Rock of Ages

Somehow time has escaped me again, and it has been two weeks since my last post.  Yikes.  Well, at least I can say that this evening I have found a timeless '80s rock anthem to remedy my bad sense of time as of late.  "Rock of Ages"was released by Def Leppard in 1983 and has always been one of my favorites.  "I'm burnin', burnin', I got the fever -- I know for sure, there ain't no cure."  Indeed!  Rock on, Def Leppard!  I have to say that that is my favorite line from the whole song.  The video for this is also pretty interesting and is full of all kinds of religious and mythological symbols.  Yup, we've got monks, a reverse time-lapse broken chalice of wine, a sword in a stone, and well, I think Joan of Ark (I can't really tell).  It's all cool and very fun, although Joe Elliott wrote retrospectively that he found the video to be rather silly.  I disagree.  Well, maybe it is kind of silly, but it still rocks.

OWWW -- or owl?

The video ads quite a bit to the song, too, especially when you watch the whole band chanting the chorus.  I'm also completely jealous of the lead guitarist's ability to lip sync along with his guitar solo.  Now, that is something that is just not possible with wind instruments.  Anyway, I really do enjoy this video, and there's a whole lot of hub-ub out there about the introductory four words.  I think the words really are gibberish, so I won't debate, dissect, or split hairs about what is going on with that intro.  Sometimes, you just need some nonsensical line to keep people guessing.  But, I do wonder it Joe Elliott is really singing "owwwww" in the beginning or "owl" -- especially since the image of an owl appears right before this exclamation.  Hmm.... Now that is something I will ponder...

I Can't Wait - Nu Shooz

Well, it's getting pretty late, and I wanted to write about something this evening.  I guess I got distracted chatting on the phone with friends, but that is always a nice distraction in my opinion!  I thought about a couple of songs but still had the Stevie Nicks "I Can't Wait" on my mind, so I thought I would take a look at the Nu Shooz version.  Somehow, I thought the group was international (from Sweden or something) but in actuality, they are from Portland, Oregon.  I read that they were picked up by a Dutch record label, who did a re-mix and then helped them top the charts in the U.S. and around the world.

This song was released in 1986 -- when I was in middle school.  I was probably in 6th grade, and I loved this tune.  Listening to it always makes me smile and think of school dances.  Watching the video today was a bit sad though, because I found myself becoming bored about two-thirds of the way through.  The dog with goggles in the beginning of the video is neat, but that's about it.  The rest of the video is a bit odd and disjunct, with magnets floating around and so forth.  The lead singer did have some amazing shoulder pads in her jacket, though.  I guess all in all this song is best on the radio.  It's the kind of tune you have to enjoy without a video.  It has some very interesting sonic elements -- chimes, bells, all kinds of synthesizers, interjections of an awesome brass and sax section, and a pretty groovy guitar ostimato (with a nice little bass guitar bit thrown in the mix).  Not much else I can say other than I think it must have been fun to mix this all up in the studio!

I Can't Wait - Stevie Nicks

I had to make sure to put "Stevie Nicks" after the title of this song, because there is another song with the same title which was released around the same time by the group Nu Shooz.  Stevie's song was released in 1985 just four weeks before the Nu Shooz tune (in 1986).  In fact, I hate to say it, but the Nu Shooz song comes to mind when I hear the title.  I happened to find the Stevie Nicks song on YouTube courtesy of YouTube's shuffle o' suggested videos based on my browsing.  I couldn't believe that I had forgotten about this song.  I think I may have heard it once before in 1985 -- maybe twice.  It was definitely familiar, although I don't recall it being in heavy rotation on MTV.

So, if you do not know this song -- check it out.  It is electrifying.  In fact, I would consider it "Stevie Nicks plugged in" -- as opposed to "unplugged."  It is pretty heavy on the synthesizers and drum machines, but it still seems to work for her.  I wonder how it would sound in an acoustic performance with lots of percussion and just a guitar and keyboard.  I know that's not really truly acoustic, but it would be interesting.  Stevie has such a powerful voice, and it doesn't get lost here, but I think it would be great to hear it leading the instrumentals.  In this version, her voice is truly electric -- powerful and exciting, as if it was amplified by some magic electricity.  The synthesizers added to her vocals make the song burst with energy.  Meanwhile, the lyrics are very classic for Ms. Nicks.  She sings about a man she can't wait to see.  She's sitting there thinking about him -- talking to him in her dreams.  The tempo of the song coupled with the lyrics makes the listener feel just as full of anticipation as the singer.  I think my favorite part is when she sings, "she wonders how many more hours her heart will feel broken."  It's interesting, because the song is so upbeat -- that lyric just kind of sneaks in.  Anyway, check out this tune -- not much more I can say other than WOW.  If you like "Stand Back," this video is like that times 10.  In fact, I think she may have on the same dress that she wore in the "Stand Back" video.  So, stand back and get ready to be blown away by the electrical fire of Stevie Nicks in this tune!

