Prince was a pop icon of the '80s, but managed to keep his career hot through the first half of the '90s too. "Cream" was his fifth and final #1 hit, the quick follow-up to "Gett Off," which peaked at #21 just the month prior. Although I personally like "Gett Off" better, this is an undeniably good Prince song, with a quirky melody. And what's it about really?
The first two singles from Michael Bolton's Time, Love & Tenderness reached the top 10, but he scored the album's biggest hit with its third release, a remake of "When a Man Loves a Woman," which became Bolton's second (and last) #1 hit. The original version by Percy Sledge was also a #1 hit 25 years prior.
Karyn White was never hotter than she was in November 1991, when she scored her biggest hit with #1 single "Romantic." I've always liked this song, and listening to it lately, it's cemented a position as one of my favorite singles of 1991. The song has a vibrant upbeat production courtesy of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the men responsible for Janet Jackson's Control and Rhythm Nations (you can hear definite similarities to Rhythm Nation in the production of White's 1991 album, Ritual of Love). I also like classy luxe video shot by Matthew Rolston, a longtime music video director (Miley Cyrus' "The Climb," Sugababes' "Push the Button," Destiny's Child "Bootylicious," En Vogue "My Lovin'").
November was chalk full of #1 hits--four of them--the last of which came from PM Dawn with their first hit single, "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss," a vibrant piece of hip-hop dance pop. The song liberally sampled Spandau Ballet's "True," which hit #4 in 1983.
Canadian rocker Bryan Adams followed the year's biggest hit, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You," with this #2 hit, upbeat pop/rock single "Can't Stop This Thing We Started." His 1991 album, Waking Up the Neighbours, would score three more top 40 hits in 1992.
Rap group Naughty by Nature scored one the year's biggest mainstream hip-hop hits with the anatomically minded "O.P.P." (#6). A minor pop culture phenomenon, the song, about cheating, cleverly hints at the female and male sex organs as "another word to call a cat a kitty" and "a five-letter word rhyming with cleanest or meanest," respectively. When compared to Rihanna's "suck my cockiness, lick my persuasion," it seems rather tame, but at the time it had everyone in titters. The group would go on to have a few more top 40 hits, including top 10 hit "Hip Hop Hooray," but nothing was ever as memorable as this.
Amy Grant reached the top 10 for the third time in 1991 with the ballad "That's What Love is For" (#7). Sandwiched between her album's bigger hits--#1 "Baby Baby," #2 "Every Heartbeat" and 1992's bubbly top 10 hit "Good for Me," this one never really struck my fancy.
November 1991 was the last month of musical history where most people hadn't heard of Nirvana, meaning that it was also the last call for hair band rock, that breed of heavy metal rockers that shined so brightly in the '80s but faded in the early '90s as alternative rock and grunge became rock's mainstream sound. Guns N Roses were certainly one of the biggest heavy metal groups, having scored big with their 1987 album Appetite for Destruction and its hit singles like "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child o' Mine." In 1991, GNR delivered the one-two punch of Use Your Illusion volumes 1 and 2, two separate albums released on the same day. Although volume 2 initially took off faster, thanks to its Terminator 2 song "You Could Be Mine," ultimately volume 1 had the bigger hits, including "Don't Cry," the group's fifth top 10 hit (an alternate version of "Don't Cry" appeared on volume 2). The video, directed by Del James, is a moody cinematic affair, the first of several such videos from this era of the band.
For anyone under the age of 20, Paula Abdul is best known as a judge on American Idol and X Factor, but years ago she was a pop star too! She had six #1 hits in the span of two and a half years, which is nothing to sneeze at. Her second album, Spellbound, was as successful as her first, although it did show her softer side. After topping the chart with Forever Your Girl's exclusively dance pop releases, she chose a ballad to launch Spellbound. That song, "Rush Rush," became the singer's biggest hit. After another dance release, "The Promise of a New Day," became her final #1, she once again chose another ballad as album's third single. "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" peaked at #6, becoming Abdul's eighth and final single to reach the top 10. It's a nice song with a beautiful video, although it does tend to emphasize the limits of her vocal prowess. I remember a good friend of mine got to see her concert and was particularly impressed with this song's staging, which recreated the ballet dancing but had them flying through the air.
