Popdose: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 59
The Man I Used To Be
· 5 months ago
Dave,
That version of "Favorite Waste of Time" you posted, is the band that did that called the Lost Causes? I have never heard of them and do think that is one of the best version I have heard. Can you provide some more details?
Thx, B
jefito
· 5 months ago
Oh, that's funny. Steed didn't post that, actually -- it was one of the editors having a goof. That's me you're hearing on that track, from my days as a "singer." You can hear some leftover demos from the same sessions that produced that cover at www.jefito.com. Thanks for the kind words!
rwcass
· 5 months ago
I couldn't help myself, Jeff. But it wasn't a goof -- I've liked your version of the song since I first heard it three years ago.
steed
· 5 months ago
Phew. I was about to doubt my entire existence if that version I posted wasn't Bette Midler.
The Man I Used To Be
· 5 months ago
That's a pretty solid goof there jefito. Perfect tempo for that song. I always felt Marshall's tempo was off and that the track needed tweaking. Sounds like you set it straight.
jefito
· 5 months ago
Thanks, Man. I have fond memories of recording it. The vocals were tracked in my producer's kitchen, actually.
I'm not surprised to find that I like "I Like" by Men Without Hats. I'm more surprised that this is the first time I can recall ever hearing it.
I'm guessing that the British members of our readership will be more familiar with Owen Paul's take on "You're My Favourite Waste of Time" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6f_9usfs-Y), but to damn it with faint praise, I think I prefer Jeff's version. :-)
Is there any "Simpsons" fan who can hear Midnight Star's "Freak-A-Zoid" and not picture Apu singing and dancing to it?
And, lastly, I'm mystified about the hatred toward Steve Miller's "I Want To Make The World Turn Around." I love that song.
rob
· 5 months ago
Mind my words: You will like and appreciate Steve Miller.
That said, though I disagree with you on "Circle of Love" and "I Want To Make The World Turn Around" (Kenny G on sax, by the way, for those of you into him), his 1980s output is pretty weak. And as a fan of him, I do consider "Abracadabra" his "Jump the Shark" moment.
JonCummings
· 5 months ago
I think Steve Miller was on steroids from 1974-78. It's the only explanation I can think of.
rob
· 5 months ago
Purists like myself believe best Steve Miller Band output was pre-1974 and "The Joker." The future Idiot's Guide (yes. yes, I'll get on it) will show you why.
steed
· 5 months ago
I'm okay with his '70s stuff - there's a lot of really good stuff there - but you'd have to make an extremely compelling argument to convince me anything from the '80s is good.
rob
· 5 months ago
Like I said, I'm mostly down on his 80s work, with the possible exception of his blues covers on the second side of "Living in the 20th Century."
Check that. I'm a fan of his only album where he was just "Steve Miller." Reuniting Steve with former 60s bandmate and musical savant Ben Sidran, "Born 2 Blue" in 1988 featured Steve playing classic jazz covers such as "Willow Weep for Me," "God Bless the Child" and "When Sunny Gets Blue" with the likes of saxophonist Phil Woods and the Modern Jazz Quartet's inimitable vibraphonist, Milt Jackson.
Let's not forget. Les Paul is Steve's godfather and actually taught him his first guitar chord.
The convincing will come. Paul McCartney. Nicky Hopkins. Boz Scaggs. Paul Butterfield. These are just a few significant figures that were part of Steve Miller's early musical history.
DavidMedsker
· 5 months ago
< Is there any "Simpsons" fan who can hear Midnight Star's "Freak-A-Zoid" and not picture Apu singing and dancing to it?
I had almost the exact same thing written in my comment before I decided to read down and see the others. Apu's got some dope moves.
Steve
· 5 months ago
You're spot on with the comment about Frankie Miller sounding like Bob Seger, when I first heard "To Dream The Dream" I thought it was some strange lost Seger recording where he was funneling the images from "Mainstreet" through a slowed-down "Roll Me Away". This guy is Scottish?
Also correct about "Macho City" - what a waste!
