80’s music list, high school reunions, and Martin Fry, please forgive me
Friday, July 18, 2008My mom used to say, “Everybody has a talent.” Or maybe that was Claire Huxtable. At any rate, the important thing to note here is that I subscribe to this theory.
Unfortunately for me, not all talents are created equal.
For example, my ”special” ability involves remembering impossibly random 80’s songs and lyrics. This skill (and I use that term very loosely) is infinitely less desirable than, say, the ability to change dog poop into diamonds (in which case I would be a bazillionaire by now) or the ability to see out of the back of my head (great for catching my son BEFORE he ”decorates” baby sister with red duct tape).
Heck, I’d even take the ability to cook dinner while taking a nap. But alas, no such luck.
Thus far, the only real use I’ve discovered for my “talent” is to annoy friends by screaming “It seems I care enough to know that I could never love you” any time Poison Arrow comes on at a party or bar.
At long last, though, I’m getting a chance to utilize my talent to better mankind. Or, at least, to make my 20 year high school reunion music selection not suck (although, “not suck” and “80’s music” is something of an oxymoron). And yes, I said 20 year—the midlife crisis provoked by this landmark will undoubtedly fill another fifty blog posts at some later date.
But back to 80’s music. Here’s the part where you help me out. Below is a list of songs I remember from my high school years (1984-1988). If YOUR favorite song from that time period is missing, please, put it in the comment section below.
In turn, I promise not to scream ABC lyrics ever again. So long as Dead or Alive is still fair game.
Mission Viejo High School Class of 1988 Reunion Song List:
Squeeze (happy now, Joe? J –Tempted, Hourglass, Pulling Mussels from a Shell
Beastie Boys—Brass Monkey, Fight for Your Right, Paul Revere, Girls, She’s Crafty
Guns n’ Roses—Welcome to the Jungle, Mr. Brownstone, Sweet Child of Mine, Paradise City
General Public—Tenderness, Never You Done That, General Public
The Cult—She Sells Sanctuary, Love Removal Machine, Wild Flower, Lil’ Devil
Oingo Boingo—Dead Man’s Party, Not My Slave, Only a Lad, Wild Sex (in the Working Class)
The Cure—Just Like Heaven, the Lovecats, Why Can’t I Be You, Hot! Hot! Hot!
Thompson Twins—Lay Your Hands on Me, If You Were Here
Bryan Ferry—Slave to Love
New Order—Bizarre Love Triangle, The Perfect Kiss, Blue Monday, Shell Shock, Subculture (re-mix)
Gene Loves Jezebel—Desire
Dead or Alive—You Spin Me Right Round, Something in My House
Flesh for Lulu—I Go Crazy
Yaz—Situation, Don’t Go
Spandau Ballet—True
INXS—Need You Tonight, Original Sin
Tears for Fears—Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Shout
The Call—Everywhere I Go, I Still Believe
The Alarm—The Stand, Strength
Psychedelic Furs—Pretty in Pink, The Ghost in You
Frankie Goes to Hollywood—Relax, Two Tribes
Wham! –Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Everything She Wants, I’m Your Man
Siouxsie and the Banshees—Cities in Dust
Soft Cell—Tainted Love
Animotion—Obsession
Simple Minds—Don’t You (Forget About Me), Up on the Catwalk, Alive and Kicking
The Fixx—One Thing Leads to Another, Are We Ourselves?
Berlin—No More Words, Sex (I’m a…..)
Duran Duran—Hungry Like the Wolf, The Reflex, Rio
Thomas Dolby—She Blinded Me with Science, Airhead
The Smiths—Bigmouth Strikes Again, How Soon is Now?, What Difference Does it Make?
Hoodoo Gurus—Bittersweet
Naked Eyes—Always Something There to Remind Me
Talk Talk—It’s My Life
Go West—We Close Our Eyes
Sly Fox—Let’s Go All the Way
UB40—Red Wine
The Clash—Should I Stay or Should I Go?, Rock the Casbah
Madonna— Holiday, Into the Groove, Like a Virgin
Bangles—Hazy Shade of Winter, Walk Like an Egyptian
ACDC—You Shook Me All Night Long
Wall of Voodoo—Mexican Radio
Bryan Adams—Run to You, Summer of 69
Cutting Crew—I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight
Whitesnake—Here I Go Again
Crowded House—Don’t Dream its Over
REM—The One I Love
U2—With or Without You, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for, The Sweetest Thing
Falco—Rock Me Amadeus
Bananarama—Venus, Cruel Summer
LL Cool J—I’m Goin’ Back to Cali
Wang Chung—Everybody Wang Chung Tonight
Howard Jones—Things Can Only Get Better
Level 42—Something About You
Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam —Take Me Home
Boys Don’t Cry—I Wanna Be a Cowboy
Van Halen—Jump, Dreams
David Lee Roth—Just a Gigolo
Tones on Tail—Go!