Hip-hop girl group Salt-n-Pepa scored another major mainstream rap hit with "Let's Talk About Sex," the group's third top 40 hit from their 1990 album Blacks Magic, peaking at #13. Although the song's title was bound to spark controversy, it's a really great message, encouraging people to have an open, frank discussion about sex and HIV/AIDS during a time when the right (and even portions of the left) were all up and arms and ready to censor popular culture.
Male solo pop stars are a rarity today, but in 1991 they were pretty common. In addition to those named above, British pop singer Chesney Hawkes scored his only major hit with "The One and Only" (#10), jazz/pop artist Curtis Stigers had his only major hit with "I Wonder Why" (#9), Washington D.C.-born R&B singer Tony Terry had his only major hits with "With You" (#14) and Luther Vandross scored his third top 10 hit with "Don't Want to Be a Fool" (#9).
Something old and something new teamed up on the love song duet "Set the Night to Music," the kind of pop ballad that used to be so common but it pretty rare today. Roberta Flack was a major pop star in the '70s, during which she had three #1 hits, two of which I'd consider classics ("The First Time Ever I Saw Your face" and "Killing Me Softly with His Song"). Maxi Priest, however, scored his first #1 hit just the year before with "Close to You" (he had a minor top 40 hit in 1989, "Wild World"). A love song between a 54 year-old woman and a 30 year-old man isn't the most believable, but it's a decent enough song. The song, written by Diane Warren, is actually a remake first recorded in the '80s by Starship.
Several acts who scored big summer hits had their only other top 40 singles peak in November. The biggest of which was Jesus Jones, who followed up their summer #2 hit "Right Here, Right Now" with "Real, Real, Real," which hit #4. Rythm Syndicate, who's summer hit "P.A.S.S.I.O.N." also hit #2, reached #13 with "Hey Donna." And EMF, the British indie band who scored a #1 hit with "Unbelievable," reached #18 with their second single, "Lies." In all of these cases, these singles were these groups' last appearances in the top 40.
Also making their last appearance in the top 40 was British pop group Simply Red. The group hit #1 in 1986 with "Holding Back the Years" and topped the chart again 3 years later with "If You Don't Know Me By Now." Although they continued to be quite popular in Britain, scoring top 10 hits as recently as 2003, this was the end of the road for them in the US, as "Something Got Me Started," which peaked at #23, was their final top 40 single. It's follow-up, "Stars," was a great song that just missed the top 40, peaking at #44. "Fairground," their 1995 release that was their only UK #1, never touched the Hot 100.
Showing posts with label Prince. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prince. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Music of 1991: October
Last year, I did a monthly series looking at the hits from the same month 20 years prior. It was a lot of fun, and although I haven't been writing about 1991 this year, I've been listening to songs from each corresponding month as the year's gone by. So I decided I might resurrect this feature.
Singles
Mariah Carey had the month's biggest hit with "Emotions," the lead single from her second album of the same name. It was Carey's fifth #1, leaving little break between it and her previous #1, the last single from her self-titled debut, "I Don't Wanna Cry," which was a #1 hit in May and June. Although most of Carey's singles to date had been ballads, she chose an uptempo track to introduce emotions, with production courtesy of dance pop powerhouse duo David Cole and Robert Clivilles, the men behind the C&C Music Factory that had scored a #1 hit earlier in the year with "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)."
Mark Wahlberg is best known as the Oscar-nominated star of acclaimed and hit films like The Fighter, The Departed, Boogie Nights, and Planet of the Apes. But 20 years ago, he was the hard-bodied, pants-dropping, little brother of New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg, who, with his own act, Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch, scored a #1 hit with "Good Vibrations." The track is frothy dance pop with rapped verses by Wahlberg and a chorus comprised of a sample of Loleatta Holloway's "Love Sensation" (so much so that she was given a featured credit). Although the sound is unmistakably 1991, the idea has a lot in common with the current trend of blending electronic dance pop production and rap. The video effectively showed off his body, and while it's pretty silly, in 1991, I thought he was totally hot (and I know what wasn't alone there, not by a long shot). Marky Mark had another top 10 hit with "Wildside," and even released another album a year later. Following the music career, Wahlberg capitalized on his penchant for showing off his tightie-whitie briefs by becoming a Calvin Klein underwear model. He made his film debut in the 1994 Danny DeVito film Renaissance Man.
