "Something About You" - Level 42

There's something about "Something About You" by Level 42 that's hard to pinpoint that makes me look forward to hearing it again and again. 

Could be the amazing bass line. 

Those epic falsettos and the harmonies. 

Or perhaps the delicious chorus.

Can't forget about that surreal video, with the lead singer playing the Vaudeville clown in the engaging video.

It was all of those aspects and more: "Something About You" is simply a perfect pop song with a little R & B and synth tossed in. The right hooks in the right places.

All those little things that combine together to make me appreciate the whole of the song.

The tune still transports me back to when Dad used to drive me home for lunch back in Grade 11. The great ones will do that to you, take us back when we first hear that first note. Pure nostalgia.

Fave lyrics: 

"These changing years, they add to your confusion

Oh and you need to hear the time that told the truth"

Other favourites from 1986: 

"West End Girls" - Pet Shop Boys

"Bizarre Love Triangle" – New Order

"Train of Thought" – Aha

#5. "Something About You" - Level 42 (1986)

There's something about "Something About You" by Level 42 that's hard to pinpoint that make me look forward to hearing it again and again. 

Could be the amazing bass line. 

Those epic falsettos and the harmonies. 

Or perhaps the delicious chorus.

Can't forget about that surreal video, with the lead singer playing the Vaudeville clown in the engaging video.

In fact, it was all of those aspects and more: "Something About You" is simply a perfect pop song with a little R &B and synth tossed in. All the right hooks in all the right places.

All those little things that combine together to make me appreciate the whole of the song.

The tune still transports me back to when Dad used to drive me home for lunch back in Grade 11. The great ones will do that to you, take us back upon hearing the first note. 

Pure nostalgia.

Fave lyrics: 

"These changing years, they add to your confusion

Oh and you need to hear the time that told the truth"

#7. "Strangelove" - Depeche Mode (1986)

"Strangelove" wasn't the first song I liked from Depeche Mode; but it was the one that sold me.

There is so much to appreciate here: the punchy synth, the deep bass, the entire production is irresistible. And it's moody as hell.

The original single release was deemed by the band to be too poppy and not dark enough for the Music for the Masses album, so they produced a darker mix known as "Strangelove '88" that became the group's first #1 dance hit in the US.

The dark lyrics navigate the territory between pleasure and pain; and appear to be about going off the grid, of being emotional unavailability of sorts. A perfect teen anthem.

Fave lyrics: "I'm always willing to learn, When you've got something to teach"

#8. "West End Girls" - Pet Shop Boys (1986)

Recorded in one take, "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys originally missed the UK Top 40 in 1984 until re-recorded with producer Stephen Hague. Once slowed down and the story told a little clearer, the single vaulted to #1.

"West End Girls" isn't just another synth-pop song: it's intellectual pop. The song creates a cityscape in your head. 

The music was inspired by hip-hop artist Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" while the lyrics inspired by TS Eliot's poem 'The Waste Land'. The lyrics recount the class tensions and inner-city pressure in London, specifically how the boys from the East End of London pine for rich girls from the West End.

The street chatter and car horns intro followed by hypnotic synths before Neil Tennant's dead-pan vocals immediately grab our attention. But it's that unforgettable bass-synth hook and cryptic lyrics that keeps bringing me back to live vicariously in the "dead-end world". 

Watching the video as a 17-year-old verified that a much bigger world laid out there waiting to be explored.

When Joelle and I visited London in 2012, I couldn't help but point out the many famous London landmarks shown in the iconic video:

- Waterloo Station

- a No 42 red double-decker bus to Aldgate

- Tower Bridge

- Westminster Palace Clock Tower

- the South Bank

- Leicester Square

Fave lyrics: "Which do you choose. A hard or soft option"

In 1993, New Zealand-based artist Flight of the Conchords paraodied "West End Girls":

#12. "Bizarre Love Triangle" - New Order (1986)

"Bizarre Love Triangle" is probably the catchiest of New Order's singles and the one most recognizable for music fans.

After years of experimentation, New Order had perfected the use of synths and drum machines by 1986. The result is a pop masterpiece. 

In terms of layers of electronic music, this song is near the top of the pedestal. 

So many gorgeous, magical highlights:
- the opening lyric is impressive: "Every time I think of you / I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue."
- the swirling synths interlude in the pre-chorus
- the undulating pacing of the chorus
- Hooky's bass as the foil to the euphoric synths and strings

A superb song to zone out to on headphones and a great groove for the dance floor.

The most bizarre thing about this song: it never charted well, peaking at a dismal #98 on Billboard and #53 in Canada.

#25. "Train of Thought" - a-ha (1986)

"Train of Thought" by a-ha was the third and somewhat underrated single from the Norwegian band's debut album Hunting High & Low, an incredible tune that stands up well. 

Excellent to listen to on headphones, the track is also one of my favourite tunes for my runs and commutes (it is afterall a song someone's thoughts during a commute). 

