I Hate Myself for Loving You

So, today I was having lunch with a co-worker at one of our favorite places--Subway.   Yes, it's true.  Not very exquisitely exotic or anything, but you always know how much it will be, and you know it is not fried.  I like to eat healthy food most of the time.  So, Subway is a good choice, and it is bright and cheery and yellow inside.  Kind of makes it "sunny" even on the gloomiest days.  This particular Subway usually plays light rock or pop on their radio station of choice, but today I heard Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You."  I thought, "Wow!  I haven't heard this in ages!"  I was even more surprised this evening when I read that the song came out in 1988.  Why was I thinking it was much earlier than that--like 1982?  I am getting all my years confused lately.  I hate myself for getting old...

Recent pic of Joan

Anyway, this song is awesome.  It's another one where I hadn't paid attention to the lyrics back in the day, so I took a look this evening.  The song is all about a woman who hates herself for loving a guy who is a cheater.  Ah, yes, we have heard this scenario many times before in '80s songs.  Well, we have heard songs where a woman is cheated and feels badly--maybe angry, sad, etc.  But!  We have only Joan Jett to really sock it to us with her title.  Yeah!  I think she wraps it up perfectly.  Listen to the lyrics--they are terrific.  I especially like, "But I've been dreamin' 'bout the lovin' you do..."  That just makes me smile.  Kind of a lyrical "wink."  Very cool.  The other part I remember was something about "but you don't know what you was missin' last night."  Little did I know that the whole verse ends with another bit of a jab at this guy: "Hey man bet you can treat me right...but you don't know what you was missin' last night...I want to see your face and say forget it just from spite..."   Sweet!  I love that last part.  This song is truly awesome.  I guess it's good to not have been overplayed.  Makes you really appreciate it many years later.  And Joan Jett is truly 100% rock and roll.  Enjoy!

Jon Bon Jovi and Advil? Oh no....

Pic from Jon Bon Jovi's Advil commercial

Yes, as you can see from the title, I ran across an ad today with Jon Bon Jovi for Advil.  I was mortified.  "Say it ain't so," was all I could think.  When I think of Advil, well, I think of joint pain and arthritis...but not Jon Bon Jovi!  I think the whole connection implies that he is aging, and I guess we all are, but can't we just pretend that time stands still?  Even I have joint pain and arthritis from years of clarinet playing, but I like to just forget about things like that.  Yes, in Becky's World, it's much happier to remember then fun loving days of one's youth.  So...

I decided to look at some Bon Jovi songs.  There are so many great ones, and I LOVE Bon Jovi.  It's amazing--I really liked them when I was younger, and now I am completely entranced and mystified.  I must say that I think Jon Bon Jovi looks better than ever.  He has not aged at all--just has smaller hair now :)  I like all of his hairdos, quite frankly.  When I looked at Bon Jovi's titles, I found "Born to Be My Baby" and had to pick this song.  I don't think it got as much airplay as some of their other tunes, but it sure is good!  I forgot until I watched the video this evening.  It is chocked full of coolness--or what I would have considered cool back in high school when the song came out.  Oddly enough, I still find it to be a great tune and video.  I love the way they are playing a bit in the beginning, testing the instruments.  Jon counts off, "two, three, four," and they get crankin'!  Awesome vocals, drums, guitars, and of course, lyrics.  Listen to the lyrics--they tell the story once again of a young couple without much money but with lots of love to keep them together through days of hard work to make ends meet.  Very romantic.  And he sings, "My heart beats like a drum (all night)...flesh to flesh, one to one (and it's alright)," and the group harmonizes with him--and it truly melts my heart.  I kind of feel like a silly teenager again, but hey, it's Jon Bon Jovi!  And when Ritchie Sambora looks at the camera and winks, well, that just ads to the melting factor.  Remember when he and Heather Locklear got married, and they were the perfect couple?  Oh well...at least the music survives :) Music will always survive, no matter how many times people break up, make up, etc...

God Bless Mother Nature...and Father Time

I was having fun this evening looking at various disco songs, which I realize are not from the 80s.  There was one that I thought about posting because it was remade later, but low and behold, I ran across "It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls.  I had no idea that this song was written in the 80s!  It was released in 1982, which completely shocked me.  I seem to remember it being on the radio in the 70s, but I guess I was mistaken!  It surely didn't sound like the rest of the pop tunes on the airwaves in 1982.  Nope -- this one preserved a disco feel from the previous decade.  Amazing.  I am still in shock!