Natural Selection was never a household name, but they did have one big hit, "Do Anything, "which spent 3 weeks at #2 in October. For this song, the Minneapolis-based trio employed the vocal talent of Niki Haris, best known as one of Madonna's longstanding backup singers at the time. The track is a laid-back mid-tempo R&B/pop sound, kind of like a mellow New Jack Swing. The group would have another minor top 40 hit, "Hearts Don't Think (They Feel)."
Light rockers Extreme scored their second major hit, "Hole Hearted," the follow-up to their #1 debut hit "More than Words." In contrast to that song's slow tempo, "Hole Hearted" was upbeat, slightly folksy, but showcased the same blend of guitar and harmonized vocals. "Hole Hearted" peaked at #4 and was the group's last top 40 hit.
Bonnie Raitt had been making albums since the early '70s, but didn't achieve massive success until 1990, when she broke through to mainstream consciousness by winning the Album of the Year Grammy Award for Nick of Time. Capitalizing on that success, she followed that album in 1991 with Luck of the Draw, which gave the singer her first top 40 singles, the bigger of which was the top 5 hit "Something to Talk About." The following year, Raitt would win the Grammy Award for Female Pop Vocal Performance for this song, which was also a Record of the Year nominee.
Martika, who scored a number of top 40 hits in 1989, including #1 single "Toy Soldiers," had her only other top 10 hit in October, "Love...Thy Will Be Done," which peaked at #10. This wasn't something I was particularly into back then, but I really like it now. It's a gorgeous song, with a pretty static rhythm that builds a bit with some strings but mostly reaches its stirring climax because of Martika's vocal. It was written and produced by Prince, who found the time to do this despite having his own album coming out at the time. The song was a hit in many other countries, including Australia, where it hit #1.
Rapper Heavy D had appeared on Janet Jackson's #4 hit "Alright" the previous year, but scored his first major hit on his own with "Now that We Found Love," which hit #11. I remember really like this song at the time, which is propelled along at good clip by its dance pop rhythm. The track is a remake of a song by the O'Jays, although it was not a single for them.
Prince had a huge hit in 1991 with "Cream," which became a hit so fast it basically buried what had been Diamonds & Pearl's first single, "Gett Off," which peaked at #21 in October. As good as "Cream" is, I've always been partial to the dirty grind of "Gett Off." Given its suggestive lyrics and racy video--not to mention his butt-baring MTV performance--it's no wonder the record company released "Cream" just 6 weeks after "Gett Off," rightly sensing it was too hot for radio (it did not reach the top 40 at pop radio). "Cream" eclipsed "Gett Off" after just 3 weeks, but "Gett Off" was still climbing the chart, an unusual occurrence for an artist to have two singles climbing within the top 40 at the same time.
When it comes to her singing career, actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams is best known for her hit ballads--songs like "Colors of the Wind" and "Love Is." But she had some uptempo releases too, of which "Running Back to You" was the biggest. It was the first single from her second album The Comfort Zone, which in 1992 would give the singer her landmark #1 hit "Save the Best for Last."
British alternative group Siouxsie and the Banshees had only one top 40 hit in the US, "Kiss Them for Me," which reached #23 on the Hot 100 (which surprisingly wasn't a big hit for them at home, hitting #32 in the UK). It was the first album from the group's 10th album.
Albums
Prince & the New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls. This was Prince's 13th album and first with his band The New Power Generation, which he also used for his 1992 album, 
. Prince's popularity wanted in the '90s, but at this early point, he was still really hot. Diamonds and Pearls was his biggest hit album of the '90s, scoring two major hits--"Cream," which hit #1 and the title track, which reached #3, plus minor top 40 hits "Gett Off" and "Money Don't Matter 2 Night," as well as "Insatiable," which hit #3 on the R&B chart. The album cover was notable for its 3D image.
Singles
Mariah Carey had the month's biggest hit with "Emotions," the lead single from her second album of the same name. It was Carey's fifth #1, leaving little break between it and her previous #1, the last single from her self-titled debut, "I Don't Wanna Cry," which was a #1 hit in May and June. Although most of Carey's singles to date had been ballads, she chose an uptempo track to introduce emotions, with production courtesy of dance pop powerhouse duo David Cole and Robert Clivilles, the men behind the C&C Music Factory that had scored a #1 hit earlier in the year with "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)."
