Adventures in 80s Land, Part Two

Okay, since I realized I had a hell of a lot more to say about VH-1’s “Greatest One Hit Wonders of the ‘80s” than I thought I did, here are some random thoughts on selections #49-1. At least by this time, I had a pretty good buzz going…

One thought that kept recurring in my head during the first few hours of this countdown was “Where the HELL is “Shaddap You Face” by Joe Dolce?

I saw the Georgia Satellites (“Keep Your Hands to Yourself”, #46) open for Tom Petty back in 1987 at the “legendary” Hollywood Sportatorium (which we all referred to as the “Snortatorium”, or the “Snort” for short. ) In keeping with the tradition of the venue, my then-boyfriend smoked an impressive amount of pot that night.

Robbie Nevil (“C’est la Vie”, #45) is another one I thought went beyond one hit wonder-dom. My girl Teej and I used to jam out to the dance mix of “Wot’s It To Ya” back in the day. Good times.

I auditioned for the Pom Pom squad in high school (and made the team, thankyouverymuch) in 1985, and I remember that Shannon’s “Let the Music Play” (#43) was played over and over that afternoon. Girlfriend can still do splits, sadly, I can’t say the same.

I still hate “Break My Stride” (#39). It could be one of my most hated pop songs ever. The singer had a bad white dude perm and porn ‘stache too. Yuck.

I forgot that one of the Weather Girls died. Sadness….

John Parr. Great mullet – and he’s still rocking it. You go, boy. I liked “Naughty Naughty” a heck of a lot better than “St. Elmo’s Fire (#28.)

The lead singer of Cutting Crew (“I Just Died In Your Arms”, #26) is dead too? That sucks.

Did anyone else think Eddy “Electric Avenue” Grant was hot?

I really didn’t need to see close-ups of Pete Burns’ (Dead or Alive, “You Spin Me Round” - #19) pus-filled, cosmetic surgery-destroyed lips. What a train wreck.

DEVO (“Whip It”, # 15) never struck me as a one hit wonder either. They had a bunch of cool songs – I mean, “Working in a Coalmine”? “Love Without Anger”? “Peek-A-Boo”? Come on, VH-1!

I forgot how much Big Country rocked – and how much of a crush I used to have on Stuart Adamson. (I do remember being quite saddened to learn of his suicide back in the mid-90s.) Big Country was the first parent-free concert I ever attended. I’m going to download “In A Big Country” (#14) and “Fields of Fire” when I get home.

I wish I still had my “Frankie Say Relax” t-shirt.

At this point, I retired the pen and paper (damn you, wine!) But I really had nothing overly relevant to say about the top 10 (like any of what I’ve written has any relevance!) I will admit that I didn’t see Dexy’s Midnight Runners (“Come On Eileen”) as the #1 one hit wonder. I danced with an adorable boy in Ireland to that song (I was on the Emerald Isle the summer that song was at the top of the charts. Memories…)

All I can say is I’m so happy I finally have something to post! With P. traveling for work more, I hope to update this blog a bit more often (hope is the operative word here!)