Anyway, the Weather Girls were Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes.  There was a ton of controversy surrounding groups using Martha Wash's vocals in the 1990s with slim model-types lip syncing to her vocals in the videos (for the songs "Make You Sweat" by C&C Music Factory and "Strike It Up" by Black Box).  I really liked "Strike It Up," but it is sad that they used her powerful vocals and masqueraded them with the models.  Definitely a 90s way of thinking I suppose. The 70s seemed much more accepting of people's differences, and in the 80s, well, we were so busy being obsessed with space and the future and synthesizers...it all just kind of got lost.  I also found out that this song was written and produced by Paul Shaffer (from the David Letterman show) and Paul Jabara.  They supposedly offered it to Diana Ross and Barbara Streisand--who both turned it down.  I would be curious to hear Diana Ross sing it.  With all due respect to Ms. Ross's unmistakably beautiful voice, Martha Wash's voice had a very different element of power and beauty.  She was perfect for this.  I say was, because, sadly, she passed away in 2004.  God bless Mother Nature for gracing us with Ms. Wash's voice (and Ms. Rhodes' as well).  This is a terrific song, and you have to love the funny religious exclamations in it that are are just so fitting..."It's raining men!  Hallelujah!  It's raining men...Amen!"  God bless Mother Nature indeed.

Detroit Rock City

It's getting pretty late in Becky's World, and tomorrow is Friday.  Thank goodness.  As tired as I am right now, I am excited for the weekend.  Last weekend I heard "Detroit Rock City," another Kiss classic, on the radio while I was driving.  Again, I cheat a bit here because the song was written in 1976, but that is alright.  I am sure this song was heard on classic rock stations in the 80s, and it is still getting airplay today.  I never actually heard the song until this year when I discovered the Kiss Symphony video.  I had very little idea of what Paul Stanley was singing (other than "get up...get down...") and then I discovered the sad inspiration behind the song.  Becky's World is pretty happy, so I will leave the research on this one (for those who don't already know) to my readers.

I really do think the performance with the Melbourne Symphony ads an exceptional punch and huge level of excitement to the song.  Well, that and the awesome pyrotechnics.  I couldn't help but notice that at 1:59 in the video, the brass section comes in to join the guitar melody.  Oh yeah, the brass can really kick some, uh, rear.  How cool is that?  I can only sit here and drool over that part, because even if the woodwinds had it, well you can't see or hear them in that part of the video.  That's okay.  Plenty of good music to go around for everyone.  I think I am getting addicted to this performance video.  I guess the song isn't really that sad if you think about it as a celebration of spirit and life.  Alright, it's sad, but this video is kickin', and the guitar solos cranking along give the tune unbelievable gusto and momentum.  Perfect to ring in the weekend.  Enjoy!

ABBA Goes Out with a Boom

This evening, I was looking for some interesting covers or samples of songs from the '80s.  After a couple of searches, I discovered one of the most amazing songs by ABBA, "Lay All Your Love on Me."  I can't believe I had never heard this song!  It is truly one of the best songs, musically, that I have heard in a long time.  The song was recorded and released on the group's 1981 album, Super Trouper.  If you have not heard this tune, check it out.  It is not only a terrific song from a harmonic and melodic perspective, but the lyrics are amazing---one of my new favorite "jealousy" songs.  Wow.  This one is first-rate.  The lyrics tell the story of a woman who is madly in love with a man and starting to feel a bit possessive.  She urges him, "Don't go wasting your emotion...lay all your love on me...don't go sharing your devotion...lay all your love on me."  I think the best part is that harmonically, the song sounds very much like a hymn.  Definitely has a religious, devotional, plagal cadence thing going on...with a pop/disco feel.

