Popdose - Latest Comments in Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

Frank — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:23:26 -0000

Oh lord - I meant to say "according to my dear friend, Joel Whitburn"... it's late.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

Frank — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:23:01 -0000

Okay, according to my dear friend, I have it backwards - the '86 reissue doesn't have the spoken intro. Ooops! I need to dig that out of storage and make the mp3. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it was a remixed version too.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

Frank — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:21:25 -0000

Hey - I really like your taste in music for the most part too. It's been interesting to catch up on this series in the last week. It's a lot of reading, but I love every minute of it.

I got the '70s box set as a gift so I didn't have to buy it. I had most of the songs. One good thing that it contains are single versions. I try to collect the single versions of all the hits, which can be very difficult for certain artists. This box set contains 12 single versions that I didn't have before, so it was a big help.

I can still hear lines from General Hospi-tale in my head - Amy Vinings likes to blab, Richard Simmons helps fight flab... true poetry. LOL

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

kingofgrief — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:15:07 -0000

I'm not far behind you...all volumes of JCGE and HAND, with the goal of collecting the Soul Hits comps as I find them. I had the 70s box but it didn't boast anything I really needed. If I find the 80s box with the original packaging and it doesn't starve me for a week, it's mine, if only for "General Hospi-tale".

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

kingofgrief — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:06:24 -0000

I had the original Colgems 45 as a lad, and it also contained the spoken intro (BTW, it's not Jim, it's Chip, as in Chip Douglas, the record's producer). I could have sworn the '86 release was a remix; maybe Steed will have an answer for us when he wraps up the series.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

Frank — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:25:03 -0000

I own the 1986 re-issue of "Daydream Believer" and I can make an mp3 of it today. The one difference between the original release and the re-issue is that the re-issue single version contains the talking at that start (What number is this, Jim? 7A!") that was cut off the original single. However, I just listened to the version of DB that is on the Rhino "Greatest Hits" CD and it contains the spoken intro. Hmmm....

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

Frank — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:21:12 -0000

Well, those Molly Hatchet singles all charted in the early 1980s, when top 40 radio had really cooled off and adult contemporary hits ruled the airwaves. The AM stations that I listened to at that time all played the AC hits (Anne Murray, Kenny Rogers and the others) and none of the rock stuff, while the FM top 40 stations played AC/DC, the Vapors and other rock songs that barely hit the top 40 (if they hit at all) and none of the AC charters.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

Frank — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:16:43 -0000

Wow, so much hating on Eddie! "Endless Nights" is actually my favorite of his from that period. He was just a solid, reliable rocker, not groundbreaking, but he didn't suck either.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

Frank — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:15:12 -0000

This comment really made me laugh. I remember going to Best Buy to pick up each new set of five Just Can't Get Enough CDs when they came out. I don't remember "Images of Heaven" so I just added it to iTunes and my Bottom Feeders playlist.

I bought all 15 volumes of Just Can't Get Enough, all 25 volumes of Super Hits of the '70s, and all 20 volumes of Soul Hits of the '70s, plus the 1970s and 1980s box sets from Rhino. Whether this qualifies as "hard core collecting" or "complete insanity" is up to you. I just know that I've made someone at Rhino very, very wealthy.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

kingofgrief — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:06:35 -0000

And now, as long promised (well, since Wednesday morning), the King of Grief weighs in on "What Do All the People Know":

As mentioned earlier, I first heard "All the People" on the third volume of EMI's Living in Oblivion series, which I picked up either in May or June of 1994. I liked it from the get-go; within a few months it would be one of my favorite songs of the era. That was a rough period in my life...my father died of cancer a month after confessing to me that I'd been adopted...and though my musical choices predictably veered towards the somber or melancholy, "All the People" would serve to pick up my spirits and remind me that life served other purposes than just smacking me around.

Fast-forward to the fall of 2001. I'm getting over a divorce, an unrequited crush, and the still-fresh incidents of 9/11. I'm at a club and I run into an old flame I hadn't seen since '93. We're talking, and suddenly the DJ slaps on "What Do All the People Know". I'm shocked and surprised at hearing it in a club setting and invite my re-acquaintance to dance. I sing every word to her (yes, I wasn't sober). After a false start, we start dating the week before Christmas, a relationship that lasts half a year (a record for me, marriages notwithstanding).

So "All the People" has served on more than one occasion as a beacon of hope, corny as that sounds. It can bring a smile to my face and mist to my eye, sometimes simultaneously. If I were to assemble a short list of my favorite Bottom Feeders covered to date, it would wind up somewhere in the top three. If not higher.

And now I've got to hear it again...

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

jefito — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:06:37 -0000

"I'll Get By" was more of an AC hit -- it was the requisite goopy ballad from his final studio set for Columbia, 1991's "Right Here."