Let the Music Play

I think anyone who has not heard Shannon's "Let the Music Play" must have been hiding under a rock during the 80s -- and maybe even beyond.  This song was a huge hit when it was released in 1983, and I honestly think it has not lost one bit of momentum since that time.  It was considered the first "freestyle" song due to it's Latin-inspired rhythms, synthesizer, and drum machine beats.  I still struggle with what "freestyle" is, but that's okay, because this song is a winner.  I challenge anyone to listen and not get up and dance!

Meanwhile, I paid some attention to the lyrics back in the day -- although I reviewed them again this evening.  Aside from the chorus, I distinctly remember, "Guess he discovered we are truly lovers, magic from the very start..."  Something about "magic" and the word "lovers" in songs does it for me.  I mean, they are both great -- right?  I love the idea of "magic," and "lovers" is just kind of a word that can live in a song lyric.  We don't really use it much in casual speech, though.  I mean, you wouldn't hear someone say, "yes, they are lovers" or "hello, I'd like you to meet my lover" -- although it works really well in songs.  And, little did I know that love actually speaks in this song as well!  Shannon sings, "We started dancing and love put us into a groove...but now he's with somebody new...what does love want me to do?  Love said -- let the music play...he won't get away...just keep the groove and then he'll come back to you again..."  WOW!  I must have missed "love said" after all these years -- or maybe I heard it and assumed it was the wrong lyric.  Well -- thank goodness!  Love has spoken.  Listen to love -- love knows best!  Let the music play!  From now on, I will listen to love.

As for the video, it's pretty simple.  As a young girl, I was mesmerized by Shannon putting on lipstick with a brush in the beginning.  Simple things wowed me as a child.  The video is pretty simple, too, with Shannon front and center and some ballet-type dancers in the background.  The simplicity makes sense, because the song stands oh-so-well on its own.  She could be singing outdoors in the streets of New York, and it would be just as amazing.  This groove you can't ignore -- that's for sure.  Enjoy!

Good, Bad, and Love Sensations

This evening, I decided to look at some songs from 1983.  It seemed like a quiet year to my recollection, because I didn't seem to remember anything really big from that time.  So, I looked at a list of songs and was surprised to see so many that I can remember scaring the daylights out of me when I was younger.  Granted, I wasn't even 10 in 1983.  In fact, I hadn't started playing clarinet yet, so I was pretty young.  Needless to say, many songs from that year scared me for various reasons.  I revisited one this evening and decided to pass -- because I was still scared -- almost 30 years later!

Oddly enough, what scared me in a figurative sense was that somehow I stumbled upon the music of Samantha Fox.  Yeah.  Back in '87 and '88, when I was in middle school, she was the bomb for sure.  Guys drooled over her, and all the girls wanted to be just like her.  We danced around and sang her songs -- we had no idea what they were about.  I distinctly remember that we found it to be so cool that she was from England.  Back in the '80s, it was also very hip to have short spoken parts in songs -- and she always had those.  It was just too cool to have spoken words by someone from England!  (Well, at least for us teeny boppers stateside).  Unfortunately, I listened to her songs once again tonight and watched the videos.  Yeah, I could see why we thought they were cool.  She always had this hip jeans jacket and lots of great dancing in the videos (although nothing nearly as complex as Janet Jackson).  She even had blond hair that was dyed pink underneath in her "Naughty Girls Need Love" video.  I watched that one, "Touch Me," "I Wanna Have Some Fun," and "Love House."  I have to say that they were all pretty awful (I hope I don't get struck by lightening for saying that!).  Thank goodness she had the group Full Force to back her up in some of those.  Whew.  At least that made things somewhat more vocally and musically complex.  Meanwhile, I forgot that "Love House" creeped me out.  There's a spoken part in it -- kind of Vincent Price-esque -- that says, "Want to visit the house?"  CREEPY!  Of course, then Samantha Fox says, "Ici Samantha! Oui oui!"  Well, that did it.  Fright was scared away by cheese.  Anyway, I felt my ears had melted a bit after all this terrible pop.  To think that I loved it when I was in middle school!  Gosh -- what did I know?  Thank goodness I went on to become a trained musician.  I read that "I Wanna Have Some Fun" sampled Loleatta Holloway's "Love Sensation," which I had never heard (the tune, that is).  I actually heard bits of it sampled in Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations" and in some Black Box tune.  "Love Sensation" was released in 1980, so it just made it to this blog!  I had to listen to it a few times to cleanse my ears, and I decided to put it in this post.  Now, this is a real tune with awesome, full-bodied vocals and amazing instrumentals.  I thought my computer was going to pop from that awesome trombone playing.  If this tune doesn't make you want to get up and dance -- or at least jam in your Lazy Boy, then there may be no hope.  Enjoy!