Shannon—Let the Music Play
Chaka Kan—I Feel for You
Klymaxx– Meeting in the Ladies Room
The English Beat—Mirror in the Bathroom, Save it for Later
Michael Jackson—Billie Jean, Thriller, Smooth Criminal
Peter Murphy—All Night Long
Go-Go’s—Head Over Heels, Our Lips are Sealed
Michael Sembello—Maniac
Cameo—Word Up
ABC—Poison Arrow, Be Near Me
Midnight Oil—the Power and the Passion
Alphaville—Big in Japan
Pet Shop Boys—West End Girls, Heart
Icicle Works—Whisper to a Scream
Modern English—Melt With You
Billy Idol—Rebel Yell, Mony Mony
OMD—If You Leave
Heaven 17—Let Me Go
Book of Love—I Touch Roses
Samantha Fox—Naughty Girls Need Love Too
Suicidal Tendencies—Institutionalized
Dramarama—Anything
Aha—Take on Me
Steve Perry—Oh Sherrie
Poison—Every Rose Has Its Thorns
Sting—We’ll Be Together
Ratt—Lay It Down
Janet Jackson—Nasty
Katrina and the Waves—Walkin’ on Sunshine
King—Love and Pride
Murray Head—One Night in Bangkok
Los Lobos—La Bamba
Don Henley—Boys of Summer
Nena—99 Luftballons
Jermaine Stewart– We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off
Nik Kershaw—Wouldn’t It Be Good?
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions— Perfect Skin
Ministry—Everyday is Halloween
Depeche Mode—Master and Servant, Something To Do, A Question of Time, Stripped, Black Celebration, Shake the Disease
Altered Images—Happy Birthday
Big Audio Dynamite—The Bottom Line
Warrant—Heaven
XTC—Dear God
Divinyls—Pleasure and Pain
The Pretenders—Show Me
Joe Jackson—Right and Wrong
Sisters of Mercy—This Corrosion
Violent Femmes—Blister in the Sun, Add it Up
Morris Day and the Time—Jungle Love
Prince—Let’s Go Crazy, U Got the Look, When Doves Cry,
The Outfield—Your Love
The Romantics—What I Like About You
Bronski Beat—Hit that Perfect Beat, Why?
Erasure—Sometimes, Who Needs Love Like That?
Club Noveau—Lean on Me
Junior—Mama Used to Say
Terence Trent D’arby—Sign Your Name
David Bowie—Modern Love, China Girl
George Michael—I Want Your Sex, Hard Day, Faith
Love and Rockets—No New Tale to Tell, Ball of Confusion
Bon Jovi—Livin’ on a Prayer, Wanted Dead or Alive
Def Leppard—Pour Some Sugar on Me
Ready for the World—Oh Sheila
C-Bank—One More Shot
Shannon—Let the Music Play
Sheila E—The Glamorous Life
Vanity—Nasty Girl
Expose—Point of No Return
Cover Girls—Show Me
Fivestar—All Fall Down
The Dead Milkmen—Bitchin’ Camaro
Aerosmith—Dude Looks Like a Lady
Echo and the Bunnymen—Sugar Kisses
Robert Palmer—Addicted to Love, Simply Irresistable
Salt N Pepa—Push It
Grand Master Flash—White Lines
B-52’s –Rock Lobster, Summer of Love
Kim Wilde—Keep Me Hangin’ On
JoBoxers—Just Got Lucky
Billy Squier—The Stroke
Elvis Costello—Veronica
Eurythmics—Sweet Dreams
INXS and Jimmy Barnes—Good Times
Kenny Loggins—Danger Zone, Footloose
Motley Crue—Looks That Kill
Peter Gabriel—Big Time, In Your Eyes
Phil Collins—Easy Lover
Queen—Under Pressure
Real Life—Send Me An Angel
The Police—Roxanne, Message in a Bottle, Don’t Stand So Close To Me, Every Breath You Take
Talking Heads—Burning Down the House
The Cars—Hello Again
The Ramones—I Wanna Be Sedated
The The—Infected
Til Tuesday—Voices Carry
ZZ Top—Sharp Dressed Man
Yello—Oh Yeah
Run DMC—Walk This Way
Tin Tin—Kiss Me
WOW - that’s definitely a talent you have there! Thanks for putting all this together…I could hear all those songs in my head by as I read through the titles! One request: Pat Benatar. “Hit me with your best shot” or “Shadows of the night” or “Love is a Battlefield”. Thanks! Looking forward to the reunion…. Julie Estrada-Ewart (GRAVES!)
Oh wow, what a list!
I would say that “Punk Rock Girl” is my very favorite Dead Milkmen song.
Did you list The Specials? Madness? I can’t possibly remember that whole list and you know, that’s a lot of scrolling to check for myself.
My favorite Erasure is O L’Amour - not sure if that falls into the right years.