Mark Wahlberg is best known as the Oscar-nominated star of acclaimed and hit films like The Fighter, The Departed, Boogie Nights, and Planet of the Apes. But 20 years ago, he was the hard-bodied, pants-dropping, little brother of New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg, who, with his own act, Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch, scored a #1 hit with "Good Vibrations." The track is frothy dance pop with rapped verses by Wahlberg and a chorus comprised of a sample of Loleatta Holloway's "Love Sensation" (so much so that she was given a featured credit). Although the sound is unmistakably 1991, the idea has a lot in common with the current trend of blending electronic dance pop production and rap. The video effectively showed off his body, and while it's pretty silly, in 1991, I thought he was totally hot (and I know what wasn't alone there, not by a long shot). Marky Mark had another top 10 hit with "Wildside," and even released another album a year later. Following the music career, Wahlberg capitalized on his penchant for showing off his tightie-whitie briefs by becoming a Calvin Klein underwear model. He made his film debut in the 1994 Danny DeVito film Renaissance Man.
Natural Selection was never a household name, but they did have one big hit, "Do Anything, "which spent 3 weeks at #2 in October. For this song, the Minneapolis-based trio employed the vocal talent of Niki Haris, best known as one of Madonna's longstanding backup singers at the time. The track is a laid-back mid-tempo R&B/pop sound, kind of like a mellow New Jack Swing. The group would have another minor top 40 hit, "Hearts Don't Think (They Feel)."
Light rockers Extreme scored their second major hit, "Hole Hearted," the follow-up to their #1 debut hit "More than Words." In contrast to that song's slow tempo, "Hole Hearted" was upbeat, slightly folksy, but showcased the same blend of guitar and harmonized vocals. "Hole Hearted" peaked at #4 and was the group's last top 40 hit.
Bonnie Raitt had been making albums since the early '70s, but didn't achieve massive success until 1990, when she broke through to mainstream consciousness by winning the Album of the Year Grammy Award for Nick of Time. Capitalizing on that success, she followed that album in 1991 with Luck of the Draw, which gave the singer her first top 40 singles, the bigger of which was the top 5 hit "Something to Talk About." The following year, Raitt would win the Grammy Award for Female Pop Vocal Performance for this song, which was also a Record of the Year nominee.
Martika, who scored a number of top 40 hits in 1989, including #1 single "Toy Soldiers," had her only other top 10 hit in October, "Love...Thy Will Be Done," which peaked at #10. This wasn't something I was particularly into back then, but I really like it now. It's a gorgeous song, with a pretty static rhythm that builds a bit with some strings but mostly reaches its stirring climax because of Martika's vocal. It was written and produced by Prince, who found the time to do this despite having his own album coming out at the time. The song was a hit in many other countries, including Australia, where it hit #1.
Rapper Heavy D had appeared on Janet Jackson's #4 hit "Alright" the previous year, but scored his first major hit on his own with "Now that We Found Love," which hit #11. I remember really like this song at the time, which is propelled along at good clip by its dance pop rhythm. The track is a remake of a song by the O'Jays, although it was not a single for them.
Prince had a huge hit in 1991 with "Cream," which became a hit so fast it basically buried what had been Diamonds & Pearl's first single, "Gett Off," which peaked at #21 in October. As good as "Cream" is, I've always been partial to the dirty grind of "Gett Off." Given its suggestive lyrics and racy video--not to mention his butt-baring MTV performance--it's no wonder the record company released "Cream" just 6 weeks after "Gett Off," rightly sensing it was too hot for radio (it did not reach the top 40 at pop radio). "Cream" eclipsed "Gett Off" after just 3 weeks, but "Gett Off" was still climbing the chart, an unusual occurrence for an artist to have two singles climbing within the top 40 at the same time.
When it comes to her singing career, actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams is best known for her hit ballads--songs like "Colors of the Wind" and "Love Is." But she had some uptempo releases too, of which "Running Back to You" was the biggest. It was the first single from her second album The Comfort Zone, which in 1992 would give the singer her landmark #1 hit "Save the Best for Last."