With its peppy verses and soaring choruses, I find "Train of Thought" combines the best elements of "Take on Me" and "Sun Always Shines on TV".

Although the lyrics are melancholic, the synth arrangements (and pan flutes!) are just so damn melodic and uplifting. 

And a sound that at times sounds symphonic, even classical: vocalist Morten Harket's range is quite operatic (like 5 octaves and an insane falsetto). Crank up the volume to fully appreciate the rhythm and layering. 

Fave lyric: "Words go up words come down, Forwards backwards twisted round"

The 4th single "Hunting High & Low" is part pop ballad, part power symphony and completely epic. 

#41. "It Doesn’t Really Matter" - Platinum Blonde (1983)

Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin.

Let's begin with Platinum Blonde's first single "It Doesn’t Really Matter", which is also their best.

That classic guitar riff, the iconic bridge, the drum solo...and some of best caterwauling this side of "Sweet Child 'O Mine".

Canada's answer to Duran Duran, Platinum Blonde enjoyed much success at home with a slew of catchy singles during the mid-80s. 

It doesn't really matter that the band didn't last for too long. Much like the UK's The Smiths and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Blondes packed in a lot of good stuff in 4-5 years. One of my other faves is "Situation Critical" from the 1985 album Alien Shores.

#46. "What You Need" - INXS (1986)

One of Australia's favorite musical exports, INXS got more prolific as the decade went on culminating with the epic Kick album and a slew of singles. 

My fave is the first single from the Listen Like Thieves album: the rock groove "What You Need".

This is one seriously funked up tune, with killer bass and sax riffs driving the track. 

Lyrically, it's pretty vapid but who cares. Not to worry, Michael Hutchence would come to the forefront in the next album. 

"What You Need" is a solid all hands-on-deck group effort albeit a bit of an underrated masterpiece. 

If I had to make a fave 3 from INXS, "Need You Tonight" comes third, while "Original Sin" would be #2:

#49. "Suburbia" - Pet Shop Boys (1986)

In spring 1986 after hearing the phenomenal "West End Girls", I immediately bought the debut album Please by The Pet Shop Boys. I wore out the cassette.

I grew up in a suburban neighbourhood full of barking dogs and bored teenagers similar to the one the Pet Shop Boys sang about in “Suburbia”. 

Back in the mid-80s most suburban kids I grew up with (including my brother) rebelled with metal. 

I preferred electronic tunes like “Suburbia” and dreamed of leaving the white picket fences and manicured lawns of Dartmouth. I always wanted to move to the city, not just Halifax, but somewhere even bigger. That became Vancouver and is another story.

“Suburbia” pulls me in with a yearning piano melody. The Boys admit to lifting the bassline from Madonna's "Into the Groove", so there's that too. The sample of dogs barking is particularly nostalgic.

The melody may sound somewhat whimsical but the bridge hints at resentment: "I only wanted something else to do but hang around". 

Fave lyrics: "Leeeeeeet's take a ride, and run with the dogs tonight"

An excellent live version from their 2009 tour is worth the view:

#56. "Eurasian Eyes" - Corey Hart (1986)

Did you always notice Corey Hart is running away in his videos?

Let’s take a moment to flashback and reflect on the essential elements of the quintessential Corey Hart video from the heydays circa 1985-86:

1. Running away from home, work, girlfriend, power outage. Check.

2. Alone and troubled, hands planted on face. Uh-huh.

3. Cold and lonely, and all dressed up with nowhere to go. Yep.  

Usually by the time a 4th single from an album rolls around it's often a questionable number tossed out there in an attempt to keep the artist in the limelight. But this time it isn't a sappy ballad about never giving up: this time he's missing a woman.

I'd argue that "Eurasian Eyes" is not only the best song on the prolific Boy in the Box album, it's his top song period.

It's also long been one of my favourite songs to play in the winter. 

The atmospheric music is outstanding, a moody mid-tempo track with an exotic vibe (no wonder it made the 9 1/2 weeks soundtrack) that accompanies Corey's passionate ruminations perfectly.

Fave lyrics: "Now I'm the one that lacks the eloquence to say".

"Sunglasses at Night" had made an earlier version of the top 100. And on some days it probably would, so here it is for those of you that may feel cheated about this glaring omission: 

#57. "Kiss You (When it's Dangerous)" - Eight Seconds (1986)

I've always been mega-fond of this one-hit wonder from the Ottawa area and thought it deserved a higher ranking.

Looking back we may have gotten it wrong a few times. While sappier songs like "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" by Glass Tiger topped the charts, underrated melancholic gems like "Kiss You (When it's Dangerous)" barely cracked the top 20.

The keyboard-driven tune has an irresistible chorus and a fall vibe. Now over thirty years since its release, it's accurate to say that "Kiss You (When it's Dangerous)" is one of Canada's best contributions to the timeless new wave sound from the 80s.  

Fave lyric: "Of all things the thing that I want most, to catch you at the point where you don't have a clue."