DavidMedsker
· 5 months ago
Aieeeeeee! That Bette version of "Favorite Waste of Time" is dreadful. That other version's pretty good, though. :)
DavidMedsker
· 5 months ago
That "Bongo Bongo" video is AWESOME!
kingofgrief
· 5 months ago
I was feeding my cats this morning, and what do I start singing to myself?
"We got trucks and trains, cars and planes, we even put a man on the moon..."
Such was my anticipation for another exciting episode of Bottom Feeders. Let's see what we got...
"Hold Me": Good song, but I concur with BullzEye. I'm surprised "Like a Cannonball" didn't even scratch the 90s. Same for "If You're Not Here", which got some Top 40 spins in Houston. I believe it was their first English-language single/crossover attempt.
"I Like": Me too! A high school buddy had both Rhythm of Youth and Pop Goes the World on cassette, they soundtracked many a summer afternoon.
I miss Freddie. Sure, 70s Queen is still preferable...but it's still Freddie. He could cover "Stanky Legg" and make it palatable.
The Divine Miss M: Dare I say, this week is looking rather fabulous with Freddie and Bette back to back. (It's a shame you missed Pride Week by that much.) Linda and Aaron still own "All I Need to (Don't) Know (Much)", "Beast of Burden" will do if Some Girls isn't handy, and as for "Favorite Waste of Time", the original by Marshall Crenshaw (and His Handsome, Ruthless and Stupid Band) is one of my top 5 non-album B-sides of the 80s (if not ever). I look forward to auditioning Jefito's take after evaluating this week's BFs.
"The Dead Heart": one of those songs that I rarely hear but always gives me a rush when I do. Used to have the cassette of 10 to 1; "Read About It" and "Power and the Passion" were syndicated-video-show faves.
To be continued...
Andrew T
· 5 months ago
"Bongo Bongo" is a real bugaboo for me as well. The voice at 2:15 saying "Hello there" used to make me think I was losing my mind, for some reason. Is that the band in drag wearing blonde wigs in the opening sequence?
steed
· 5 months ago
Either that or they're some pretty ugly women.
I agree with the "hello there" part. I've said "what" to quite a few people forgetting about those nagging little background vocals.
thefxc
· 5 months ago
I lurve Men Without Hats, who would be much more fondly remembered if that damn "Safety Dance" video never happened. (Attention VH1 and other snarky "pop culture" types: MWH are not a 'one hit wonder' band, "Pop Goes the World" made the Top 20!). They're a great synthpop band, sorta like Howard Jones leading Rational Youth. "I Like," "Antarctica," "Where Do the Boys Go"...brilliant.
Steve Miller I hate because we always played his greatest hits tape after football practice--painful memories. I can't totally hate his 80s output (although I won't listen to it either) because the woman in the "Abracadabra" video is gorgeous.
Wasn't Mick Jagger in Bette's video for "Beast"? And how would I know that?
Midnight Oil: will we ever hear a song like "Beds Are Burning" hit the top 40 again (It's about aboriginal land rights, people! Aboriginal land rights!), much less "Dead Heart," sung from the perspective of (I believe) an indigenous subject whose culture is threatened by colonialism. When people pick apart 80s music for being shallow, those are the sort of songs that I use as counterpoints...
In closing I would argue that going from Midnight Star to Calloway actually represents "the quickest and most severe drop from really good to really bad in the history of music."
steed
· 5 months ago
Commercial One Hit Wonder Lists are total crap. How many out of 100 aren't really 1 hit wonders? 85? 90? For pete's sake "Take On Me" is not A-Ha's only hit!
EightE1
· 5 months ago
That Midnight Star "No Parking on the Dance Floor" album was HUGE amongst my fellow parochial school inmates, circa '84. Must break out ye olde vinyl copy of that and do a bit o' reminiscin', freak-a-zoid style.
Was "Slow Jam" ever released as a single?
Rob EightE1
steed
· 5 months ago
No, "Slow Jam" was never a single....though every quiet storm station played it to death.
jim
· 5 months ago
i don't see an archive tab. how do i get to last weeks post?