British alternative group Siouxsie and the Banshees had only one top 40 hit in the US, "Kiss Them for Me," which reached #23 on the Hot 100 (which surprisingly wasn't a big hit for them at home, hitting #32 in the UK). It was the first album from the group's 10th album.
Albums
Prince & the New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls. This was Prince's 13th album and first with his band The New Power Generation, which he also used for his 1992 album, 
. Prince's popularity wanted in the '90s, but at this early point, he was still really hot. Diamonds and Pearls was his biggest hit album of the '90s, scoring two major hits--"Cream," which hit #1 and the title track, which reached #3, plus minor top 40 hits "Gett Off" and "Money Don't Matter 2 Night," as well as "Insatiable," which hit #3 on the R&B chart. The album cover was notable for its 3D image.
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Essential Albums of the '80s: Soundtracks
Rather than start this series with just one album, I'm giving you six: a quick look at the decade's most essential soundtracks.
Pop soundtracks aren't that big of a deal anymore, but in the '80s they were huge. In the '60s and the '70s, soundtracks were generally film scores or songs from musicals, but Saturday Night Fever popularized the use of soundtracks as showcases for pop songs. Most of the notable soundtracks feature a few hits from big artists to entice buyers and then tracks from lesser known or even unknown artists to round them out. Soundtracks continued to be popular in the '90s--The 1992 soundtrack to The Bodyguard, which prominently features Whitney Houston, is the best-selling soundtrack of all time--but declined in popularity in the '00s. The soundtracks I've chosen to feature are a mix of the decade's most popular and some personal favorites.
Flashdance (1983). The Flashdance Soundtrack mixes songs by well known and lesser known artists. Given the film's subject matter, it's mostly early '80s dance pop, particularly known for its two #1 hits, the synth-heavy "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Irene Cara and the high-energy "Maniac" by Michael Sembello. "He's a Dream" by Shandi has a sexy early '80s growl to it, and I also like the film's instrumental, piano-driven love them by Helen St. John. Some of the songs by the bigger-name artists are my least favorite, like Donna Summer's "Romeo," a weak stab at post-disco dance pop, and Kim Carnes' "I'll Be Here Where The Heart Is," an unspired ballad, although I do like its heavy use of Blade Runner-esque synthesizers. Flashdance is notable as the only various artists soundtrack of the '80s to be nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy Award (Prince was also nominated for his soundtrack to Purple Rain, which is significant as an album, so I won't include it here). Best: Maniac, Flashdance...What a Feeling, He's a Dream, Love Theme from Flashdance.
Footloose (1984). I've never seen this movie, but thanks to its hit soundtrack, I definitely know its music. The soundtrack scored six top 40 hits, including #1 singles for the Kenny Loggins title track and Deniece Williams' last hit, "Let's Hear It for the Boy." Also memorable is the rock love ballad "Almost Paradise" by Heart's Ann Wilson and Loverboy's Mike Reno. Bonnie Tyler also contributes the memorable "Holding Out for a Hero" while Shalamar has us "Dancing in the Sheets." Kenny Loggins even had a second top 40 hit off it, the darker "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)." A late '90s re-release added some more hits, including Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and John Cougar Mellencamp's "Hurt So Good." Best: Let's Hear It for the Boy, Almost Paradise, Footloose, I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man), Holding Out for a Hero.
Ghostbusters (1984). The Ghostbusters Soundtrack was the first album of popular music that I ever owned. My friend Greg had it and I thought it was so cool, so I saved my money during the summer of 1987 and paid $10 for it at the local pharmacy. At the time, that was a lot of money for a cassette, and I wasn't aware yet that I could have paid significantly less for it at Tower Records. Oh well. The set is most notable for its #1 hit theme song by Ray Parker Jr., but it also features some other great songs, like The Thompson Twin's "In the Name of Love," and Laura Branigan's sassy "Hot Night" (Branigan was apparently a soundtrack mainstay, also appearing on Flashdance). At the time, I also really liked Air Supply's "I Can Wait Forever," but now it gets on my nerves, although a song I didn't used to care for, Mick Smiley's "Magic," is actually pretty decent, despite stealing its percussion from Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight." I also used to really like Elmer Bernstein's score cut, "Dana's Theme." Best: Ghostbusters, In the Name of Love, Hot Night, Magic
Who's that Girl (1987). Following Ghostbusters, this was the second album of pop music I ever bought and, notably, the first by Madonna. I listened to it nonstop for her four great tracks, a nice balance of songs produced by the two guys she worked with most at the time, Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray. The former worked with her on the lightly Spanish-flavored "Who's that Girl" and the downbeat ballad "The Look of Love," while the latter worked on the more upbeat dance hit "Causing a Commotion" and "Can't Stop." The other stuff isn't nearly as good, although Duncan Faure's "24 Hours" and Michael Davidson's "Turn It Up" are pretty decent. However, Coati Mundi's "El Coco Loco" is just plain silly. Best: Who's that Girl, Causing a Commotion, The Look of Love.
