I had a post planned for today but I haven’t been able to finish it yet, so I thought I’d post a quick quiz instead. This one caught my eye. I’m definitely a child of the 80s; I love the cheesy movies and the bad fashion, U2, INXS and the power ballads, and I’m just old enough to remember Full House when it started (unfortunately).
My result surprised me a bit, though; I knew I’d do well but I know more about the 80s than I actually remember. But I’ve got pictures of my mother with shoulder pads, watching Top Gun always makes me want to be a fighter pilot, I loved ET, we had one of the early VCRs in Aus, and Thriller was cool! Not to mention I know all the words to Sweet Child O’Mine, and there’s a little film called The Empire Strikes Back I like. 😉
I think I’m out of my time. I’m trying to bring the mullet back, but it’s not working… what about you? Are you an 80s tragic or was your experience totally bogus? 🙂
I’ve been wanting to do an easy post after a couple of heavy ones, so here’s one which has been a lot of fun to think about. It’s the soundtrack to my life – my ultimate playlist. It features two songs from every year since I’ve been born, one pop song and one rock/group song; my kind of music. 😉
I knew there’d be a lot of songs to choose from, so this isn’t really a list of my favourite songs; instead it’s a list of the songs I can remember playing for significant moments in my life, or I’m told were around for ones I can’t remember (apparently I was walking to Into the Groove).
The list’s below and I put them all together over at Project Playlist as well; there are a few Australian singers some people might not have heard before – I definitely recommend Pete Murray and Missy Higgins. And if you’re wondering, I treat Project Playlist as a radio-library; I go there if I want to hear a new song, but once I’ve heard it I’ll buy it from iTunes. So that’s my way around any legalities. 🙂
1984 Dancing in the Dark – Bruce Springstein Here Comes the Rain Again – Eurythmics
1985 Into the Groove – Madonna Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds
1986 True Colors – Cyndi Lauper Livin on a Prayer – Bon Jovi
1987 I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House
1988 Heaven Is A Place On Earth – Belinda Carlisle Never Tear Us Apart – INXS
1989 Like A Prayer – Madonna Sweet Child o’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses
1990 Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor Janie’s Got a Gun – Aerosmith
1991 (Everything I Do) I Do It for You – Bryan Adams Fall at Your Feet – Crowded House
1992 Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton Even Better Than The Real Thing – U2
1993 I’d Do Anything for Love (but I Won’t Do That) – Meat Loaf Everybody Hurts – R.E.M.
1994 Chains – Tina Arena Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden
1995 Hand in My Pocket – Alanis Morissette Where the Wild Roses Grow – Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue
1996 Always Be My Baby – Mariah Carey Wonderwall – Oasis
1997 Torn – Natalie Imbruglia Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve
1998 Crush – Jennifer Paige I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing – Aerosmith
1999 I Try – Macy Gray Ana’s Song (Open Fire) – Silverchair
2000 Graduation (Friends Forever) – Vitamin C Beautiful Day – U2
2001 Thank You – Dido Yellow – Coldplay
2002 A Thousand Miles – Vanessa Carlton The Greatest View – Silverchair
2003 Crazy In Love – Beyonce & Jay-Z Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
2004 So Beautiful – Pete Murray Somewhere Only We Know – Keane
2005 The Sound of White – Missy Higgins Wake Me Up When September Ends – Green Day
2006 SexyBack – Justin Timberlake When You Were Young – The Killers
2007 Rehab – Amy Winehouse How Far We’ve Come – Matchbox Twenty
I’m unashamedly a child of the 80s; I’m too young to remember much before 88, but I’m fascinated by the clothing, the big hair and mullets, the songs. I love U2, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, but for a guilty pleasure you can’t go past the power ballads. These are some of the ones I still love… so come on, get out your iPod and have a listen; no-one needs to know. 😉
5) The Flame Cheap Trick
I’ve never been quite sure what the lyrics to The Flame really mean, if the song is about loss or it it’s a statement between lovers. If it is actually the former, then it’s quite like The Police’s Every Breath You Take – a song about obsession and not really a ballad at all.
4) I Want To Know What Love Is Foreigner
One of my favourite angst songs, I always loved the This mountain I must climb/Feels like a world upon my shoulders line. It went to #1 in Aus, the US and the UK, so I guess I’m not the only one.
3) Sweet Child O’ Mine Guns N’ Roses
It would be hard not to include Axl Rose and Guns ‘N Roses in a list like this, but Sweet Child O’ Mine is one of my favourite songs anyway; I love the vulnerability of the song and the guitar solos (of course). Just don’t listen to the cut version; if you’ve only ever heard the edit, you’ve never heard Sweet Child O’ Mine.
2) Home Sweet Home Mötley Crüe Home Sweet Home was probably one of the first hit songs of the MTV generation; its first release never got past #89 in the US, but it was MTV’s most requested song for four months straight. I must admit, I know it more from the ’91 re-release, but it’s a great song.
1) Holding Out for a Hero/Total Eclipse of the Heart Bonnie Tyler
Okay, so I’m cheating a bit here with two songs, but I can’t separate them so I’m going for the artist instead; if I had to think of one artist to represent the 80s, Bonnie Tyler would get my vote – huge songs, way overdone, but fun as hell. I love Bonnie Tyler as well because of Cate Blanchett in Bandits; if you haven’t seen the scene where she dances to Holding Out for a Hero while chopping vegetables, you don’t know what you’re missing. 🙂