BobCashill
· 5 months ago
"Beast of Burden" did at least have an amusing video, with Midler and Jagger vamping. It kept her in the public eye till her Disney movie hits commenced two years later:
Speaking of which, my memory is foggy, Bob. Didn't we have some laughable incident or other while standing in line for "Ruthless People"?
BobCashill
· 5 months ago
If your pinpoint memory is foggy, mine's pea soup, but I have some dim recollection. I do recall really liking Jagger's theme song for the movie, which fit it to a T, but Billy Joel's "Modern Woman" got the bounce from its success.
JonCummings
· 5 months ago
That's it!!! I remember now! They were handing out 45s of the "Modern Woman" single at the preview we went to, but only to folks who had obtained their tickets through some sort of giveaway. We had paid for our tix, I think, and Nicole (who, to anyone else who's paying attention, was my college girlfriend) refused to lie so we could get our free 45s. We didn't let her live that down for a week, at least.
Man, that relationship was doomed from the start. I mean, honesty is one thing, but in the face of a free copy of a bad Billy Joel single?
And with that, I shall stop hijacking the comments section with my personal recollections.
Wow. Kinda hard to believe that "Blue Sky Mine" was the only other Midnight Oil track to crack the Hot 100... I seem to recall hearing "Forgotten Years" and "King of the Mountain" all over the radio in the summer of '90, but I suppose the stations I was listening to were more of the Billboard "Modern Rock" format than Hot 100... I always thought "The Dead Heart" was a better track than "Beds..", anyway...
Men Without Hats were always sorely under-appreciated, as evidenced by the fact that "I Like" never got the airplay it deserved. I always thought the video was funny, because it looked as though they filmed it on the same day as the "Safety Dance" one! I never followed them much after "Folk of the 80's Part III", but "Rhythm of Youth" didn't have a bad song on it...
breadalbane
· 5 months ago
"Pop Goes The World" (the album right after "Folk Of The 80s Part III") is actually a really good album, probably MWH's best. Check it out sometime....
DwDunphy
· 5 months ago
You'll get no argument from me about Midnight Oil, but as much as I love Diesel And Dust, I love Blue Sky Mining more. Weird? Well, I blame those incredible atmospherics on "One Country" and "Antarctica" for my irrational affinity. (Red Sails In The Sunset's pretty awesome too, though...)
RLB
· 5 months ago
I like BSM best also - purely on the grounds that it's the first one that hit me as a teenager. I can appreciate the earlier ones now, and how they fit in to the bigger 80s picture, but yeah, "One Country," "Bedlam Bridge"... they sucker-punched me just right at the time. And "Forgotten Years" is one of those tracks that is always ALWAYS on my jogging mixes (regardless of whether I'm actually jogging or just dragging myself through the heat.)
steed
· 5 months ago
I actually prefer Earth and Sun and Moon over Blue Sky Mining. "Truganini" is a brilliant song
DwDunphy
· 5 months ago
I have to revisit Earth and Sun and Moon one of these days. I first heard it shortly after it came out and I borrowed it from the local library. I heard the flip of the Madchester-style drums, thought "them funky poseur bastards" and returned the disc.
Now, this should speak volumes about my inability to accept change in those days.
arensb
· 5 months ago
“Abracadabra” as the jump the shark moment in his career, but that track is gold compared to the other crap he released in the decade.
You make it sound like "Abracadabra" isn't good, but as I understand it, a jump the shark moment is good. Or at least, not bad. The way I heard it defined was the moment you realize that it's never going to get better than this, that it's all going to be downhill from here.
Yeah, I'm a language nerd. Does it show?
rob
· 5 months ago
Actually, if you think about the phrase's origins, it is a bad moment where something begins going downhill. The term comes from the time that Fonzie jumped the shark on "Happy Days" Do you consider that a high point of the sitcom? I think we all agree it was not – and it was the moment where everything headed south For Richie, Pottsy and the gang.
