The Day the Music Died
It felt like that one Friday night, anyway, as I did my first-and-only life step-and-repeat. I didn’t know that was what posing on a red carpet was called.
Anyway. MTM and I crashed a birthday party with my friend Kellie. The birthday boy was the epitome of gracious. And, before I knew it, we were in the back with a DJ.
A DJ who played nothing but ’80s music for the 30-year-old (AKA born in 1981) birthday boy. (HINT: The links from this point forward, for the most part, go to 80s music videos. If that’s your thing.)
Thanks to a dinner at Gloria’s, I was not hungry like the wolf any longer. I was full of tex-mex food. But the dinner was the perfect kiss to kick off the evening.
We needed to leave the party early, but it wasn’t a black-or-white call as to when we should go. The DJ played “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and suddenly, we were sticking around longer. I didn’t stop believing the party was just getting started.
And, I was right.
I met the guy who used to dance with Camille Grammer on Club MTV. (Since I spent part of an evening that week watching “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills“, it was almost like a little sign from who-knows-who that I met someone with a slight connection.)
I felt like a wild thing. I was having the time of my life (and, yes, I even had that hair back then). In more ways than one.
Yeah. The 80s rocked. I don’t know whether I felt old or nostalgic. Or, maybe a bit of both.
Either way, this was probably my favorite 80s anthem. Maybe I’ve always been looking for something new.
Do you have a favorite song from the 80s? Or is it the decade the music died?
This post is part of the series The Soundtrack of Life. If this is your first visit to the series, please click here for the first installment, click here for the second, click herefor the third, click here for the fourth, here for the fifth, here for the sixth, here for the seventh and here for the eighth. MTM wrote a great guest post, which you can find here. Thanks for your contributions and insights in the comments. They always enrich this blog, especially in a series like this one.
Big Phil Collins fan and “In the Air Tonight”. Loved the B-52s wacky “Love Shack”. Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was great.
Too many favorites to pick one,
I like all of your choices, Lou. Love Shack is such a fun song.
The ’80s were so important to me musically, and I have so many favorites. When I wasn’t singing Joan Jett’s I Love Rock n Roll or The Go-Gos Our Lips Are Sealed at recess with my pals (Really. I did.), I was getting sucked into synthy new wave classics (I’ll credit John Hughes and his amazing movies/soundtracks here). Here’s one:http://youtu.be/uMmA8PsTvPA
Oh Jenny, I love those John Hughes soundtracks, too. I forgot about those.
I LOVE THIS!!!! I was newly married at the beginning of the 80′s and Randall and I would have MTV on ALL the time (because at that time they actually did play music videos). Sweet!
MTV will always be an 80s platform to me. I would sneak and watch it when my parents weren’t home.
Thank you for the great memory. 
The 80′s were filled with raising our girls and limiting MTV, Andra, but it was still on, as was the radio and these are great dancing songs, which kept me thin in those days.
It was a good decade for dancing, wasn’t it?
Yes, it was.
Nothing comes to mind, as a fav 80′s song. But 80′s always draws me into a reminiscing state. I go back and forth on genres, for the most part, music which meant something once can often meaning something different after on has some living under the belt.
Hi Hudson. You hit upon something that’s so true about music. The song Smile that I wrote about the other day was a happy song in my childhood. Once it became my divorce anthem, it can still make me cry when I hear it. Music does provide a canvas for the emotion of life.
True enough and we are emotional animals -music is a twisted ball of yarn when it comes to emotion.
There was a trunk load of music by various artist which was pushed aside to be forgotten, just for being labeled soft or not intelligent or just to bubblegum-ish. Yet if you look at cover songs coming along after the fact, it’s obvious music of the eighties had weight an meaning to others. One remake that I like which came out of the eighties was (close your eyes if anyone cringes at mention of this group -ooops sorry to late) Abba’s S.O.S. by a Montreal band Men Without Hats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgpFJWEqGjc
Sorry for the ramble; music turns make crank constantly.