#73. "Big Time" - Peter Gabriel (1986)

I've always preferred "Big Time to "Sledgehammer".

The song kicks off with Gabriel's "Higher" vocal then takes us on a relentless ride into his vivid imagination.

"Big Time" is the 80s in a nutshell: a brash and bold sound with bombastic lyrics that satirize the 'American dream'. Watching the creative claymation video provided a natural trip back in 1986. It still captivates today. 

And the track grooves with a driving, even funky, bass. In fact, the bass was played by two band members to achieve the unique percussion sound using funk fingers. A more detailed explanation can be found on Wikipedia: 

"Using one of Levin's fretless basses, Levin handled the fingerings while Marotta hit his drumsticks on the strings, which is why the bass part sounds percussive. Inspired by this sound, Levin later invented funk fingers, which were little drumstick ends that could be attached to the fingers to achieve a similar bass guitar effect in concert."

And for good measure, The Police's Stewart Coupland plays the drums. So much larger than life. Big Time.

#77. "Left of Center" - Suzanne Vega (1986)

"Left of Center" by Suzanne Vega is the second of three from the iconic Pretty in Pink film to appear on my chart. 

There is a lot to like here: the glimmering guitars, poignant piano and melodic hooks complement the silky, almost folky vocals of the always classy Suzanne Vega. 

The lyrics are memorable, articulating the perspective of an 'outsider' on the periphery of popularity. It's a perfect track aimed at the 80s high school and university demographic.

Fave lyrics: And if you want me/You can find me/Left of center/Wondering about you

The tune has aged well too, and I find I still play it regularly. 

The only regret from our 2012 London trip: not going to see Suzanne Vega play at The Barbican Theatre. Blame it on fatigue from going all out during the days and from already taking in a George Michael show earlier in the week. Maybe next time.

In spite of a slew of solid singles from 1987's Solitude Standing including the title track, "Luka" and "Tom's Diner", "Left of Center" may very well be her finest work. 

Fun fact: Joe Jackson plays the piano on the track, best known for his 1982 single "Steppin' Out".

#79. "Johnny Come Home" - Fine Young Cannibals (1986)

Members from Birmingham UK's The Beat dissolved and formed two new groups: The Fine Young Cannibals and General Public.

Before the Fine Young Cannibals ruled the charts in 1988 with “She Drives Me Crazy” and “Good Thing” they kicked off their career with a catchy groove showing off their ska roots called "Johnny Come Home". 

A breath of fresh air, this infectious tune with boss vocals, great arrangements and cool horns sounded like nothing else at the time. 

The single only reached #16 on the Canadian charts which is sheer lunacy. I'm pleased to report I fixed the error as it climbed to #3 on my own chart from May 1986 (see photo below from binder salvaged from parent's attic). 

But the question still remains: why did Johnny leave home?

In 1984, General Public churned out the infinitely catchy "Tenderness" on radio and video channels, later featured on the soundtrack of the nerd Weird Science film.

#88. "Desire" - Gene Loves Jezebel (1986)

Gene Loves Jezebel has been classified as 'Goth' but they are also most definitely new wave. Another term I've seen bandied around: Rockwave. Whatever.

One thing's for sure: their signature song "Desire" is a great groove. The high vocals are off the charts and drive the tune. Also a decent guitar solo. 

In the video, the twin brothers that form the core look as if David Lee Roth hooked up with Platinum Blonde for a festival gig. 

I don't remember "Desire" charting when it was released in the mid-80s in Nova Scotia but I used to hear it in the clubs when I moved to Vancouver in the early 90s. 

Unmistakenly 80s, it's a fun trip with some nice production worthy of a spin every once in a while.  

#90. "To Live and Die in L.A." - Wang Chung (1985)

The only band I'm aware of that has a verb named to honour it, you wouldn't expect a synth-pop outfit like Wang Chung to produce the title track to the gritty crime film "To Live and Die in L.A.". 

Turns out to be a perfect fit: Wang Chung perfectly captures the icy cool atmosphere with an under the radar tune to go with an equally underrated movie. 

Fave lyric: "I wonder why we waste our lives here. When we could run away to paradise".

Bonus video #1:

Everybody Have Fun Tonight" is a light-hearted slice of sprinkles and rainbows and a must play at 80s retro parties. Be careful not too stare too long at the seizure-inducing video or your night may become curtailed. 

Fun flashback: "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" was playing on the video screen when I sneaked underage into Bogart's on Argyle St. and ordered my first rum and coke. It's also when I learned about the concept of tipping: after having pocketed the four quarters I got back as change. What a noob!

Bonus video #2:

Wang Chung's first single and new wave classic "Dance Hall Days" from 1983 almost made my top 100. I only later discovered years later after a Google search that I'd been singing the lyric "We were cool and crazed" incorrectly. In actuality it is the even more ridiculous: "We were cool and cries"... and probably why the tune was scuttled off the list altogether...