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

steed — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:57:24 -0000

I only know "The Love in Your Eyes" because it falls in the decade. "Peace in Our Time" is more recognizable than you might think but I have no idea what "I'll Get By" is.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

steed — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:56:02 -0000

I wasn't aware anyone had so many thoughts on it. I'm curious now.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

wags — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:06:50 -0000

Hey, the music that you wouldn't expect to find here is what I love about this blog. Things like I Melt with You and Flirtin' with Disaster. Stuff I would've thought definitely had to have spent time in the top 40... but just goes to show that the charts aren't necessarily the best at identifying the best music. My guess is Melt was just too far ahead of its time -- especially considering how used it is in commercials these days.

Oh the other thing I really like about this blog -- and I won't admit which band it was this week -- is I often find musicians whose name I'm familiar with but couldn't place a song or sound with that name if you'd asked me to. But I get that info here. Marshall Crenshaw was the first artist like that for me...

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

The Flyin Hawaiian UK — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:28:51 -0000

Cool on The Models. I used to own the cassette and I did quite like it but I don't think I've listened to anything but "Out of Mind . . ." since the 80s.

"What Do All the People Know" is on the muzak rotation at my local supermarket.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

The Flyin Hawaiian UK — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:26:06 -0000

I think Modern English were the first poppy 4AD group. The label was best known for Bauhaus and Birthday party at the time, although the first Cocteau Twins LP came out in '82 so they were transitioning to their etherial period. The first Modern English album was rather Bauhaus-y.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

jasonhare — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:43:46 -0000

I don't think anybody can fault the Monkees for releasing new product after the success of the show on MTV and Nickelodeon, but yeah, that album is pretty much crap. Although for some unknown reason, Peter's song "Since You Went Away" jumps into my head every so often.

I went looking for the video for "Heart and Soul" (which I loved as a kid), but couldn't find it. I did find this video of a girl who won the Nick Rocks contest to meet the Monkees, and the memories came flooding back. I'm almost positive I taped this off of Nick during a Monkees marathon and the video is lying around somewhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

Chris X — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:12:48 -0000

Mesh and Lace is a great album, and Bauhaus is definitely the first thing I think of when I hear it as well. They certainly popped things up a bit for the next record (though not TOO much, as it has its share of quirkiness - then again, "I Melt With You" is pretty much THE perfect pop song, leading once again to wondering how the heck it did not chart higher - either time!)

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

kingofgrief — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:56:17 -0000

FYI, the remix of "Daydream" was packaged in a replica of the original '67 picture sleeve. The only difference about the sleeve front is the omission of the listing for the original B-side, "Goin' Down" (and the Colgems logo).

Here's the original: http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/the_monkees/daydream_believer___goin_down/

And here's the remix: http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/the_monkees/daydream_believer___randy_scouse_git/

I think the remix sleeve mentions Then & Now but might not indicate the versions differ. Frustrating, innit?

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

kingofgrief — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:47:26 -0000

I'm waiting until I can sit down in front of my own computer with enough time to gather my thoughts. Tomorrow (Friday) night, perhaps.

Can I follow my weigh-in with a shameless plug for my Bottom Feeders radio special a week from Tuesday?

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

rob — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:29:12 -0000

I still own my vinyl copy of the Monroes EP. I'll admit that I really loved the song in my teens (WNEW in NY played the HELL out of it – which is why I bought it), 20s and 30s – but I've kind of fade on it in my middle years. Nice 80s pop. Nothing much else.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

JLow24 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:59:00 -0000

I was just checking Wikipedia and saw he had three other moderate hit songs that I can't remember ever hearing - The Love in Your Eyes (#24 in 1989), Peace in our Time (#11 in 1990), and I'll Get By (#21 in 1991), plus Endless Nights, which also hit #21. I was listening to a lot of top-40 radio at that time but they don't ring a bell at all. Maybe they just weren't as big in Canada? Those songs sure have gotten zero airplay in the last 20 years.

I love this series by the way - it's always the first thing I check on Wednesday mornings!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

magø — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:35:57 -0000

Gotta disagree with your critique of "Ricochet Days", Jon!
I think it's a fantastic album. While not as quite as strong track-for-track as "After The Snow", I think it sounds great even today...

Also, "After The Snow" was actually Modern English's second album...their first being the woefully underrated "Mesh And Lace" which came out in 1981 on 4AD, but never saw a US release...
It wasn't a pop record by any means, but is still a great post-punk gem, slotting in nicely between Bauhaus and (very) early New Order.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

steed — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:47:28 -0000

Am I missing it somewhere in the middle here or did you not yet weigh in on the Monroes song? I strapped myself in yesterday for this....

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 61

steed — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:22:23 -0000

I definitely think you're correct about that - and I'm worried about the ebay purchase as the records they are calling the remix on it say nothing on it about being a remix, say "From Then & Now..." and have the original picture sleeve on it. I guess I'm going to have to take my chances on this one. Not as easy to find as I expected it to be.