Dirty Dancing (1987). Dirty Dancing was a pretty decent hit, but its soundtrack was an even bigger one, selling over 42 million copies worldwide, making it one of the 10 best-selling albums of all time and the second best-selling soundtrack ever behind The Bodyguard. Musically, it is pretty great, an effective blend of new '80s pop song and '50s and '60s oldies favorites. The album's highlight is its first track, the wonderful upbeat love duet "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. It's one of the most enduring '80s pop duets, recently sampled for the Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)." Most of the other '80s songs are pretty good, particularly Patrick Swayze's "She's Like the Wind," which hit #3 but didn't start a pop career for the actor, and Eric Carmen's top 5 hit "Hungry Eyes." Among the older material, The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" is the best, although I also enjoy the quirky Mickey & Sylvia song, "Love Is Strange," and the classic love song, "In the Still of the Night." Tying the two eras together are two hybrid songs, a new remake of the '60s song "You Don't Own Me" by the Blow Monkeys and Tom Johnston's "Where Are You Tonight," which sounds like an old song, but apparently isn't. Best: (I've Had) the Time of My Life, She's Like the Wind, Hungry Eyes, Yes, Be My Baby.
Batman (1989). Prince released several albums during the '80s that also served as soundtracks to films. Because he didn't appear in Batman, and I would generally consider the film a bitter hit than the soundtrack, I consider Batman more of a soundtrack than an album (I consider Purple Rain more of an album). It's an unusual one for sure. Batman had an orchestral score by Danny Elfman, which was also released, but this set contains only pop songs by Prince, many of which but not all appeared in the film. The songs sound like much of what Prince was doing at the time with the added bonus of snippets of dialogue from the film, most notably on the wild #1 hit "Batdance," which consists mostly of bits of dialogue from Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger. Best: Batdance, Scandalous, Partyman.
Pop soundtracks aren't that big of a deal anymore, but in the '80s they were huge. In the '60s and the '70s, soundtracks were generally film scores or songs from musicals, but Saturday Night Fever popularized the use of soundtracks as showcases for pop songs. Most of the notable soundtracks feature a few hits from big artists to entice buyers and then tracks from lesser known or even unknown artists to round them out. Soundtracks continued to be popular in the '90s--The 1992 soundtrack to The Bodyguard, which prominently features Whitney Houston, is the best-selling soundtrack of all time--but declined in popularity in the '00s. The soundtracks I've chosen to feature are a mix of the decade's most popular and some personal favorites.
Flashdance (1983). The Flashdance Soundtrack mixes songs by well known and lesser known artists. Given the film's subject matter, it's mostly early '80s dance pop, particularly known for its two #1 hits, the synth-heavy "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Irene Cara and the high-energy "Maniac" by Michael Sembello. "He's a Dream" by Shandi has a sexy early '80s growl to it, and I also like the film's instrumental, piano-driven love them by Helen St. John. Some of the songs by the bigger-name artists are my least favorite, like Donna Summer's "Romeo," a weak stab at post-disco dance pop, and Kim Carnes' "I'll Be Here Where The Heart Is," an unspired ballad, although I do like its heavy use of Blade Runner-esque synthesizers. Flashdance is notable as the only various artists soundtrack of the '80s to be nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy Award (Prince was also nominated for his soundtrack to Purple Rain, which is significant as an album, so I won't include it here). Best: Maniac, Flashdance...What a Feeling, He's a Dream, Love Theme from Flashdance.