Meanwhile, several years later (in 1998) a Europop group called Vengaboys emerged on the scene.  I remember their "We Like to Party" being a big hit in the U.S., but I had forgotten all about one of their catchiest and silliest songs, "Boom Boom Boom Boom."  No, it is not about rockets blasting into space or an anti-war protest song.  It is about something completely different.  Yeah, you've probably guessed it.  If not, just check out the lyrics.  Pretty simple.  The interesting part is that they sampled ABBA's "Lay All Your Love on Me."  I guess that makes sense, since the "boom" is really about the same thing.  Anyway, check it out for yourself.  The Vengaboys song is at least an extremely fun and funny tune that may haunt your ears for a while, but it will probably make you laugh as well...

A Matter of Touch?

So, I was driving back from a long weekend visit with my family, and I stopped at a McDonald's at the bottom of a huge mountain range.  While I was in the restaurant, I heard a really catchy tune by Billy Joel.  I recognized it clearly, but I could not remember the title...and I certainly couldn't hear the title in the chorus.  I thought, "A matter of touch?  A matter of love?"  Wow.  I simply could not hear what he was singing.  A matter of touch surely didn't make sense.  A matter of love was a bit closer, but I just knew it wasn't correct.  Then, finally, I realized what he was singing AND what the title was --- A Matter of Trust.  Hmmm.  Sounds kind of boring as a title, actually.  A matter of trust?  Is that really very interesting?  Usually songs about cheating, loneliness, or unrequited love are always more interesting, intense, and sometimes even fun.  But, alas, this IS Billy Joel, and he is a master songwriter and lyricist.  I cannot think of a Billy Joel song that I do not like---they are all amazing.  So, with this one, there is no difference.  It is a solid, lyrical, melodic, and "meaty" tune from 1986.  It has more guitar than you would ordinarily hear in a Billy Joel song, but that is what makes it so perfect for the time (well, that and his pure, focused vocal performance).  Most of Billy's songs feature the piano, which is his main instrument.  So, this is a bit different.  I can't really imagine someone else covering the tune, but you know, perhaps there could be different lyrics.  In fact, this song is so solid that you could probably sing just about anything over the instrumental foundation.

Christie Brinkley Cover Girl Ad -- Classic!

As for the actual tune and video, both are very upbeat.  The song is obviously about a couple building a relationship to last--one that is based on trust and set to withstand the tests of time.  In the video, we see Billy's wife at the time, Christie Brinkley.  Yup, she was a famous model, and they were newlyweds.  She is holding their infant daughter, Alexa Rae Joel, who is now a grown woman and singer/songwriter just like her dad.  Unfortunately, Joel and Brinkley divorced later.  She married someone else and had a few more children.  Then, there was a scandal with her husband cheating on her with some teenaged babysitter.  Oh well!  Very, very 80s.  Well, the scandal part was 80s, but the actual facts were kind of more current (90s? 21st century?).  Luckily, the video is a fun jam in New York City, which will always be cool and inspiring, no matter what decade we are in.  I hope you enjoy this song and video.  If you can't understand the lyrics, just make something up...

What About Love

So, Heart is one of my favorite groups from the '80s, and I absolutely love them.  I never get tired of their music, and all of their songs (from both the '70s and '80s) are terrific.  I heard "Barracuda" on the radio as I was driving home the other day -- definitely an excellent tune for driving through a twisty route through the mountains.  I looked at a couple of their songs that I hadn't heard in a while, including "What About Love."  This song is amazing, and I admit that Ann Wilson's vocals in the beginning were always so mesmerizing to me that I didn't listen to the rest.  I could remember the chorus pretty clearly, but I had to go back to read the full lyrics.  Beautiful, truly beautiful.  Pretty simple to understand.  Ann is singing to a man -- "the love I'm sending, ain't making it through to your heart."  Sounds like perhaps the man is preoccupied with work and forgetting about love.  I don't know how anyone could resist the touching lyrics of the song, which I imagine is one of the keys to it's popularity.  Well, that...and the video.  I hadn't seen it in ages, and I am not sure I understand it completely.  Definitely some kind of weird industrial underworld.  Guess it kind of goes along with the style of the day.  It has some very cool moments, like Nancy Wilson raising her guitar high above her head (kind of a "pray to the god of guitar" gesture -- very, very cool).  When she pops out of a mold after hot, molten liquid is poured in, that is pretty cool, too.  The video is fiery and intense, and I wonder what it would have been like in a different setting.  But, alas, it rocks....and so does Heart.  Hope you enjoy this wonderful power ballad.