Once again, please do not judge Steve Miller on his 80s output. It is most definitely not the highlight of his career by any stretch.
steed
· 5 months ago
I actually worked for TV Guide at one point which owns "Jump the Shark". Rob is correct - it's the moment where you realize that nothing past that point is going to be able to match the classic period. The peak doesn't even have to be right before - it can be anytime.
Before Jump the Shark = good. Jump the Shark and after = bad
That's the way I understood it at the day job.
Chris X
· 5 months ago
hey, a pretty good week right here!
I'm gonna pretend I didnt see Menudo up there and go right on to Men Without Hats. I like this song. *groan* Seriously though, listening to great synth pop is probably my favorite thing about having ears. Even if most people who know "The Safety Dance" couldnt tell you the artist (or better yet, ask for it by "Men At Work"..ah, the perils of being a DJ- NOTHING tops some jerkoff repeatedly badgering me to play Tom Collins, me having no idea who he meant, and then figuring out later he meant PHIL- dude, seriously?)
Freddie Mercury. No doubt in my mind he is one of, if not THE best frontman of all time. But solo material? come on, Brian May's guitar work and the band as a whole's quirkiness and creativity made them what they were. The voice alone isn't the only contributing factor. That said, "Love Kills" isnt a bad song, and I'm pretty sure it got released in the mid 90s around the time of his earthly departure. (Bad taste considering the manner of his death and the song title? You decide)
Bette Midler needs to retroactively die, or at least lose her vocal cords. Or fly high away. Seriously. UGH. MAKE IT STOP.
Midnight Oil. "the Dead Heart" is probably my favorite song of theirs. So freakin good. I daresay better than "Beds are Burning"
Midnight Star. I LOVE THESE DUDES SO MUCH. First off...the moustaches...and the hair. Seriously. Talk-box vocals, serious synth action, goddamn, best shit. Did "Operator" actually chart higher? I figured "Freakazoid" (inspired by Zoids-remember those awesome toys?) and "No Parking" charted higher, considering the airplay I remember them getting back then. I just last week started adding Midnight Star into heavy rotation in my sets, and know what it is or not, it still gets people moving.(self high five time: my "Operator"/Kon Kan- "I Beg Your Pardon" mix is one of the recent highlights of my spinning career) Had no idea they sorta turned into Calloway. Man, the mighty fell on that one. Considering the amount of stupid commercials and movie trailers I've seen that song in though, I guess they actually did get "rich" off it, so hey, what do I know?
Paul Young died? How the hell did i not know that??
I'm certainly no Steve Miller fan, but "Abracadabra" is pretty much all I like of his. Go figure.
jefito
· 5 months ago
He's talking about the other Paul Young -- not the "Everytime You Go Away" Paul Young.
Chris X
· 5 months ago
ohhhhh haha. My bad.
DwDunphy
· 5 months ago
So how much does it suck to be the "Everytime You Go Away" Paul Young, have everybody thinking you're dead yet nobody's trying to get you eulogized at the Staples Center.
RLB
· 5 months ago
I imagine it's even worse to pester the bartender. "You have sour mix? Make me a Phil Collins!"
kingofgrief
· 5 months ago
continued from above
"Freak-a-zoid": Remember what Steed said about "Planet Rock"? Cut and paste.
"Wet My Whistle": Does anyone else hear Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters in the vocals?
"Nobody's Perfect": That synth loop reminds me of a track from the first Soul Coughing album that samples an odd Raymond Scott/Carl Stalling cartoon score. If only the rest of the tune was as edgy.
"To Dream the Dream": In my crate of recently-acquired CDs I may never get around to is a Frankie Miller best-of. I've been curious about him since The Everlys covered "Danger Danger" for EB 84. (And his version isn't even on the comp! Oh well, what do I want for 50 cents?) I wonder how many sales of "To Dream" were thwarted by people searching the bins for the new Seger. (By my calculations, that would have been the to-be-discussed "Feel Like a Number", already half a year old when Miller's record charted. So I'm guessing most record stores would have sent their copies back at that point, unless they were lax in inventory control.)
And now, Steve.
OH, Steve.