Footloose (1984). I've never seen this movie, but thanks to its hit soundtrack, I definitely know its music. The soundtrack scored six top 40 hits, including #1 singles for the Kenny Loggins title track and Deniece Williams' last hit, "Let's Hear It for the Boy." Also memorable is the rock love ballad "Almost Paradise" by Heart's Ann Wilson and Loverboy's Mike Reno. Bonnie Tyler also contributes the memorable "Holding Out for a Hero" while Shalamar has us "Dancing in the Sheets." Kenny Loggins even had a second top 40 hit off it, the darker "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)." A late '90s re-release added some more hits, including Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and John Cougar Mellencamp's "Hurt So Good." Best: Let's Hear It for the Boy, Almost Paradise, Footloose, I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man), Holding Out for a Hero.
Ghostbusters (1984). The Ghostbusters Soundtrack was the first album of popular music that I ever owned. My friend Greg had it and I thought it was so cool, so I saved my money during the summer of 1987 and paid $10 for it at the local pharmacy. At the time, that was a lot of money for a cassette, and I wasn't aware yet that I could have paid significantly less for it at Tower Records. Oh well. The set is most notable for its #1 hit theme song by Ray Parker Jr., but it also features some other great songs, like The Thompson Twin's "In the Name of Love," and Laura Branigan's sassy "Hot Night" (Branigan was apparently a soundtrack mainstay, also appearing on Flashdance). At the time, I also really liked Air Supply's "I Can Wait Forever," but now it gets on my nerves, although a song I didn't used to care for, Mick Smiley's "Magic," is actually pretty decent, despite stealing its percussion from Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight." I also used to really like Elmer Bernstein's score cut, "Dana's Theme." Best: Ghostbusters, In the Name of Love, Hot Night, Magic
Who's that Girl (1987). Following Ghostbusters, this was the second album of pop music I ever bought and, notably, the first by Madonna. I listened to it nonstop for her four great tracks, a nice balance of songs produced by the two guys she worked with most at the time, Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray. The former worked with her on the lightly Spanish-flavored "Who's that Girl" and the downbeat ballad "The Look of Love," while the latter worked on the more upbeat dance hit "Causing a Commotion" and "Can't Stop." The other stuff isn't nearly as good, although Duncan Faure's "24 Hours" and Michael Davidson's "Turn It Up" are pretty decent. However, Coati Mundi's "El Coco Loco" is just plain silly. Best: Who's that Girl, Causing a Commotion, The Look of Love.
Dirty Dancing (1987). Dirty Dancing was a pretty decent hit, but its soundtrack was an even bigger one, selling over 42 million copies worldwide, making it one of the 10 best-selling albums of all time and the second best-selling soundtrack ever behind The Bodyguard. Musically, it is pretty great, an effective blend of new '80s pop song and '50s and '60s oldies favorites. The album's highlight is its first track, the wonderful upbeat love duet "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. It's one of the most enduring '80s pop duets, recently sampled for the Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)." Most of the other '80s songs are pretty good, particularly Patrick Swayze's "She's Like the Wind," which hit #3 but didn't start a pop career for the actor, and Eric Carmen's top 5 hit "Hungry Eyes." Among the older material, The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" is the best, although I also enjoy the quirky Mickey & Sylvia song, "Love Is Strange," and the classic love song, "In the Still of the Night." Tying the two eras together are two hybrid songs, a new remake of the '60s song "You Don't Own Me" by the Blow Monkeys and Tom Johnston's "Where Are You Tonight," which sounds like an old song, but apparently isn't. Best: (I've Had) the Time of My Life, She's Like the Wind, Hungry Eyes, Yes, Be My Baby.
Batman (1989). Prince released several albums during the '80s that also served as soundtracks to films. Because he didn't appear in Batman, and I would generally consider the film a bitter hit than the soundtrack, I consider Batman more of a soundtrack than an album (I consider Purple Rain more of an album). It's an unusual one for sure. Batman had an orchestral score by Danny Elfman, which was also released, but this set contains only pop songs by Prince, many of which but not all appeared in the film. The songs sound like much of what Prince was doing at the time with the added bonus of snippets of dialogue from the film, most notably on the wild #1 hit "Batdance," which consists mostly of bits of dialogue from Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger. Best: Batdance, Scandalous, Partyman.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)