We love ramblers over here.
And, I am partial to ABBA, so no worries on that score.
You already covered “I Love Rock n Roll” so there are so many great possibilities but this one..,
http://touch.dailymotion.com/video/xc5vky_prince-film-purple-rain_shortfilms
And this one…
Check out this video on YouTube:
And finally, on a more personal note since this was our first dance on our wedding day
Check out this video on YouTube:
Sent from my iPhone
Well Cyndi is NOt supposed to be there twice…
Check out this video on YouTube:
Sent from my iPhone
I’ve always sort of been in awe of Tina Turner. She’s the same age as my mother, and her shimmying around has always made me see my mother younger. I don’t know why.
I used to sing this song at the top of my voice, Robert, so it probably SHOULD be here twice.
Andra, I was hoping you would pick the 80″s somewhere in your series – as far as I’m concerned the best decade ever for memory making music. I was a complete rock head (is there such a thing) in those days and the song that still makes me smile a secret smile is Bon Jovi’s Living ona Prayer
I had such a crush on JBJ.
I loved that song, too, Linda.
I admit, I have Wham! on my iPod.
You don’t have to hide it from me. Wham! was awesome.
Hey, were you singing about that tex-mex dinner on a Mexican Radio (a woah)?
Hahahaha.
Erk….I shall give myself away horribly now. The Back To The Future songs. All of them. Entirely. And if Marty wanted me to go with him to the future or the past I would have got in that De Lorean, no questions asked, not even about flux capacitors.
I loved the creativity of those movies, Kate. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen them.
Goodness, I graduated from high school in 1980–too many favorites to name. Fun post, Andra.
Hugs,
Kathy
The video is a pretty good summary of the musical decade.
I probably wouldn’t have appreciated 80s music if it weren’t for my daughter, who thinks of this as “her” era. We always had music on in our home when the kids were young and at a certain point I conceded to their tastes. It grew on me over time because it was singable and a lot of good artists did emerge from it. It wasn’t my favorite era, but I often say I don’t really remember the 80s–they were stressful times! I’m glad music just endures and sometims if we miss it the “first” time it just comes back around. Very fun post! Loved the way you connected to the music links!
Debra
Debra, I don’t know if I could name a ‘favorite’ era, as I like so many different kinds of music. Listening to 80s music makes me feel young, somehow. It brings back things I felt and did as a teen in a visceral way. Probably like The Doors for you.
Oh, so many favorites here! Having gone through high school in the early 80′s…Bruce’s “Born in the U.S.A.”; John Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane”; Joan Jett & The Blackhearts “I Love Rock ‘N Roll”; Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love”; The Romantics “What I Like About You”; Queen “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”; Billy Joel “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”. As you can tell I LOVED the 80′s.
Me too. I totally understand.
Thanks for sharing some of your favorites.
Wendell Gee (I think) by REM
I wouldn’t say that the 80′s rocked my world like the music of the 70′s (and the 90′s) . . . a few songs I loved:
The Rolling Stones ~ You Start Me Up
Poison ~ Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Van Halen ~ Jump
Springsteen ~ Born in the USA
AC/DC ~ You shook me all night long
Toto ~ Africa
Dire Straits ~ Money for Nothing
Journey ~ Don’t Stop Believing
Bon Jovi ~ Living on a Prayer
I like all of those, Nancy.
I’ve always been a HUGE Madonna fan, and especially her early stuff. It had such an innocence (I know, it seems ironic) and energy about it.
I really like her earlier stuff best, also. It was just fun.
I can’t pick a favorite. I won’t! Too many genres and artists and fun and oh…
I will say this, my uncle’s girlfriend took me record shopping one Christmas. I was eleven and she bought me George Michael’s “Faith.” Holy inappropriate, but I did love it. The title track always makes me think of her and that clueless kid rocking out to “Faith” and crooning to “Father Figure.” Hee.
That is a GREAT memory.