There have been times over the course of this feature where I felt Mr. Steed was being unduly harsh ("Heaven [Must Be There]" boring? Srsly?) and times where I felt he was right on the money. This is one of those money situations. Sort of.
My only deviance is the worst-of-show pick for the week. There's nothing terribly wrong with "Circle of Love", it just doesn't sound like a single A-side in the least. My candidate for biggest offender:
"Give It Up".
I heard it twice, maybe thrice on the radio back in the day and knew it was an undisputed turd back then. Hearing it today hasn't swayed my verdict as a preteen. (That said, I'm keeping the file to lay on friends who have no idea how out of touch Steve fell with his muse.)
As for the Italian X-Rays cuts, I'll wager that both 1999 and Trans were in heavy rotation on Steve's Walkman throughout '83. As right as I feel Dave's analysis may be, I feel the need to investigate X-Rays further. Not the outcome he was looking for, I'm sure.
(PS: I once owned 3 separate CD editions of Metal Machine Music and once listened to two of them simultaneously on my DJ mixer. While sober. Bring on "Macho City". I dare ya.)
Old_Davy
· 5 months ago
I used to have the "Circle Of Love" album, and HAVE listened to it all the way through. Funny, the only thing I remember about it is how annoying "Macho City" was. None of the songs posted ring a bell, even though I know I've heard them before.
Hearing Bette Midler screech "Ain't I hard enough?" has got to be the bright spot of my day.
In a perfect world, that Lost Causes cover would not have been eligible for this feature because it would have made the top 40 - at least!
Pub rock
· 5 months ago
It would suprise most Australians to learn that Midnight Oil had six top 5 albums in a row but only a couple of their singles reached the top ten on Aussie charts. Political, satirical and independant they refused airtime on "pop" programmes like countdown. In March this year they reformed for a benefit concert for bushfire victims. Despite lead singer Peter Garret now being the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, they performed a set of unexpurgated tracks critical of corporations, government, americans, military etc. And they still rock!
DavidMedsker
· 5 months ago
I need help. I can't stop watching the "Bongo Bongo" video. God, I love those big-haired '80s girls.
Flaregun
· 5 months ago
I Want to Make the World Turn Around has some great guitar and is an overlooked gem from the catalogue, I Like by Men Without Hats, however, is the opposite of awesome.
All Comments
That version of "Favorite Waste of Time" you posted, is the band that did that called the Lost Causes? I have never heard of them and do think that is one of the best version I have heard. Can you provide some more details?
Thx,
B
I'm not surprised to find that I like "I Like" by Men Without Hats. I'm more surprised that this is the first time I can recall ever hearing it.
I'm guessing that the British members of our readership will be more familiar with Owen Paul's take on "You're My Favourite Waste of Time" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6f_9usfs-Y), but to damn it with faint praise, I think I prefer Jeff's version. :-)
Is there any "Simpsons" fan who can hear Midnight Star's "Freak-A-Zoid" and not picture Apu singing and dancing to it?
And, lastly, I'm mystified about the hatred toward Steve Miller's "I Want To Make The World Turn Around." I love that song.
That said, though I disagree with you on "Circle of Love" and "I Want To Make The World Turn Around" (Kenny G on sax, by the way, for those of you into him), his 1980s output is pretty weak. And as a fan of him, I do consider "Abracadabra" his "Jump the Shark" moment.
Check that. I'm a fan of his only album where he was just "Steve Miller." Reuniting Steve with former 60s bandmate and musical savant Ben Sidran, "Born 2 Blue" in 1988 featured Steve playing classic jazz covers such as "Willow Weep for Me," "God Bless the Child" and "When Sunny Gets Blue" with the likes of saxophonist Phil Woods and the Modern Jazz Quartet's inimitable vibraphonist, Milt Jackson.
Let's not forget. Les Paul is Steve's godfather and actually taught him his first guitar chord.
The convincing will come. Paul McCartney. Nicky Hopkins. Boz Scaggs. Paul Butterfield. These are just a few significant figures that were part of Steve Miller's early musical history.
I had almost the exact same thing written in my comment before I decided to read down and see the others. Apu's got some dope moves.