The entire Grosse Point Blank soundtrack(s). Although you have a fair amount already.
Is it wrong to mention Hangin’ Tough?
Wow! That’s some list!
I agree with the John Cusack, I mean, Grosse Point Blank soundtrack.
How about Patti Smith’s Because The Night?
Amazing list of our era!!! The earlier emails I was getting left out all the cool music I listened to…which would have been alright…but now it feels well-rounded. I used to listen to Suicidal Tendencies before football games to get psyched out!!! Now THAT is nostalgic!!! I STILL listen to Oingo Boingo. I went to parties where the only music they played was the Cult’s Electric album; you GOTTA play a couple of songs offa that.
You know what would be cool…is if someone burned all of the songs on your list onto a cd (as MP3’s) and made them available at the reunion!
Ditto!! Reading that list was amazing! Everyone has done a great job coming up with a song list. I agree that it would be very cool to have a CD with a sampling of the list if nothing else. My mind was definitely the first to go after having kids, and trying to think of anything beyond Depeche Mode or Erasure was a challenge. Can’t wait to see everyone and catch up.
DEBRA - YOU FRIGGEN ROCK !!!
MORE SQUEEZE - just kidding, I would say “Black Coffee in Bed” - a lot of people were listening to the “Singles 45’s and under” CD from 1982 then! OH WAIT, TAKE OUT “HOURGLASS” AND REPLACE IT WITH “ANOTHER NAIL IN MY HEART.” (So, just “Tempted,” “Pulling Mussels,” and “Another Nail.”)
RUSH
“Mystic Rhythms,” “Big Money” from POWER WINDOWS 1985. “Tom Sawyer” and from Moving Pictures (1981, but great song and still in 80’s.)
KISS “Reason to Live” (1987 Crazy Nights CD)
Debra, there is another XTC song, I can’t remember the name of it… was it, “Senses Working Overtime” ???? I think it was, the song went 1-2-3-4-5 senses working overtime.
OK, obviously we have over 10 hours of music here!!! We’ll have to trim this down in half.
Great idea Justin, are you savvy enough to do it ? That would be cool, even if someone did it and charged money for the cost. If anyone can do this, please let us know.
Okay, Joe, will do.
I would totally buy a CD with those MP3’s…..And I’m sure my hubby could do it, if nobody else steps up.
Great job, Debra! It was very fun going through this list. Joe and I got a kick out of it. Of course, he wanted to know where Men Without Hats - Safety Dance was located on the list
I do have access to burning CDs if we think this would be something people would buy for a small price.
Have a great day everyone!
Like I have stated, this is going to be a great evening!
Okay, one more thought…The Vapors - I Think I’m Turning Japanese?
Forgive me, my husband is killing me… he has your “special” gift, Debra. Dramarama - Anything, Anything. Don’t panic, you might hear from me again. Only suggestions, unfortunately, we could probably spend all night playing 80s music and still not be done by morning. Thanks for putting all this together.
Wow….most of those are already on my Ipod….I got like over 8700 songs and it’s almost where I could just hit shuffle and play these tunes….LOL
See you all soon!
Freddy
I think you’ve got them all covered. I loved going through your list and singing the songs (to myself of course, my family doesn’t appreciate my singing). I’m an ‘88 grad too. Thanks for taking me down memory lane!
Wow! That’s impressive. My 20-year reunion is next year. I hope there’s someone who remembers as well as you.
Holy crap, now that is a LIST.
ooh, yeah you can’t forget Pat Benatar! It looks like I’m going to have to have a crazy 80’s night with the flatties and a few of our favorite cocktails some time soon…
What about AHA (Take on me) and Cindy Lauper (Girls just wanna have fun, or was that before 1984?)? Dire Straits, Talking heads….
Ok, so here are some of my fill-in’s for the list above. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!:)
INXS: Devil Inside, Never Tear Us Apart, New Sensation, What You Need, Mystify
The Cult: Sun King, Fire Woman
U2: Where the Streets Have No Name
Sting: If You Love Someone, Set Them Free, Fragile, They Dance Alone, Fortress Around Your Heart
The Police: **I have to say that they are my ALL TIME FAVORITE BAND! Oh, and I got to see them in Charlotte this past November!** Spirits In The Material World, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Invisible Sun, Synchronicity I & II, Wrapped Around Your Finger, King of Pain, Murder By Numbers and the remake of Don’t Stand So Close To Me (1986).
Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock: It Takes Two
Young MC: Bust a Move
Tone Loc: Wild Thing, Funky Cold Medina
Dude! I still remember you killin’ me in every single drinking game that involved “name that tune”! To tell the truth, I’m a little scared of what’s going to go down this Saturday night… I hope no one pulls a muscle! It is going to be U-G-L-Y! I’ve certainly evolved into doing the “Elaine” (from Seinfeld) . I just hope I’m not alone