Also correct about "Macho City" - what a waste!
"We got trucks and trains, cars and planes, we even put a man on the moon..."
Such was my anticipation for another exciting episode of Bottom Feeders. Let's see what we got...
"Hold Me": Good song, but I concur with BullzEye. I'm surprised "Like a Cannonball" didn't even scratch the 90s. Same for "If You're Not Here", which got some Top 40 spins in Houston. I believe it was their first English-language single/crossover attempt.
"I Like": Me too! A high school buddy had both Rhythm of Youth and Pop Goes the World on cassette, they soundtracked many a summer afternoon.
I miss Freddie. Sure, 70s Queen is still preferable...but it's still Freddie. He could cover "Stanky Legg" and make it palatable.
The Divine Miss M: Dare I say, this week is looking rather fabulous with Freddie and Bette back to back. (It's a shame you missed Pride Week by that much.) Linda and Aaron still own "All I Need to (Don't) Know (Much)", "Beast of Burden" will do if Some Girls isn't handy, and as for "Favorite Waste of Time", the original by Marshall Crenshaw (and His Handsome, Ruthless and Stupid Band) is one of my top 5 non-album B-sides of the 80s (if not ever). I look forward to auditioning Jefito's take after evaluating this week's BFs.
"The Dead Heart": one of those songs that I rarely hear but always gives me a rush when I do. Used to have the cassette of 10 to 1; "Read About It" and "Power and the Passion" were syndicated-video-show faves.
To be continued...
I agree with the "hello there" part. I've said "what" to quite a few people forgetting about those nagging little background vocals.
Steve Miller I hate because we always played his greatest hits tape after football practice--painful memories. I can't totally hate his 80s output (although I won't listen to it either) because the woman in the "Abracadabra" video is gorgeous.
Wasn't Mick Jagger in Bette's video for "Beast"? And how would I know that?
Midnight Oil: will we ever hear a song like "Beds Are Burning" hit the top 40 again (It's about aboriginal land rights, people! Aboriginal land rights!), much less "Dead Heart," sung from the perspective of (I believe) an indigenous subject whose culture is threatened by colonialism. When people pick apart 80s music for being shallow, those are the sort of songs that I use as counterpoints...
In closing I would argue that going from Midnight Star to Calloway actually represents "the quickest and most severe drop from really good to really bad in the history of music."
Was "Slow Jam" ever released as a single?
Rob
EightE1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J35zjSsdjiw
Man, that relationship was doomed from the start. I mean, honesty is one thing, but in the face of a free copy of a bad Billy Joel single?
And with that, I shall stop hijacking the comments section with my personal recollections.
Remember: it's at the end of the post.
I seem to recall hearing "Forgotten Years" and "King of the Mountain" all over the radio in the summer of '90, but I suppose the stations I was listening to were more of the Billboard "Modern Rock" format than Hot 100...
I always thought "The Dead Heart" was a better track than "Beds..", anyway...
Men Without Hats were always sorely under-appreciated, as evidenced by the fact that "I Like" never got the airplay it deserved. I always thought the video was funny, because it looked as though they filmed it on the same day as the "Safety Dance" one!
I never followed them much after "Folk of the 80's Part III", but "Rhythm of Youth" didn't have a bad song on it...
Now, this should speak volumes about my inability to accept change in those days.
You make it sound like "Abracadabra" isn't good, but as I understand it, a jump the shark moment is good. Or at least, not bad. The way I heard it defined was the moment you realize that it's never going to get better than this, that it's all going to be downhill from here.
Yeah, I'm a language nerd. Does it show?
Once again, please do not judge Steve Miller on his 80s output. It is most definitely not the highlight of his career by any stretch.
Before Jump the Shark = good.
Jump the Shark and after = bad
That's the way I understood it at the day job.
I'm gonna pretend I didnt see Menudo up there and go right on to Men Without Hats. I like this song. *groan* Seriously though, listening to great synth pop is probably my favorite thing about having ears. Even if most people who know "The Safety Dance" couldnt tell you the artist (or better yet, ask for it by "Men At Work"..ah, the perils of being a DJ- NOTHING tops some jerkoff repeatedly badgering me to play Tom Collins, me having no idea who he meant, and then figuring out later he meant PHIL- dude, seriously?)
Freddie Mercury. No doubt in my mind he is one of, if not THE best frontman of all time. But solo material? come on, Brian May's guitar work and the band as a whole's quirkiness and creativity made them what they were. The voice alone isn't the only contributing factor. That said, "Love Kills" isnt a bad song, and I'm pretty sure it got released in the mid 90s around the time of his earthly departure. (Bad taste considering the manner of his death and the song title? You decide)
Bette Midler needs to retroactively die, or at least lose her vocal cords. Or fly high away. Seriously. UGH. MAKE IT STOP.
Midnight Oil. "the Dead Heart" is probably my favorite song of theirs. So freakin good. I daresay better than "Beds are Burning"
Midnight Star. I LOVE THESE DUDES SO MUCH. First off...the moustaches...and the hair. Seriously. Talk-box vocals, serious synth action, goddamn, best shit. Did "Operator" actually chart higher? I figured "Freakazoid" (inspired by Zoids-remember those awesome toys?) and "No Parking" charted higher, considering the airplay I remember them getting back then. I just last week started adding Midnight Star into heavy rotation in my sets, and know what it is or not, it still gets people moving.(self high five time: my "Operator"/Kon Kan- "I Beg Your Pardon" mix is one of the recent highlights of my spinning career) Had no idea they sorta turned into Calloway. Man, the mighty fell on that one. Considering the amount of stupid commercials and movie trailers I've seen that song in though, I guess they actually did get "rich" off it, so hey, what do I know?
Paul Young died? How the hell did i not know that??
I'm certainly no Steve Miller fan, but "Abracadabra" is pretty much all I like of his. Go figure.
"Freak-a-zoid": Remember what Steed said about "Planet Rock"? Cut and paste.
"Wet My Whistle": Does anyone else hear Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters in the vocals?
"Nobody's Perfect": That synth loop reminds me of a track from the first Soul Coughing album that samples an odd Raymond Scott/Carl Stalling cartoon score. If only the rest of the tune was as edgy.
"To Dream the Dream": In my crate of recently-acquired CDs I may never get around to is a Frankie Miller best-of. I've been curious about him since The Everlys covered "Danger Danger" for EB 84. (And his version isn't even on the comp! Oh well, what do I want for 50 cents?) I wonder how many sales of "To Dream" were thwarted by people searching the bins for the new Seger. (By my calculations, that would have been the to-be-discussed "Feel Like a Number", already half a year old when Miller's record charted. So I'm guessing most record stores would have sent their copies back at that point, unless they were lax in inventory control.)
And now, Steve.
OH, Steve.
There have been times over the course of this feature where I felt Mr. Steed was being unduly harsh ("Heaven [Must Be There]" boring? Srsly?) and times where I felt he was right on the money. This is one of those money situations. Sort of.
My only deviance is the worst-of-show pick for the week. There's nothing terribly wrong with "Circle of Love", it just doesn't sound like a single A-side in the least. My candidate for biggest offender:
"Give It Up".
I heard it twice, maybe thrice on the radio back in the day and knew it was an undisputed turd back then. Hearing it today hasn't swayed my verdict as a preteen. (That said, I'm keeping the file to lay on friends who have no idea how out of touch Steve fell with his muse.)
As for the Italian X-Rays cuts, I'll wager that both 1999 and Trans were in heavy rotation on Steve's Walkman throughout '83. As right as I feel Dave's analysis may be, I feel the need to investigate X-Rays further. Not the outcome he was looking for, I'm sure.
(PS: I once owned 3 separate CD editions of Metal Machine Music and once listened to two of them simultaneously on my DJ mixer. While sober. Bring on "Macho City". I dare ya.)
Hearing Bette Midler screech "Ain't I hard enough?" has got to be the bright spot of my day.
In a perfect world, that Lost Causes cover would not have been eligible for this feature because it would have made the top 40 - at least!